Edward Tenner, "Another Look Back, and a Look Ahead" and:

Annie Dillard, "The Wreck of Time: Taking Our Century's Measure"

Dillard & Tenner: The Complex Character of "Revenge Effects?"

Edward Tenner writes of the technological disasters he calls “revenge effects” and states, “Human culture, not some inherent will of the machine, has created most revenge effects” (655). In facing the future, he considers one question to be especially important: “How can we break out of ruts and change our thinking?” (633). Does this attitude jive with Annie Dillard’s sober assessments of human life?

Imagine a conversation between our authors. Can Tenner’s ideas be applied to Dillard’s world? Does the cycle of intensity—disaster—precaution—vigilance disclose a complexity to the universe that is unavailable in Dillard’s stark statistics? Are revenge effects a blessing in disguise or just another indication that “the might of the universe is arrayed against us”?

Edward De Rosa, Fall 2005

For more assignment ideas involving this essay, please visit the Tenner link-o-mat.

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