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Almost there...

I’m really mad I didn't start writing this paper earlier. I’ve been working on this paper all day today, and I’m basically almost done. This was a lot easier to do once I focused and tried to get it done. I had a hard time with the abstracts, but after I was done summarizing, I had an interesting time annotating because I found some things I didn’t realize before and I actually creeped myself out. I’m so glad to almost be done, just need to write this general introduction! Yay!

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My process of writing has been a struggle. I keep looking through my criticisms, but I’m having a hard time beginning to write. Once I start writing the abstracts I know I’ll do fine. I’m just thinking too much about the whole project in general and I should just focus on the process so that it doesn't seem like I have as much to do. I can't wait to be done writing because this project has been stressing me out on too many levels.

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Reading the Work 7

After reading the work, I wanted to watch the movie to see if it worked out. It was honestly one of the best text to film presentation I have seen. The narrative voices were very interesting in the movie, and I loved the music since it worked out beautifully. The scene where the Lisbon girls and the obsessive boys were speaking to each other with music was one of the best scenes, and I could really see a connection. 

Before I read the book, I knew that all the girls would end up committing suicide, but I didn't think all of the girls would do it at the same time. The ending was pretty sudden to me, but I actually enjoyed how the boys ended it. No one seemed to care except for them, and although I didn't think I liked the boy narrators, I ended up really liking them in the end. They were the only ones who ever tried to understand.

[ash-andrews]

Reading the Work 6

file:///Users/ashleyandrews1/Downloads/newspaper.webarchive

Another event that Euginides covered was the graveyard workers strike. It was an awful time for the family, since a lot of deaths occurred yet no one could be buried until the workers ended the strike. As said in this article, the bodies were stored in a different area until the strike ended. I didn't realize how harsh it was that the workers were protesting in the graveyard until I watched the movie. The family had to bury their daughter, but they had to go through protesters first.

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Reading the Work 5

I thought there was a strong theme of nature in the book, which sounds weird, but there was an importance of the trees. The girls guarded “Cecelia’s” tree from getting cut down, and even though the one tree was killing all the others, they couldn’t cut it down because of the girls. 

I thought the symbolism could be the families impact on the community. All of the events that occurred in the household was harming the rest of the community too. However many people didn't seem to care, and just made fun of the girls for committing suicide, so maybe the trees dying were a way of saying “f- you!”.

Also, this was near the time of the Dutch Elm disease in Detroit, where the city changed from the city of trees, to just a sad area that used to be full of life. 

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Picture @ the Oakland Library

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Reading the Work 4

There was a large transition after the girls were allowed to go to the dance with a group of boys. Lux, was the one who transitioned the most. After her date left her in the field, and she didn't make it home in time, the girls were under lockdown and Lux had to get rid of all of her prize possessions, her records. Lux began having boys on the roof since the house was in complete lockdown. I think this was definitely another turning point after Cecelia’s death, that truly drove the girls over the edge. 

This turning point for the book gave a better idea on what the girls were going through. Before this, I feel like the reader still didn't have a great idea on what the girls were going through, and why Cecelia made her decision.

[ash-andrews]

Reading the Work 3

The narrative voices bother me in this book. The narrative voices are 4 boys who are completely infatuated with the girls, and its pretty creepy. They memorize Cecelia’s diary,  follow the girls, watch them through their windows, subscribe to the same magazines as them to imagine traveling with them, and they know a lot about the girls family. The boys are the only people that “understand” or even take the time to try and understand them, rather than everyone else who just judges the family. I guess the relationship that the girls have with the boys are good, but I still feel like the boys were over infatuated. 

[ash-andrews]

Reading the Work 2

I’m a little bit behind on my posts, although I’m finished with the book. We’re introduced to the sisters Cecilia - 13, Lux - 14, Bonnie - 15, Mary - 16, and Therese - 17. Their parents must be pretty insane, having children one after the other as soon as possible, and it’s crazy that they all happened to be girls. 

I find it pretty interesting that eugenidies starts off the book immediately with the suicide of the youngest girl, Cecilia, even though she wasn't successful the first time. I thought the most interesting quote of the first chapter was “What are you doing here, honey? You’re not even old enough to know how bad life gets.” “Obviously Doctor, you’ve never been a thirteen-year-old girl.” We never even figure out what the problem with the girls was, so why are their lives so bad?

[ash-andrews]

Picking the work

I thought I finished these but apparently I didn't sorry.... 

When I looked at the cover, I saw many conflicting things. There are multiple girls on the cover, it looks like there are more girls than just the sisters. Also, the setting is meant to be set in Detroit, but the area that the girls are in doesn't look like it would be anywhere near Detroit. I was still interested to read, and I thought that the conflicts made the book more intriguing.  

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The book was really hard to get into at first, but I'm happy to say that I am understanding what is going on now. Tayo is a really interesting character, how he seems really confused and depressed. I feel like ever other sentence is "he cried". Also, after reading Silkos article today, I'm understanding a lot more of this storytelling theme. Tayo is telling a story which is why he must call himself "he" rather than "I'. I actually find this really intriguing, and even though I do get confused at times, I do really enjoy what I am reading for the most part.

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Ceremony

The book was pretty hard to get into. Honestly, I read page 6 several times and I couldn't get myself to read more. I got there eventually. When has been giving me a lot of confusion is how Silko uses the word “he”. She either says “Tayo” or “he” and I’m having a hard time depicting who is who. When another character is brought up, the pronoun he is still used so I kinda get lost every once in a while. Also, these poems that randomly show up have been confusing me a bit. It takes me a lot longer to completely understand poems, so the book is pretty hard for me to completely understand. Its starting to get pretty interesting though so I’m ready to move on.

[ash-andrews]

??

The ending of the book really surprised everyone, since none of us were able to get closure with the book. There wasn't a “happy, everything is perfect” ending, because we will never know what actually happens. Honestly, I wish Offred wasn't the character we had to focus on. Why couldn't the story have had more focus on the rebellion? We had to read about women fighting each other than the real battle, and with the main character not standing up for anything, and trying not to cause commotion when she should have been. I just dont understand why we had to follow someone who wasn't going to stand up for anything. 

[ash-andrews]

I’m a bit confused because I swear I posted about the wives before break but apparently it didn’t work... 

Anyways, I don’t see how the wives serve a purpose at all in the community. The women have some sort of power, but only because of their husbands. Other than that, they have no right to say they possess more power than any of the other women. They have kind of a “stay at home” mom position. Not saying that stay at home mom’s dont do anything, but compared to the other women in Gilead, they dont deserve the “power” they have. The wives are just there to be controlled by their husband.

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The discussion today seemed to get a little bit heated because of the aunts “responsibilities”. The aunts could avoid the punishments and rebel, but they said it wad because they want to survive. Like I said in my last post, Atwood purposefully placed the women in different groups so they would concentrate on how much power each group has, and not the men. The aunts have the power, and they want to stay there rather than helping other women. All of the other women are only focusing on having more power, or to be treated better. If all the women would have worked together to fight rather than worry about their own power, the rebellion would be stronger.

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Throughout the book, we can tell that Atwood is trying to pull women apart. All of the women hate each other, and want more power over each other to prove that they are better, and cover up the jealousy they have for one another. Every women wants to be like a handmaid, to have the ability to have children, but they don’t necessarily want to be a handmaid. Why are all of the women fighting against each other when they should be working together to have power over the men? Atwood must want to show what is happening in our society today. Women are constantly degrading each other, to make themselves feel better. We are all working against each other, when we should be working together. 

[ash-andrews]

Women are too competitive

   Women are constantly competing against each other, whether it be academics, looks, or even men. Martha’s believe that they are better than the handmaids, but I believe that they are just telling themselves that because they are upset that they cannot bear children. Without the handmaids, the Martha’s are basically worthless. Jealously fills the Martha’s, which is why they have so much hatred for the handmaids. That is similar to how women are now. When women are filled with jealousy, they tend to treat other women harshly (aka how everyone keeps insulting models...). Today, women are still extremely judgmental, but don’t like to admit it. Especially in school, women are always diminishing other women, but why do we do that? Why must we always diminish other women when we should be working together to gain more power in our community? Atwood shows this, because every group of women seem to hate each other, but they should be working together to take over the men.