Postmodern Condition Essay Topics - Chapter 1

Postmodern Condition Essay Topics - Chapter 1'The Postmodern Condition' by Lyotard is the first chapter of the 'Reading Capital' series that I've decided to discuss here on this site. Although this essay doesn't really contain any great information about the topic, I think it might be useful for readers who are trying to grasp the concept behind postmodernism.Lyotard's essay is aimed at a particular title: Condition Essay Topics. In this chapter he sets out to prove that many students are currently using these essay topics to examine the role of values in our society. This is the first problem, I think. Firstly, the very nature of the essay topics precludes a discussion of the role of values in society, in fact because of its ambiguous nature a student can be left with the impression that the only way to fully discuss this subject is through the lens of a text book.This is particularly true when a student is working with essays that are essentially isolated statements or texts of var ious kinds, which would normally not be considered material at all. Consequently there is no real analysis of how the material is used in society. Instead, the essays are merely textured representations of material and so they have no real substance as a description of any real society.In order to overcome this problem Lyotard provides some interesting material to describe the conditions in which various kinds of material come into existence, including people, ideas, objects, objects and even moments. Each of these frames has the potential to provide insights into how material values are measured, but no one thing can provide a complete answer because material value is a multi-faceted concept that is defined by what it includes and also by what it excludes.For example, this chapter helps students see that essay topics are never static, in fact they constantly evolve and change according to circumstances. Hence the question of whether an essay is a traditional essay, should be unders tood as a question of whether the student is reading an essay with the best chances of having the most lasting influence on other students.One of the chapters under this heading, 'Apostrophe and the Postmodern Condition Essay Topics', is quite interesting and follows the same approach as Lyotard's earlier essays. With this chapter students learn that the differences between apostrophes and other punctuation marks are important, and that the non-elaboration principle is a vital underpinning of any idea worth having.The final chapter, 'Variation and Time' helps students to understand how to define and therefore evaluate an essay topic. By reflecting on the difference between form and content, students can see that an essay does not need to be deep, just broad, or it can be based upon a variety of issues and questions.This approach enables the reader needs to encounter a range of new ideas and questionings in an essay, without being restricted to the limited range of choices provided b y the text. Therefore this chapter is essential reading for anyone involved in teaching condition essay topics.