Blog 4

for the past two days, we've talked about propagandas. little did i know what they were! i thought porpagandas were only used to trick people into following rules or two somehow manipulate them, but there's more to it. there are several different kinds of propogandas, like fear and testimonial, a few of my favorite.

fear is a type of propoganda usually used to have people act in the desired behavior by using fear. for example: proactive shows horrible pictures of people suffering from severe acne to get people to use their "acne clarifying" product. from fear of stubborn acne that won't go away, proactive has used the fear propoganda to persuade people that their product will clear up their skin. the people their "selling" to buy into the whole advertisement thing because they are scared of their acne.

another one is a testimonial propoganda, and is usually a propoganda that uses well-known people like actors, actresses, and celebrities, to "sell" whatever it is they want to sell. for example: i'll use the proactive example from above. since proactive are persuading their audience to use their acne clearing product, to ensure them, they have jessica simpson to advertise it. who by the way is very well-known and ensures the audience to trust proactive's product.

i know this is a little out of nowhere, but i want to talk about that one literacy discussion we had in class a couple days ago. the whole class had a lot to say about our literacy discussion. some points that were thrown across was how literacy contributes to your social status/standing, and how when applying for jobs, literacy being important for communication and understanding, can be greatly affected if one has either a very low literacy rate or a very high literacy rate with differing outcomes. we all agreed that literacy is our way of communicating and understanding, but not only that, but our sense of literacy also shows our sense of knowledge and, again, can contribute to our social standing in our society.

Blog 3: Handmaid's Tale

Today in class i liked how Ms. Aaland helepd us figure out a strategy in trying to understand and interpret Offred's use of language and just the story and what's happening in general.

it was soooooooo funny how my critical friend Eileen and I kept laughing when we made our own remarks an questions to the material we'd finish reading. and also i've realized that when i read, i use that same strategy but i keep all my comments in my head, lol.

this book is very sexual, i think. when the commander plays scrabble with Offred, it's ironic because women in that society arent allowed to read or write, in other words, to be literate. but Offred's very much literate, she even sounds well-educated like i've mentioned in my other blog entries (her ussage of grammar and fragments as well as her dramatic irony and fragment sentences).

since its si bad to be literate in that society, is the commander attracted to Offred because she is capabale of such knowledge? is he even attracted to her? i think he might just be. he, having such a high ranking, and she, having probably the lowest status, from what i infer, is attracted to offred because she is different. he could have "ratted her out" when she had eye to eye contact with him or even when he discovered how educated she is, but he didn't.

also, another topoic that came up was, love. i feel that sex is considered a good thing in that society but love, is depised. all elaborate more on that on my next blog :] gnight everyone!

Blog:2 The Handmaid's Tale

For the past couple of days, we've been working on our wikis. at first i was very confused on what it was all about, but my groupmates were kind enough to clarify any of the confusion i had with the assignment. we took a closer look at the kind of language Offred uses throughout the chapters and have noticed that she uses a lot of dramatic effects such as fragments and her uses of punctuations to emphasize her point.

also, after reading a couple chapters, getting deeper and deeper into the book, a lot of sexual things happen, or she speaks about a lot of sexual stuff. like with the doctor, i dont recall what page, but i think its on p. 76? i dont have my book, but i'll once i get the chance, i'll update you guys on it. well anyways, Offred i believe was at the doctors and had called her honey, which by the way was against their society's rules. she was very descriptive in telling what happend, i was just a little surprised thats all. well the doctor made a move on her and she was very polite and courtious about it, only because she didnt want to get in trouble from the doctor (a higher ranking than her) when she says she doesnt want him to do anything to her. well i have to start working on my group's wiki presentation for tomorrow, so I'll continue this discussion on the next blog :] kbye!

Blog 1: The Handmaid's Tale

Reading this story over break was really long, but I like it better than The Left Hand of Darkness. at first it was kind of hard to really understand what was going on, but i think that applies to a lot of books. Anyway, for a moment I thought that the society that these women live in was a convent or somewhat similar to a convent, but then i later realize that it's a place where women are prevented from escaping so they could give babies. this was very weird.

In a class discussion i had today with my group, a lot of things were brought up. things like, their apparel, their winged hats. while discussing their apparel, my group and i had come to a conclusion that certain women in this society were not allowed to draw any attention to them. we've analyzed that it's to prevent them from, falling in love? there was a quote, " he looks at me, and sees me looking.....i drop my head and turn so that the white wing hide my face....." (p. 18) i think that eye contact was not allowed which is why the women there were required to wear special winged hats. this custom, is somewhat similar to religions where women are not allowed to wear a specific type of clothing.

another thing we've talked about is, why are the Guards, or the angels keeping the women in? we've discussed that the angels aren't necessarily good, but are guards to keep the women in and not out. but why keep the women in? well, i think its because the women there are very fertile, and the commander and his wife want them to make babies because, i think, im not so sure but, the commander's wife can't have babies.

"When It Changed"

After reading When It Changed, I feel that the author tried addressing to her readers that women are capable of the things men are capable of. For example, us females can very much take care of ourselves. I brought up in class that the song "Independent Women", by Destiny's Child sorta goes with this story lol:]

A question was brought up in discussion today, is this story a feminist story? Although I am a female myself, I'd have to say, yes, I do believe that When It Changed is a feminist story. Russ emphasizes greatly that women CAN survive without men, although we all now that's biologically impossible, through her writing, she showed that even the impossible is possible.

In some ways I agree with Russ in terms of men not being a necessity to take care of ourselves. but i disagree in terms that we can live without them . i mean, i don't wanna live in a society where absolutely NO men exist, and that when the day comes that i come across a man, i'd think he's an alien.