Blog #22, Fiction Blog #4

Lauren is the narrator to Parable of the Sower. We follow her throughout her experience trying to survive in the horrible world she lives in. I think it is a good thing that we are getting the story right from her. We are able to get all of her thoughts and everything she is feeling right from her. I think what is more important in this book are her thoughts rather than the actions going on around her. The actions going on around her are happening just so we can get more of an idea of who she is as a person. In the book there is a situation where she saved a family's water supply from being taken by robbers. She said she did it mostly because they had a baby. Later, after she saw that family following them around and she offered the family to stay with them as they all went up north. This really showed how she felt toward other people. She tries to see the good in other people.

Blog #23, Discussion Questions Week 4

I feel I learned more about emotions and the feelings of others in this book. Lauren had hyperempathy so she could feel what other people were feeling physically but on the inside she felt a certain way about life and religion that no one else really could share with her. At points she also had a hard time understanding why other people thought the way that they did. She spent a lot of time thinking about the way people think about things. She even went against her dad's way of thinking and came up with her own religion. She was trying to understand why other people did what they did. So a big part of this book to me was about being able to understand other people's way of thinking. Just because someone may think a little differently does not mean their way of thinking is wrong. I think you need to be able to open your mind first and know your way of thinking is not the only way.

What kind of meaning do you think the author is trying to show through the book?

What did you get away from what Lauren was talking about in her journal?

Blog #23, Discussion Questions Week 4

The title Parable of the Sower was a mystery to me at first as to what it meant or what it had to do with the book itself at all. I was wondering why they did not name the book earthseed because that was the title of her journal or her religion. I thought earthseed was what we were reading directly until i had gotten more into the book. I went into some research about what the title could mean and I found that saying was linked with religion and the bible. However I did not think that was a strong enough connection to the book, just relating to religion. So I looked up synonyms of the words and what they really meant in simpler terms. It turned out that it meant the story of the person who plants seeds and I thought that fit much better than earthseed would have. Parable means the story of and this book is the story of Lauren on her journey. Sower means a person who plants seeds which is a good description of Lauren in a way. Lauren is the person who plants seeds but the seeds in this case are ideas she has and she is planting them in other people.

Blog #23, Discussion Questions Week 4

If I was able to bring Lauren to school or to my home for a day she may feel very relieved, but at the same time she would be on edge the whole time. Lauren is living a very stressed life because she has next to nothing in comparison to what I live with and take for granted every day. In my world there is crime that happens similar to what happens around Lauren. It does not however happen at such an extreme rate. Unlike Lauren it is not happening all around me and I do not have to be worried about it all of the time. Also people do not have to pay the police upfront for solving a crime so there are less criminals here. So I think if I brought her to school or my home she would always feel a little on edge. She may wonder why there is not a wall around where I live protecting me at all times or she may think I'm a little crazy for going where ever I feel like without fear of being killed or robbed. She would be happy though that I am able to go to school everyday to get a real education instead of learning martial arts or how to use a gun.

Book Discussion Prep: Week #3

I think the epigrams opening each of the chapters is a great idea for this kind of book. The epigrams let us a little bit into what Lauren is thinking about just before the chapter by giving us small clues. They are very short sentences, sometimes one word or two words. The are very vague by themselves, but when they are in with the story they are specific to what she is talking about. For example, if something is going to dramatically change she will usually end the epigrams with "God is Change" because that is how she copes with all of the consent change. Most of the time she is stuck with her own thoughts and her only way to express herself and get her thoughts out is writing. I think writing is a good exercise for organizing your thoughts.  It helps to put them down so you can kind of see what direction they are going in.  I think for this story they help Lauren to just express what she is feeling. She doesn’t have anyone she can really talk to or trust and it helps her so that she doesn’t need to keep it bottled inside.  She is also starting her own religion so I think for documentation purposes it’s important that she writes down her thoughts and feelings. That is why she is writing Earthseed. She says that's the only thing she can do.

How do you feel about Keith when it comes to what he did to his family?

Why do the boys need to prove themselves to be men?

Do you think Lauren will make it by herself?

Blog #20 - Fiction Journal: Week #3

It has been hard to tell what is going to happen because just as I think one thing is going to happen the story has a new twist or turn and takes a whole new path. Some characters have been leaving and others have been dying. One character, Keith started to come around then he died. The father just disappeared without a trace. One family left to live somewhere else in the hopes of making more money so they wouldn't be homeless and poor. The community Lauren once lived in is changing very fast. She thought that the community or her world she lived in was going to come down all at once but it is coming apart very slowly. I think this is going to cause internal problems for Lauren. She already wants to leave the community to find some place better and I think these little things will hit her all at once and push her over the edge to leave. She is ready to go and I think she has the mind set to leave. I don't know is she will have a plan for when she leaves. This seems to frighten her the most and is what is holding her back and keeping her from leaving. I know she will leave at some point i'm just not sure what will push her. After she gets out I'm not sure if she'll be with other people or by herself but she will be scared at first it will be hard but she will find some way to survive. Once she begins to get on her feet she will start to teach other people. While she is doing that she will be telling people about what she believes in. Teaching them about Earthseed.

Book Discussion Prep: Week #2

I feel that Lauren keeps saying 'God is Change' because Lauren's God is not strict or rigid. He or she doesn’t have to stay a certain way forever just like people do not stay the same forever. She believes people change all the time throughout their life and whatever God they believe in must do the same as well. One God is not made for everyone because everyone is different and they can not all follow the same rules. Much like a utopian community, it is different for everyone.  So I feel that when she says God is change she means God can change. Whatever 'God' is to someone it will always be right because it is right to that person. She does not want to be judged because her God might be different from someone elses and she thinks god should not judge someone because they are different.

What do you think she means when she says God is Change?

Is it a good thing that Lauren is preparing for people to attack their community? Why won’t other people prepare?

What do you think it meant when Lauren’s dad said their guns would be the only things that would save them?

Blog #18 - Fiction Journal: Week #2

Lauren is starting to act different after Amy Dunn is killed. Amy was killed by a random shot that came through the wall. Lauren starts to talk to her friend Joanne about how people should prepare for the end. She says people will come over the walls at some point to take over their community and steal all of their things. She was sounding a little crazy in how she was explaining herself, but what she was saying made a lot of sense. When she suggested “I think we should make emergency packs---grab and run packs---in case we have to get out of here in a hurry”(58) As she is telling her friend Joanne this  Joanne is just getting more and more freaked out when the book said “She looked uncomfortable. I’m still not sure we can really do anything”(59) Instead of being supportive and realizing that it is better to expect the worse and hope for the best she blows off all of what Lauren was saying. I think she was acting this way because she is afraid for her friend, Lauren, but she is also very afraid that what Lauren is saying is the truth and she wouldn’t know how to handle the situation if it happened. I think it is very difficult for people to force themselves to think about worst case scenarios.  The fact that they are hard to think about it also makes it very difficult to prepare for them.  People find it much easier to think that things will work out and everything will be fine.  

Book Discussion Prep: Week #1

Parable of the sower has a type of world with no real governing power. They explain that somehow the world has essentially come to an end. There is not much left in the world, resources are scarce and some supplies are low. Crime is very high where they live because no one really enforces any laws. It has gotten so bad that they have built up a huge wall around their community so they can live in a safe area. They leave one time and talk about all the poor people, drunks, druggies, rapes, murders and even a headless person just laying on the ground. They have to travel in big groups and carry shotguns everywhere they go so people will not try to murder them and steal their things.

How is the main characters problem of not being able to talk to her father about important topics so relatable to kids in the real world?

There are a lot of kids that are still unable to talk to their parents about topics that might mean a lot to them.

How old is the main character?

How do you feel about the parents spending money and putting lives in danger to have their kids baptized? I feel they should have asked the kids what they thought about it first and then the kids that wanted it done would have to have it done inside the walls where it was safe. 

Blog #6 - Fiction Journal: Week #1

The main character in The Parable of the Sower, has the problem of living in a community with a lot of religious people but she does not believe in the same things as all of them. She talks about the time she goes outside of the walls of her gated community to be baptized. When she is doing that she also explains what she believes. She says she believes in something but she has not said what yet. Almost like she thinks there is a higher power of some kind but it does not have the same name as everyone else's god. She does not understand why they are having some adults and kids leave the walls and risking their lives to be baptized. She talks about how a lot of the parents are willing to spend money, that none of them really have, on good water that they are not going to even drink. The problem gets bigger when she is unable to talk to her father about her feelings because she is too afraid of what he might think or say, so she ends up going along to be baptized. I agree with the girl about the baptisms. If they really wanted to baptize kids the kids should be asked first if they are old enough to understand and then take the ones that want to be baptized and just do it in someone's house. It should mean all the same no matter where it's done. Her father should be understanding enough to let her talk to him about this kind of thing.

Blog assignment 15

I do not think a utopian community can thrive long term for a number of reasons. A utopian community is a different idea to everyone. If you asked 100 people what a utopian community was to them you would get 100 different answers. A utopian community can only be made up of people that are happy doing whatever it is they are doing. People working in a an office would have to be happy working in an office and the people digging holes would have to be happy digging holes. It would be nearly impossible to find that many people happy with their jobs in all different types of fields. Money would also have to be taken out all together because when people don't have enough money they are unhappy. It would also be nearly impossible to get people to agree on what would be "enough" money. We would have to make it seem like everyone has enough money all the time so they won't have to worry about anything. A utopian community can only work if made up by people that all think alike and are willing to work together. On the other hand it could also be made up by people who are opposite because opposites are known to attract. For example you may have a leader and a follower in a group and that would balance it out, but to put two leaders or two followers in a group would cause tension. It would be so hard to get any amount of people that think the same or in such a way that problems do not come up. I do not think any amount of change in today's society will make a utopian community. Someone will always want something different or won't agree with what the majority is doing. People also can not work in large groups without a head or a leader but a utopian community can not have a leader because someone will either not agree with them or try to take them over. Also, if you have one person in power there is a very high likeliness that they may abuse their position of power. They would use it to benefit themselves.  With whoever would be in power there is a very high chance of them abusing their power to only benefit themselves. That will cause problems and ruin the utopian society. Personally I don't think a utopian society can exist.  At the very most it would be a group of people, with similar likes, living a very simple life. Another hurdle to get over when making a utopian community is crime and punishment. Sooner or later somebody is going to do something wrong. The people as a whole would have to decide what should be done to punish the crime.  The problem again is getting a group of people, small or large, to agree how severe the crime was, and how severe the punishment should be.  The are too many combinations of factors that would play a part in this and make it practically impossible to be agreed upon.  I think several small groups can live as a utopian society, but for the most part a large group would more than likely never really achieve utopia.

Blog assignment 14

At the end of The Handmaid's Tale, before the historical notes, the story leaves us not knowing the complete story. It ends with Offred being taken away by Nick and two Eyes that may or may not be a part of the network. At that point we are left wondering a number of things and wanting more. This is good however, it keeps it interesting. The historical notes gives us some information on what happened after she was taken away. We end up having to put a lot of the story together ourselves, using both the handmaids tale and the historical notes. I believe that Nick and the two Eyes were a part of the network and took Offred to a safe house. From there she was probably hidden and taken from house to house in basements or addicts and she happened to find a recorder along the way. Whenever she found time she recorded her story on cassettes. Just before the border to freedom she got busted and left the cassettes behind in a footlocker. It just seems like another example of someone breaking the rules and being brought down by the man so close to freedom.

Blog assignment 13

I felt the ending of The Handmaid's Tale was very well put together. It made me continue to think more about the ideas and topics of the book after I finished reading. The Handmaid's Tale itself did not have an ending that summed up everything. It did not answer all of the questions I wanted it to answer and I know that was probably for the better. The Handmaid's Tale ended with Offred being taken away by two eyes that may or may not have been in the Network. The historical notes ended with us questioning what part of the story was true. Overall the ending to this book was definitely done right.

Blog assignment 12

To Whom it may concern,

If you are reading this it means I have decided to end my life.  I saw that my fate was in my hands and there was nothing I could do to change it. I did this to save us all from further pain. First, do not be sad.  Do not mourn me and do not miss me.  I am happy with what I have done with my life.  I have served my purpose.  Our world has become a very messed up place with a lot of injustice, but I have done all that I've could before my time has come and I need you to continue and to carry on my work. I belonged to a group called mayday.  We fought against the injustice of the Republic of Gilead because we believe what they stand for is wrong. I do not leave behind much for anyone because as you know we can not have any possessions. All I can leave you is the benefit of what I know. Stay strong.  Keep your head down.  Don't forget where it is that you came from.  Although it may seem really bleak and very difficult at times you need to keep moving forward in the hope and belief that you can make a difference and that maybe things can change for the better.  

Blog assignment 11

I love to go for hikes or walks deep in any wooded and rural areas with my family and friends to take nature pictures. I distinctly remember this one time I went out with my friend to get pictures just as the sun was going down because that is the perfect time to get pictures. The day started out really well. I picked her up and we drove to the park to start our walk. The weather was really nice, it was warm with a bit of a breeze. It was an easy short walk before the view got really nice. We were taking pictures of everything from little bugs and birds to the trees with extremely green leaves. Everything was so alive and beautiful. Not only was the day picture perfect, but it was crisp and clear. We accidentally walked up on a small creek just as the sun was hitting it so perfectly. We were taking a few pictures and suddenly across the way we spotted a deer and surprisingly enough it did not even run from us. Almost as if it was posing for its picture. At least that's what I would like to tell you happened this day. Unfortunately this was just the opposite and it was a very unlucky day for us. I was running a little late to pick up my friend and when I arrived she was more than a little annoyed with me.  She finally got over it and we arrived at the park.  Just as we got there the clouds started to set in and the day was fast becoming dark.  We were very worried about our equipment and rain so we hurried around taking as many pictures as possible.  The setting was less than ideal as it was early spring and things were still dull and dark.  Not quite the color we were hoping for.  It was at this time when the deer appeared, but as my luck was going, in my rush I had missed grabbing my wide angle lens and the shot was very hard to get.  

Blog assignment 10

I read pages 267 to 281. In chapter 42 Offred talks about an execution that is about to take place. Two handmaids and even a commander's wife are being hung for a crime, but we're not sure what the crime is. Apparently this has become a rare occasion to hang handmaids and especially wives because Offred says "Slavagings are not frequent. There is less need for them. These days we are so well behaved." and this had gotten me thinking of what the Republic of Gilead has done to these women. The Republic of Gilead will execute people for things even as small as talking against them. So I saw that sentence as just how much control they have over the people, especially the women. The Republic of Gilead has struck so much fear in everyone that nobody tries to fight them anymore, even with words.

Blog assignment 9

I read pages 251 to 263 of The Handmaid's Tale and in these few pages there were some very interesting things that happened. One of the things that really stuck out to me was the fact that Offred was, in a way, forced to have sex with two different people. One of them was the commander at the prostitute house and the other was Nick, just another worker, at the commanders house because Serena Joy basically told her to. Offred technically could have said no to them but at the same time she really could not have said no. I started to think more about her relationships with all of these people and thought about how she is the side women in many different ways. Before the Republic of Gilead took over Offred was the other women to a guy named Luke and ended up stealing him from his wife. Now that she is working for the commander as a handmaid they should not have any kind of relationship, however he is having her come to a secret room quite often without Serena Joy knowing. Most recently Serena Joy told Offred that she should have sex with Nick because she wants Offred to get pregnant as soon as possible. That in a way is Serena Joy cheating on the commander.

Blog assignment 8

In chapter 38 of The Handmaid's Tale we learn that Moira has tried to escape from the red center a few times in the past. One time she was really successful and managed to make it very far away from the Red Center, but just as it seems she was going get over the border and get away with escaping there is a problem and she gets busted. The Eyes beat her and tortured her. They tell her that she can not go back to the Red Center because basically she was too much of a problem so they gave her an option to either go off to a place called the colonies or work at a place called Jezebel's as prostitute for the commanders that come in. The Eyes also show her a video of what the colonies are like. They are places where they send unwanted or unneeded women to clean up dead bodies after battles and clean up poisonous radioactive chemicals without any kind of protection which means they will likely die in only a few years. So Moira chooses to be taken to Jezebel's to work as a prostitute for the rest of her life. She makes up these weird reasons for why she thinks that Jezebel's is a better place to work, like the women live a little longer in there, the food is not that bad and they give hand lotion to the women working there. I feel that Moira represents the people who stand up for what they truly believe in or for what they believe is morally right.  She is rebelling against the power that is trying to suppress her. She stands up for what she really believes to be good not only for her but for all woman and all humans and does not back down for a long time even when she is being beaten as punishment. I think what Margaret Atwood is trying to tell the reader is that even somebody who really fights for what they believe can be broken down.  Moira had her spirit broken and she gave in and worked at the prostitute house for the commanders and actually said it wasn't a bad place.  It may have been better than the alternative of working in the colonies, but not by much.  In my opinion she was still fighting to go on otherwise she would have opted for the colonies and wanted to die sooner.

Blog assignment 7

When Offred learns the meaning of the Latin phrase in her cupboard, what else does she learn? As readers, how do you feel about these moments of revelation? Are you shocked? Disappointed? Excited? Something else?

Kevin Leese, Kurt Holtzer

We talked about what the Latin phrase "Nolite te bastardes carborundorum" and what it had to do with the rest of the book as a whole. We came to the conclusion that she learned that he has had other women in the special room before so she is not very different or special herself he is just using her. I felt it was kind of exciting to learn all of these different things about the commander. The fact the the commander has done this to other handmaid's is interesting. It is almost like he is really just not happy with his wife anymore and he is almost bored with her and by bringing different handmaid's to his special room brings him excitement and happiness

Blog assignment 6

In chapter 27 of The Handmaid's Tale an interesting topic up that is introduced but a place called Soul Scrolls. Soul Scrolls is a place where you can order a prayer either for health, wealth, a death, a birth, and a sin. Nobody works at the stores there but when you order a prayer you do it by putting a number in a machine for which one you want. Then the machine will print it out again and again and even read it to you if you want it to. When they first started talking about these machines I started to think it was a little funny because that is the way some Christians act now and even back then. I feel like it was a big metaphor for people like that. The wives are the extreme version of people why act Christian but do not fully care about it or do not follow everything they should. First, the wives only order a pray or more when they need something for thyself or if they just need to make their husband look better. They do not do it all the time just because it is good thing to do. Second, when they do decide to pray they do not even really do it them self. They just push a few numbers into a machine and then sit back as the machine does all the work. They do not even need to read them because the machine can do that for them too. I feel like most of them just pretend to be Christian and this is one of things they just do so they can technically still call themselves Christians.

Favorite Character 5

One of my favorite characters in The Handmaids Tale would have to be Offred’s best friend from college, Moira, because she is just so different from everyone else in the book. She is not like the other women who all seem to have given in and have accepted that they are just going to be handmaids until they either have a baby or are considered unwomen and sent away to die. Moira is very strong, determined and overall defiant against the authority trying to control her. She very strongly sticks to what she believes in and will not let anyone keep her down. She tries to escape on many different occasions and even though they stop her and beat her until she can not walk she does not give up and will not be suppressed by the government. As characters in the book go, she is the complete opposite of most. She just wants to be free to do what she wants. Maybe she’s just a rule breaker or maybe she knows what they are doing is wrong and wants to stop it. Maybe it is just a little bit of both. Either way she is a very important character in the book. She represents a lot of important things that maybe more people need to realize like no matter how bad it gets you must stand up for yourself in any way, shape or form.  My least favorite character in the book would have to be almost anyone else. All of them kind of blend in with each other. If they are not conforming to what the government is making them do and staying in line they are the government making other people stay in line. But if I had to choose one character that I liked the least It would have to be Serena Joy. Even before the government took over she was not the best person. She would talk in front of big audiences about the idea that women should be home all the time taking care of their husbands and their families. She may have her problems now, but she still shouldn't act the way she does.

Hope 4

I find chapter eighteen in this story very interesting because it really talks about the idea of what the feeling of hope can do for a person. Offred is in a really horrible situation where all of her loved ones, and even her child, have been taken away. She is forced to work for a commander and basically be a baby machine for him and his wife. Offred is having a really hard time living in a situation like this, but through it all she does not kill herself to take away the pain. She spends a lot of time thinking about a man named Nick who turns out to be her husband before the government took over and separated them. She tries to think about his face what kind of clothes he was wearing and little things he did that would make her happy. She also thinks about her child she had with Nick that also got taken away from her when the government took over. I would think that thinking about these things all of the time would drive me crazy, knowing I will probably never see them again. Thoughts like that might cause me to loose hope in life and kill myself. However, somehow Offred creates stories about what happens to Nick even though she does not know for sure. She thinks these things and tells herself these stories so many times she forces herself to believe these things happened and that makes her feel a little bit better about the situation. The stories she makes up are about Nick and that he has either been killed and is laying in a ditch somewhere being left to die or other stories that he had got away and is running free and getting help from many people. Any way the outcome of the story is, by Offred making things up like this she is keeping herself sane. It seems like she had no closure with him because she does not know what happened to him after he was taken away. It gives her something to think about plus it gives her hope that her family is not dead.

Beauty Products 3

If all beauty and health care products were taken away at this moment I would be very lost trying to think of what I should use to keep clean. Just the thought of not being able to clean myself would drive me crazy. The three products I would miss the most would be tooth paste, shampoo and deodorant. The very first thing I do in the morning is brush my teeth and I can not do without that. I heard however if you take the peal of a banana and rub the inside of it on your teeth it will take off plaque and even whiten your teeth as well. Another thing I could use instead of tooth paste would be baking soda and water. As for trying to make my breath smell better I would chew on some mint leaves or something like that. Now if the government was keeping me from taking a shower or a bath like in The Handmaid's Tale I do not know what I would do to keep clean. For my hair I would probably want to cut or really shave most of it off just so it does not start to feel greasy. Not having anything to clean my face would be a problem too. I am always cleaning my face with soap and water. Sometimes I also use products that are used to keep acne away. To keep that from happening I would have to learn to not touch my face as much to keep grease off of it. I think taking all health care and beauty products away would really change how people looked at each other and how they cared about how they looked. When the Republic of Gilead decided to take all health care and beauty products away from the women I think their intention was to make those women physically unappealing so no man would become attracted to them and really want them. The Republic of Gilead wanted to make sure these women were looked at almost as just workers or machines. Atwood might be trying to say that the beauty industry is putting too much pressure on people. That we as a society are willing to try almost anything to look beautiful.

Blog assignment 2

Offred was given an option by the doctor that would change her life either for the better or for the worse. He said he could try to impregnate her, instead of the commander, so she did not have to keep living the way she was. This was a huge risk however, horrible things would happen to her if she got caught and they found out it was not the commanders baby. She was afraid that she would get caught so she made the decision to not let the doctor impregnate her. I am not completely sure if Offred did not let him do it because she was afraid of punishment or if she still thought she could get pregnant from the commander but I think she made the right decision in this case. I would not have let him try something like that either. I think the risk vs reward was not in Offreds favor at this time. I would still hold on to the hope that I could get out of my situation in a way with no risk. Only in a very last minute, hopeless situation would I try something like that and it was not Offreds time to give up.

Blog Assignment 1

I have never really thought about my name being connected with my identity at all, but I never thought about my name being taking away. If my name was taken away by the government and replaced with anything else I would feel like a small part me was taken away.

Kind of disorganized but
Efficient.
Very quite
Indecisive
Nonconformist