Class Notes on February 10th - Parable of the Sower and "There will come Soft Rain"

ENGL1102 Notes

2/27/2012

Discussion of Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler and “There will come Soft Rain” by Sara Teasdale

· Parable of the Sower

o Interesting that the plot seemed cyclical

§ Acorn was becoming similar to Lauren’s original home

o Some things were different

§ In Acorn Lauren is basically the leader

§ She has more power to spread Earthseed

§ Seemed a lot more sustainable than the original community

· Could be tough though because they are isolated

§ Not ignorant of the problems in the outside world

· Everyone there has experienced how tough it is in the real world

o Bankole said that it seemed like the world had gone back 200 years

§ Shows the reader that the future might be just like the past

§ We have to make good choices in order to make the world a better place

o Ended with a lot of unfinished business

§ Probably not just because she wants to sell lots of copies of the sequel

· Defies expectation of a nice, happy ending

· Puts the reader in the characters shoes because we don’t know how things will turn out

· Such a chaotic reality would be very difficult to wrap up in a nice way

· Similar to the anxiety created throughout the book

· Kept with the diary format of the novel

· “There will come Soft Rain”

o Soft and delicate language

o Strong imagery

o States that nature is apathetic and doesn’t care about humanity

o Written before the Nuclear Age

§ Published soon after the Sedition Act was passed

o Simple rhyming couplets

§ Even kept the same happy, rhyming couplets when war was discussed

o Lots of alliteration and repetition

o Seems like a song

o All of this says that nature will go one happily whether humans exist or not.

o Shows that humans did a lot but it didn’t really have an effect on nature

o Seems to be telling humans that they need to adapt

§ Need to stop violence and connect with nature

o Spring is usually a rebirth, but not in this case

o Tempts the reader to skim through it

§ Possibly how it managed to get published

Blog Group E - Andrew

     I feel that the chemicals shown in "Just Do It" is the most evil way to control someone.  When an oppressive body uses violence or threat to control the people still at least have something to call their own.  They have their thoughts and their actions.  They may choose to not fight back to protect their families or they may choose to try and free their family.  But either way it is their choice.  The same goes for their thoughts.  But with these chemical substances this is taken away from the people.  They no longer choose how they act or what they think.  In my opinion without this their is not really a reason to live.  Under the control of these chemicals you would not be living your life but the life of someone else, the life that another person whats you to live for their benefit.  There also seems like there is no escape when oppression takes this form.  If someone can control your thoughts and consequently your actions, then no resistance will ever be made.  This is a very important aspect in a dystopian society.  The end of this controlling power cannot be seen.  It seems like it will continue on forever.
     This story also seems to be making a commentary on the chemical and advertising companies of today.  While advertising does influence peoples thoughts and actions some it is obviously not to the same extent as the story.  But this is what makes "Just Do It" so powerful.  It does not seem impossible for this to happen.  Companies seem like they will be anything to make a buck, even if it is morally wrong.  The same thing goes for the chemical companies.  They have does some very bad things just to make money.  Things that have an impact on every person on this planet.

Class Notes on February 10th - "The Nig in Me" by Walter Mosley

ENGL1102 Notes

2/10/2012

“The Nig in Me” by Walter Mosley

· People often shy from discussing important topics because they do not want to be perceived as racist

o Can be avoided by respecting different opinions

o Always be open to discussing sensitive topics

o Try to embrace comfort

o Understand your audience, respect them, and think about what you want to say before you say it

o Don’t overgeneralize things

o Ask questions if something is unclear

· Discussion on “The Nig in Me”

o Not as cynical as Bell group

§ Bell said all the other people were against the African Americans, Mosley said a small group of radicals were causing trouble

§ Bell said that everyone only cared about themselves, Mosley showed that people did in fact care about others

§ Bell’s story seemed to have more extreme imagery, Mosley’s seemed more like a normal story

§ Bell’s human race was bad in many ways, not just racist

§ Bell seemed to oversimplify everything that was happening, showed that everything was going wrong.

§ Bell grouped people in very generalized groups, businesspeople, Jews, etc

§ While Space Traders just followed the story without characters, The Nig in Me took time to develop characters

§ Harold had a rebirth in the end, showing that things will recover.

· Other opinion is that nothing has changed even though most of the population has died. Racism will always exist

§ Bell’s story was more of an attack on the current population

§ Bell’s story was set in a world which was much closer to ours, while Mosley’s was a future world

o Points from as cynical as Bell group

§ Both had their own ways of showing cynicism

§ Bell contemplated the different angles and said that the end is dystopia, Mosley said that humans will slowly be stripped down until dystopia

§ Both showed a large divide between the races

§ People were self-serving in both stories

§ Both show how close to reality these societies are

§ Mosley’s ending is cyclical, so everything bad will never stop

§ Both say that things will get bad quickly

BLOG GROUP D

         I couldn't agree more with Erik. Originally, I just printed the story without looking at how many pages the piece actually entailed. Needless to say when the printer began to spit out page after page, the length of this short story shocked me. However, once I began to read, I found myself flying through the text. The story as a whole was incredibly bizarre and due to this I couldn't stop reading.

         This alternate reality to me was fascinating. A community centralized around one’s occupation and work as a whole was so eerie to me. A place where individuals ride the cycles of unemployment and the harshest of punishments only restrict one from the ability to participate in work just didn’t wouldn’t seem practical in today’s world.   

         I found the ignorance of the people of this reality to almost relate to Fahrenheit 451 as all forms of media and information seemed censored in some form or other. The only way to access the truth was to participate in illegal activities that ultimately could kill you. What was most refreshing to me though was that for once a story gave the African Americans an edge in their immunity to this disease and that their oppressors plan backfired in their face.

         Nonetheless, ultimately this author finds that we cannot run away from racism. Even when all other ethnicities are extinct, the surviving group finds differences in one another that spawn hate. Racism seems impossible to get away from, as it will always be prevalent in some way or form. 

Bog Group D - Kyle

Then length of this short story sort of scared me, too. However, once I started reading the story and I found out what was going on I could not get myself to stop reading until I had finished the whole story. The ending did shock me. Today, when we think of racism, one of the first examples that comes to mind is white/black racism. However, at the end of "The Nig in Me" the racism that does exist exists between the different sub groups of the African community. In this short story, a plaque is released upon society that is 100% fatal to anybody that does not have at least 12.5% African Negro blood running through their veins, leaving only people with some type of African heritage alive n the end.

I found it interesting how the whole of society has seemed to become much more centralized around business, such that so one corporation even has its own business-state. Most forms of punishment mentioned within this short story had something to do with negatively affecting an individual's ability to work. These punishments include banning the individual from working temporarily by putting them on an unemployment cycle as well as a permanent expulsion from the work force. Citizens that have been expelled from the work force had even created their own illegal underground labor force just so they could scrape together enough to provide a means of continuing their existence.

Blog Group D - Justin

I had the exact same reaction as you when I saw the length of the reading assignment. However despite my initial response I actually quite enjoyed the story, and am now considering reading the other 8 stories in Mosley's book, Futureland. This short story definitely has dystopian themes with the overtones of control and centrally regulated employment and social status. Additionally the hint at massive corporations which control entire countries provides some insight into the economic status quo. I also thought it was interesting how Mosley weaved in elements of cyberpunk, with the high tech setting and the low life scene which you aptly described as somewhat 'weird'.

I interpreted the ending as somewhat of a commentary on human nature, and saw it as Mosley saying that conflict and separation will always be a part of society. I also found irony in the ending linein that even though the world 'had started over', it is still bound by the same plethora of social issues that existed in its former state.

Blog Group D, Erik

At first glace, I was like, "Oh no... This is like 431,532,564 pages long..." but when it was over I wanted more. It seems like the classic plague thriller movies I've seen done a hundred times over, but it was awesome. It got a little weird in the middle, but even then it was speaking to the role of women and prostitution (even hints of pride as well, guys will get that one) in this futuristic society. The end is what really gets me, though, in that after the plague has wiped out everyone who doesn't have at least 12.5% (at least one great-grandparent) of African negro blood in them, the only people left are sub-categories of African civilizations. Whether they're full African or white African or anything in between, they're waging war as if it was still the black-white racism that used to exist. What do you guys thing about the ending?

Erik