Topic Proposal

The topic I think I will research will be feminism though-out the later part of the 20^th century.

My main question from this text is what drove Margret Atwood to write it? What is the underlying current? I kind of think the book is a nightmare of hers’. That’s another thing I would like to explore. What was her role in the feminist movement, if any at all? Really I just can’t understand what spurred her to write such a depressing story about the violation of a group of peoples most basic rights of life.

I hope that doing the research paper on this topic will help me understand Atwood’s motives in writing it. Through understanding her motives I will learn more about what the story is really about. I can get what is on the surface of the story easily enough. I guess I just want a deeper understanding.

The story is the polar opposite of everything the feminist movement strove to achieve as far as my knowledge of it goes. I want to learn about the reactions of organized religions to the movement. What inspiration did Atwood draw from real events that surrounded her? Did she see this as a possibility?

It will be a tall order to get all the answers from a paper on one subject, but I think that this subject will answer the greatest number of my questions. I will focus on the feminist movement, but also try to find Atwood’s place within it if she did participate in it at all. I find it hard to believe she wrote the book without feeling real concern that it could happen. The story is to stark, to vivid for it to just be another story.

Link to Image: This is a feminist site, so be warned if you don't want to see it don't click it.

Thesis Statement

Question: What role did religion play in the political change of America to what seems like a totalitarian state?

Thesis Statement: Religion is a cornerstone of the establishment of totalitarian states.

I think this is a strong thesis statement because it is very specific. In the book it can be surmised so far that a religious sect has taken over by portraying all other religions as enemies of the state. In a totalitarian state all aspects of life are controlled by the faction in power. It is apparent throughout the text that the people are completely under the influence of “the powers that be”.

Photograph: Tristram Kenton

Midterm Check In

Hello,

The class so far has been pretty fun for me. I’d like to believe my writing is at least somewhat strong, but it is always interesting and enlightening to learn what I can do better. The mix of different assignments has been really good as well. It is much more interesting than just doing essay, after essay, after essay which was what it was like at the last college I went to.

The number one thing I need to do better is balancing this and my other class better with work. This has always been a problem for me with college. My days off are few and far between and I just get kind of burned out and then I don’t want to do anything. That’s the one thing I really want to work on and improve at.

I have really enjoyed most of the readings so far in class. The Things They Carried was an especially interesting book that I really enjoyed. The Sandstorm was good as well, and so far I have enjoyed The Handmaiden’s Tale. These books are outside my normal genre of book I read the most so its opening my eyes a bit to other types of books I might enjoy.

The literary analysis was interesting. I had to keep fighting myself from just summarizing the story. I don’t know how well I pulled it off, and I think I could have done better. I’m sure with a little more practice it would have become easier, or a little less difficult to keep myself from summarizing. It was a delicate balance between the two.

So far I’ve had fun and found many things interesting with the class. I really hope to get better at managing my time outside of class and work to improve my performance. I’ll probably look up more books in the vein of what we have read in class because I have liked them so much. I guess the best way to say it is I have found it to be very interesting and enlightening.

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Tim O'Brien Response #2

My response will be to the story “The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien. This story struck a chord with me because of how it showed a more personal side of every character. It had a way of showing in a small way who that man was. Whither it was Jimmy Cross’s picture of Martha, or Kiowa’s grandfather’s hunting hatchet (O’Brien, p 1-3). All those small artifacts gave each man an identifiable soul. The things they were forced to carry were no less important either. It was a way of making their burdens known.

The normal army gear was a physical burden, but it also symbolized the burden they each felt from what they were doing. The personal effects the carried was a tie to their old lives, and a reminder of what they wanted to go back to. Having these personal insights into each man from outset of the book was a masterful tactic by O’Brien. In essence it made me believe that on some small level I knew those men. It was this, I think, that made the laughs I got and the little uncomfortable feelings down in my stomach more intense. I’ll admit when I opened this book I had no clue what I was getting myself into, and less than a day later when I had finished reading every story with an attention bordering on obsession I was stunned.

This is the story that I think made or broke the book for me. If I hadn’t begun to think of the men in the story as real human beings, but as just characters in a story. I don’t think it would have been as enjoyable. In the end when Jimmy Cross put aside his love for Martha to make himself a better platoon leader. I felt like I knew how hard it was for him. Because in a small part I had felt how intense that love was.


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