William Gibson's Neuromancer - 10/30/08

William Gibson’s Neuromancer is one of the most interesting books I have ever read. It is very different what from the books I have been exposed to and its genre is also pretty new to me. Neuromancer is a classic example of science fiction and an introduction to cyberpunk.

Cyberpunk is a science fiction genre that deals a lot with technology and low life. That is, usually the heroes that are depicted in these stories are not the regular kind that is depicted in stories. They are usually criminals, offenders of some sort, etc. In Neuromancer, Gibson does a good job of depicting this genre.

Case, one of the main characters in the book, uses his intelligence to steal from his bosses. He does all this through technology. He also seems to be tormented by the fact that his life is in danger; Wage, the guy that he stole from is looking to take his life.

The characters in this book have similarities with the characters in the movie “The Matrix”. They both wear dark clothes that are tight fitting and in addition to that, the settings of both stories are quite grim. All in all, Neuromancer is shaping up to be an interesting read.

 

Kindred Part 2 - 10/23/2008

As one continues to read Kindred, he or she becomes enlightened to the fact that when the reason why Dana gets transported back to the twentieth century is because her own death may be imminent. This is very similar to why she gets transported to 1815, to save Rufus, her ancestor from dying an untimely death.

Another interesting aspect of the story is the fact that she has to take up a role of a slave even though in present time she is treated equally. One would think that with the knowledge and education she has acquired in the twentieth century, it would help her survive when she called back in time.

However, she is pretty much helpless.  So the question is, even though women have been enlightened, has this changed the mentality that we are equal to men or do we face a different kind of battle than our predecessors? An interesting aspect to the story is that is helps us to think and examine how far we as a people have come and how knowledge brings power.

 

Octavia Butler's Kindred - 10/17/08

Octavia Butler’s Kindred is a classic example of science fiction and/or fantasy text. It contains quite a number of attributes that pertains to this category. The story includes a hero figure (Dana), time travel (between the eighteenth century and the nineteenth century), spiritual connections between characters (Dana and Rufus) and several other attributes.

Another group that Kindred fits in is the Slave Narrative. This is because throughout the text, the reader is exposed to several themes that are prevalent in slave narratives. These in include Christianity, using ignorance as a tool to prevent slaves from advancing, sexual exploitation of women and several others.

In the text, Master Tom Weylin did not want the slaves to learn how to read or write. This is because he feared that if the slaves became literate they would seek a better life for themselves and this would collapse the whole master-slave relationship. He therefore encouraged ignorance to prevent the slaves from advancing. In addition to that, Margaret had a problem with Dana sleeping in Kevin’s room because she considered her house a Christian one. She did not want to condone such behavior.

As the reader gets engrossed in the text, he/she realizes that Kindred fits into the Feminism theory. Dana is portrayed as hero. She always manages to save Rufus from being killed. She is also not the typical “slave” because she is educated and can stand on her own. This is a classic example of multiculturalism in Feminism.

Challenging Gender Roles - 10/10/08

It is very interesting how each and every one of us seem to fit in a particular role depending on what our gender is. However, when we are exposed to situations and individuals that do not fit into the roles we are used to, a sense of discomfort falls on us.

 A commonality when growing is that girls need to play with dolls and boys with trucks. But there is a bit of discrimination there. This is due to the fact that it is acceptable for girls to play with trucks or wear male clothes; however, the same cannot be said for guys.  If boys play with dolls or wear female clothes it is considered unacceptable in society.

Brokeback Mountain is a film that came along to challenge these notions. Most films do not glorify homosexual relations on the silver screen, but Brokeback Mountain did so. It showed the relationship between Ennis and Jack and how they had to keep their relationship a secret because it would be dangerous to expose it.

Judith Butler encourages such materials to be brought mainstream and Brokeback Mountain does just that. This is because she advocates Queer Theory and seeks to have individuals and society question gender roles. It becomes difficult for individuals to show their identity since it is tied to our passions (sexuality). However, if we move from the way of thinking, we would realize that everybody is different.

Midterm Blog Paper - 10/09/08

Prior to taking this Contemporary Literature class, I had no clue as to what exactly will be taught or what would be expected of me. However, after attending the first few classes, I realized that this class was totally different from any English class I had ever taken. The material is not what you would find in a classic English class, however, it requires critical thinking and helps one go beyond basic analysis.

First and foremost, my reading development, I would say, has come a long a way. I believe that before taking this class, I fell in the Text-Self stage. In high school, one of the numerous literature books I was exposed to was “Animal Farm”. It was a very interesting story, however, most of the assignments that were given on it were that of us finding symbols and also giving our views about the story and the characters. I believe that my analysis of the story was very “I” based since I had to relate it to an experience I had had and find commonalities between them. In other words, to indicate, whether, I liked the story or not.

I though that college would be different since it was a new and higher stage and plus, it was in a different country. However, I was somewhat wrong about that assumption. I remember one of my first major analysis papers I wrote for my Written Communications I class as a freshman, was on rhetorical analysis of the Cardinal Stritch Chapel. The paper was based on my analysis of the chapel and how its existence affected society per se. That is, whether it raised arguments or not and how it flowed in society. I strongly believe that the paper was very subjective because it dealt with my opinions of the place and whether I liked it or not.

The same can be said for the first film analysis I did which was on “Hostage”. My analysis was a bit skewed since I had to convince individuals on why it would be a good movie to watch. I did this by citing specific examples to support my claim in hopes of drawing views in. Even though, I was not asked to find symbols, I still had to analyze texts subjectively.

My next phase in English courses was Written Communications II. In that class, I read a bunch of short stories and analyze them. The difference between this class and the ones that I had had previously was that in this class, I was expected to use other texts that were similar to write creative analysis and also to find out how the texts were structured. It was not the cookie cut analysis that I was exposed to during high school and my freshman year in college. It allowed me to relate different stories to each other in order to understand the lifestyle of a particular time period. This, I believe, was an introduction to the text-other text stage in my reading development.

Currently, I consider myself to be in the Text-Other Textstage. This is because with my exposure to blogging and having to analyze texts that I have read using key terms such as Metafiction, Intertextuality, Pop culture & High culture and Emplotment, have broadened my scope of text analysis.

For instance in Art Spiegelman’s Maus I was exposed to Emplotment. This is because throughout the story he takes you on an emotional journey. That is, tragedy (e.g. Tosha killing herself and the three children, Bibi, Richiev, and Liona, in order to prevent them from going to the gas chamber.), comic (e.g. at the end of the story he calls his dad a murderer because he burnt the diaries – totally unexpected after an intense look at the Holocaust), irony (e.g. when he had the honor of burying the “mole” that turned his family over to Gestapo after he had been left for dead) and romantic (e.g. Vladek’s love for his first wife Anja). Hayden White wrote about Emplotment and how that is prevalent in History and Literature. That is to say that both History and Literature fall into those four categories. I was able to find those structures in Maus and to analyze the text accordingly.

Another example of my text-other text stage is my analysis of Paul Auster’s The New York Trilogy – A City of Glass. The story deals with Metafiction and how everything in life is left to chance. It also explores the notion of us playing different roles in our lives. The way in which the story is written is different from most, in that it does not have a fixed structure. This causes a bit of a disturbance between when we read we attempt to find structure and since this is different from the norm, it becomes uncomfortable to read. We tend to rationalize everything; however, in this book it is difficult to do so because everything is left to chance.

As I continue in my reading development, I hope to reach the Text-World stage. I believe that I have been exposed to it a little bit with the film Brokeback Mountain. This is because the film addresses social issues such as gender roles and what is expected of each person. Judith Butler who writes about Queer Theory exposes us to a different mode of thinking for which the film Brokeback Mountain is a classic example of. I believe that as I continue to read and watch similar films I would be able to move from the Text-Other text stage to the Text-World Stage.

All in all, I am convince that the whole process of blogging and having my writing public for all to critique has helped me in my reading development and analysis of texts. As continue with this venture, I hope to improve in both areas and who knows, I might become an avid blogger even when the class is over.

 

Art Spiegelman's Maus - 10/02/2008

Art Spiegelman’s Maus is a very interesting book. Prior to reading it, I figured that it would be another boring history book. However, I was pleasantly surprised when I opened it up and realized that it was a comic book. That in itself sparked my interest and encouraged me to dive in.

History, according to Hayden White, is based on the form of Emplotment. He says that “It is a process through which facts contained in ‘chronicles’ are encoded as components of plots”. There are four categories which make up Emplotment, they are: tragic, comic, romantic, and ironic. Remarkably enough Maus falls into all four categories.

For instance, Tosha killed herself and the three children, Bibi, Richiev,and Liona, in order to prevent them from going to the gas chamber. She would rather take control of her destiny than to let the Germans dictate it. This is a classic example of tragedy. In addition to that, there were several examples in the book that exhibited irony. One instance of that is when Vladek had the last laugh because the “mole” that turned his family over to Gestapo was left for dead and he had the honor of burying him.

All in all, I must admit that this book was very fascinating since it used an unusual method to depict a serious event such as the Holocaust. I truly enjoyed reading and I made a mental note to myself, never judge a book by its cover.