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Journal Entry #10

I heard in class, the groups got together and discussed the Plot together then as a class. People who needed to work on their essays did so.

Journal Entry #9

Today in class we revised our work from last week. My partner and I were the first to post on the Wild Seed Wikipedia page for the Further Reading reference. We learned how to write a proper thesis for our first draft due Monday.

Journal Entry #8

In class, we separated into teams. I am on team 1 talking about Power Struggles in the book Wild Seed. With my partner, we worked on the Further Reading aspect of the group work. We went over the instructions on the research paper. For our proposal paper, we looked over Dr.X's comments, and can now begin the first draft.

Journal Entry #7

The four groups presented on the article they read for research assignment 5. My group read Whiteside's article and it wasn't that good of a thesis paper. We reviewed the research paper proposal. We filled out a form deciding on which themes were either really important to discuss, or not so important and could leave out of research.

Research Assignment 5

Whiteside, Briana. “Octavia Butler’s Uncanny Women: Structure and Characters in The Patternist Series.”

• Butler was the first to write about black female protagonists.
• Black women characters were stereotypical
• Women were "uncanny" with strong powers that contrasted what abilities black women usually have in science fiction.
• Anyanwu is a spiritual healer that has the power to heal people and herself, which are abilities that other African American literature do not have.
• African American narratives tend to depict black women as healers/witches.
• Butler's healers do not depend on other sources of power

"Butler’s characters have supernatural capabilities that allow them to rid themselves of common problems; on the other hand, their powers do not exclude them from slavery, flesh eating diseases, and near-death experiences." Although it was a blessing and it meant you had a unique power, the supernatural capabilities Anyanwu and her children had could not get them out of physical troubles such as slavery and having a disease. The power only conrtrolled their mind of what they can see.

"Their strength in unusual circumstances propels them forward and their god-like qualities develop them into superior characters." Anyanwu has real powers, not opposed metaphorical value. She knows and feels in her body when something is wrong and how to heal it, which is why she is god-like.

Research Assignment 4

Duchamp, L.T. “‘Sun Woman’ or ‘Wild Seed?’ How a Young Feminist Writer Found Alternatives to White Bourgeois Narrative Models in the Early Novels of Octavia Butler.”

• Science fiction allows a less direct approach to the aspects of social and personal life.
• Doro sees Anyanwu as a descendent of people he bred, that eventually strayed away and became wild.
• Doro believes maternity and plurality make Anyanwu weak but she is happy to live with that and pities him the lack of.
• To some, Doro is considered a monster, but to society and others, he is a man because of how he controls others and takes leadership into his own hands.
• Anyanwu ends up negotiating with Doro at the end before she was going to kill herself and he let her speak on what she wants. He listened to her. She finally won against him.
• Butler had a strong black woman as a protagonist and that isn't something you would see in science fiction novels.

"When he first meets her, Doro adopts her language, telling her that she "belongs with" him, but later tells others that she belongs to him." Doro considers all of his children to be his slaves and property. That they must obey him and if not, they will be punished. When Anyanwu first met him, she wasn't scared, but curious to see what type of man Doro was. After realizing what he does and how he acts around his people, she saw how selfish and cruel he could be. No one could boss around Anyanwu because she never let anyone do so, but she let Doro as much as she didn't want to. Doro basically tricked her into thinking she could be his partner through the journey, but once got her in, she became another one of his slaves.

Holden, R.J. “‘I began writing about power because I had so little’: The Impact of Octavia Butler’s Early Work on feminist Science Fiction as a Whole (and on One Feminist Science Fiction Scholar in Particular).”

• Holden found Butler's novel to be unique with its work on feminism and having a strong female protagonist.
• Butler uses themes like mutation and genetic engineering without losing culture.
• Black women in the 60's and 70's weren't seen as visible in the era of the strong black male.
• Anyanwu always found it hard to be a good wife since she always had to bow down to her husbands. Women had no say when married and were controlled by their husbands.

"Ruth Salvaggio states that "Doro's paternal concerns revolve around his mechanical breeding experiments: He does not create children but Frankenstein monsters. Anyanwu's maternity, however, is the main source of her being, the principal reason for her existence." Doro constantly wants to breed children, mainly with Anyanwu just to see if they will have children with as great powers as they do. It is selfish because he does not care if the child is born weak or with not strong enough powers. Anyanwu takes care of each of her children and loves them all equally no matter what powers they have or don't have.

Journal Entry #6

Today in class we finished writing Research Assignment 3. As a class we discussed Govan's readings, and how to properly cite in MLA format. We each chose a reading for Research Assignment 5. I chose Whiteside's "Octavia Butler's Uncanny Women". Dr.X's lecture was about contributions to feminist thoughts throughout the years.

Research Assignment 3

Govan, Sandra Y. "Connections, Links, and Extended Networks: Patterns in Octavia Butler's Science Fiction." Black American Literature Forum 18.2 (Summer 1984): 82-84.

• Doro breeds people and demands them to obey him.
• Before Anyanwu commits suicide, he bows down to never threaten her again
• Butler uses black characters in a way science fiction authors never have before.
• Butler talks about African history and slavery in America

Govan, Sandra Y. “Homage to Tradition: Octavia Butler Renovates the Historical Novel." MELUS 13.1/2 (Spring-Summer 1986): 79-96.

• She linked science fiction to anthropology and history directly to the Black American slavery experiences.
• When Doro kills his own kind he gains more sustenance from their heightened psychic energy than he derives from the killings of ordinary non-mutant human beings.
• Anyanwu grows traditional herbs to make the customary medicines even though her power to heal does not always require the use of herbs.
• Children are extolled in proverbs above any other good. “children first, wealth follows”
• Doro appeals to Anyanwu’s maternal spirit, promising children with genetic traits like their mother.

Salvaggio, R. “Octavia Butler and the Science-Fiction Heroine." Science Fiction Issue 18.2 (Summer, 1984): 78-81.

• Butler writes about strong female protagonists in Wild Seed
• All of Butler’s protagonists are black but only Anyanwu is born in Africa
• Anyanwu serves as Doro’s breeder and slave
• Anyanwu escapes Doro’s territory and he finds her in Louisiana. He invades her house and begins to control it.
• Doro didn’t want to live forever without Anyanwu and begged her not to commit suicide.
• Anyanwu can take form of animals, a different sex, young, or old.
• Anyanwu is a healer and doesn’t kill unless her children are in trouble and will change form to protect them.
• By Anyanwu not taking her life and deciding to live for her children and Doro, Butler shows the courage and generosity she has, along with many of Butler’s characters in her other novels.

Journal Entry #5

I wasn't in class today, but Laura caught me up on what we did. In class they worked on research assignment #3. They didn't finish so next week we will work on it again.

Research Assignment 2

Pfeiffer:

• Anyanwu survives because she is genetically self-renewing and a shapeshifter in the fullest sense.
• The history of American slavery is the immediate setting and a counterpoint for the narrative of Wild Seed
• Doro and Anyanwu dramatizes a fundamental conflict between the affinity a solitary immortal male and female might feel for one another in a world of mortals.

“Doro looms as a symbol of the perversity of male-dominated human history.” In this book, Doro, the main character, is portrayed as ruler of all the people he is bringing over to new land. Everyone must obey him. Anyanwu is a strong and independent woman who is now under the watchful eye of Doro and must obey him also. It is not because she isn’t intelligent enough to be a leader but because Doro is a dominant male. For many years, males were the epitome of what one should obey. Nowadays, the gender role woman play in society still hasn’t become equal to a man.

Bishop:

• Wild Seed tells the enduring human conflicts between duty and desire, conscience and expediency.
• Touches on the tension between our innate longings for power, or for proximity to power, and the revulsion we inevitably feel at its abuse.
• Doro finds Anyanwu to be valuable
• A love story that has betrayal, threat, and active cruelty.
• Anyanwu has a melancholy acceptance of Doro’s inhuman nature.

“Butler leads us to believe in the humanity of two terribly unlikely near-immortals, both Africans, both apparently figures from Igbo mythology.” While is you read Wild Seed, you will begin to believe or want to believe that the story line is non-fiction. In no way is it a possibility for a human to be immortal or change their body form into an animal, but the way Butler wrote her book, the transitions can amaze you and leave you imagining every detail. Wild Seed can make you believe everything that happened is real.

Lynn:

• Anyanwu forces Doro to confront his own weaknesses and to adjust his plans to her choices and to her moral concerns.
• Butler never loses control over her pacing or over her sense of story
• Wild Seed is full of history
• A grim novel, but not brutal

“Its thematic core explores the question of what it means to be human, expressed through the experiences and emotions of Doro” From the moment Doro met Anyanwu, I believe his whole life changed for the better. It didn’t happen fast but it eventually evolved into what life is about. Before Doro realized how important Anyanwu was to him, he treated everyone around him like they didn’t matter. He led the way and he did what he wanted, with no help. Maybe he didn’t realize it at the time, but every time Anyanwu put her sense into Doro’s thoughts, she made an impact on him. When she decided to not live anymore, he thought about how she impacted his life and he showed his emotions. To be human you must show your full being.

Wild Seed, Chapters 11-Epilogue

Doro and Anyanwu haven’t seen each other in years. When he went to New York years later, in another new body, he met her son, Stephen. Anyanwu cherished Stephen the way Doro cherished Isaac. Doro told Anyanwu he came back to kill her and take her children but she pleaded otherwise. She told him she took shape as a man and married a woman named Denice. Doro brought a spoiled young man, Joseph, to marry one of Anyanwu’s young daughters. Stephen and Joseph fought with each other because Joseph tried to rape Anyanwu’s youngest daughter, Helen. They wanted to get rid of him as soon as possible. Stephen fell to his death because of a sleep walking incident. Joseph tried raping Helen again and this time Anyanwu took form of a great spotted cat and killed him. Months later, Doro came back in a body that Anyanwu was pleased with. She didn’t want him to change, but he didn’t listen. She became pregnant again, but was depressed because of all the deaths in her family. The ones she loved the most were all gone. She was about to kill herself until Doro begged her not to. They had an agreement that Anyanwu can set her own rules for herself and her people and Doro had no say. He would come visit her every so often since she moved to California and changed her name to Emma Anyanwu.

Journal Entry #4

Today in class we learned how to properly organize the wikipedia page for when we write our article about Wild Seed. We read the style guide and learned what information needs to be submitted into each section. In our groups, we critiqued the Wild Seed novel page and wrote out what we think needs to be fixed to make it better. We then looked at all of our past paraphrases and declared what components of the novel we already covered, which are the themes, background, reception, and some of the characters, mostly Doro and Anyanwu. Lastly, we summarized what Orson Scott Card had to say about Wild Seed.

Orson Scott Card on Butler's craft in Wild Seed

Orson Scott Card is amazed at how much information Octavia Butler gave within the opening of Wild Seed. Just by what Butler wrote in the first sentence, Card believes there is so much detail that some people do not realize how much is actually being said. He explains that science fiction writers write in a way that will leave the reader wondering what is going on and will explain everything to them later. This is the abeyance in Butler's work. Metaphors are not to be written at any point during the beginning of your story. Metaphors are confusing to the reader if they are put into the explanation of what is going on at first to help get the reader started. Card looks for four other components in science fiction writing other than Abeyance. The four components are Naming (for each of the characters and which character viewpoint the story is being told), Implication, Literalism, and Piquing our interest.

Wild Seed, Chapters 7-10

Fifty years later, Doro came back to visit and see how the land, his people, and how Isaac were doing. Doro and Anyanwu’s daughter, Nweke, slept together. Nweke began her transitioning. Anyanwu was there to care for her through it all. Thomas had never seen Anyanwu transition into a leopard and when she finally did, he was scared and in shock at first, but was interested in knowing if she could turn white like his last wife. Thomas impregnated her. Doro was about to kill Anyanwu when Thomas stepped in and volunteered for him to take his life instead. Doro now had Thomas’ body. Doro spoke to Isaac about killing Anyanwu and Isaac gave him reasons not to. During the final hours of Nweke’s transition, her mind didn’t set as well as her body did. Isaac and Doro found Nweke staring at Anyanwu on the floor bleeding, eventually healing herself. Isaac grew old and sick. He died and Anyanwu was devastated. Nweke died too. Anyanwu didn’t show up to the funeral, and instead flew around as a bird, then became a dolphin and swam in the sea with more of them.

Journal Entry #3

In class today, we learned how to correctly summarize, paraphrase, and quote. We revised another groups paraphrase from last week and that made me think what to revise on my own work. For Essay writing, we learned that you need to include a topic sentence, evidence, and then an explanation. That is known as P.E.E. (point, evidence, explanation). We then paired into groups and wrote a paragraph on a specific topic. I had "complicated gender roles". We had to write it as a paragraph in essay form.

Wild Seed, Chapters 5 & 6

On the ship, Doro wanted Okoye to marry Udenkwo. Everyone must obey Doro’s rules, so they married each other. The ship was hit with a terrible storm, and as Anyanwu was holding on to the railing she noticed Isaac standing in a position in which he was not fazed by the storm. She learns that Isaac has the ability to speed the ship through water to keep safe. Doro’s other son, Lale, wasn’t as sharp as Isaac, but had the ability to send and receive thoughts. After Anyanwu envisioned what Lale’s thoughts that were put into her mind, she went senseless and killed Lale. Anyanwu wanted to experience life as a dolphin, and after she had a taste, she transformed herself into one. When the ship arrived in New York, Isaac and Doro explained to Anyanwu everything about civilization and how she will be living from now on. Doro had a plan of marrying Anyanwu and Isaac together. She was against it and fought with Doro but once Isaac had a talk with her, she accepted it, knowing if she didn’t, Doro would end up killing her.

Journal Entry #2

Today in class we learned all about paraphrasing and quoting passages. We paired up with a partner and read their work on Butler's biography. As a class, we wrote down the main ideas for what would make a good summary on Butler's life. I learned that quotes are professors least favorite type of writing because it is not our owns words going into our writing. We also were introduced to the Talk Page and how to insert work with our signature.

Research Assignment 1

Octavia E. Butler grew up watching what her mother, a housemaid, did for a living. She would recognize the way people of color would be treated by white supremacy because of segregation. Octavia looked different from other kids, so she felt like she could not fit in or make friends. The library was her second home. By reading books, she discovered a love for writing. Her inspiration and interests were based around science fiction. When her aunt got it stuck in her head that she couldn’t pursue her dream and become a writer because of her ethnicity, it gave Octavia the motivation to work harder and prove her wrong. She went through many jobs, went to school, and did it all without help or taking advice from people that would only disagree with what she had in mind. Octavia went on to becoming a science-fiction writer, winning countless awards and being greatly respected for the work she had done in all her books that became widely popular. She was adventurous, loved learning, and did not limit herself. She was heavily involved with her research and inspiration for her books that her last pair of novels she planned on writing had been canceled because she felt the matter was too depressing. As she got older, she struggled with depression and writers block, partly caused by the medication she was taking. My impression of Octavia E. Butler after reading her biography was that she was a fighter. She seemed like the type of person who went against what anyone told her she couldn’t do. She proved them wrong and succeeded in doing so. Octavia was a smart and hard working woman.

Wild Seed, Chapters 1-4

In chapters 1 through 4, we are introduced to two main characters Anyanwu and Doro. They are both immortal. Doro can transfer his soul into any human being in which he wants to take over, causing that persons soul to die. Anyanwu has powerful healing skills and can take the shape of any human or animal. Doro found Anyanwu and encouraged her to leave Africa and settle in America. Each day they spent together, they grew fonder of each other, and Anyanwu called Doro her husband. She has had three husbands in the past and many children. Anyanwu is a strong woman, and Doro knows that, but ever since she began following him on their mission, she has become careful at listening to his commands. Anyanwu discovers that the slave, Okoye, Doro has taken with him is her grandson. She tells Okoye that she is his grandmother and at first he is in shock. She then proceeds to tell him about her powers of transforming into whatever she wishes to be. Okoye couldn’t believe his grandmother has such skills and how young she can look because of it. We are also introduced to Doro's son, Isaac, who also indicates that he is attracted to Anyanwu.

Journal Entry #1

On the first day of class, we went over the syllabus and what we will be doing this semester. We made our own Wikipedia page and that is where all of our work will be recorded. I have never used Wikipedia in this manner. Now I learned how to cite and use references for my work. I will eventually get the hang of it all, but for now, it could still be confusing.

Citation Practice

Octavia Butler was shy as a child.