Close All The Windows, by Cyril Wong
            After discovering the Internet,   my mother has trouble   finding a connection, and   calls me up for help   while I am at work.   We keep miscommunicating.    She has clicked open   so many windows   the computer threatens to hang.   And my logic runs out   of variations to explain   the same thing over   and over. Suddenly,    I imagine she is looking   for her future through   that glowing screen   and I am really helping her    to find back her life after   all her children have left   for new homes,   new families to love.   ‘What now?’ she asks.    ‘Try again,’ I reply, the phone   pressed to my ear. ‘Close all   the windows. Tell me —   what do you see?’    Commentary: It might be useful to teach students the etymology of words, and how the meaning of certain words alters with the culture and time. Technological change, in particular, has brought about linguistic and cultural changes. Words such as ‘windows’, ‘connection’ and ‘logic’ have been prescribed new meanings...

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