User:UptownHarry/sandbox

Journal Entry #1

Today in my first day of ENG 103, I've learned more about Wikipedia, and how Wikipedia editors write an article. Wikipedia is a free encyclopedia, that is accessed by many all over the world and is relied on the most I learned so much about the secrets of Wikipedia and why Wikipedia is so popular among us college students. We also learned in class is that if you're an editor in Wikipedia, you must cite your sources in order to prove the statement you're writing on the article.

Journal Entry #2

Today in ENG 103, I've learned about annotating, summarizing, paraphrasing, and quoting. We also learned on how to communicate with others on here through Wikipedia.

Journal Entry #3

Today in ENG 103, we did a review of what we learned last week which was annotating, summarizing, paraphrasing, and quoting. We also did group work with our fellow classmates, and we had to critique them on how we feel, how better there paper should be. We also revised paraphrases of interviews that have to deal with Wild Seed. We also learned about encyclopedic paragraphs, and how are they different from other paragraphs.

Journal Entry #4

Today in ENG 103, we first did an evaluation of the current Wild Seed article in Wikipedia. We had to determine whether we would want to change a few things around, or keep it the way it is. We also had to look at the WikiProject novel guide and to see if the current article of Wild Seed needed a little more than polishing. We had to compare the Wild Seed page to the Kindred page. As a class we agreed that the Kindred page is way better than the Wild Seed page but we know that we will make Wild Seed a better page than how it is now. After we did that as a group, we had to list article components covered by the class so far that can be helpful for our article in the future. After we did that we had to summarize a secondary source and the source we had to summarize was Orson Scott Card on Butler's craft in Wild Seed from How to Write Science Fiction and Fantasy.

Journal Entry #5

Today in ENG 103, we learned about putting bullet points in Wikipedia, we also did a research assignment in which we had to analyze a few articles and summarize the main ideas of the article, to see how we need to use it in our future article.

Journal Entry #6

Today in ENG 103, we went over Research Assignment #3, and we added more details towards Research Assignment #4. After that we had to decide which reading we are going to analyze for research assignment #5.

Journal Entry #7

Today in ENG 103, we got in our groups and discussed on what was important on the articles we had to research. The article I had to look over with my group was “Bred to be Superhuman: Comic Books and Afrofuturism in Octavia Butler’s Patternist Series” by Gerry Canavan. We learned many aspects of the article and we learned more about Octavia Butler’s origins relating to Wild Seed. We also had to vote on the importance of themes so we can determine what would be on the final piece of the article.

Journal Entry #8

Today in ENG 103, the professor placed us in different groups, and we had to edit different aspects for the article.

Journal Entry #9

Today in ENG 103, team 1, we finally submitted the section "Further reading" towards the article of Wild Seed. We id our thesis towards our research paper.

Journal Entry #10

Today in ENG 103, Team 1 we have made progress towards uploading the Wild Seed article in Wikipedia.

Orson Scott Card on Butler's craft in Wild Seed

The Article “Orson Scott Card on Butler’s Craft in Wild Seed” talks about how Octavia Butler is somehow different from other science fiction authors. He mentions that Doro is an important aspect to the story because Doro will search and discover his perfect “woman”. He phrases the word “seed village”, he mentions that most people that are fans of science fiction will recognize what is “seed village”, while others such as myself wouldn’t know what’s that. He later explains that Butler is a clear writer; she doesn’t give hints away but later makes the reader find out what’s the true meaning of a “seed village”. He later explains that you don’t necessarily need to be a science fiction fanatic to crack Butler’s code, because by reading on in the story, we learn more. What we learn so far is that Doro is very macho but yet he feels strange around people. In the beginning when we read about the “woman”, Butler introduces Anyanwu to the reader. One of the few things that Card likes about Butler is that she’s great with promises and never fails to deliver her promises from beginning to end. He closes out by saying no one does it better than Butler, and he recommends the reader to pick up any of Butler’s stories or books, to read them and analyze the book after you finish reading.

Wild Seed, Chapters #1-4

In the book, Wild Seed by Octavia E. Butler, between the chapters of 1 through 4, we meet two characters. The story starts off in Ancient Kush which later leads to modern age California. In the beginning, we meet Doro and Anyanwu. We learn that Doro and Anyanwu are two different people. Doro and Anyanwu are from two different worlds. As we read in the chapter 1, we learn that Doro is not your average human he’s very different. He has superhero traits because he survived many times on what tired to kill him. He was killed by many different animals, multiple diseases, and by many dangerous people. Anyanwu is a bit similar to Doro but she has many different traits such as she can sense when people could attempt to kill her, and she looks out for her people. Anyanwu and Doro bumped into each other, they get to know each other, and learn from each other.

Wild Seed, Chapters #5-6

In the book, Wild Seed by Octavia E. Butler, between the chapters of 5 through 6, we notice that Anyanwu starts feeling a bit guilty about her relationship with Doro. We also meet Okoye who is Anyanwu’s grandson, and we know that she’s married to Udenkwo, who was a former slave. Udenkwo was a slave before, she married Okoye. She arrived on the ship with other slaves as well. Udenkwo and Okoye met on the ship and decided to marry each other and become one whole couple. In this chapter, we also get to know, Isaac who happens to be Doro’s son and who just like his father, he’s a person who has supernatural speed and strength. All of the characters were on the ship, when the wind blew strong. Later on in the chapter, Doro and Anyanwu start beating each other up but she was glad that she survived against Doro, since he decided not to kill her.

Wild Seed, Chapters #7-10

In the book, Wild Seed by Octavia E. Butler, between the chapters of 7 through 10, we see that Doro comes to town to visit one of his daughters. Doro notices that his son Isaac looks a bit different and had his body built just like his dad. The people in the town respect Doro, and admire him as their hero. Anyanwu and Isaac seem to get along better because in the past they really didn’t click as it was supposed to. We find out that Isaac has traveled home all over to places such as Pennsylvania, Maryland, Georgia, and Spanish Florida. Later on in the book, Nweke (Anyanwu’s Daughter), transitions into a younger person. We later find out that Doro was married to a lady that looked way different from him. In the next few pages, we meet Thomas, a fellow farmer. Anyanwu compares Doro to Thomas but she made him seem to look like Thomas. Isaac dies, and Anyanwu transitions into a Dolphin.

Wild Seed, Chapters #11-Epilogue

In the book, Wild Seed by Octavia E. Butler, between the chapters of 11 through Epilogue, we see that after Anyanwu transformed into a dolphin, we end up in Louisiana and we get introduced to Edward Warwick, he was the third body who Doro ended up in. Doro is on the hunt for Anyanwu. He felt that she was missing in his life and it wouldn’t feel right living without her. We find out that Anyanwu is running away from Doro because she is worried that she will be killed by Doro, since he’s an aggressive person to be around. Doro over the years has settlements all over the world such as Canada, Mexico, Kentucky, and Brazil. Ever since Doro went to look for Anyanwu in human form, all he could’ve thought about was how they were times he sparred Anyanwu instead of killing her because he really loves Anyanwu, he wanted to change for her. Doro finally locates Anyanwu and they catch up with each other. Later on in the upcoming chapters, Doro almost kills Anyanwu but decides not too because he really wants her. Anyanwu later on becomes pregnant with Doro’s kid. Few weeks after Anyanwu has the kid, she almost commits suicide and decides to move to California, and transition into Emma Anyanwu.

Research Assignment #1

What we know about Octavia Estelle Butler is she’s one of the best female science fiction writers there is. She overcame obstacles and she motivated herself to make it on top, no matter what happened in her life that wanted to hold her back. What many people don’t know about Octavia E. Butler is about her early childhood and what led her to become the first black female writer in the genre of science fiction. Octavia was born and raised in Pasadena, California, her parents were Octavia Margaret Guy, and Laurice James Butler, and she was their only child. At the age of 7, she experienced a loss and that was the death of her father, which led Octavia by being raised by her mother and her grandmother. Growing up in Pasadena, California, Octavia experienced cultural and ethnic diversity. As a kid, Octavia spent the majority of her time in the library being fascinated on fairy tales, horse stories, and science fiction magazines such as Amazing, The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, and Galaxy. What I really liked from reading Octavia’s biography is that at the age of 10, she convinced her mom to buy her a typewriter, so she can begin writing her own stories. At the age of 10, I don’t even remember what I was doing at the time. Later on in life, Octavia graduated from Pasadena City College with an associate of arts degree in History in 1968, and she still pursued her passion and that was to write science fiction books. Later on in the years, Octavia finally focused on her passion and she became known for her novels such as Patternmaster (1976), Mind of My Mind (1977), Survivor (1978), Kindred (1979), Wild Seed (1980), and Clay’s Ark (1984). By seeing Octavia E. Butler achieves her goals and pursuing her passion motivates me to keep on seeking that ambition inside me and to aim for success in life.

Research Assignment #2, Lynn, E. “Vampires Aliens, and Dodos

• Wild Seed is one of Octavia Butler’s known books; it’s the prequel to Mind of My Mind, Patternmaster, and Survivor.
• Wild Seed starts off in Africa in 1690 and lasts until before the Civil War.
• Doro is a 4,000 year old mutant who breeds people and Anyanwu is a younger immortal person compared to Doro.

“Immortality, shape-changing, psychic-powers, the passing of one mind of into many bodies: these are not new ideas to the science fiction canon, and the theme of what it means to be human fascinated sf writers since Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein Doro’s existence is obsessively dedicated to breeding a line of people with his various psychic gifts, and for his people he is God”. I believe this line must be quoted because it gives us more depth on Doro and Anyanwu.

Research Assignment #2, Pfeiffer, “Octavia Estelle Butler (b. 1947)

• Doro breeds people and he’s unstoppable
• Doro transforms into different bodies over the years and carries a new identity.
• Anyanwu is over 300 years old, and she has the ability to shift to different items and can take her of herself.

“The relationship between Doro and Anyanwu dramatizes a fundamental conflict between the affinity a solitary immortal male and female might fell for one another in a world of mortals, and the hatred Anyanwu must feel toward a being who kills people, including his own children, without remorse. Doro is macabre, wearing the bodies of his victims in an impious theft of their lives’ energy, and he can never be lovable”. I believe this line must be quoted because we examine the relationship of Doro and Anyanwu.

Research Assignment #2, Bishop. M. “Wild Seed,”

• Wild Seed is a novel different from other science fiction books.
• “Wild Seed” Doro bloodlines.
• Doro has kids all over.
• Doro convinces Anyanwu to move with him to the New World.

“This novel, one of the oddest love stories you are ever likely to read, treats effectively of the enduring human conflicts between duty and desire, conscience and expediency. It also touches on the tension between our innate longings for power, or for proximity to power, and the revulsion we inevitably feel at its abuse” I believe this line must be quoted because it explains how power struggles between Doro and Anyanwu. Anyanwu is forced to marry Doro’s son Isaac.

Research Assignment #3, Govan, S. Y. “Connections, Links, and Extended Networks: Patterns in Octavia Butler’s Science Fiction

• Most of Octavia Butler’s novels are from the Patternist saga which includes Patternmaster (1976), Mind of My Mind (1977), Survivor (1978), and Wild Seed (1980).
• Power struggles is the one of the main themes of Butler’s novels.
• 4-5 books on power struggle.
• Wild Seed is the prequel to the Patternist saga.
• Butler introduces us to Doro and Anyanwu, who are different from each other. Doro and Anyanwu were destined to meet and were meant for one another.
• Doro breeds people.
• Doro is dominant compared to Anyanwu.
• Doro cannot die; he feels that he needs Anyanwu, because he doesn’t want to be lonely.
• Doro develops feelings for her, instead of killing her.
• Love changes struggle.

Govan, Sandra Y. "Connections, Links, and Extended Networks: Patterns in Octavia Butler's Science Fiction." Black American Literature Forum 18.2, Science Fiction Issue (1984): 82-87. JSTOR. Web. 19 Oct. 2015.

Research Assignment #3, Govan, S. Y. “Homage to Tradition: Octavia Butler Renovates the Historical Novel

• Octavia Butler is a unique and skilled writer.
• Kindred and Wild Seed connect and relate to one another.
• What’s unique about Octavia Butler is that in the book Wild Seed, she values her African-American values and transforms into her art of the science fiction world.
• Each narrative story starts off with a historical time period.
• Wild Seed relates to the slave narratives of Fredrick Douglass’ The Narrative of the Life of Fredrick Douglass, Harriet Jacobs’ Incident in the Life of a Slave Girl, and William and Ellen Craft’s Running a Thousand Miles of Freedom.
• Doro is Anyanwu’s protector
• Kindred and Wild Seed both include black protagonist in major roles.

Govan, Sandra Y. "Homage to Tradition: Octavia Butler Renovates the Historical Novel." MELUS 13.1/2, Genre, Theme and Form (1986): 79-96. JSTOR. Web. 19 Oct. 2015.

Research Assignment #3, Salvaggio, R. “Octavia Butler and the Science-Fiction Heroine,”

• Salvaggio (feminist viewpoint).
• Before Octavia Butler started writing books, the science fiction field was dominated by male authors, who only wrote about masculine males being dominant.
• Butler changed the rules and started incorporating female characters.
• Butler introduced female characters through many novels she wrote such as Amber in Patternmaster (1976), Mary in Mind of my Mind (1977), Alana in Survivor (1978).
• Goal is freedom.
• Survival and power.
• Fight within the power structure to change the power struggle.
• Sexist and racist world.

Salvaggio, Ruth. "Octavia Butler and the Black Science-Fiction Heroine." Black American Literature Forum 18.2, Science Fiction Issue (1984): 78-81. JSTOR. Web. 19 Oct. 2015.

Research Assignment #4, 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).”

• Anyanwu and Doro “Typical love plot”.
• Feminist point of view.
• African mythology and slave narrative.
• “Hybrid protagonists”.
• “Breeding” practices.
• Cyborg world.
• Feminist theories.
• The difference between identity and affinity.
• Battle of sexes.
• Power.

“Haraway identifies Octavia Butler as one of "our storytellers exploring what it means to be embodied in high-tech worlds" (173). As a "theorist for cyborgs" (ibid.), Butler creates characters who break all boundaries and "make very problematic the statuses of man or woman, human-, artifact, member of a race, individual entity and body" This line must be quoted because it teaches us where Octavia Butler gets her ideas from. “As Butler worked through her various renditions of feminist characters, she significantly affected the course of feminist s£ More than simply focusing on African-American female protagonists, Butler raised new questions about women's bodies, relationships, and responsibilities but rarely left us with definitive answers or visions of feminist triumph found in other feminist sf of the time.” This line should be quoted because it shows how different Octavia Butler is very different from other science fiction authors and different genres and topics she uses in Wild Seed.

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.”

• Early Novels of Octavia Butler.”
• Lacking role models.
• “Political fiction”.
• Social and politician oppression.
• Emotional enragement between Doro and Anyanwu.
• Opposed views of the world.
• Social identities.
• Gender oppression.
• Philosophy.

“Doro's and Anyanwu's opposing views of the world resonate with each of these theories in tum and would likely resonate with other theories. Butler is not preaching a single political theory or proposing a new or existing system of philosophy, but providing readers with elements they can use to elaborate a subtext resonating with philosophies that challenge the dominant European view of the individual as sovereign.” This line should be quoted because it talks about the way, Butler writes in her book. “In America, Anyanwu continues to construct this hybrid history by bringing disparate traditions together, challenging the authority of one over the other”. This line should be quoted because it shows us how Butler, puts Anyanwu tries to bring her traditions once she moves to America.

Research Assignment #5: Canavan, Gerry. “Bred to Be Superhuman: Comic Books and Afrofuturism in Octavia Butler's Patternist Series,”

• Octavia Butler’s Wild Seed is the “origin story” for the Patternist series.
• By seeing the movie Devil Girl from Mars (1954) changed Butler’s view that she can write a better Science fiction story than that.
• Butler believes that comic books are junk food for the mind because it’s lots of pictures and no realism.
• “A little junk food won’t hurt defense of comics”.
• Butler was a very big fan of Superman D.C. comics, Marvel, and Fantastic Four.
• Butler lived through 3 different comic book ages. The Golden Age of Comic Books took place from the late 1930s until the early 1950s. The Silver Age of Comic Books took place from 1956 until the 1970s. The Dark Age took place from 1986 until 1993.
• Patternist series.
• Afrofuturism.
• Lots of information on comic books.
• Over 150 characters.
• Dark Age comics (nitty & gritty).
• “One drop rule”.
• Characters are all black.
• 4,000 years ago: Doro is first mutant.
• All the way till 27th century.
• Slave rates = mutes (humans)
• U.S. becomes a blip in the patternist saga.

“Butler's vision of superheroes and superpowers, drawing from her anti-utopian beliefs about the centrality of power, competition, and domination in human life, is quite different. In fact, she anticipates developments in superhero comics that would only begin to take shape significantly after she stopped reading them in the early 1970s” This line should be quoted because it mentions how Butler’s superheroes are different from your average heroes. “I was attracted to science fiction because it was so wide open. I was able to do anything and there were no walls to hem you in and there was no human condition that you were stopped from examining". This line should be quoted because it explains why Butler started falling in love with science fiction.

Citation Practice

Octavia Butler was a shy child.