Fiction Journal Week #2

10.

       The narrator of Feed is Titus; a carefree teen who, like everyone else, is connected to the feed and can't seem to live without it (this is only metaphorical of course). Using Titus is an interesting choice to tell the story though because to me he would not have been my first choice as a narrator. In reality my first choice would obviously have been Violet because she is the one who is always trying to go against the feed in her own way . Even though she is connected to the feed as well she is seeing the error in her ways and rebels by, "trying to create a customer profile that's so screwed, no one can market to it," (Anderson 98). But the problem with Titus narrating is that he is a little too dumb to understand some of her concepts, "I stared at her for a minute...I waited for an explanation. She didn't tell me any more," (Anderson 98). So if we heard the story through Violet's perspective I think we would understand her logic even more. But maybe this was intentional; maybe the author knew that Violet was the obvious choice and decided to go against the grain and rebel in their own way. So does all of this make Titus the wrong choice? Yes. But just because he's the "wrong" it doesn't mean that Titus is a "bad" choice.It is still very interesting to see him slowly transform from a mindless follower into a free thinker. It's intriguing to see this book from the consumer's point of view.

Book Discussion Prep: Week #1

Where in our society can we find similarities to the “feed”?

       The feed is basically a whole bunch of modern day devices shoved into one, computer chip I guess, and then I assume they implant it into or onto their brains. One of the first things we see in the book that the feed does is play advertisements in their heads almost like commercials on a t.v. and they seem to be interrupted and cut off only to change to a new one. So maybe it is like how YouTube has a "skip" button for some of their advertisements and they can skip a certain ad and another one will pop up based on what they listen too. And then this brings me to my next point which is Pandora and maybe the ads or set up in a Pandora system and the feed will guess what you like and don't like. Another sign of Pandora is the music that tells him what's new and songs he likes and doesn't like. Next is a chat room that is on the feed that allows them too talk/text each other in some way. I'm not quite sure how it works though because does it just type what you are thinking to it or do you spell it out? Also how are they seeing the chat? Do they hear it or does a little window pop up that shows the text. Another cool feature that I noticed is that the feed would suggest words that you might be able to use in your sentence when you can't think of the right thing to say. So the feed basically has a Siri built into it also which is actually kinda cool and a bit disturbing. Anyway what I conclude about the feed itself is that is basically like having a lap top or cell phone inside your head that allows you to access all these things without the need of a physical object in your hand.

QUESTIONS:

1:  Open-Ended  :  When the narrator sees the girl at the low gravity place he tries to explain why or what he likes about the girl. When he couldn't figure it out the feed suggested that her spine was "supple". What do you think is the out come of this word suggestion? How much of what they say do think is actually their own words?

       With this word suggestion I think it will lead to people not really having their own original thoughts anymore and I think it also kinda makes them more lazy and less creative because they don't really need to use their brains as much. Kinda like today and how they say that because we don't do as much today our brains are less developed or something like that.

2:  World Connection  :  There is a lot of slang used in Feed that the narrator and his friends say. What similarities do you see in the slang of today and the slang of the future? (what do you think they mean?)

       The similarities that I see are things like unit which is obviously "dude" in the future. But maybe this reflects on how they view themselves as things instead of people (like a unit of measurement). Another is "null" which I have seen it used as "getting high" and also calling something "stupid".....kinda ironic when you think about it.

3:  Universal Theme/Core Question  :  When you first read this book the characters in it seem, to us, to be stupid. Why do you think this is? What do you think the author is trying to say about our generation as well?

       I think it's because as technology becomes better and better eventually we have to do less and less. And we don't have to know as much as we did before hand. We get lazy because technology keeps making it easier to do things and as a result we tend to take less responsibility as well.

Blog #16 - Fiction Journal: Week #1

3.

       Not much has happened so far in what I have read in Feed but I do believe I have enough information to make a good guess as to what will happen next. So the Feed is like having a computer in your head with advertisements and suggestions for songs and other things like that but it is also like a dictionary as well and gives you words or phrases to use when you can't think of it yourself (auto-correct). And when he sees this girl on the moon he seems to try to make his own words or can't even think of words to describe his feelings. He notices that she was looking and him and his friends like they were dumb, because they are, and follows her. He notices that she is wearing wool clothing and not plastic which maybe suggests that she is kinda like the hipster of the future who isn't conforming to the man. So because of this she will protest the feed and I believe that later on when they actually meet she will tell him about how weird the feed is and that it's not normal. And she will show him what its like to not live with the feed and how beautiful the world can be. Then maybe he will see the error of his ways and realize that the feed can actually be very bad for you.

       So basically she pulls a Pocahontas on him and shows him to paint with all the colors of the wind. Haha

Utopia Blog #15

        People often dream of living in a Utopian society no matter what time period you live in because it is a timeless idea that from the outside seems simple enough but in reality can never actually be implemented. You can try to build a Utopia and it may work for a short time but in the end it will always crumble. And it will always fail because when you think of a Utopia you think of a world where everyone is peaceful, without worry, and a world where you don't have to work toward anything because you already have everything you could ever need. But that's the problem right there because in our minds we picture ourselves basically doing nothing and just enjoying the world around us but you can't have a society full of people who do nothing. Someone has to do something in order to keep the society running. There has been and always will be people who are above others which is kind of a harsh thought but it's the truth. Look back at every society that has ever existed in the world and you will find a leader whether it be a single person or group of people. We constantly are looking for someone to look after us because you can't have a community of thousands or even hundreds collectively govern themselves because who would have the final say? Who would decide if something was right or wrong? This idea of leadership also connects to human nature and our constant want for more; to own more, to control more, to have more than others. 

       So how could you try to override this natural instinct? Well there are only a few ways for example to get ride of greed you need to cut out money and material goods. But then arises another problem because wasn't the whole point of our Utopia to basically act like the rich with not a care in the world and everything we ever wanted? So we can't get ride of money because people want too much. Then what do we do? I know we could just give everyone all the same amount of money and then no one person is or has more than anyone else! Yay problem solved...but wait what about jobs in the community? Well there has to be someone who leads, someone who advises the leader, plus there also have to be common jobs like chefs, teachers, even farmers. And then even after that there are people who have to do the jobs no one wants like being a janitor. So I guess it would be a bit unfair to pay someone who grows the food for the community the same as a janitor or even the person who is in charge. Some jobs are more important than others but who's to say? I'm sure a janitor would say that his job is hard but essential because without him who would clean up after everyone else? But the leader of the community would say the same exact thing. The problem is you can't have a world with money but people are too greedy to not have money.
       Then main idea is that you can't have a Utopia because a Utopia is a perfect place but the problem is people aren't perfect and no one is the same and everyone wants different things in life. One persons Utopia could be another persons nightmare. 

What elements about human nature must change for a utopia to thrive?

Everything.

Tragic Tale Blog #14

       The Handmaid's Tale seems to be written in a very pessimistic point of view throughout the entire novel but to me it seems to have a bit of hope in there when talking to the reader which leads me to believe the she did escape, or at least as much as she could, from Gilead. But when referring back to the scientists in the future they mention that she never came out with her story and they speculated that she did so to protect her family which would make sense but there still seems to be something missing from it all. Why take the time to record those tapes and not take them with her? Perhaps she left them for another refuge to come to the safe house she was in, which I'm pretty sure was a safe house, or maybe there was a more tragic tale.
       I do not believe she escaped Gilead, as much as I hope she did, because to me the evidence all points to her not fleeing the country. First lets go back to the observation of Offred not coming out with her story. They do make a good point that she didn't tell anyone to save her loved ones but the thing that had me stumped was that she was already protecting her loved ones in her tapes. She changed most, if not all, of the names in the tapes, except maybe for Luke but that can go either way, in fact she never even gave her daughter a name in the story because she loved her and wanted to protect her the most. So what does this tell us? Well if she took the time to change all of the names then I believe she was actually planning on coming out with the story and changed the names beforehand (she could have also done it just in case she were captured but there's more to it). Because they were just left in that house it must have meant that she either forgot them, which I highly doubt, or she was re-captured by Gilead.
       The house she was staying in was probably a safe house that she was told to wait at until a certain day or until someone came to take her to the next house. But where do the tapes come from? My theory suggests that she came to the house and was told to wait for someone. But there was a problem with the system meaning the person who was supposed to get her was delayed, caught, or dead (basically the same thing) so that left Offred to wait. Deciding after a time that there must have a delay she decided to start her story early so she could get it out right away. Looking through the house she finds a cassette player and decides to use that to record her story and hides the tapes in the military grade locker for safe keeping.
       Why the abrupt ending? Well that's simple. She was captured before she could finish her story about her journey safe house to safe house. The person responsible for taking her to the next safe house was capture and tortured into telling them where she was. They came and took her away never knowing about the tapes she had recorded. And thats how it happened, she was never heard from again and the tapes stayed there for about two-hundred years waiting to be found in that locker.

Historical Notes Blog #13

Questions

1. It takes place at the University of Denay, Nunavit, on June 25, 2195. Who was present? Professor Maryann Cresent Moon, Professor James Darcy Pieixoto. It seems that with the names Native Americans and other Minorities have prospered since the decrease (or loss) of white people.
2. There are two speakers Cresent Moon and Pieixoto but the main speaker is Pieixoto. He talks about Offred's story and its authenticity. He tries to piece together her story with actual people and events but she had changed names of people and was very vague. He is not too impressed by what her tapes reveal but that is understandable because he is a Director at the Twentieth- and Twenty-first-Century Archives at Cambridge University and he is only interested in the facts not someone's personal story.
3. "Problems of Authentication in Reference to The Handmaid's Tale."
4. In a military issue locker, in Bangor, there were tapes, in no particular order, with recordings of Offred's story of her life in Gilead.
5. They say that the superimposition of the voice upon music tape could not have been done within the past hundred and fifty years. Then they cross referenced her information in the story with actual places, people, and events.
6. All official record of her identity would have been destroyed upon her entry into the Rachel and Leah Re-education Center
7. A lot of information was destroyed in the civil wars. And they were stuck between two Commanders alive around that time that both had the name Fred.
8. Because with a book about a Patriarchal society the Professors seem to just toss aside the womans account and instead would prefer the information a male would have.

Forever Strong Blog #12

Option 4

To the next Ofglen who finds this,

       This is my will and I am writing this to you because I have knowledge that is better off in the hands of another handmaid than in no one's hands at all. I know that the Eye's have found out about me because I am a member of "Mayday" an underground organization that devotes itself to freeing handmaids and bringing down Gilead. I have nothing to give you physically, though I wish I did, but I can give you this information. If you talk with someone else whether it be a handmaid or a Martha and they say the word "mayday" then they too are in collaboration with Mayday and have the same beliefs as I do and hopefully you do as well. That is all I can reveal about Mayday to protect the safety of my friends but I can also give you some more help. My, or your, Commander is very demanding and likes to give the women in the house order all the time so suggest you follow what he says because there have been rumors that he has turned Handmaids over to the authorities on false charges when they do not comply. Never look his wife in the eye and stay out of her way. If you do not bother her then she will not bother you; maybe if this were a different time and place I think she could actually be very friendly. I must go I hear the van now. Good Bye Ofglen. Good Luck

Forever strong,                  

Oflgen              

Morning Routine Blog Post #11

Option 1:

Morning Routine

       

       I open my eyes and survey my surroundings and realize I am in my bedroom and everything seems normal...almost. The bed is the same, the sheets are the same, the ceiling, the wall, the furniture, everything was in its place except for one. I look over to my desk and discover a little package. I remove the sheets and walk carefully over to the package and wonder who could have put this there? Why? How? I push the questions aside and open the package; inside was a little note that read, "Rise and Shine", and the next thing I knew I heard a beeping sound. Suddenly the beeping became quicker and quicker so thinking fast I threw the package into the hallway and ran for cover. This was all followed by and thunderous BANG, a bright flash of light, and an annoying ringing in my ears. 

       I ran out of my room only to fall through the floor and into the living room. Gracefully I landed on my feet and look around into the darkness of the room. In that darkness I saw dark figures in fighting stances and sencing that this would lead to trouble I got into a fighting stance as well. Without warning the figures started fighting me; it was then that I noticed the figures were ninjas who were hired to assassinate me. So I began to fight back throwing punches and kick that sent they flying into the walls and through the windows. Just as I thought I was going to win one ninja came out of nowhere weilding a staff and struck me on the head and knocking me out cold..................................... 

Hahahaha Yeah right! The truth is reader that my life is not that exciting at all, sorry for lying to ya, but my real morning routine was hidden in there somewhere. Here is how my morning really went.

       BEEP BEEP BEEP!!!!! I opened my eyes to the startling sound of my deafening alarm clock (sound familiar yet?). I shut off the alarm which had just been out of arms reach and was tempted to chuck it against the wall to rid myself of the horrible device. I remove the sheets from me and shuffled to the bathroom. Remember the hole I fell through before? Yeah well it wasn't exactly a hole because it was more like my fat cat who was hidden by the darkness of the early morning and who was too lazy to get out of my way. So I ended up tripping over my cat and land on the floor, not so gracefully I might add, and groaned in frustration. Once I was finally able to pull myself back up off the floor I arrived at the bathroom and reached for the light. Like and idiot I forgot to close my eyes when I turned on the light and ended up blinding myself in the process. I took my shower and exited the bathroom making sure to step over my cat, who had yet to move from that same spot, and walked to my bedroom. Now back in the darkness, that betrayed me before, I once again could not see where I was going when searching for the lightswitch. The next thing I new I tripped over my backpack, fell, and whacked my head against my desk. (Sigh) I hate the morning.