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Posted: July 25, 2010 by Mika in books
Tags: fiction, margaret atwood, speculative fiction, the handmaid's tale

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Bruce Robertson

Cline

Eng. 102

10 April, 2011

The Handmaid’s Tale Analysis

            My biggest questions after reading The Handmaid’s Tale were: Why would so many women subject themselves to this kind of lifestyle? Why would some willingly sell out others in order to be put in positions of some authority (such as the aunts or marthas)? Also, how long would it take for the women to actually accept and adopt these outrageous beliefs? In order to gain better understanding of the story, and to better answer my questions, I’m going to do some research on the Jewish people during the Holocaust. It was under different circumstances and for different reasons that they were led off, nonetheless, many chose to be led off as opposed to running away. I’m also going to do some research on blacks during slavery, to see what would constitute making certain ones into house slaves or overseers. I think that would give some insight into my second question about the Aunts and Marthas. In order to better understand my third question, I’d like to do some research on Stockholm syndrome and maybe take a look at a few specific instances of long kidnappings and imprisonments. At the end of The Handmaid’s Tale when the professor is giving the lecture about the Gileadean society, he notes that all of their ideas were basically stolen from earlier societies. I feel that if I can do my research on previously accepted sociological principles that may have been the basis for the framework of the Gileadean society, that it may give me better understanding of the society and their goals, as well as the behavior of those within the society.

Letter to the Editor

Bruce Robertson

Cline

Eng 102

27 March 2011

Letter to the Editor

            Once again, English is the most dreaded class that I’m taking. It is the only course that I’ve ever had to halfway apply myself in order to attain an A average. The most challenging thing for me this semester has been the literary analysis. So far, the whole semester has been literary analysis. I’ve never felt any great desire or need to dissect writing in order to ascertain the author’s deeper meanings. The good thing about this class is that it’s forced me to do something that I’m uncomfortable with and don’t particularly like doing. Anyone that’s lived a little knows that’s what life is all about. I really appreciate the fact that this class is a challenge for me. Where I once rejected criticism, I’ve learned to embrace it. I’m glad that you always try to push me a little harder and try to get me to analyze a little deeper. Over the second half of this class, I’d like to improve upon the depth of my analysis. I’d also like to continue to analyze and criticize while keeping my proper tone. I’ve always been strongly opinionated, and keeping my proper tone is kind of challenging for me sometimes. Hopefully, I’ll be able to maintain my A average, and then take the skills I’ve learned in this class and apply them to papers I’ll have to write in other classes along the way.

The Sandstorm

Playwright Sean Huze

www.seanhuze.com

The Sandstorm

            At the risk of sounding callous and insensitive, reading Sean Huze’s play, The Sandstorm evoked no real emotion out of me. The closest thing that comes to my mind, to compare this play with, would be a modern horror movie. Most of the suspense, intrigue, and emotion have been replaced with simple violence and gore. Instead of artistically writing and scaring the viewer, the viewer’s fear is replaced with shock. After reading the story, it seemed to me that most of the story just focused on the bloodiness of war and how horrific it is. I kind of felt like maybe I was supposed to have been shocked, but never developed that emotion though. Maybe I’ve become desensitized by the constant bombardment of “shock” TV, movies, books, plays, art, etc. that has permeated our society? Maybe the fact that you can practically rip a characters head off and shove it up his ass in most “kids” video games, has numbed me to a good war story? Maybe I’m just a cruel jerk for not getting misty eyed reading about American troops putting their life on the line for my freedom? Or, maybe, this play needs to be seen as… a play? It wouldn’t be doing this work any justice if I just sat here and was critical of it for not packing an emotional punch, without actually seeing it the way it was intended to be put across. I couldn’t try to use a gun as a boomerang, and then say that the gun is a useless weapon. If used right, a gun is dangerous. So, I’m going to give this play the benefit of the doubt, and assume that if I was to see it performed, that it would have more of an impact upon me, and would be much easier to follow. After all, I like to view myself as a nice guy, and not some calloused jerk.      

week 5 the things they carried

http://www.google.com/images?q=vietnam+war+memorial&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=univ&sa=X&ei=P8JhTd-QDYe-sQOA9cjDCA&ved=0CGgQsAQ&biw=1024&bih=565

My Tho, Vietnam. A Viet Cong base camp being destroyed. In the foreground is Private First Class Raymond Rumpa, St Paul, Minnesota, C Company, 3rd Battalion, 47th Infantry, 9th Infantry Division, with 45 pound 90mm recoiless rifle. 04/05/1968

The Things They Carried

      "The Things They Carried" is an extremely understated title. Whereas other war novels blandly plod through checklists of items used by soldiers, and offer detail of battles fought, Tim O'Brien's story presents the intangible hopes, demons, fears, and horrors that were carried, but could not be weighed. The way he blends in these intangible burdens, as he runs through the checklist of death and destruction that each man carried, is literary genius. The approach taken in this story gives the reader the ability to visualize the grisly task assigned to these soldiers, as well as insight into the emotional trauma reaped by carrying out such tasks.
     The Vietnam War was a dark time in American history. Like many atrocities, people tend to push it away, or not speak of it. This story doesn't push it away, but instead places it under a  microscope. The very cells and molecules that make up the beast of war are examined. This story is not of war; nor is it of those who participated in it. It is a story of what makes those men continue; of what makes them live; of what makes them men. In order to understand war, you must first understand the battles. In order to understand the battles, you first must understand the men in battle. In order to understand the men, you must look deep inside them. I applaud Mr. O'Brien for taking us in deep; deeper than we may be comfortable with sitting in our middle class homes, but deep enough to reach a fuller, deeper, more appreciative understanding of the things they carried.

week 4 assignment poetry of witness

                                                       http://www.jimmysantiagobaca.com/

   




www. NewZealand. com

Afghanistan Conflict

Our Troops are There Right Now.

Show Your Support for Our Troops!

USO.org

Soldier Writing Home by DGTate (43)

http://i1.trekearth.com/photos/1967/soldier_writing_home.jpg









     I found "Immigrants in Our Own Land" by Jimmy Santiago Baca, and "Letters Composed During the Lull in the Fighting" by Kevin Powers, both to be refreshing in their descriptive prowess. Both writers present the world of which they're writing, in a way that is dry and to the point, yet is visually stimulating to the imagination and full of emotion. Both of the poems jump off the page and pull at your heartstrings with their opening lines.
     In "Immigrants in our own Land", Baca opens up with this line: "We are born with dreams in our hearts, looking for better days ahead"(Baca 1-2). Most people, when asked their opinion of inmates, have something negative to say. It's easy to forget that these are people too. They are people who once had hopes and dreams, just like us. For many, that chance for self-betterment never comes to fruition. They tried to take an easy out and were caught. Now they have to pay for that for the rest of their lives. This really hits close to my heart, because I grew up in a place where you're expected to go to jail, or not amount to anything. I've seen many people try to better their lives, in the only ways they know how, and wind up in prison. There are many good people in prison who will never get another chance, even if they are released.
     The opening sentence of "Letters Composed During a Lull in the Fighting" grabs your attention in much the same way. Powers offers this opening: "I tell her I love her like not killing, or ten minutes of sleep beneath the low rooftop wall on which my rifle rests"(Powers 1-4). I find that in most poetry, English majors recycle the same mundane simile and metaphors that every other English major has used throughout time. Comparing love for her to love for not killing is amazing and fresh. Just that one line alone makes you wonder about the horrors of war that could cause a writer to even think this. It is a perspective that ninety-nine percent of people would not be able to articulate: but, we all understand. It's easy to think of war as a whole, but this poem helps you to see each individual, on each side, as a person, trying to keep in touch with whatever they love; with whatever keeps them going.

Works Cited

Baca, Santiago Jimmy. "Immigrants in Our Own Land". www.poetryfoundation.org 

     Poetry Foundation, 2010. Web. 02-13-11

Powers, Kevin. "Letter Composed During a Lull in the Fighting". www.poetryfoundation.org

      Poetry Foundation, 2010. Web. 02-13-11

The necessity to shut up

(Immortal Technique, "Dance with the Devil", Revolutionary Vol. 1)


The Necessity to Shut Up

     Like every college reading assignment, I find Sam Hamill's essay to be ridiculously over the top, sprinkled with a slight touch of sense. Why our education hinges so greatly upon the ramblings of "educated" idiots; I do not know. Why is it that a man who, like Immortal Technique says, probably only did a month for minor offenses"(I.T. Dance with the Devil) is an expert on all the problems in prisons? Why is it that a man who was a conscientious objector, and never actually fought or shed blood, can speak of war as if he understands?
     O.k., before you think I'm just writing myself into a frenzy, let me state this: things do need to be spoken of and brought into the open. People do need to be made aware. People need to be shocked by the raw reality of this life. It is easy to go to work and return home, oblivious and blinded by the "matrix" around us. Remember this though; the world is an evil place.
     Whether you base your beliefs on Adam and Eve falling out in the Garden of Eden, or just on the countless wars, rapes and tortures throughout history; the world is evil. We can drop our guns, but the country that hates us regardless, will not drop their own. We all want peace and harmony but, with the exception of Sam Hamill, are wise enough to know that it's just not plausible. I agree with him that violence, such as hitting women, has no place. But, war is necessary. Death is necessary. Without it, there would be no freedom to be a conscientious objector. There would be no freedom to speak against the violent. So go ahead and speak your guts out, but remember this, as I quote Immortal Technique one more time, "there was always the wicked who knew in advance." (I.T. Dance with the Devil)

Assignment 1 Good readers and writers

Reading  Strategies To Think About

View more presentations from David Deubelbeiss.

Bruce Robertson

Eng 102

01-24-11

Mrs. Laura Cline

Good Readers and Good Writers

            Personally, I believe Nabokov to be quite over the top. He insinuates that a story read only once, just hits on an emotional level. In order to be a good reader, one must reread the story 3, 4, or even 5 times. We must dissect every descriptive phrase and analyze it scientifically. He then goes on to say that good readers must have a balance between an emotional and a scientific thought process when taking in a book. In my opinion, becoming a cold, scientific, analytical machine that disassembles writers every fiber of imagery and description is to become devoid of the emotion that makes a story enjoyable. Thus, I find Nabokov’s description of a good reader to be contradictory.

            That being said, I do agree with his assertions that a good reader must have imagination, memory, and some artistic sense. I believe a good reader should take the time to mentally picture what the author is trying to portray. A good reader shouldn’t be naïve enough to let their emotions be twisted without exercising some literary analysis. I guess my point is this: don’t swim so deep in the analytical, that you drown in it. I believe myself to be a good reader in that aspect. I can enjoy a book emotionally and analytically, without having to dissect every letter and send it off to forensics. Call me shallow, obstinate, or naïve; or just call me a good reader.