Extra Credit Blog

I decided to read "Debbie Land" by Amy Bender. In this story, a school bully picks on Debbie maliciously. The group of bullies humiliate her and beat her for their own sick amusement. After the bullying, they return home to watch or take part in violent activities, like being a witness to domestic violence or watching Wrestling. Debbie wants to fit in with the kids at school, but winds up wearing "in" clothes from two months ago. This triggers the torment from her peers.

In college, the bully that picked on Debbie gets to know what it feels like to be a muse. The bully enters a relationship, one lasting about a year. This girl was unafraid to show affection in public, was confident, and also normal. This girl did not like having her lover pull strings to control her. While speaking in front of an audience, her lover realizes that they can embarrass her by making her cry. She had a nightmare and cried, therefore making her vulnerable. Her lover seems to take advantage of this, but gets left, my guess is because of the need for control.

The lover and former bully of Debbie then realizes what it feels like to be stringed along and dumped. The bullies elected one of them to make Debbie feel special in school, then torn her down once they knew she was buying into their act. Now the bully was being torn down by their exgirlfriend. While running into Debbie, she questioned her former bully about why they did that to her and she got a phony apology.

This story, to me, represents vulnerability and how some people take advantage of us when we are down. The bully notes that they go looking for people are crying in this world full of possibilities because comforting them means you "own" them. I think this is completely crazy, but true in a way. Some people think that being comforted by someone means you owe them something. But really, if they are comforting you, they should be doing it out of the goodness in their heart and not because they expect anything in return. Unfortunately, the bully (bullies) fail to grow up and are stuck with an immature mentality, while Debbie, or Anne, has moved past the bullies and made something out of herself.

Pam Kawalerski
Extra Credit Blog

Extra Credit: Willful Creatures, Jinx

The short story Jinx by Aimee Bender is about two girls, Cathy and Tina. They are both in high school and good friends. They are walking down the street to a store and talking about their bodies. One point i believe that this story is making is that teen girls are too judgmental some times. They think that they are ugly and are envious of other girls. I think it has to do with all the hormones teen girls have flying around inside of them. I feel that this is less of a problem with guys or at least i haven't noticed much of it in my life. Then at the store they see a cute guy that they know. Tina goes out back with him on his break and leaves Cathy alone. Cathy cannot find her and ends up leaving the store while Tina is kissing the boy. I dont think that Tina wanted to leavy Cathy, but she just forgot about her. Tina ends up calling Cathy and they have an akward conversation and just hang up. This is the end of their good freindship and things will never be the same between the two of them. They both graduated highschool and moved on. I think that this is making a point of the drama and little fights that goes on between teenage girls. I also attribute this to all the hormones they have during their years of puberty. I think this is showing how little stupid things can sometimes ruin friendships, and that you shouldnt let that happen. If they would have just talked it out and been understanding then they could have been friends for many years in the future.

Extra Credit: Aimee Bender, I Will Pick Out Your Ribs

In this short story, Bender writes about a man and his girlfriend, Jane, who constantly is going to the hospital for overdosing on pills. Like all of her other shorts in this book, Bender always has a way with twisting the story between reality and mystery. In every piece of writing, we have found an outcast, and i this case, I would say that the outcast is 1. obviously the girlfriend, but 2. the boyfriend as well. Jane, the girlfriend, really needs help. However, fro my perspective, so does the main character. Normally, if someone was in a situation of repetition and a horrible relationship that went nowhere, one of the people would just up and leave eventually. However, from reading this, it seems as if he is scared to leave, because he loves her, and because he would feel guilty. Like many people, I feel that he is blaming himself, because in all reality he could throw the pills away. I think that mainly, he is afraid of losing her and that he really loves her and just accepts her problems.

As usual, the story ends "weirdly" as he talks about the items in the trunk. I believe that he is reminiscing on the past and how good their relationship used to be. Ultimately, I believe that it wraps up with "I have always been a good student" in reference to being a true gentlemen and standing by his love, no matter what.

Courtney Bisher

Persepolis Movie

In comparison to the book, the movie Persepolis in my opinion had both positive and negative attributes. As we discussed in class, there are several things that can come off as reasons to prefer one over the other. Personally, I am caught in between of liking both the same. As first, i originally preferred the book more because it covered way more detail. However, after the class discussion, there are also several positives that only a movie could show like sound effects, adding voices to characters, visual detail in motion, whereas in the book it was only in square format.

Ultimately, Satrapi's story is intelligently told and shown in both the movie and book. The movie, although missing a few elements and sections, covered her life in great detail allowing the audience to connect, just as they can in reading the book. it was interesting that the movie was also in cartoon format as well as black and white. I believe that these factors added to the "scene" and emotion of the movie.

Overall, Persepolis was a great movie to watch and book to read. In all the works that we have read, we've related them to outcast-hood. One can clearly spot, right from the beginning that Satrapi was an outcast, but she made the best of it, which was inspiring.

Courtney B.

Extra Credit: The Meeting by Aimee Bender

The short story The Meeting by Aimee Bender is about a man who meets a woman that he did not plan on meeting. Bender implies that this man has his entire life planned out. He knows how he is supposed to meet a woman and what characteristics she must fit into in order for him to be attracted to her. Then, his brain will tell him if the woman is right or not for him. However, this particular woman has nothing special about her. She does not fit into any of the characteristics that his brain really wants/specifies. Her hair color, sense of humor, and even the animals that she likes are all wrong. What even turns him off the most is that fact that at the very beginning they did not meet the way he had planned to meet a woman. His brain refuses to change what it wants. He starts to like this woman in some ways but then his brain rejects it. He thinks too highly of himself and disrespects the woman by shooing her away, not listening to her, and laughing at her. He is a very stubborn man but changes this when he slowly starts to let himself like her more and more. The battle between the man and his brain can be compared to someone with a disease and is therefore an outcast. A person with a certain disease will want to do one thing but the mind will tell it to do another. This diseased person becomes an outcast because this is not seen as "normal" in society. In the same way, the man feels some sort of attraction to her. He really wants to like her and get to know her. However, his brain will not let him, therefore he rejects the woman, and refuses to change his ways. The brain wants to be in control but we cannot let one part of our body control the rest. As human beings, we need balance to survive. We also cannot control the future. So why not just go with the flow? Don't try to control every aspect of your life, because it can change in an instant.

Extra Credit: Amiee Bender's The Meeting

After reading Amiee Bender's short story The Meeting I was able to make a clear parallel between its message and one of the messages from The Gilda Stories. To me the point of The Meeting was to show the reader how much your life and the expectations you have for it can change. The man in Bender's story thought he had his future wife all planned out, yet when he met the woman, she didn't fit any of his preconcived notions. She totally changed the way he viewed how he thought he "controlled the world."
This reminded me of the drastic lifestyle changes that Gilda faced numerous times throughout the book. Before she became a vampire she envisoned a completely different life, but in the end she adapted to those changes, just as the man in Bender's story adapted in a way. This story taught me a valuable lesson, we dont control our lives as much as we think we do.

Persepolis Film

I think that the film did a very good job in telling her story. It was very similar to the book but different in a few ways. I liked how they did it in cartoon form. While i was reading the book i was imagining her as she went by and saw her dead friends bracelet and when she heard those girls talking about her in the one restaurant. The imagery i got from the book was a lot like the movie and i liked that. The movie did not go in exact the exact order that the book went in but i liked how it shows her waiting in the airport and flashes back to when she was little. I feel that i was able to follow along with it easy because i had already read the book.

One thing that i did not like was that it was in french and had subtitles. I also thing that Marjane should have used her own voice. With her own voice i think that she would be able to get her actual emotions across to the viewer better. It was very funny when she sang "eye of the tiger". One thing that i found odd was that her grandma papered her breasts so much. She said she puts them in cold water or something to keep them firm and puts flowers in them. I wonder why she took so good care of them when she had to hide her whole body while in public.

Perspolis (Film Version)

As with most movies based on books, parts are left out. Even with these missing parts I still feel that the film version of the book is better than the actual book. It helped me relate to Marjane's feelings when I was able to see them more fluidly in the film. The film still had a detailed account of her life, even missing parts from the graphic novel.

The fact that the film was in French was unique. I usually don't watch foreign films so it was a breath of fresh air, and it made Marjane's story even more special. I really liked not only this movie, but the story as a whole. It was a lesson of perseverance and standing up for one's beliefs in the face of adversity.

Persepolis: The Movie

Like in the graphic novel, the film version of Persepolis depicts Marjane Satrapi as she struggled to grow up and deal with a constant bombardment of philosophies, emotions, culture and religion. At an early age she was told about the revolution and how things should be and why the way things are is wrong and how things used to be. Her father, grandmother, and uncle all filled her mind with these concepts and as Marjane grew up she became outspoken, rebellious, and independent. For lack of a better term, Marjane was a punk. In Austria she became even more independent, having to learn how to take care of herself on her own and find out how to fit in.
Marjane and her grandmother have a very close bond. Her grandmother her some of the best advice for life. Her words are wise and powerful, coming from a person who is free and independent and outspoken like her granddaughter.

Persepolis the movie

I have to admit that I didn't think that I would enjoy reading this book. Reading a comic novel seemed unusual and I do not tend to enjoy books about people telling about their native country. Regardless, my expectations were wrong. This novel was pretty interesting. Satrapi did a great job transferring her emotions to the reader. The illustrations obviously aided in this and so did her own humor. The movie made my decision even more clear that I really enjoyed this novel. The voices and facial expressions of every character helped and succeeded in the transfer of the emotions that Satrapi felt. Of course, many times movies write the movie a little differently than the novel. Therefore, some of the scenes from the novel were left out in the movie. However, some were added. The beginning and some other parts were added. Sometimes when movies do this it ruins the novel because it is so much different. However, for this movie the slight differences added to the overall awesome experience. I liked the fact that the movie looked exactly like the book. It helped add to the experience of reading the novel and helped to understand the pictures better. The only thing that I didn't like was that Satrapi did not narrate the movie as much as I expected. Other than that, there was a lot of humor throughout the movie and I laughed more than I did during the novel; the movement and the facial expressions must have aided to make this happen. The best part was, of course, Satrapi singing "Eye of the Tiger."

-Bethany Davis (Post #11)

Persepolis (Film Version)

When I normally think of movies, I imagine a popular actor playing the role along with other well known actors to fill in the other parts. Instead, Persepolis was animated in 2D and contained a cast that I particularly did not know, besides Marjane Satrapi for the singing part. I'm glad the movie was done that way and I'm glad it was done in French. I wouldn't have guessed that she could speak French so I'm glad that we watched the French language version.

Overall, there were only a few minor parts that were left out from the book. This happens in nearly all the books that are made into movies, but with those minor parts taken away, the movie still made complete sense. There was not any part that confused me, and the animation was incredibly detailed. I especially enjoyed Marjane's thoughts about her ex boyfriend that cheated on her - that part was hilarious! I really like how more detailed everything was from the book.

Pam Kawalerski
Post #12

Persepolis Movie

I enjoyed the Persepolis movie that we watched this week in class and it did a pretty good job correlating to the movie. The movie was almost exactly the same as the book, but a little more detailed. They kept the same art style for all the characters and scenery with the black and white which made it really similar to the book. Although the movie was only in 2D and black and white it was still well animated and enjoyable.

I found that the movie left out many parts of the book or details that were in the book. I guess this is like all movies that are based on books, but I would have liked to seen the movie have more scenes from the book. This was unlike any other movie based on a book that I have seen because the book already had pictures so I already had a good idea of what the author wanted me to picture, so seeing the movie didn't really make that much of a difference. There wasn't a part where after seeing the part in the movie I then got part of the story because it was already well explained. What I did enjoy about this movie was there was a lot of humor throughout it. I often found myself grinning and the facial expressions and one liners that added some comic relief to a pretty depressing story.

The Complete Persepolis (Film Version)

In the recent viewing of the film "The Complete Persepolis." The animated version was able to take Marjane Satrapi's emotions and bring them to life. The film did a good job in illustrating her behavior and helped me paint a picture of how she reacted to different situations; however, in my opinion it left a lot of crucial details out of the plot. In the film we never saw her mom coming to see her or some of the other events that brought Satrapi to life. There seemed to be a lot of missing facts that helped us understand how everything roled together. I guess this is why reading books or novels is always better than primarily consentrating on films, because of the lack of details.

I did like the way they were able to illustrate between real time (present) and the past in the film version by using color technics in the film. It was a real way of diversifying time lapse in her story. I would have liked to see Marjane Satrapi narrate the animated film. I believe it would have given the real effect on her telling the story of her life. Given the critisisms, it was a very uniqe viewing, by bringing her story to life.

Scott Swan
Post 12

Extra Credit Post

For my extra credit post I read Aimee Bender's story "Death Watch." The story was about men who had two weeks to live but then some found out the doctor was wrong and they were perfectly fine. To me this was not a typical Aimee Bender story we were use to reading. It did not have the fantasy world characteristics, but instead had all real life scenarios with problems that could all be true and realistic. It's scenario took place in real time with real characters.

When given the timeline for life we see how the bad news can be effected by different personality traits and their behavior. The story was primarily based on a person that was suicidal and decided to go to Europe and meet a Greek woman to fall in love before he died. Instead of receiving the news that he would be fine he ignored it and went on living his fantasy life for what he thought would only be a couple weeks. Instead of dying in two weeks as he thought he lived for 3 years before trying to uncover an answer. After his love from Europe followed him to America and then he began to believe he was immortal. Although the story did not seem science fiction or fantasy driven it carried the morals just like the rest of Bender's stories. This one seemed to teach us not to take life for granted and to live live to the fullest. This suicidal man did that and this news turned his life around because by thinking he was going to die seemed to actually save him.

Scott Swan
Extra Credit Post

Persepolis

After reading The Complete Persepolis, I got a new outlook about Iran, Islam and the entire Middle East. I actually enjoyed reading this book because it was easy to understand what Satrapi was trying to show the reader by also drawing pictures throughout the book. I feel like her parents made the right decision sending her to Austria to live with other family even though she was so young because Iran was so dangerous at the time that she could have easily died from the war. Whereas in Austria she is much safer even though she isn't really part of her culture anymore. Either way it was a tough decision made by her parents and they picked the one that they felt was most beneficial to Satrapi. By living in Austria she was able to live the rest of her life and tell other people about everything that happened in Iran. If she would have stayed in Iran, that would have been one more person at a protest, but that's not going to make much of a difference. By living safely in another country she was able to speak her voice through writing this book.

Extra Credit Post

For the extra credit post I read Aimee Bender's short story "I Will Pick Out Your Ribs (From My Teeth)". I chose this story because I feel that it represents the helplessness and hopelessness that seem to play a large role in multiple things that we have read this year from other Aimee Bender stories to Jhumpa Lahari. The story is about a boyfriend who is forver going to the hospital with his girlfriend because she takes pills and overdoses. It goes through his afternoon coming home and his conversation with his girlfriend and his thoughts about her, their life, and his life. The end of the story does leave the reader feeling like the man had no choice but to continue the relationship because he clearly cares for her but at the same time is sick of her behavior. He does the right thing in taking her to the hospital and hiding her pills but is afraid to take the next step and get rid of them altogether.

Complete Persepolis

Overall I feel that the story was very well written (and drawn) and that it was a good idea by Marjane Satrapi to present her story in a graphic novel format. By creating a story with pictures explaining the words she was able to reach teenagers as well as adults and keep both interested throughout the work. Although not everyone will be able to relate, by having her story out there and available she is showing that not all Iranians are the way that American culture has been lead to believe and that she feels that the actions that are shown coming from her country are more or less just because the people are being repressed by a government who doesn't seem to place it's people first. I thought that the marriage scene in the story was incredibly important. It really shows how different Iranian culture is from American or French culture. Marji and Reza are a couple, but not married and everywhere they go they find that it is difficult for them to do anything together without being married. So Reza asks Marji to marry him and although Marji goes around and around about it she accepts. My question is though, although she loves him, does she just accept for the convenience? It seems like she does, her father already knows that the marriage will fall apart, but he feels that it is important for Marji to realize that herself. Love can be blinding so it makes sense that Marji felt that it would work between them, but if her father could see it, then all Marji would have had to do was take a step back and she would have seen it too. All in all it was a good book, I feel that it had equal parts of happy and sad, but didn't leave the reader feeling depressed at the end.

persepolis

In class the questimn was raised of whether or not it was Marjane's parents decision to send her to Europe was an appropriate decision rather than keepingher home with them in Iran. Although some of my classmates disagree, I believe that it was 100% the correct decision to make. As parents, it is your responsibilty to respect and fend for your children in any and every way. In my opinion, Marjane's parents were fulfilling this role by sending her away. If Marjane stayed in Iran, it is extremely possible that she could have become a casuality to war and societal chaos due to the regimeof her country. The choices were clear: stay home and die or struggle as an outcast living abroad; to die or to adapt. In my opinion, the decision should always be to live elsewhere and adapt to your new surroundings rather than stay somewhere where your life is at risk continuously in the 'comfort of your own home." Angela feeney, post 1o

Persepolis

In class we talked about wether if was a good idea or not to send Marj away to France. Her father and mother both believed it was a good idea even though she was so young. You might think that it would be a bad idea because she is so young and she it not mature enough. I believe it was a good idea. In France she met and faced alot of lifes problems head on. In the beginning she tried to hide her identity. She did not want everyone to know that she was from Iran. She had to learn for herself to be true too herself and accept her identity. This is something that someone could not just tell her, but she had to learn it for herself. Going to France was a major "coming of age" experience for her. She was mature enough to go alone to a new country and find her identity. She faced many different obstacles, but that is what helped her become who she is today. If she stayed in Iran, she would have led a life of danger and probably faced death. Her parent knew that they were taking a big risk sending her but they believed in their daughter and in the end i think they made the right decision. Marj was able to battle through struggles of personal identity, finding love and eventually finding herself. I believe that she would not be who she is today if she had not gone to Europe.

Persepolis Overview

After reading Persepolis and reflecting on its message there are a few things that really standout. The first detail that I feel is crucial is the transformation Marjane experiences from childhood to adulthood. This change occurs in two major ways; the first is the fact that Marjane goes from being the intellectual outcast while be culturally similar, to becoming an intellectual and cultural outcast when she lives in Vienna. The second transformation is a personal one, as a child Marjane was a good kid with a rebellious streak, but when she began to live in Europe her morals and thoughts changed drastically. Overall I really liked this book, there were relatable parts to keep the reader interested but also some eye opening and thought provoking chapters that made it a unique read. Marjane Satrapi helped to shed light on real life in the mid east.

Persepolis

Overall, I feel that this book was much better written as a graphic novel than in all prose.  The way in which Satrapi was able to express the effects her life had on who she turned out to be was shown much more clearly through her interesting graphics.  Much of her imagery offered more insight into her life than the words.
The life she led was difficult and a lot of what she described seems impossible to have happened--for not all of that could have happened to one person, especially all of the luck--or lack there of--that she had.  A lot of the hardships she had surprised me, and many of her actions as well.  Marji appears to be one way in her head but a lot of what she does displays how much she still has to learn in her life.

Allison Weening, Post 10

Persepolis as a whole.

Persepolis, by Marjane Satrapi has overall been an inspirational book full of surprises. It was so much more intriguing to read a comic-like book full of Satrapis' life story and events., versus and ordinary novel. Ever since the first page, I have been unable to put the book down. Satrapi opens up her life story to all readers and shares with us her good times, as well as the bad, refraining from hiding anything, no matter how embarrassing or upsetting.

In reading this story, I can find relationship in my own life, as well to the other readings. As this semester has progressed, I have begun to like reading more and more, for I only like to read books that interest me, and all of which have done so. The theme of outcast-hood has been present in every reading thus far. In Persepolis, Marjane is stuck in a continuous battle for acceptance because she is too mentally strong for Iran and too lost in Vienna. However, Marj moves past these "battles" and ultimately uses them to her advantage when she later moves on from her family to start a brand new life.

In conclusion, being n outcast can come an great costs, but one must learn to take those negative experiences and turn them into learning experiences, thus learning how to be a better person and accepting who you are.

Courtney Bisher

Persepolis

Throughout this entire book, Marjane is always the one who is the outcast and always has been more mature than the kids her age. She can be considered and outcast because of how much she knows about what is going on in her country. Marjane watches the news all the time and she is the only kid who truly understands the truth about the war. Rather than be sad or nervous, she copes with this news by being rebellious and making jokes about it. By making fun of the war, Marjane can explain the events to the kids her age so that they can understand. She becomes rebellious by going to demonstrations, skipping school, wearing some of her hair outside her veil, and eventually smokes a cigarette as to rebel, not only against the government, but to her mother as well.

In class, we talked a lot about whether or not Marjane's parents made the right decision to send her out of the country. It is a battle between being in danger or being lonely; to give up one, you have to chose the other. How is someone supposed to do that? That is a very hard decision. I think that her parents realized how rebellious of a person she is and decided that it is not safe for her to stay in a country where it could be so easy for her to get arrested just based on her personality. They knew it was better for her to be out of the country so they know that she would be safe (well, at least safer.) However, is it better to have assurance of your safety and be very lonely, or is it better to be with your family but in constant danger? I think the decision made depends on the person who is going through it. No one else can tell you what is best for yourself. You are the only one that knows. From being away from home so long and visiting a long lost friend, Marjane learned that you can't take life too seriously sometimes. Sometimes it helps to just laugh things off. Always keep a positive attitude and have a good outlook on everything.

-Bethany Davis (Post #10)

The Complete Persepolis

This book was really an eye opener on life in another country. I really liked the style of this book to , the pictures really helped me visual what was going on during the novel. Now I can see why there is such a rise in popularity with graphic novels. But throughout the novel we witness the evolution of the main character and how she changes at different points in her life. Be it from changing from a physical standpoint or a mental, emotional standpoint. I couldnt even imagine going through all the hardships Marjane went through throughout her life in Iran and Austira. She had to face both mental and physical outcast. Then when moving back from Austria to Iran, her ideology was so different she could barely relate to any of her friends and family. Obviously all of this has made her a stronger person, and she had the courage to share her story with the world. Her story may change what people like of Iran and the people who live there, as well as help us feel for the people who are outcasts and people struggling with war.

Post 10 Kenny Liszewski

The Complete Persepolis: Marjane Satrapi

Throughout Marjane's life, she always exhibited more mature qualities in comparison to her peers. Although she made mistakes living on her own in France, those mistakes helped Marjane realize what her grandmother had been saying to her. Marjane wanted to fit in with the crowd so she'd tell people that she wasn't from Iran and stuff like that, but on her own she ultimately realizes that she needs to be proud of her heritage. That, to me, is a great lesson to learn, especially by oneself. Even standing up to her teachers in Iran showed great courage, especially for someone so young. Not only did she voice her opinions, but she stood up for them, which is really remarkable and admirable. When she speaks to her parents over the phone and feels guilty for smoking and dressing differently, I'm sure her parents know that she is experimenting with her image and certain things in society. Being one of five children, my parents always knew what we were up to. I don't know how, but one of them always knew. My older siblings would warn me about stupid stuff they did to make sure I didn't do that too and when finally faced with that situation, my parents would warn me against it too. But when they would, they would tell me about how my siblings faced similar situations. This blew our minds because we all had no idea how they found out about the stupid stuff that went on. Even though Marjane is thousands of miles away from her family, they aren't as naive as Marjane thinks. And I think they'd rather her experiment in France than in Iran where she can be raped for not wearing a veil. It could happen in France too, but she wouldn't be to blame because wearing the veil helped suppress men's sexual desires. If she dressed like a punk in Iran, she would be guilty for possible giving men the wrong idea. Overall, Marjane's parents made the right decision. She was safe from harm, learned to grow as a person on her own, and all of her experiences helped her write The Complete Persepolis. Pam Kawalerski Post #11

The Complete Persepolis 4/16/11

In "The Complete Persepolis" Marjane Satrapi lived her life as a definite protagonist. With her world changing around her very rapidly she remained her own person. It seems like Iran was never really the place for her, even though her family and friends were there her rebellious nature did not belong there with Iran's every changing rules. She did need to get out and she did. With that even her marriage seemed like a trap to her. Satrapi needed to express herself and her marriage was preventing that from happening.

As Satrapi moved on she never did forget her heritage or her traditions and the way she was raised. Everyone in her life had a huge impact on how she developed as a person and that will probably be what makes her who she is. Her parents wanted the best for her that is why they sent her off alone to teach her valuable lessons. Ones that they knew she had to learn herself. Then coming back she realized over time she did need to move on and she accepted it. Iran was not letting her be the person she really needed to be. And it turned out that she became very successful in her work. This was a very interesting book by looking at the development of a child through the Islamic revolution and watching her grow up through her adolescents.

Scott Swan
Post 11

Persepolis.

Upon reading Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi, I have come across several questions and surprises. In the beginning of the book, Marj expresses her love and devotion to God by believing that she is to be the next Prophet. However, once realizing that God cannot answer all of her wishes, she becomes a non-believer and demands him to "get out". I had imagined that this story was going to be told from a lower class perspective, however, Marjs' family is wealthy, as so it seems because they have a maid. This being a key element, opens up a whole new perspective; that pain, sorrow, trouble, and hardship effected ALL social class; the war didn't choose to effect the poor vs. the rich. This theory can relate to current society where it seems as the rich are never burdened and middle/lower class ALWAYS paying the consequences.

One popular theme that appears frequently in this book is "outcast-hood", which can relate to all of the books/stories/poems that we have read in class this year. As discussed in class, Marj is a girl growing up in a war zone. Like other growing kids/teenagers, questions arise and rebellion occurs. Marj is continually changing and trying to find herself, which ultimately makes her unique against the majority of people who would rather conform to society than stand up and ask questions.

Courtney Bisher

Persepolis

The graphic novel, Persepolis, is a great eye opening first hand account of life growing up in a war torn country such as Iran. There were a few suprising facts in the book so far though, I was shocked at the level of mature that the main character, Marjane, has. What is shocking is not that she is more mature than others children her age, its the fact that she still has a naive take on things such as propaganda and rules all while displaying a rebellious streak. Her account of the state of affairs in Iran at the time can help Americans and others learn about their culture and a greater majority of the citizens views. This book can shed light on some negative sterotypes our society deems to be true without having much evidence in a broader spectrum.

Persepolis

Reading Persepolis there were a few things that surprised me. The first was that Marj's family was very wealthy and even had a maid. I would have envisioned it being told from someone in poverty who had a very hard life. Although, it taught me that even the wealthy were against the Sha and wanted a democratic government. Also Persepolis changed my perception on Iran. Before reading i thought of Iran as a place of religious extremists and terrorists. The book taught me that not everyone there was like that. Like Marj said, she doesnt want her country to be represented by a few extremists. I was also surprised that the government made it mandatory to wear the veils. I thought that it was part of their religion and they chose to wear it. I did not know that it was obligatory and at first people like Marj did not even know why there were being forced to wear it. One thing i can relate to in the book is when Marj has her talks with god about what she wants to be when she grows up and things happening in her life. When i was younger i had many talks with god about many issues going on in my life, one being my grandma dieing. This is one connection i can make with Marj.

Persepolis

In the graphic novel Persepolis, we are introduced to Marji and are led through her life in Iran.  There are many issues that Marji has with her current home when the Shah takes over and incites many changes to the people's lives.  For example, all women are required to wear a veil, and are treated as less than men--Marji, being outspoken and a feminist does not agree with how women are treated.
Marji is very well informed for her age, and continued to glean more knowledge from her parents as more and more changes come about in their country.  Many people to America, but their family chose to stay and to hold out.  Eventually it gets to the point where the US Embassy is taken over, so no one can get a Visa to leave Iran for a better place.  By now, bombs are being dropped, boys as young as 12 are being sent off to war; life is getting to be very difficult to deal with.  Marji goes to demonstrations with her parents when she is young, and this is probably one of the catalysts of why Marji matures so fast.

Allison Weening, Post 10

persepolis

In reading Pesepolis we see the main character feel like an outcast from her society in many instances. We see this in her struggle to wear the veil, conform to traditions under the new regime and understand new concepts her society is presenting. She tries desperately to cope with these new changes. Her coping mechanisms become humor and rebellion, she utilizes herself as an outcast and expresses her differences in order to feel comfortable in her own skin. We see this especially when she mocks the events at her school. She finds humor in every situation in order to feel as though she fits in in this new school where she feels uncomfortable. She feels like a stranger in her own home and country. Angela Feeney post 10

Post Ten: Persepolis

A big surprise to me was the reason behind wearing the veil. I thought the only reason was because women were seen as lesser citizens than men. I had no idea that wearing a veil helped men reduce the urges to indulge in sexual activities. That's kind of weird to think about. Like when her grandmother was being insulted and harassed in the street by a man for not wearing the veil, him telling her that she was asking to be raped was absolutely crazy to me. I guess it is because of my idea of the Islamic faith. I view them as very traditional; relationships wait until marriage before having sex, no divorce, no adultery. I don't know much about politics, but from what it seems like, the people in Iran are not progressing. With the government taking over in this radical regime, combining religion and social ideas, their country cannot progress because of their ideology. Women must wear a veil, their education is not emphasized, men are encourage to solely provide for their families, women have no choice but to stay home. This puts a hold on possibilities for new jobs; women basically have no rights, especially in what they want to wear. Everything the country has worked for, it like put to an end. Any ambitions, dreams of growing is now ended because of the strict religious traditions that must be followed. Pam Kawalerski Post Number Ten

Persepolis

So far with the reading we have done with this book, we have seen alot of different themes and ideas that author wants to display. One is how she and her family felt like such outcasts in there own country. At first they were all united in trying to over throw the government and then when they finally did, it didnt end up how anyone wanted it. The government turned into a radical Islamic regime. This turns the entire country into a backward spiral. The people begin to have to conform to certain rules they dont want to like wearing veils, and having to send there sons to the military as young as 14. Also rules are put in place to ban ties and anything to do with capitalism or the western way of living. There are secret police who imprison or kill anyone who opposes the new government. This is certaintly not what anyone in the country was expecting when they revolted against the regime in the first place. But this usually tends to happen when a country is desperate for a new ruler. For example with Germany and Russia both countries over through there previous governments and in exchange ended up with a communist, dictatorship governments. But the country who was once united with its country is now an outcast in their own land. They are still rebels now even though this is what they wanted in the first place a new government. Im sure throughout the novel there will be more signs of oppression and hardships. And maybe even a sense of hope for the Iran people.

Kenny Liszewski Post 10

The Complete Persepolis

In "The Complete Persepolis" Marjane Satrapi helps us understand the struggles of her childhood in Iran during the Iran/Iraq war. It was no doubt a time of turmoil and revolution for its people. The Iranian government was going through a time of change for its Muslim people and like anyone else, change is not adapted very easily. Marj made this very clear. She tried to revolt against the new laws that were put into place but like the rest of the people social identity was mere the same outcome for everyone in Iran.

Marj's whole family seemed to be outcasts of sort. They demonstrated their beliefs and opposed the new laws the Iranian government tried to impose on them. They protested which seemed to work for a while, but then that got rejected by the way the government handled it. It became dangerous to attempt to try it anymore. Also when the veils were imposed on the women they did not want to agree to those rules either they tried to alter the way the would wear them. Marj's family were outcasts from the government and tried to keep a low profile of their actions because of the consequences that would follow them if they were to get caught. The Muslim heritage of Sunni's and Shiite have been at war with each other for centuries and there may never be an end to that. although in Iran it may be a lot less magnified than in Iraq it does exists.

Like all the other pieces we have read this year "The Complete Persepolis" demonstrates another strain of outcasts. Although it may not be someone with disabilities or a vampire they are the outcasts of society and as we live our lives in society we will continue to see plenty of examples of outcasts not even thinking consensually that they are categorized that way.

Scott Swan

Post 10

Glee and Eli Clare

In class it was brought up whether or not putting the other students in wheelchairs was effective or not. The glee club instructor put his students in wheelchairs in order to understand Artie's obstacles as a disabled individual and furthermore the obstacles of all disabled people in response to their lack of desire and cooperation to help diminish some of these obstacles faced by Artie. In my opinion, the wheelchair experience was very effective and crucial in the students' tolerance and understanding of disabled individuals. My high school Latin teacher Mr. Graff once said "the only way to understand a person is to stand under them and look up." This meant that you must have respect for people and put yourself in their shoes in order to be able to fully understand where they're coming from and who they are. The students were able to do this by spending time in a wheelchair. They were able to view and deal with first hand what Artie deals with on a daily basis. Although they were only in wheelchairs for a short amount of time, the time they spent in wheelchairs was very challenging and difficult. The students were left to imagine how incredibly challenging it must be for Artie to have this permanent situation. In addition, Eli Clare would appluad this exercise by the glee club teacher because he wished for disabled issues to be recognized and understood. Furthermore, he didn't want people to focus on his personal experience of being disabled but rather disability issues as a whole and as a greater issue. The students were able to do this and see the greater spectrum of Artie's disability. Angela Feeney Blog post #9

Disabilities

These readings for this week was a very interesting inside look as to what it would be like to be disabled as and held at a lesser standard than those who are considered "normal".  I really enjoyed the Glee episode this week because it was a different way of learning about being an outcast and how being different can be both negative and positive.
The story of climbing the mountain and how it symbolized life and getting over that one big hill was interesting and, like Glee, showed how difficult it was for someone to be disabled and not able to do acts that "normal" people--her friend--was able to do more easily.  I really liked the perspective that she gave on how she didn't like being treated, or held to lower standards than other people, and that it was more frustrating than anything.  I had never thought about this concept in that way, so the new perspective was welcomed and made me realize that if I was in her situation, or a similar one, that I would probably feel the same way--that in order to do something "easy" or something that would never get recognition for anyone else (like that runner who came in last but was still congratulated and cheered for once finished).

Allison Weening, Post 8

Disabilities and impairments/ Eli Clare Readings

The works of Eli Clare focused on the sensitive issue of society's treatment of individuals whom we deem less valuable than us. The classification of these people vary in the opinion of Clare. Clare sheds light on the common misuse of the way we define people. Clare writes that an impairment is something like down syndrome, they person has the capapbility to preform the action it just might take them longer than a regular person. Where as a disability would be something like being a parapalegic. If there are stairs in front of a parapalegic there is no possible way the person could get to the top of the stairs. In class we discussed these definitions and applied them to the episode of "Glee" that we watched in class. We talked about the portreyal of the student in a wheelchair and the criticism the show recieved for the episode. I feel that the show did nothing to misinform the audience or make light of the situation that parapalegics face everyday.

Handicap vs Disability

I thought these stories were really important because they brought up the differences between being handicap and a disability. Clare is able to define both and show how they are different from each other since many people mistake them being the same thing. Also the way she described them through telling her story about climbing the mountain made it simple to understand. I feel this is a very sensitive subject and it is hard to have clear cut answers to questions when dealing with handicap people. Everyone reacts differently and you have to be cautious when talking about it. I often wonder how to go about acting around a handicap person. Part of me says to just treat them like everyone else, but like Clare says there are just some things that they can't do and you can't ignore them.

The episode of Glee was another way to show what people with handicaps have to go through. It shows how it's a sensitive subject and how we really don't know what they are going through physically and emotionally. For example, they can all go in the wheelchairs to see what it's like and all the struggles they face everyday but they can get out of the chair when ever they really want to. They don't really know what they have to deal with. Like when they all thought it was no big deal if the one kid rode separate, but it actually bothered him a lot. It helps to put you in perspective but it can never be the same unless you have to live the rest of your life like them.

Eli Clare and Glee Post

This week we have discussed the main themes of disability and over coming hardships. We have discussed several examples in class that show how disabled people can over come challenges and how we has non disabled people should interact with disabled people. We definitely never mock or try to make fun of people who are disabled and less fortunate then us. This I have a personal connection to because my aunt is disabled and people look at her weird sometimes and say very mean things about her. This makes me extremely irritated and angry with people and how ignorant they can be and how they dont care. You couldnt even begin to imagine the challenges and hardships people with disability face. This relates to the Glee episode in which the club all were in wheelchairs to see how it is for Arty. I mean in a way you can see how hard it is, but you really could never fully understand how hard it is for someone who is disabled. Also you shouldnt fake injuries or a disability in order to make the person feel better or use it for your advantage. An example would be people Ive seen in Disney World who just get wheelchairs to cut the lines, but then in the parking lot just sit up and start walking normal. One of the employees has been on record saying more mircales happen in the Disney parking lot, then anywhere in the world. Moral of the story you should never fake, wish, or make someone disabled and be happy and grateful for what we have and also remember to take people less fortunate into consideration and care for them.

Kenny Liszewski Post 9

Eli Clare Stories

Eli Clare distinctively paints us a picture in how society today deals with modern outcasts. We see these outcasts as everyday people and not science fiction characters. In "The Mountain" and "Freaks and Queers" we see a similar comparison and how people with disabilities or abnormalities had to deal with society and the way they were portrayed from their communities.

In "the mountain" the struggle of climbing the mountain because of her physical impairment was related to her struggle in life and how she had to deal with the ups and downs of society. In "Freaks and Queers" we also saw the impairment of people with disabilities but were introduced to the new factor of dealing with society and the issues of people who stray from the act of being heterosexual. Eli Clare does a good job illustrating how people look upon these outcasts of society and treat them. She knows that they are not treated as equals, but hopes that someday they may be able to be. Although I was not there for the showing of the Glee episode I do know of the guy in the wheel chair and how he must face his issues in high school which is the worst time in someones life to have a disability. Teenagers are brutally honest and that can be detrimental for someone with a disability to have to experience. Eli Clare helps us understand what its like for them to have to be exposed to these situations. Hopefully by a portion of society understanding this maybe it can help relate to these people even if it is a small percentage at a time. Scott Swan Post #9

Eli Clare and Glee

In Eli Clare's short story "The Mountain" she talks about the difference between having a disability and having an impairment. This can be related to the "Wheels" episode of Glee we watched in class. Eli's definition of an impairment is having something physically wrong with you such has loss of use of a limb. Her definition of a disability is a mindset established by society. These two definitions can be related to some of the characters in Glee.
One character that has an impairment in Glee is Artie. He lost the use his legs in a car accident when he was younger. His disability according to Clare would be the loss of use of his legs. One impairment was having trouble getting into school because they only had one handicap ramp which was at the end of school. Another impairment was that he could not take the bus with the rest of the Glee club to their performance. Artie faces many of these impairments each day because of his disability. The Glee club had to have a fund raiser to raise money to get a handicapped bus. The Glee club spent a few hours each day to get a feel for the impairments that Artie has to deal with every day.
Another character that had a disability was the girl who tried out for cheerleading. The disability she had was down syndrome. She had to deal with problem in education and social problems. All she wanted to do was to fit in and be treated like everyone else and i think that the cheerleading coach saw that. That is why the coach added her to the team and is trying to treat her like everyone else on the team.

Glee and Eli Clare

I think that it is important to understand not just the differences between oneself and a disabled person, but also the similarities. In fact, I feel that it is more important to understand the similarities. We really are all the same, whether the disability is physical or mental, everyone is the same inside and the world really needs to start treating everyone that way. Eli Clare had a really good point, we shouldn't see the people as their disability, we should see them as people who just happen to have something about their body or mind that makes life a little different for them. One of the things that really rang true in my head from the Glee episode was when the glee club teacher, I don't watch the show so I am not sure on everyone's name, stated that there was only one wheelchair accesspoint in the whole school. This is a big deal to me because one of my friends from high school is in a wheelchair and my high school only has one handicap ramp. By only having one way in or out it made it really difficult for him. I remember that we had a fire drill one time and we were all the way on the other side of the building, but the only way for him to get out of the school was through that one door, so I went with him and we had to take make our way through the swarm of kids going the other way just to make it out. We were one of the last people out of the building. All we could think was, "what if that had been a real fire?" So in our junior year when the school was planning on renovating the main entrance, my friend and I went to all the school board meetings in the evenings and made the people in charge realize that just because they weren't in a wheelchair and the majority of the student body wasn't in a wheelchair, it was important to have more than one access point in or out of the building. Because of our persistance, when the new plans were created they included a wheelchair ramp in the main entrance so that now my friend and everyone else in a wheelchair who goes, or will go, to my high school will not be the last ones out in an emergency.

Glee Post and Eli Clare

In Eli Clare's The Mountain and the Wheels episode of Glee, the subject of disabilities is presented and shown through the everyday challenges that people must face. In The Mountain, Eli Clare explains the challenges that she must face to climb a mountain. However, the literal mountain that Clare climbs is also a metaphorical mountain for the challenge that people with disabilities go through and overcome. Some of these obstacles that Clare speaks of are shown through the Glee episode. In this episode, people become aware of the hard times that people in wheelchairs face. Artie is in a wheelchair and the Glee Club is going to sectionals but the school will not provide a wheelchair bus for them. Therefore, the club needs to raise money to get the bus and in turn they have to spend 3 hours a day in a wheelchair to realize the difficulties that Artie faces. In class, we discussed if this would be a productive way to understand their challenges. Some argued that if people are to "copy" other people with difficulties that it would be seen as them taking pity on them. The disabled would feel that they would be offending them and it would be very disrespectful. Also, it would be not accurate for they could get out of the wheelchair whenever they wanted. Therefore, they would never understand the difficulties that the disabled face on an emotional level.

To fix this problem, we argued ways that people can understand the challenges that the disabled face without offending them. I suggested that if people wanted to experience being in a wheelchair they should stay in it 24/7. That way, it takes out that problem that it would be fake and unfair that they could just stand whenever they wanted. Others stated, depending on the person, that the disabled might rather have people come up to them and just ask how it is to live that way. It all depends on your tone of voice and the attitude of how you present yourself in order to not offend them. However, through Clare and this episode, we are presented with some of the ideas of how life is for the disabled. We learn that the disabled just want to be like everyone else and that we should treat them equally. The challenges are very hard to overcome but they are people just like you and me.

-Bethany Davis (Post #9)

Eli Clare & Glee Post

Eli Clare and the Glee episode both incorporate how disabled people face challenges while displaying how people without disabilities can easily overcome that task. In Glee, the student in the wheelchair needs a specific bus to ride while his classmates can just ride any bus they want. He also must enter the school through only one entrance, the entrance with the ramp, while his classmates have a greater selection. This can cause a huge inconvience because if the disabled student's classroom is on the opposite end of the building, he will most likely be late or really have to hurry. Eli Clare displays people with disabilities facing the challenge of climbing a mountain. People without a disability will have a hard time climbing the mountain, so being physically disabled makes this task nearly impossible. Climbing a mountain can be a metaphor for any challenge people with disabilites must face - driving, sports, stereotypes, etc. Driving can be possible, if for example, the disability is that a person does not have any arms. Special pedals can be installed in the car and the person can learn to drive with their feet. (I saw this on a tv special - this girl got electrocuted so she lost her arms.) Despite having a disability, people should not treat them differently because they want to be like everyone else. The cheerleading coach in Glee treated the disabled girl just like she treated the girls that did not have a disability. Although I admire how she didn't patronize the disabled girl, I have to question the way she was yelling at her. This reminds me of a good point my boss brought up with running a restaurant. He said when he had all male staff at his old restaurant, he could discipline his male staff by yelling or talking loudly to. When he gained females in his staff, he could no longer do that because women do not usually respond positively to yelling. I think the coach should discipline her, but without excess yelling and telling her how much she needed to improve when she was trying her hardest. Pam Kawalerski Post Number Nine

My post is just food for thought I guess; I missed my original presentation on Audre Lorde's "Transformation of Silence into Language and Action." This post is that presentation to provide my insights into her work; like I said it's late but it's food for thought. The critical article I chose was not a book review of Audre Lorde's work; however, I do feel that it is very useful in understanding what Audre Lorde stood for as well as what her message is in her piece, "Transformation of Silence into Language and Action". The article is entitled, "Breaking the Silence A Black Feminist Response to the Thomas/Hill Hearings." It deals with a Supreme Court case of sexual harassment of a black woman by the name of Anita Hill. Judge Thomas had allegedly sexually harassed Anita when he was her boss. The issue, besides the obvious one of sexism and possible racism, is the fact that Orlando Patterson, a Harvard professor and supporter of Thomas claimed that Thomas was justified by publicly denying the allegations even if he committed them. This suggests that Anita, black women in general, should remain silent about such sexual encounters; as if to elude that the primary distinction of this case is its sexual nature rather than the violation of Anita's rights. The author of this article, Beverly Guy-Sheftall, makes a valid observation; she suggests that if the trial had not been aired via television than perhaps the negative connotation of "dirty laundry" would have ceased to be relevant and the real issues could have shown through rather than the media generated propaganda.

"Transformation of Silence into Language and action" is primarily about Lorde's struggle to break her, self-proclaimed, lifetime of silence to conform to white society and male domination. She has this change of heart after hearing she has a tumor with a 60-80% chance of being malignant. For three weeks she is faced with the trial of living with the devastating notion that she is running out of time. This frightens and aggravates her because she feels her silence has held her back.

My discussion question is: How many of us can honestly say were not constrained by the same notion of silence? Furthermore, who thinks they would have the courage to speak out for what they believe in even if the odds are mounted against you as they were for black, feminist, lesbian, warrior, and poet; Audre Lorde.

Eli Clare vs. Glee

Eli Clare's Freaks and Queers, along with The Mountain can relate in many ways to the Glee episode that we watched in class. Clare discusses the issues regarding disability and the ability/lack of to climbing a mountain per-say which references climbing the societal mountain as to fitting in. Clare allows the reader to interpret her questions on their own while providing them with history and knowledge of said disabilities or 'hurtful words'. In comparison to this, one can recognize the purpose of the "Wheels" episode of Glee. In this episode we learn the struggles that people face in wheel-chairs. In class, we discussed this in depth. We discussed whether or not it was a good decision to portray a disabled character that was played by a real life non-disabled person. Personally, I think that it's the talent that matters. I mean, lets use a more popular example...if someone if portraying a person with an eating disorder, that topic is highly talked about and many people can relate...and in saying so, it may be more difficult for a person actually suffering to portray that in character for television.

All in all, Clare in her works, and the hit show Glee share many similarities when discussing and portraying 'disabilities'. It is however, up to the reader/watcher to determine for themselves the relevance or 'lesson' that is to be learned.

Courtney Bisher

Extra Credit Blog

For the extra credit I read, "Death Watch" by Aimee Bender. This is a story about ten men who are told that they only have two weeks to live. Some men are angry, others are sad, one is happy and another does not have any reaction at all. All the men react differently and do different things on their last two weeks. Soon after, the doctors seemed to have made a mistake and only two of the five crying men are actually going to die. The one starts a new life because he realized what he was missing out on. The other continues his regular life and just says that it was a close call. The other was unable to be reached because he was in Greece living the rest of his life. After three years and realizes he is not going to die, he starts a new life in Denver. In the end some of the men died when they were told, others before and some lived longer than expected.

Like all of Bender's stories, there is a moral embedded in the story. I feel like this is a very important one because it talks about living your life to the fullest. The men were told when they were going to die and they all had different reactions to that, however the doctors messed up and were not actually sure when they were all going to die. I feel like Bender is trying to tell us to just live our life, knowing that we are not going to live forever. We obviously can not live everyday like it's our last or else we would spend all our money and not have a job but we should live our life so that we are happy because we never now when were are going to die. Like the doctors say that can not account for murder or accidents so they are not sure when the men are actually going to die, but we should live by doing things we like and by living with people we love.

Octavia Butler Post

Octavia Butler wrote science fiction stories.  Her story "Sensory Sounds" was especially interesting in that it was based mostly about communication and how our society is slowly growing away from human interactions and lacking in the communication department.  She came up with an interesting scenario in which the reader had to ponder what would be worse: not being able to read and write, or not being able to speak.  This is an interesting dilemma, in that losing either would be a major handicap when trying to converse with others.  On the one hand, not being able to speak would mean that one would not be able to express tone and differences in pitch to express meaning.  If one could not write or read, then sending messages over long distances or passing a message widespread would be impossible.  This phenomenon brought up interesting class discussions with how people in their situation could adapt to the sudden change in how the world had to work, in order to keep communication similar between people. Sign language, for example, could be a possibility, as well as pictographs or glyphs that could be used to portray meaning.
Her stories are very thought provoking and she writes in such a way that the lesson she is trying to discuss is very subtle and well woven into her fiction.

Allison Weening, Post 7

Octavia Butler Post

Octavia Butler's sci fi writing style is very unique. She challanges the readers to decipher her commentary of society in her works. The two stories we read were Speech Sounds and The Evening and The Morning and The Night. In Speech Sounds she poses the question of what is the more efficient form of communication; speaking or the ability to read and write. In the story The Evening and the Morning and The Night Octavia Butler creates a new disease that raises a big moral dilemma. The disease is called Duryea-Gode, its a side effect from a cancer cure all drug where the victim begins to "drift" and mutilates themselves and those around them.

In the case of Speech Sounds I feel that the ability to speak is a more valuable form of communcation in today's society. The writen word can have many interpertations and if one is unable to clarify the statement through speech than this skill becomes very frustating. In the second story the moral dilemma is: can peoples' rights to reproduce be taken away because they inherited a genetic and dangerous disease? I believe that while you can't take away a persons rights, the decision to reproduce needs to be taken seriously and if I had the disease I would chose not to have kids.

Octavia Butler Blog Post

Between the two stories by Octavia Butler we read this week in class, my favourite is Speech Sounds. I really like how she almost forced the reader to think about which form of communication would be of better use to have - the ability to read and write or the ability to communicate through speaking. Speaking, in my opinion, would be of better use to communicate quickly, especially in an emergency like event. Although being able to write eloquently and read books, notes, etc. would be beneficial, I believe talking would allow people to communicate better without any questions about sarcasm and create less confusion. Sometimes I'll text someone and then have to re-explain a text message because it was confusing, but once I see them, what I meant is understood.

I found it really interesting that Rye trusted Obsidian because he is left handed. I don't know if it's just me, but I have a difficult time trusting people even after I've talked to them or have known them for a while so having trust based on the fact that someone is left handed blows my mind. Another interesting thing I found what that due to the illness and handicap of people, ordinary people are prone to feelings of jealousy, resentment, rage, and anger over their own impairments and the abilities other possess that they don't. This causes people to have a strong desire to kill the person or people they resent. I get jealous or angry at people, but it doesn't drive to feel like I need to kill someone; that's just crazy. I find it strange that an illness and handicap could drive someone to do such an insane thing like killing someone. Butler describes Rye feeling that urge when she cannot read a map, but Obsidian can. With Obsidian's death and the children being orphans, I felt depressed at the end but hopeful for Rye because she found people that also have the ability to speak.

Pam Kawalerski
Blog Post #8

Octivia Butler stories

Reading Octivia Butler's stories were about made-up science fiction problems with real world prognosis's as the root for their problems. The situations that Octivia Butler presents are not far from what we could experience. She presents issues that appear real and tell a story on how her characters deal with those issues. By doing this it makes us think about how we would deal with the same situations if it presented itself.
In Butler's story "The Evening, the Morning, and the Night" we learned about a concept of suicidal tendency with self mutilation implicated with it. Although this would be a horrible way to die or to live knowing you would die this way. I believe Butler uses this to show how we deal with abnormal people on a daily basis and how tunneling their imperfections can prove to help them with their disease.
In "Speech Sounds" We saw how real world scenarios would deal with the loss of Speech or literacy characteristics. Although it would be hard to imagine life without either one it would cause us to utilize other senses more. Life would definitely be more difficult because of the loss of one of these things. But i think it would be easier to have never had than to loss something we have been accustomed to having. It easier to learn how not to use something that you once had rather than to lose something you have been dependent on for your entire life.

Scott Swan
Post #8

Octavia Butler

I like Octavia Butler's stories in the sense that they make you think about how the world would be if certain epidemics broke out. For example "Speech Sounds" got me thinking about what would be worse, to lose your ability to read and write or to not be able to talk. Reading the story it was a little hard for me to fully believe what she was talking about could actually happen. I agree that the world would be in alot of chaos if this actually happened but i think that with our technology and knowledge we could find a practical solution to this problem. I also wasn't buying into it partially because of the fact that i dont think it would ever happen, although that could be me being not open minded. If it did happen though, i would pick to still be able to speak. I feel that through verbal communication there is alot more said than just they words you are saying as opposed to reading words on paper where you arent quite sure how to interpret them.

Her other story "The Evening and the Morning and the Night" also made me think, although i feel that she just took the idea from the book "I am Legend" and put a slight twist on it. If this really happened in our world today, i feel that there would be alot of treatment centers like the one in the book and research to what causes the disease, because after all it is in your genes because it is passed on genetically. I do not know if i would have a kid and risk giving him the disease. I guess i would have to know the chances that he got the disease and then i would have to ask myself if i would want to be born with that disease. I think my decesion to have a kid would be based on the current treatment and centers for people who have the disease.

Octavia Butler

I enjoyed both of Octavia Butler's stories "The Evening and the Morning and the Night," and "Speech Sounds" because they are so different from anything I have ever read. When I was first reading "The Evening and the Morning and the Night," I actually thought DGD was an actual disease because she described it so well. She brings up a lot of interesting topics that make you think about what if you actually had this disease. Like we discussed in class, when reading this story I was thinking about the movie "I am Legend" and how they people infected with the disease seemed like "zombies" and fed off themselves and each other.

The other story, "Speech Sounds" also made me think about if I was put in that situation which handicap I would rather have. The story leaves a couple of unanswered question such as can they learn the thing that they don't have, and like we discussed in class the ability to understand drawings. I like Butler's stories so much because she makes you think about what would would do in that situation and what your reaction would be.

Octavia Butler

Butler is a writer that likes to use speculative fiction in her stories. She normally jumps right into the story without giving the reader any background information. This can be seen in The Evening and the Morning and the Night. The protagonists in this story (Lynn and Alan) are affected by Duryea-Gode Disease (DGD) and their parents were also. Lynn's father killed her mother and then himself and Alan's mother is in a type of home called Dilg. Up until recently, Alan did not even know if his mother was alive.

When Lynn and Alan go to visit his mother, they learn that this is not a hospital. It is more of a place where they focus all of the patient's energy on creating and inventing new things. The walls are covered in art and many of the doors are locked with p.v. locks that one of the patients invented. People diagnosed with DGD mutilate themselves to some degree and they all at some point drift into a world of their own. Thus, the question comes up if people who are diagnosed should have children, for it is genetic. If someone who has this disease were to have children they would run a great risk of passing it on to their children. Alan completely disregarded the possibility of having children. Lynn never agreed nor disagreed with Alan. She knew her consequences if she were to have a child but she does not want anyone tell her she can't. She wants to keep her rights and choices and make her own decision.

The statement that Butler was trying to make in this story was that we have to be more understanding of those with disabilities/diseases. We should not have to judge them just because they may look or act differently. In a way, they are the exact same as us and they are capable of things we can only imagine.

-Bethany Davis (Post #8)

Ironhead and Motherfucker

Aimee Bender in my opinion, is such a phenomenal writer. She has unique skills in the way that she writes due to her ability to relate the 'stories' to a fictional, yet realistic setting.

In the short story Ironhead, Bender tells a story about a boy with an iron for a head is born into a family of pumpkinheads. The iron-head can be metaphoric for several things. However, in my opinion, I feel as if it symbolized 'having weight on ones shoulders' as well as the aspect of racism. This ideal can then be related to the author Wendy Rose as she had the same struggles growing up in her family where her father was Hopi and mother Irish/Scottish.

In Benders second story of the week, Motherfucker, bender takes on the role of expressing the true meaning of the word motherfucker in all literal sense. She tells the story of a man who likes to sleep with mothers and ultimately helps an actress find her true self. At the end, one can come to the conclusion that this man is truly lonely.

These to short works can be compared in the theme of loneliness. Each character was individually depressed or left alone because of different reasons. Overall, the moral is that different people cope differently and depression/racism/loneliness can have severe negative effects and we all must learn to recognize that and help one another.

Courtney Bisher
Blog Post 7.

Aimee Bender: Motherfucker

Aimee Bender usually writes in two different kind of styles in her novel Willful Creatures. One of them is where she takes a completely absurd scenario and adds realistic aspects to it. This can be seen in the short story End of the Line. The other style is the opposite which is a realistic scenario told in a twisted perspective. This can be seen in the short story Motherfucker.

Motherfucker usually is a word to insult someone, like another word for jerk. But Aimee Bender takes this word literally. She writes of a lonely but confident man who only has sexual relations with mothers. He is explained as a straight-forward, confident, living-life kind of man. Dating mothers starts to sound creepy the way he does it. He sits and watches the mothers, watching how they interact with their children, and makes it sound like it is just a game to him. It is easy for him to get single women because he won't have to worry about and husbands for an affair.

He finally finds a scarlet that he seems to be really interested in. But he never really takes any initiative to stay with her. He doesn't take her on dates and doesn't return her phone calls. Maybe he is not as simple and sick as we thought he is. He seems to be more complex than a guy that just wants to get with a lot of mothers. He knows how to play with people's emotions - he is an emotional ventriloquist - and therefore he plays with the scarlet's. He probably doesn't pursue a relationship with her because he only wanted to teach her to be herself. He could tell that she wasn't happy so he threw his emotions on her during the relationship to help her out in her career and make her happy. He constantly tests his emotions and in the long run her helped her out. More simply, maybe he just didn't want to be with her because he was not ready to be committed.

Through this story, I think Aimee Bender is trying to tell us that we should not "judge a book by its cover." People may be more complex than they seem.

Bethany Davis (Post #7)

Aimee Bender Ironhead

Aimee Bender has a way of captivating a reader and telling real life problems with fairy tale like characters. Aimee Bender uses characters like pumpkin heads in her stories. I think she does this because she does not want to make the character someone specific, such as a minority or someone with a disease. I think she likes to leave her stories open to interpretation and tries to teach morals without pinpointing specific people in society.

The story that i liked the most was Ironhead. It was a very emotional story and i believe it did a very good job in showing a common problem in society and how terrible it can be. I personally believe that the ironhead was born with a disease. You could tell from looking at him that he was not normal (because he had an iron head) but his parents did not know how to treat the problem. His parents tried to comfort him as much as they could. Ironhead could not sleep and he longed to be with people who understood him. The kids at school all thought he would be tough and athletic because he had an iron head but he was the exact opposite. I think when he went to the hardware store by the other irons it showed how he longed to be understood. When his mom asked him about it he just says nothing. I think that this is showing how he has given up hope. He asks to stay home from school because he knows that life will never get better and he has given up. I think that he turned his head away from the TV as a sign that he had given up.

The lesson that i got from this is that children with disabilities need to be provided with special care. If their needs are not met their lives could take a turn for the worse and could end horribly.

Steven W

Aimee Bender

When thinking of Aimee Bender's novel "Willful Creatures" I think of her stories as being 'parables for adults.' Each story she writes offers a moral, a purpose or a meaningful message while containing some sort of strange or twisted element.

Aimee Bender's story "Iron head" offers a message of tolerance and acceptance while remaining absurd and strange. The character of the iron head boy has an iron for a head and is born into pumpkin headed family. He is unable to sleep and is very tired because of the shape, size and weight of his head. This is obviously the absurd element of her story.

Iron head's physical differences make iron head an outcast. He is made fun of and outcasted by his siblings and members of society. For example, a cop even makes fun of the iron head boy rather than being kind as he should be. The iron head boy ends p with severe depression and exhaustion and ends up dying at the innocent age of 4.

Aimee Bender writes this story in order to teach her audience to be accepting of other's differences whether or not you're okay with them. It is important to be tolerant because of the the extreme negative effects intolerance may have

angela feeney post # 7

End of the Line and Ironhead

This week we read short stories written by author Aimee Bender. She is an intelligent writer who certainly knows how to pull on the reader's heartstrings and suck them into the story. In this case she draws the readers into End of the Line and Ironhead by creating main protaganists who are just similar enough to make the reader feel sorry for them both. In End of the Line, the little man is physically trapped in a bad situation, tortured by the big man and unable to leave the cage to get out of the house. The little ironhead boy is also trapped, not just physically but also mentally. He is physically trapped because he is a child and mentally because he cannot connect with the rest of his family. His family, a group that is already ostracized to an extent, is still more excepted than he is. Having an iron as a head really pushes him into a new cage, one where the only escape seems to be death.
The two characters are very similar in their plights of confinement, so much so that the reader cannot help but make comparisons between them. Aimee Bender does a good job creating fantastical but believable characters who allow the reader to step into the story and walk within the pages.

Post Seven: Outcasts in Bender's Works

In Aimee Bender's stories, "Ironhead" and "Motherfucker", both the Ironhead and the motherfucker are outcasts in society. Ironhead though, is an outcast in his family AND in society. He was born to a family of pumpkinheads, but born with an ironhead instead. This genetic mutation led to him being disabled. He finds it difficult to make friends in school and even though his sistes are different, they are still social and play sports; Ironhead just plays by himself in the sandbox. When he died the cause of death could be from lack of sleep, exhaustion, and lonliness.

The motherfucker goes around sleeping with single women that have children. He wines and dines them, speaks with elegance, and is basically like a Renaissance Man, except after he sleeps with them, he does not continue to see them. He will however, still keep in contact with his past flings but that is by the choice of the woman's; he does not ever get serious with them. When he meets the actress, he helps her with her acting by pushing her outside her comfort zone. The actress went from taking direction from everyone to listening to her own emotions. This caused her to win many awards but made the motherfucker realize what he was missing in life. He secretely longed for a companion, rather than going around sleeping with many women, which made him feel like an outcast.

Even though "Motherfucker" was less like a fairy tale and more realistic in comparison to "Ironhead", Bender still can convey that the main characters are outcasts and each of her stories has a lesson everyone can understand.

Pam Kawalerski
Post #7

Continued readings from Bender

We continued reading Aimee Bender this week in her stories "Ironhead" and "Motherfucker." These stories had the similar comparison of outcasts like the others did.
In Ironhead we saw the boy born with a head of an iron was an outcast to his family of pumpkins. The boy was teased and ignored. He became drawn to the point of loneliness that ultimately could have been the leading cause of his death. His mother did love him, but his own siblings rejected him and ironhead had a hard time living in the fantasy world Bender created for him.
In Motherfucker, the motherfucker was an out cast, but in a completely different sense. This was one of the few stories from Bender that could have been set in a reality setting. There did not seem to be much in this story that could have brought us top believe it was meant to be fantasy. The motherfucker did just that; he engaged i sexual relations with woman that were mothers. It was strange and he was an outcast of some sense but not as like the other stories. It seemed to be more of a weird fetish more than a make believe outcast. He in some way changed the starlet's life and maybe he did that to others. He could have been the way he was just to change single mother's lives and give them satisfaction and a sense of excelling in life. For example, the starlet became a better actress and won lots of awards because of her encounter with him. Things that would not have happened if not for meeting the motherfucker.
Bender's approach to morals is a key to her story and the messages are woven into her stories. You may have to be able to intemperate her messages but the lessons she approaches and morals apply greatly to our society today.

Scott Swan
Post 7

"End of the Line" and "Fruit and Words"

Aimee Bender is an intelligent and unique writer from many different perspectives. In her book, Willful Creatures, there are several short stories that include rather interesting plots. This week we discussed specifically those of End of the Line and Fruit and Words.

In End of the Line, the key characters were the Big Man and the Little Man. This short story keyed in on the roles of bullying. As discussed in class, there are several ways to interpret the plot. From my point of view, I see it as the Little Man seeking fun and enjoyment out of the Little Man. Typically, people buy "pets" for companions, whereas in this case, where it seemed to be at first friendly fun, it turned into torture and cruelty. Too many self-minded people are filled with the ideas that animals, or in this case, PEOPLE that are smaller than them, have less power, no feelings, and can feel no harm. An example that I was going to reference in class was the Circus. People find enjoyment in watching lions jump through fire, elephant dance around being pulled by sharp wire and electric rods, and horses be whipped around the ring. Like this story, sympathy is lost when comparing Big to "Little".

I feel that Bender relates her stories so simply that everyone can interpret differently. In class we also discussed the end of this short on whether or not we believed that the Big Man was really sympathetic or not and the Little Girl who saw him wearing her hat. Personally, I believe that she wanted to believe that he was a good man, failing to know his true side and past of what just happened, and the Big Man was simply looking for a new target.


Another short by Bender that we discussed in class was Fruit and Words. In this short story I believe that Bender used several metaphors; the biggest one being the Mango. Throughout the story we learn that the main character is in a terrible relationship with her boyfriend of 7 years, Steve. The mango fruit becomes symbolic in her thirst for a better, more healthy relationship. I believe that the fruit stand was real in a sense of a "sign". I interpret the fruit stand to be symbolic of her trying to accept new things in life. However, when is got to the gas room, where she was forced to believe in something not physically there, she lost it and her fantasy ended. When arriving home, she found the mangoes rotted. This symbolizes her realization that the lady was right. One must come to the conclusion and realization when something is wrong and must start to believe that change is possible, you just have to have faith in yourself, and a little in others.

Courtney Bisher, Post 6.

Aimee Bender's Willful Creatures

Aimee Bender's first story that we read in class "End of the Line" was an interesting read.  The moral of this story was hard to decipher, because of the twists in the story.  At first, the relationship between the big man and the little man seems to be one of odd companionship because the little man is the big man's pet.  Later in the story, though, the big man starts to get jealous of the little man's story and his life--one that he maybe wishes that he has --and begins to torture the little man.  This change in the story indicates that the big man is most likely unstable in some way.  The way that he treats the little man also shows that he is power-hungry and since he can't find any sort of way to control his reality (with being denied a date at work, and not having any friends) being able to control the little man is a way for him to be powerful.

The next part of the story was confusing.  The big man is torturing the little man, demanding to see his family, and the little man is denying him. The big man, instead of killing the little man, stops torturing him, and concedes with "okay".  The big man then ends up taking care of the little man until letting him go four days later.  It is not apparent at first whether or not the big man is treating the little man so well out of his care for him or not.  A page later, though, the big man says that the reason that he lets the little man go, was because he wasn't any fun anymore--indicating that the big man wanted power over the little man, and now that it was gone he didn't want him anymore, and also that he is sick to want to torture the little man.

"End of the Line" ends when the big man takes the train to the end of the line, and finds a little person hat, and calls out that he wants to be part of the little people society.  His motivations, though, are sketchy at best.  For one, the big man didn't care about the little man that he originally had as a pet, so why would he suddenly turn around and say that he wanted to protect the little people?  Also, it is likely that the big man just wants to feel powerful again, God like to all the little people that he could control.

Allison Weening, Post 6

Post 6

This week the readings we read in class have been very interesting. Especially the readings this week that had to deal with the author Aimme Bender. At first I really did not like the of reading this far in course. Then when reading these stories I really thought the content of the books and stories we were reading were really weird. I really find it personally hard to read these types of stories and books, because I am the type of person who likes more concrete things (politics), and not metaphors, poems, etc.. That is why I personally find this class and trying to participate in the class very challenging. I realized this in high school when I did well in all my other classes, but English was never my strong point, not the writing part but that analysis of poems and different kinds of writing. But with these readings I began to look more into the meanings of the readings and different authors code meanings in their works.
The first story we read by Bender was the story The End of the Line. This when I first read it was extremely weird to me. The entire thing at first made no sense, and at first glance I was like why is this women being paid to write stuff like this. But then I cleared my mind and read it for a second time. After reading it a second time i did realize there were different metaphors in the story which readers can learn from. The story is written like a fairy tale, but the message doesnt hit you over the head like other fairy tales do. The aspect of the story with the big man abusing the little man can definitely be seen as a metaphor for bullying and how someone can deal with bullying. Also the part where the big man puts the little man down his pants, I thought was a metaphor for sexual abuse in any kind of relationship, and how humiliating and devastating it can be for the person being abused. The story also can be seen as how someone which i thought had a psychological problem (the big man) needs an intervention in order to stop acting the bi polar way he did throughout the story. If he had someone there to help him he would have been able to stop his destructive ways. This is also another real life connection because people in rehab or with mental problems or addictions usually need intervention from family or friends to help them and put them on the right track, something the big man lacked. But throughout the course i will continue to try and read the readings the best way i can, and hopefully improve and maybe begin to enjoy them at some point.

Post 6 Kenny Liszewski

Aimee Bender

I have really enjoyed the first two stories by Aimee Bender. The first story "End of the Line" was very different. I thought it was interesting how she incorporates fictional themes into the real world. For example she writes about how regular people live in a world with little people. I also thought it was interesting how it said, "friendly people got dogs and the independent people got cats," and how we talked about what kind of person gets small people. I didn't think the the big man had a mental disorder but I think he was very controlling and needed to abuse the little man. I also liked how at the end of the story the big and small man almost switch places.

I also liked the second story, "Fruit and Words." I was actually able to stay focused and read this story in a room full of people which made me realize how good of a job Bender did at keeping my attention and keeping me interested in the story. When I was reading the story I got the impression that the vender was almost like a con artist. She got the people's attention by showing off the great fruit and then once they by that they see the words made out of what they are and they will by that. Once they find that interesting they want to see more and she charges them to see more like the liquids and gases. Once they see the liquids they start to look the same and you can't tell if they are real or not. Then once they get to gases, she can tell them whatever she wants. Once the lady breaks the air she is charged for it even though she didn't do anything. People get suckered into breaking something and having to pay for it.