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.

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 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

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.

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.

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.

Amiee Bender Readings

Amiee Bender uses some very different styles of writing to get her point across to the reader. She uses both fabulism and magical realism to create her story and deliver her message. These styles engage the reader with their creativity and openness of interpretation. I do view these stories messages to be similar though.

In the first story we read, "End of the Line", we see her use of magical realism more than her fabulism. The story starts off with a man searching for a pet to keep him company. The story, however, take an magical kind of turn when he ends up purchasing a little man to be his pet. He enjoys the man at first but the enjoyment quickly turns to abuse. He proceeds to drug the little man and put him down his pants. Near the end of the story he suddenly has a change of heart and allows the little man to go back to his home.

In "Fruit and Words" we find a woman in an abusive and unhappy relationship that comes to a head when she is left at the alter by her boyfriend of seven years. On her trip home she has the urge for something she has never had before, a mango. This is symbolic of her wish for a fresh new relationship. Once again to this point in the story it seems to be a realistic description of a persons life. Yet, when she goes to a store to buy some mangos she seems to have a fantasy or daydream. She sees the word of a product made by the product itself, and on her way home the mangos she purchased rotten rapidly.

The moral I got from both of these stories is that it is important to be careful what you wish for and realize that your actions can greatly affect others around you. In "End of the Line" the big man purchases a little man because he thinks it will help solve his loneliness, yet he tears the Little man away from his family and hurts him. He gets bored with him and in the end has nothing positive to show for his purchase. The woman in "Fruit and Words" wishes for a new relationship but just like the mangos rot so can relationships. It takes work and not wishes to make positive changes.

Wendy Rose

After reading some of Wendy Rose's work you can find a few common themes in her writings. The first piece we read was "Neon Scars" and in this autobiography we read about her troubled and abusive past. One particular feeling I got when reading this was that she craved acceptance and understanding. she was unwanted by her family and unaccepted by others, even though she tried her best to fit in. This past shaped her life and I feel allowed her to become a better poet and author.

We see similar themes of vebal abuse and trauma in the other writings also. We find that her marriage was based soley on money and not love, and her husband was very distant and hurtful to her. This is another example of her lack of acceptance from others.

Gilda Stories Post 3

In chapters three through five of the novel a few questions arise. These chapters challenge the traditional definition of family, and also raise some ethical and moral dilemmas. As we know by now the vampire definition of family is more of a brotherhood than a conventional family, but the line is blurred when Gilda sends mixed signals on her feelings about Julius and her relationship with Bird. She says she view Julius more like a brother than a lover, but then decides to leave him a provocative dream.

Later She turns Julius into a fellow vampire. I have a problem with this transformation because I feel she took advantage of Julius' loneliness and did not get definitive permission to change him. However, she does view the transformation as a favor to him and a gift to her. She believes that Julius will no longer feel lonely since vampires are a close group with a unique bond. This is also a benefit to herself since she can finally be the person in charge of the relationship.

I feel that the opportunity to become immortal has a lot more negatives than positives. I would want to be able to be reunited with loved ones and share the life experiences that immortality provides with others. Since that is almost an impossible task, I feel that I would turn down the offer to become a vampire.