Journal 1

Today I learned that this ENG103 class is much different than what I thought. I actually like that we are using computers instead of the old method of pen and paper. I never thought that we would be using Wikipedia but it sounds kind of fun. I also learned how to edit pages, create an account and add footnotes to a page. I am not too good at writing papers but I think that editing a Wikipedia page along my classmates and professor will help me improve my writing skills.

Journal 2

Today we did a review of our last class. We went over what is Wikipedia. I learned what a tertiary text was. I had never heard of the term before. We also did a review of how to conduct research. I got a refresher on the differences between summarizing, paraphrasing and quoting. I also started reading Wild Seed this week. It is not a type a book I would have read on my own since I'm not really into science fiction. I am surprised that the story has caught my attention and hopefully I wont get bored of the story line.

Journal 3

Today we went over paraphrasing, summarizing, thesis statements, topic sentences and action words that you can use. We also learned the way to write a proper essay and how to come up with a topic for it as well as how to come up with a well-written thesis statement. We also went over how to include proper evidence and explanations for that evidence in your essay.

Journal 4

Today we learned how to find journals and books using the LaGuardia library source. We used academic search complete and Jstore. We tried starting off the search using google which lead us to Jstore to find the articles we needed. We also went over how to cite sources and why it changed from underlining to the use of italics in citing the title of the book. We read two articles and summarized them in bullet points together as a class. We learned that main works go in quotations and writings in those main works go in italics.

Journal 5

Today we learned what components the article to a novel must have in a Wikipedia page. We also took a look at the Wild Seed article that already exists in Wikipedia. We evaluated the article in groups and then as a whole. We determined that while someone took the time to even create a page, there is much work that needs to be done. There is a lot of information missing from the article but we have somewhat of start with the work that has already been done. We also learned that we have already worked on some of the themes and background for the page with the summaries that we have done for homework.

Journal 6

Today we went over possible sections for the article and did a review of last week's class. We learned about contributors to feminist thoughts such as Donna Haraway and Timmel Duchamp. Duchamp gave us a new narrative of liberation and Haraway came up with the feminist myth and the idea of a strong black female protagonist. We also spoke about cyborgs and how in today's society we are becoming cyborgs ourselves. We spoke about reviews for "reception" section, backgrounds is African myth and gender struggles.

Research Journal Entry 7

Today we did presentations on reading for Research assignment 5. We discussed 4 different papers that covered different topics in front of the class. We also voted on the importance of different topics that we have discussed in class. We also started our research paper proposal.

Reseach Journal Entry 8

Today we worked in groups on editing the sections for the Wikipedia article. I worked on Contribution to feminist thought and found some quotes for the topic which I paraphrased. We also went over our research proposals and what is required in them. We went over what is required in our research paper and how to properly cite in and at the end of the research paper.

Journal Entry 9

Today we revised our group work and submitted new drafts. We had more time to resubmit our paper proposals and had help from professor Gallardo to work out our thesis. I had to find quotes from my resources in order to help me with my paper and thesis.

Journal Entry 10

Today we started off the class by revising our group contributions to the article. Each of us had somethings to look over and correct. We read the plot of Wild Seed out loud and decided to make some changes to it. We spent the last hour of class working on our draft for the research paper.

Citation Practice

Ocatvia Butler was a shy as a child. ^{[1] [2] [3]}

References

This is a user sandbox of Legend923. A user sandbox is a subpage of the user's user page. It serves as a testing spot and page development space for the user and is not an encyclopedia article.

Research Assignment 1

Butler's upbringing was a rough one as a child having to grow up in the segregation era. Her mom bringing her books to read while she was young helped Butler have an interest in literature. Seeing how her mom was treated because of her skin color and being picked on in school had to have a big impact on the type of literature that she would write later on as an adult. It is amazing that she was able to overcome so many difficulties and still have an interest in literature. The fact that she was African-American presented it's own obstacles, but the fact that she was a female trying to publish literature in a genre controlled by white males, made it more difficult for her work to get out to the public. Her work was finally recognized when she started winning prominent awards in the mid 1980's for "Speech Sounds" and "Bloodchild". Butler struggled to write during her last years due to medication she was taking for her blood pressure. She wanted to continue writing her Parable novels but depression and writer's block got the best of her and she could not finish the series. Her death has many theories which include her falling and hitting her head and a fatal stroke. I am personally impressed by how Butler was able to overcome so many obstacles in her life and become the writer that she was. She encountered racism and depression among other things and was still able to be an amazing author and inspiration to many. Many people would not have been as strong minded as she was and would've given up their dreams to write. It is a shame that she passed away so young and we weren't able to experience more of her literature.

^[1]

Summary of chapters 1-4

The story of wild seed starts off with the character of Doro discovering the demise of one of his seed villages. He discovers that his people have all been killed and his village was destroyed. As he wonders further southwest through some forest he runs into Anyanwu. At first they are very weary of each other since they are not aware of each others powers. Doro finally approaches her and introduces himself telling her that he will not hurt her and she does not need to run away. He senses in her a power he had not seen in a very long time. They finally learn about each others powers. Doro is a spirit who can take over anyone's body and live inside of them. Anyanwu is a shape shifter, she can take the form of any living thing and has superhuman strength. That night Doro convinces Anyanwu to leave her village behind and go with him to try and find out who destroyed his seed village. They make their way through many villages without confrontation until Doro has to kill a young man who is arrogant and didn't want to let them through. Doro takes over his new body and they make their way across a river into a slave camp. In the slave camp Anyanwu discovers one of her descendants, a young man the name of Okoye. The three of them board a ship that is manned by one of Doro's sons. They make their way East as Okoye learns more about Doro and Anyanwu.

Orson Scott Card on Butler's craft in Wild Seed

In this passage Card praises the way Butler writes science fiction. He breaks down the way she catches the readers attention with just the first sentence in her story. He starts off by praising the way she uses certain terms that would confuse most readers but does not expect the reader to know what she means without eventually explaining these terms. He also likes the way that Butler does not imply with metaphors but is very literal in what she says and therefore does not confuse the reader or make the reader do research on certain terminology. Carter also praises Butler in the way that she divulges so much information about the characters and therefore does not confuse readers by making them assume what the character's history really is. He concludes by saying that with a writer like Butler the reader will not be confused because there will be an explanation to everything that she writes in the novel.

Research Assignment 3

Govan Power Struggles

• the struggle for power occurs in all of the books in the series
• Doro breeds and creates the super race of psionic kind with an agenda
• Doro is looking for an immortal companion
• After meeting Anyanwu, Doro realizes he needs her genes for his super race
• Love changes the struggle of nurturing healer vs super race breeder
• This was a new type of science fiction where there were black protagonists
• The novel involves West African history culture as well as the struggle of the middle passage and slavery in America
• It involves the myth of a new Genesis (new race)
• Racism is erased

Salvaggio Feminist Viewpoint ^[2]

• Article context is about white, male, sexist and racist environment
• She writes about strong black female protagonists
• Worlds are still male dominated and the female's goal is freedom
• The female characters compromise and negotiate
• Women are fighting not to replace the power but to change it
• The female characters are survivors

Govan Historical connection ^[3]

• Article is mostly a summary of Wild Seed and Black tradition/African Ethos
• She connects historical facts to Butler's writing
• Butler uses interrogative and instructive impulses to make explicit art
• Butler uses past cultures to influence her writing
• Slave narratives were written to convince the public to abolish slavery
• Butler's writings were a link between slave narratives and science fiction
• Wild Seed is about power, dreams, separation and love
• There is a theme of Doro's spiritual dissolution-of a man who cannot die
• African Ethos tells that "children are worth"
• Butler uses African Roots as the major theme to build the dramatic value in Wild Seed

Research Assignment 5

Bred to be Superhan: Comic Books and Afrofuturism in Octavia Butler’s Patternist Series

• The movie Devil Girl inspired Butler to write when she figured that anyone can write a better story line
• the Patternmaster series has a similar structure of comic books
• Butler uses Afrofuturistic themes in her series
• Butler discusses that comic books are like junk food for the mind
• Butler did not like the theme of heroes vs bad guys
• Butler grew up in the golden age and silver age of comic books
• some super heroes’ powers are disgusting to normal people and the heroes feel ousted from the society they are protecting
• Patternist: superhumans fighting for power
• Patternist series expands to the 27th century and includes over 150 characters