‘THE CIRCLE’ BY DAVE EGGERS

WEBQUEST Watch ‘The Circle’, starring Emma Watson and Tom Hanks https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zH0E69gtQtI The whole film is currently available on Netflix.

READING Then read the final two chapters of the book on this PDF file. The way the film ends is different to the ending of the novel. Which ending do you prefer? Why? Make some notes that you can use for a short speech.

SPEAKING Now, on your own, speak for four minutes on the subject: a) “The Circle: which is better, the novel or the film?” and then b) “How close to reality are films like ‘The Circle’ and ‘Nosedive’?”

Use the following sequencing words and logical connectives. 1) Sequencing Words: Firstly, secondly, thirdly, lastly.

2) Sentence Adverbs: Naturally, of course, actually, anyway, in fact, fortunately, unfortunately, strangely enough, in any case.

3) Logical Connectives: And Or But Because As a Result In Conclusion In addition alternatively however as therefore on balance Moreover on the one hand although since thus to conclude Furthermore on the other hand by contrast consequently Also whereas so THE CIRCLE

PLOT

The book follows the story of Mae Holland, a recent college graduate who lands a job at The Circle, a powerful technology company run by the so-called ‘Three Wise Men’. Mae owes her job largely to her best friend and college roommate, Annie, one of the forty most influential people in the company. Mae starts out in Customer Experience (CE), the firm's customer service department, but quickly climbs the company ladder. From the beginning, Mae is impressed by the amenities at the Circle, including access to top-notch technology, dorm-like housing, gyms, recreation activities and parties. Mae's very first day at the Circle ends with a party where she encounters Francis, who remains a love interest throughout the rest of the novel. Later, Mae encounters and quickly becomes romantically involved with a mysterious colleague named Kalden, even though she is unable to verify his status at the company, or even obtain his last name.

Meanwhile, the Circle continues to develop a range of sophisticated technologies, including SeeChange: light, portable cameras that can provide real-time video with minimal effort. Eventually, SeeChange cameras are worn all day long by politicians wishing to be 'transparent', allowing the public to see what they are seeing at all times.

Another subplot is the diagnosis of Mae's father with multiple sclerosis, which eventually leads Mae to enrol her parents on her health care, which in turn drives them to install SeeChange cameras in their home. After a brief incident with her own legal issues, Mae ends up agreeing to wear a SeeChange device herself (in a process called ‘going transparent’), representing her own growing role in the company, epitomized by a public talk in which she insists, "secrets are lies," "sharing is caring," and "privacy is theft." Mae's job now mainly consists of touring the campus and showing customers future products; any hints of her own doubts about privacy seem dropped, in contrast to her ex-boyfriend Mercer. He has Internet phobia and eventually insists on going off the grid to escape the more and more far-reaching influence of the Circle and its technologies. Kalden calls Mae, warning her that The Circle must be stopped, but she refuses to listen. Mae’s indoctrination by the company and its use of peer pressure to invoke a herd mentality is in direct contrast to the character of Mercer. Mercer represents a small portion of the book’s world that rejects the Circle’s ever-more intrusive technologies. Throughout the novel, he goes from having a benign distaste for the ways of the present to physically attempting to escape the Circle and its view of society. The evolution of his world-view culminates in a scene in which his hiding place is exposed, and he is pursued by Mae using Circle drones. Meanwhile, Annie becomes envious of Mae's success and volunteers to be the test subject for ‘PastPerfect’, a new product that tracks a person's family history and activities, to regain her standing within the company. Disturbing facts about Annie's family history come to light and she becomes increasingly stressed, eventually causing her to fall into a catatonic state. Embarrassed both by her parents' distrust of SeeChange monitoring in their home and the conduct of her ex-boyfriend, Mercer - all of which have been publicly accessible to Mae's millions of followers - Mae becomes upset that they have embarrassed her in this way and, while demonstrating a program designed to catch fugitives within minutes, uses it to find Mercer. He attempts to escape using his truck but after drones prevent him from getting away, the exasperated Mercer decides to drive off a bridge in front of the billion viewers Mae is streaming to. While initially depressed, Mae soon rationalizes Mercer's death with the help of charismatic 'Wise Man' Eamon Bailey, concluding that he was an extremely depressed, asocial human being who refused society's help, comparing his actions to a person committing suicide by jumping out of the window when being visited by a doctor.

It transpires that Kalden is, in fact, the elusive ‘Wise Man’ Ty Gospodinov, the original inventor and founder who came up with the idea for the company. Mae agrees to meet him in secret and he tells her that a totalitarian regime will soon arise if nothing is done to stop it, equating it to a surveillance society. He explains the need for privacy in the digital age and asks her to help him take down the Circle, saying he cannot do it alone. Mae thinks that he is crazy, but pretends to go along with him, but then betrays him by telling the other founders of the Circle what has happened. They ensure that Ty is silenced and the book ends with Mae looking at Annie in a coma at the hospital, wondering when the time will come that the circle will develop enough technology to read people's thoughts, saying that "the world deserves nothing less and would not wait".

PART 2

‘THE CIRCLE’

DAVE EGGERS

PART 3

‘THE CIRCLE’

DAVE EGGERS