James Stearns

[jstearns-blog]

The Annotations

This part of the paper was my favorite. I got to pick the areas i wanted to annotate. I wrote my thoughts about the areas picked. Then expanded upon them and the possible messages, lessons, morals, criticisms, etc, that could be extracted from each passage. I did struggle with the 30 lines restriction. Might have passed it by a bit. My book had a ton of great moments that took up a page or two to really understand. So I had to pick carefully. 

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The Intro

The Genera; Introduction was by far the hardest part. I hit a writer’s block during this part of the essay. Struggling to find the right information to use. So i vomited words until they seemed to flow somewhat like a river. 

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The Writing

The criticism and literature was definitely my second favorite part of the entire paper. It was enjoyable, looking at the information and view of a critical author, and the critical lens they used. Then adding my input, how it differs, the critical lens that can attribute to and so on. 

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Ending of the book First and Second Time

The ending of the book the first time was quite nice but still a little sad. Mandella settles down on a planet far from earth to escape the alien world it has become to him after so long away from it. He has his wife to spend the rest of his wife with though. 

The second time was a little more satisfying though. As through the articles, I was able to identify the human behavior that Mandella has “lost” at this point. A point made by Haldeman to show Mandella’s lost of bloodlust. While also pointing out the child that Mandella has is a fair boy. Another jab at the capabilities of women, that Haldeman throws in every now and then throughout the novel. 

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The article that presents the isolationism/alienation aspects is by far my favorite article. While re-reading the book, I found myself relating the Mandella and his struggle more and more. As when the reader finally arrives to the final fight, where Mandella pops a pill to suppress his feelings, I feel as though this action alienates his feelings from his wife. Who is sitting right beside him doing the same exact thing. It really is sad

[jstearns-blog]

Re-Reading

After annotating and reading through the criticisms of “The Forever War”, I found my take on the entire message sent from the book to be different. The most impact was held from the Feminism/Sexism article. The author of the article explained the mistreatment that I ashamedly admit to missing throughout the reading. Things such as: The portrayal of female officers as inferior leaders, female soldiers as inferior pawns, and the male officers as the smart cognitive minded individuals. 

[jstearns-blog]

Now the soldiers are close to finishing up their training. The job of these soldiers are to set up bridges at special points in space. The special points in space are planets that contain bends in space. Allowing for instantaneous travel across unimaginable amounts of distance. These elite soldiers were recruited during the 1996 Elite conscription act. The act enables humanity to claim the smartest and strongest to create the most elite army in warfare history. Our story takes place with the Stringer team. 50 men and 50 woman all with an IQ over 150. Sent out to fight the Tuaran menace. The main character says that their government has not told them everything necessary except to go out and kill. There are many connections between the war that has been going on between the Humans and Taurans. Not only the actual war time effort, but the aspects of home. The different changes that were made to return to.

[jstearns-blog]

The book starts off very confusing. On purpose for sure. This is one of those books where you learn about everything going on over time. No background is given at the beginning, which is kind of wonderful. This reminds me a lot of the new Sci Fi series I am watching on Netflix, Lost in Space. The main Character so far is named Private Mandella. We only know the last name and his rank. It is explained that Mandella is training to go off to war. The training session we jump in is the “How to kill a someone silently in eight different ways”. Everyone in the room is bored as expected, since the reality of the situation makes the video pointless. As we read on it is explained that these soldiers are no ordinary soldiers. That they are actually super soldiers of sorts. Not that they are any different from other humans, it is that they are naturally smarter, faster, stronger, etc. The best of the best taken for service.

[jstearns-blog]

During my searches for a book, I narrowed down my options from about 100 books to exactly two. The two books being The Martian by Andy Weir, and The Forever War by Joe Haldeman. It was a tough decision between the two. Here is why.

The interest shown in both is from a science fiction point of view. I am totally into the sci fi world, wholeheartedly. I feel as though I am looking at my potential future when I read these books. A world that I can help create from going into an engineering field. Given my extensive love for science, I enjoy reading about the new technologies in Sci Fi books and trying to figure out how the technology may realistically work. The books feel innovative to me.

The Final decision came down to the criticisms provided by each book. This eliminated a lot of books to begin with. I needed to find a book that was known and not exactly new. The Martian is relatively new compared to the other books in my selection. The age needed definitely helped narrow down my selection. There were many different books to choose from, within many different genres. In the end Sci Fi definitely was the right choice. As it greatly interests me. The Forever War however stood out to me. The book is extremely relatable to me more so than The Martian could ever be. I am not opposed to doing extra work for a great read, the determining factor was that The Forever War tells a story about a veteran and that Veteran’s reintroduction to society. Something my parents struggled with after their service.

[jstearns-blog]

Indie Write #1

Throughout my life I used reading as an escape from a hard childhood. The books I read weren’t fantasy though. My escape was through the hardships others described. The struggles that other people faced that relieved me from feeling alone. But past this relief I felt sadness. The problems I read about in books and poems made reflect on my life and the lives of others. I have always looked at poetry and writing in general as a language. This language has been used as a cry for help by many who are not able to speak up. Similar to the way artists pain emotion. Reality is the type of poetry that speaks to me. Poetry that speaks truth and doesn’t hide us from the ugly truths of life. Edgar Allan Poe was a man of truth in his writings. He knew everyone had their own demons. Poe brought this to reality though sorrowful stories. A more modern poet that comes to mind if Prince Era. A man who spares no truth in the concept of global devastation and self destruction. The poetry I enjoy is the kind that shows the true face of life. 

EX:

 In the next 10 to 100 years, every beloved animal character in every children's book is predicted to go extinct. Lions? Gone. Rhinos? Gone. Tiger? Gorilla? Elephant? Polar bear? Gone. In three seconds 

~ Prince Era

 Then this ebony bird beguiling my sad fancy into smiling, By the grave and stern decorum of the countenance it wore. "Though thy crest be shorn and shaven, thou," I said, "art sure no craven, Ghastly grim and ancient Raven wandering from the Nightly shore- Tell me what thy lordly name is on the Night's Plutonian shore!"                Quoth the Raven, "Nevermore." 

~ Edgar Allan Poe