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Orson Scott Card on Butler's craft in Wild Seed

Orson Scott Card praises the science fiction writer Octavia Butler in her use of exposition in the opening lines of "Wild Seed." The secret to getting control in the comprehension of far reaching science fiction concepts is to pull the reader in with subtle hints, gently exploring ideas and introducing characters and themes one at a time, only to extrapolate and explore in depth further along. Butler's use of the familiar term "seed" seems simple enough, yet it is slowly revealed to have additional meaning and implications. Early on Butler uses visualization that is graphic, such as a reference to bones and bits of flesh that circles back to messages of cruelty and slavery, a major theme of Butler's, and harkens the reader back to another time and place. Another use of exposition is Butler's tantalizing bits of character development. Butler's audience is able to absorb these small details to further assimilate into a story that only a science fiction writer of Butler's skill and expertise could tell.

Research Assignment 1

African-American science fiction writer Octavia Butler (1947-2006) was born at a time when racial inequality and segregation were becoming more visible and intolerable, giving rise to the black power movement. Raised in the state of California, Butler’s childhood reflected the times: she experienced racism, low income, a strict Baptist upbringing, and warm nurturing by women, namely her mother and grandmother. She has stated that she came to understand power through the lack of having any.

Social awkwardness and unpopularity among peers contributed to Butler’s introverted nature. Finding refuge in the local library, she discovered her passion for science fiction and a knack for wildly creative writing. She was a fervent writer by age 12, got her first break in 1971 from the Clarion Science Fiction Writers Workshop, and would go on to receive critical acclaim and national recognition in 1984. Her works took the Hugo and the Nebula awards repeatedly, and she was the recipient of a large fellowship from the MacArthur Foundation. She has 15 books among her publishing credits. Butler died at the age of 58.

Ironically, it would be racial issues in America that would congeal Butler's views on submission and survival, and inspire her best selling novel “Kindred.” While remaining true to her roots, her sensitivity and intellect allowed her to see the light that was obscured by the dark side of human nature. To become a successful author, Butler had to break down barriers: She was many "firsts," not the least of which is her legacy as a trailblazing, black female science fiction writer. Her imagination was OUT OF THIS WORLD!

Research Assignment 2

2.1.a. From “Vampires, Aliens, and Dodos,” by Elizabeth A. Lynn:

• an allegory expressing humanity’s basic truths
• key players are immortals, endowed with supernatural powers of mind and body
• God-like Doro is bent on breeding otherworldly beings
• Resourceful Anyanwu possesses unique powers, is hounded by Doro for her to collaborate in his scheme, repeatedly, ultimately, frustrating his efforts
  

2.1.b. “Butler’s prose is spare and sure…in moments of great tension she never loses control over her pacing or…sense of story….writing is staccato rather than lyrical….use of history as a backdrop…provides a texture of realism, often grim…never casually brutal.” → This list of skills comprises Butler’s trademark style of sci-fi storytelling, skills that facilitate an immediate grasp of that which would otherwise be difficult to understand.

2.2.a. Pfeiffer reviews the book Wild Seed by Octavia Estelle Butler:

• backdrop of African-American history, harsh realities in Africa, America and transatlantic crossing
• plot is to inbreed paranormal beings to produce vampires, healers, etc.
• main characters--Doro and Anyanwu--wise, immortal, supernatural, attracted to one another, polar opposites
• survival contingent on renewability of physical features and/or desired capabilities
• gender and power struggles become the basis of a destructive relationship, whereas Doro represents the “perversity of male-dominated human history,” specimens like Anyanwu “would improve humanity’s destiny”
  

2.2.b. “Wild Seed is a combination of Butler’s brilliant fable and real history. Her narrative captures the authentic voice of West African storytelling. Methodically accreting detail in relatively short sentences, it echoes the narrative of Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart.” → These remarks by Pfeiffer discuss Butler's skilled voice, delivery and content, which combined make the complicated a) readable, b) comprehensible, c) believable. The comparison to the esteemed African writer Achebe accentuates Butler's achievement.

2.3.a. A new convert to Octavia Butler’s science fiction writing, Michael Bishop extols:

• In Wild Seed the reader is first introduced to Doro, an evil spirit, 3700 years old, who sheds his physical self like a snake sheds its skin.
• The main character, 300-year-old Anyanwu, whom the book’s title references, is Doro’s missing link in the fulfillment of his master plan to populate the world with similarly immortal superhumans.
• The thrust of the story is the conflict that arises between two individuals with complementary talents but with very different ideas about the application of those talents: Doro is as bad as Anyanwu is good.
• By story’s end, the main character comes to terms with that which she cannot change.
• The story is chronically ordered, spanning almost 200 years, across two continents, situated in land, sea and air, characterized by human, superhuman, and animal forms, embedded in themes of gender, race, love and abuse, power and submission.
• Butler’s greatest talent is getting the reader to find something human in those that embody inhuman behavior and characteristics.
  

2.3.b. “[O]ne of the oddest love stories you are ever likely to read.” → A quote that reprises the universal appeal of a love story; in this case, love run amok.
2.3.c. “by unfolding it against the richly allusive terrain of the past rather than the untilled terra incognita of the future….Wild Seed reads like history or epic poetry.” → A significant comment because the story is set in the past and is steeped in ancient African folklore. It speaks to the familiar feel the storytelling imbues.

Research Assignment 3

3.1.a. In her article "Connections, Links, and Extended Networks," Govan writes:

• Power is central to Butler's stories, Butler is fascinated by power
• Butler creates adversarial characters that jostle for control
• conflict patterns are found in plot, character, structure and themes
• in Wild Seed, the power struggle exists between Doro and Anyanwu
• Doro's abilities are amoral, a breeder with agenda; Anyanwu's abilities are redemptive, a healer
• Doro needs Anyanwu's DNA, she is wild seed
• both are immortal, Doro and Anyanwu need each other as they outlive all others
• struggles change as adversaries realize they need each other, love each other
• story line is new type of sci fi: black protagonists, West African history and culture, middle passage, slave history in America
• Butler is creating a new beginning for humanity via genetic manipulation, humans v superhumans; erasing racism
• afrocentric viewpoint is unique and gives the novel importance

3.1.b. Govan, Susan Y. “Connections, Links, and Extended Networks: Patterns in Octavia Butler’s Science Fiction.” Black American Literature Forum. Volume 18, No. 2 (Summer 1984): 82-84.

3.2.a. Govan tells us how "Octavia Butler Renovates the Historical Novel”:

• Butler is new voice in sci fi, forthright and honest, affects social perceptions and behavior.
• borrowing from tradition, Butler reshapes African and African-American cultural values, to teach and self reflect.
• historical novels main intent is to entertain; slave narratives, serve to mold public opinion by 1) experience of oppression 2) become records of resistance 3) employ literary devices like diction to describe scenes 4) use insider voice to represent a larger group 5) are a balance of objective fact and subjective experience.
• Butler's Wild Seed and Kindred are a joining of historical novel, slave narrative (African-American experience) and sci fi/fantasy, traditional form remade in a new light.
• groundbreaking: Black characters in major roles, Black women heroes who share power with men or wield equal power, never to submit to male dominance, maintaining basic integrity, "whole chapters of African-American history" integral to plot (81), dramatic/action packed with large dialog, reaching new audience
• Wild Seed: two protagonists, immortals with mutant abilities: Doro, from Kush, is an unscrupulous predator, a collector/breeder of superhumans, killer by necessity to continue his existence; Anyanwu's character, based on a magical shape shifter of Ibo legend, with gifts unlike Doro's (healer, physical strength, gene alteration) is protector, caring and concerned for her people.
• Doro needs Anyanwu to complete his devilish breeding scheme.
• African kinship network is important structural device, dominates tension; Doro controls Anyanwu by impregnating her and manipulating her strong feelings of family and kinship.
• Kindred: Dana, a Black woman living in present day LA, time travels back to a plantation where she is a slave, beckoned by a white slaver, Rufus, who somehow reaches Dana's mind to get her to help him solve his troubles.

3.2.b. Govan, Sandra Y. “Homage to Tradition: Octavia Butler Renovates the Historical Novel.” MELUS. Volume 13, Nos. 1-2 (Spring-Summer 1986): 79-96.

3.3.a. Upon examination of Octavia Butler's heroines, Salvaggio finds:

• Butler is a new, exciting and innovative sci fi writer, thinking beyond the second wave feminist viewpoint
• sci fi typically originates from a white, male worldview (sexist/racist environment)
• Butler is intentionally breaking the mold by creating black feminist protagonists and heroines
• Butler's heroines are assigned the task of fighting on the dual fronts of gender and race
• the women smartly work through complex problems (internal and external) by compromise and negotiation
• to survive, the women must be free and independent, and Anyanwu best represents the strength of Butler's other heroines
• story line in Wild Seed: two immortals endowed with superhuman abilities enter a power struggle, discover affection for each other; spans two continents, nearly 200 years, in a quiet but persistent backdrop of slavery and slave trade
• power struggle resolves only when changes occur in fundamental ways, not superficial

3.3.b. Salvaggio, Ruth. “Octavia Butler and the Science-Fiction Heroine.” Black American Literature Forum. Volume 18, No. 2 (Summer 1984): 78-81.

Research Assignment 4

4.1.a. 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).”
Rebecca J. Holden explains in “The Impact of Octavia Butler’s Early Work on Feminist Science”:

• R.Holden studies feminist theory as it exists in both gender utopia and science fiction literature.
• O.Butler’s body of work routinely features Africans and Diaspora blacks and women protagonists, enmeshed in biotech/genetics/biology, history, culture, and socio-economic events and circumstances
• Butler’s brand of sci fi, unique in its day, impacted the genre of sci fi, especially feminist sci fi, and by extension, Holden’s research in feminism and a resultant redefinition of feminist self identification.
• Holden reports a dearth of black women feminists in feminist literature, a reflection of the social pressure on black women to choose their loyalties by and between gender and race, resulting in the “invisibility of black women.” Butler rejected that notion by identifying her protagonists by race, gender, class, and history (20).
• In 1985 Donna Haraway, writer of “Cyborg Manifesto,” urged feminist writers to accept and “inhabit” (21) the quintessential male cyborg¹. Butler does so by attributing her protagonists with cyborg-like characteristics, resulting in conflicting, contrasting identities through transmutable traits and behaviors.
• Regarding characteristics of gender, sex and race that are considered normal, Holden describes the fissure that exists between natural (feminine) identity and purposely created political affinity, while viewing Butler’s characters within another framework, that of constructed identity which has evolved over time to be regarded as natural (Judith Butler 25).
• Butler’s constructed cyborg identities, therefore, are actualized in the context of African-American history or historical rationale. Her protagonists are survivors of their environment, empowered by her brand of “cyborg feminism” (26).
• The catalyst for Holden’s determinations was three books by Butler: Patternmaster, Mind of My Mind, and Wild Seed.
• Patternmaster (1976). Butler’s first novel. Story takes place in the future. Patternists are humans that have been genetically altered, having psychic powers such as telepathy. The Patternmaster controls the psychic network, called the Pattern. Although racism per se is nonexistent, the Patternmaster hierarchy is analogous to the power structure of the American slave system. Amber is Butler’s first feminist cyborg experiment. Amber has special abilities, yet circumstances predetermine her place within the network. She is sufficiently complicated to survive, but is subject to institutionalized forces and must ultimately submit to the will of more powerful individuals.
• Mind of My Mind (1977). Butler’s second novel retraces the origins of the Patternist society. It is set in modern day, racist America. Doro is an immortal who had previously implemented a forced breeding program with the intent to produce a psionic race. Mary, his telepathic daughter, creates the first Pattern with six other telepaths, but it quickly expands and greatly increases Mary’s power. Doro thinks she is amassing too much power and orders her to stop. Mary kills Doro and continues to grow the Patternists. The Patternists effectively remove racial distinction from their society, but in so doing Mary loses her blackness. Still, the Patternist society is a parallel world to slave society, and Mary is its mastermind.
• Wild Seed (1980) is at its core a love story. It tracks the autochthony of the Patternists to the midcentury transatlantic slave trade. Two immortals, Doro, a 3700 year old man with a wicked plan to create a superhuman race, and 300 year old Anyanwu, a metamorphose who embodies deep connections to humanity, are reconstructed Adam and Eve. Anyanwu’s abilities suitably complicate Doro’s evil intentions and the two are locked in a power struggle. Forever branded by the history she is witnessing, Anyanwu transforms herself through nonhuman, gender twisted, and extraracial vicissitudes in order to survive and remain human.

¹A cyborg is a human being that functions with the aid of mechanical or technological assistance.
4.1.b. “reading a Butler novel was some sort of initiation” (17). → This phrase sums up the influence Butler had on Holden; conjures up the idea of joining a special club.
4.1.c. “As Butler worked through her various renditions of feminist characters, she significantly affected the course of feminist sf. More than simply focusing on African-American female protagonists, Butler raised new questions about women’s bodies, relationships and responsibilities” (37). → A concise summary of Butler’s evocative narrative and its contribution to feminist literature.

4.2.a. 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.”
Duchamp's article "How a Young Feminist Writer Found Alternatives to White Bourgeois Narrative Models" reveals:

• According to S.Delany (Clarion Writer’s Workshop), a writer must internalize the standard model so completely that the body feels a force, an urge, “through tweaking and hybridization and subversion” (83) to create a new perspective subconsciously rather than through one’s own experience.
• Duchamp wished to write “overtly political fiction” that deviated from the white male bourgeois model (86). Western/European model views "individual as sovereign¹"(91).
• Duchamp needed a narrative that embraced plurality, rejected individual sovereignty.
• Wild Seed served as her model because 1) story is sci fi, providing some subjective distance, 2) is intellectual and philosophical, 3) protagonist is forced to negotiate for survival.
• Wild Seed is not just ruthless-boy-enslaves-caring-female, but a conflict between two world views and philosophies which highlights similarities and differences between the main characters.

¹ sovereign = free/freedom
4.2.b. "For Butler, the feminist story isn’t an all-or-nothing struggle; it isn’t simply about overthrowing patriarchy. It’s about understanding how oppression works in all its complexity and finding ways to negotiate with what can’t in the particular situation be changed" (93). → Summarizes Butler's formula; current feminist thought; Duchamp's model.

Research Assignment 5

Schapper, A. “Eugenics, Genetic Determinism and the Desire for Racial Utopia in the Science Fiction of Octavia E. Butler”
2.a. A.Schapper's analysis of Wild Seed in "Eugenics" includes:

• Butler airs two views of eugenics: Anyanwu's in a moral lens, and Doro's as the science.
• Wild Seed serves as a warning of genetic manipulation and a lesson in biological determinism.
• Doro’s breeding of traits, behaviors, abilities is antithetical to biblical origins.
• In opposition to Doro’s character, Anyanwu embraces sanctity of life, which Schapper attributes to Butler’s Christian influences.
• Butler balances the two views by challenging them with contradictions.
• Schapper compares Butler’s story to the origins myth of Prometheus (Doro), who misappropriates fire (technology) and undermines (the power of) the God (Zeus), which results in the hardship and scourge of man (work and women).
• Doro’s character is beset with suffering--like Prometheus, perpetual life in itself is his punishment.
• “Genetic Determinism” as presented by T.Peters (47) describes Doro’s duality of predator as gene manipulator (breeding for traits, etc.) and victim of his own genes (natural evolutionary processes).
• Butler believed there was a general acceptance of “faith in genes” (47) and thus “eugenic ideology” (48).
• Schapper argues against the biblical view that Doro and Anyanwu are Adam and Eve; sees the story’s bottom line as a struggle of competing ethos.
• Doro is a mutant, naturally occurring, that needs other mutants that will sustain his existence. Thus he institutes his selective breeding program.
• Doro’s own development over time pushes him further from his human roots toward a completely inhuman being. Only Anyanwu can interfere with that process.
• Doro manipulates Anyanwu to cooperate with his program through her love for her children. Schapper correlates this storyline to the state-sponsored female sterilization program in the U.S.
• Schapper extends the battle of ethics between the characters to more widely, eugenics vs humanity, science vs human rights.
• Eugenics is an ideology wherein individuals make varying contributions to the process of evolution that is reflected in societal advancement.
• Christian based ethics embraces the sanctity of life, with individual rights reflected in societal diversity.
• Schapper cites eugenics as an antidote for behavior-based conditions.
• Butler does not wholly reject eugenics; there may be a time and a place for it.
• In the scientific record, African-Americans had been attributed (stereotyped) with mental and emotional traits that would have a negative impact on society.
• Eugenics was interested in eliminating negative traits and also promoting desired traits.
• Advances in the sciences may be at the expense of “spiritual and emotional beliefs” (65).
• Doro’s desire to control Anyanwu’s reproductive ability was continually challenged by her moral code.
• Frankenstein is invoked to reinforce the potential for disastrous consequences in playing god.
• Morality wins the day when Doro is forced to reconcile a level of compassion that allows Anyanwu to reconsider ending her life.
  

2.b. “as battles between the ethics of manipulating human evolution and the value of individuals beyond their reproductive potential” and “contests of power in Wild Seed are about moral revision, achieved by pitting two opposing moral ideas against each other.” → Essentially, the story explores the consequences of genetic manipulation.

Wild Seed Chapters 1-4

Set in Africa in the late 17th century during the height of the American slave trade, the story immediately introduces its main character, Anyanwu, a wise, mystical, independent woman with unearthly powers. Her aim is to do good, though she is capable of violent and destructive behaviour. She is about 300 years old--she is immortal--and has made a life for herself using her priestess abilities to heal the sick and injured. She is discovered by a man of sorts, Doro, who likewise possesses unearthly powers and is thousands of years old. After finding that a village of his making has been destroyed by slave hunters, Doro is drawn to Anyanwu and decides that he wants her as his wife. They bed together, and shortly thereafter embark on a long, arduous journey by foot on their way to a place where Doro promises kinfolk will be found. Doro is on a mission to populate the earth with his “seed,” offspring with powers like his and Anyanwu's. Doro is not kind like Anyanwu. He regularly kills men, reveals he has ulterior motives for marrying Anyanwu, and may have sinister plans for the future of mankind. Doro, Anyanwu, and now with Okoye, Anyanwu's grandson who had been captured by slave hunters but set free by the powerful Doro, continue on the journey, this time by boat, westward...to America.

Wild Seed Chapters 5-6

Anyanwu is filled with trepidation as one event after another occurs during the Atlantic crossing. She has met another of her kin on board, Udwenko, who, counter to Anyanwu’s beliefs about inbreeding but at the encouragement of Doro, marries Okoye. Anyanwu witnesses the awesome powers of Doro’s favorite son Isaac, who commandeers the ship to safety in a ferocious storm. She encounters another of Doro’s sons, the sensitive, weak, and troublesome Lale, who enters her room as well as her thoughts. Upon displaying himself as a monster, Anyanwu is forced to kill Lale, an act that requires her to feed on his flesh in order to regain her strength. In America, Anyanwu is introduced to “civilization.” The time comes for Doro to reveal his plan for her to marry Isaac and produce superior, immortal offspring. She is reviled by the thought of incest and refuses, despite knowing Doro will kill her. A short time later, she acquiesces at the insistence of Isaac, convinced that their union will protect and save others from harm.

Wild Seed Chapters 7-10

Fifty years pass. Isaac, who is not immortal, is old. Anyanwu has bore five children with Isaac, the love of her life, and eight with Doro, whom she despises. Years earlier, Anyanwu had been forced into having sex on the same day with both Doro and a man named Thomas. Thomas possessed a very high level of sensitivity, but was troubled. Doro killed Thomas as punishment for Anyanwu’s insolence. Nweke is believed to be Thomas’s daughter as she too possesses extreme sensitivities, but is unable to control them. She accidentally causes Isaac to die, despite Anyanwu’s best efforts to heal him. Anyanwu expects Doro will kill her because she rejects Isaac’s dying wish for her and Doro to reconcile. Her time with Isaac over, she leaves her considerable family behind, on the run from Doro, intent on denying him, and with the thought of exposing him as unworthy of a following.

Wild Seed Chapters 11-Epilogue

It takes a century, but Doro finally tracks Anyanwu down, finding her in Louisiana managing a plantation, her public persona that of a white, male slaveholder. She has a new life surrounded by new people that she loves. Not to be outdone, Doro has devised a fate for Anyanwu worse than even death: the murders, one at a time, of her loved ones. Admitting defeat, Anyanwu submits to Doro. The arrangement allows her to survive, but with heart and spirit broken. Only when she decides to commit suicide does Doro draw on the remnants of his humanity, finally accepting that he loves Anyanwu, begging her to stay. She does not end her life; he yields to her wishes to no longer do harm to her or those she cares for. Doro and Anyanwu are finally a couple, and although both make concessions, it is Anyanwu’s righteousness that triumphs.

Journal No. 1

Today was the first ENG 103 class. It was quite a hectic three hours. There were new names, new faces, and new concepts for me to digest. One of the primary components of the class is to learn "Wikipedia (WP) basics." We started by creating a user name and password to access Wikipedia's editing elements. We received a quick overview of the process from professors Dr. X and Anna M., and took an easy, online quiz on the information provided. Each of us posted a short introduction of ourselves on the WP UserPage. We then attempted to practice inserting citations, but encountered technical problems and so will need to complete the citation practice on an out-of-network computer. Finally, we were given our homework assignments (which sounded daunting to me at this stage), including reading and summarizing the first four chapters of "Wild Seed."

Journal No. 2

Dr. X lectured on source documents and what Wikipedia actually is in terms of its value, i.e. a tertiary source versus a primary or secondary source. We reviewed the writing we did for Research Assignment No. 1, which was a summary of Butler's biography on WP, and proceeded to critique one other’s summary. Via class participation, Dr. X evaluated the points we made, stressing theme over detail. We examined the use of paraphrases and quotes, for which we performed a short exercise that would be the basis of an online quiz to be completed later. We are to continue reading and summarizing the next two chapters in “Wild Seed.”

Journal No. 3

The professor reviewed the previous summary-paraphrase-quote lecture. We revisited previous group work by critiquing another groups' writing. Professor X emphasized the use of topic sentence, signal phrases, paraphrasing rather than quoting, and citing MLA style. Professor X delved into the thesis statement and paragraphing as follows: Point, Evidence, Explanation. In providing examples, the professor read aloud a review discussing themes in "Wild Seed." Groups were assigned an exercise to create a paragraph written for encyclopedia. We will continue with reading and summarizing Chapters 7 through 10.

Journal No. 4

Today the class was introduced to WikiProject/Novels. The class read through the style guidelines; the professor reviewed each category with us: info box, lead, plot <> characters, major themes; also writing style, background, publication history, reception (reviews, criticism, sales figures), adaptations, and footnotes/references. We examined the WikiProject article on "Kindred," which Dr. X rated as "quite good/not bad." Upon examining the present article on "Wild Seed", we could see its weaknesses. Our assignment is to improve the current article. It lacks a sufficient amount of research/secondary sources in lead and plot categories, and a revisit to the themes section, among other things. Some additional suggestions included a new book cover image in the info box, more in background, style, reception, and references categories, and perhaps external links. The class returned to earlier writings to see what may be usable for WikiProject. We then read Card's reflection of Butler's writing and wrote/posted a summary. This week we finish reading the book.

Journal No. 5

Dr. X and Ann M. helped us locate three journal articles in databases in preparation of completing Research Assignment 3.

• copy the name of the author, article, date
• search in Google to find name of journal/mag
• Go To databases in LAG library
• search first in category, then in subcategory for the writing
• choose a database
• paste author, article, date
• open-download-print

We managed to read two of the three articles in class and summarize them in bullet points into our WP sandbox. Dr. X explained in detail how to write an MLA cite: Last name, First name. "Name of Article." Name of Journal/Mag. Volume/numbers(Issue): pg 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10. (note bene: alpha, then chron) We plan to complete Research Assignment 3 next week, including citations.

Journal No. 6

Another wild day in ENG103. Dr. X opened session with a listing of the sections to consider in remaking WP's Wild Seed article. She also listed other ideas that might be good to consider, three on feminist thought, two of which were found in the Holden piece and one from Duchamp. The Holden reading led to a spirited lecture on the history and definitions of feminism. Beginning with the Greeks up to and including the Middle Ages or so, women were non persona. All human beings were men, women were men turned outside in. During the 18th century, women were recognized as essentially female, described by emotions and predicaments, i.e. hysterical, subservient. The "First Wave" of feminism occurred in the early 20th century with the suffrage movement. The second wave took place in the 1970s during the hippie era, when feminist was connected with Earth--nurturing and protective. The 1980s--and D.Haraway--introduced a new consciousness to feminine thought, that of the cyborg with its dependence, acceptance and internalization of technology, multiple layered identities, diversity, differences, flexibility, etc. We then completed Research Assignment 3, which was to read and draw up a bullet point summary of Govan's "Homage" article, followed by a brief overview. Students selected their preferred essay topics and Dr. X assigned the related readings. Finally, students practiced creating citations and posted them to Research Assignment 3.

Journal No. 7

We were assigned to a group for our review presentation. My group and I presented “Eugenics, Genetic Determinism and the Desire for Racial Utopia in the Science Fiction of Octavia E. Butler” (dissertation of A.Schapper)." We spoke about the moral lens in reference to eugenics, i.e. Doro as proponent of genetic manipulation and Anyamwu's embrace of the sanctity of life (human rights). Dr. X added that Anyanwu was recalcitrant, though the book serves as a warning about the consequences of eugenics. We spoke about Doro's offspring being racially diverse, with differences being erased. I presented Schapper's view on the origins theory of Prometheus, a demigod who used technology to improve ordinary life, and Dr. X added the Frankenstein connection, bypassing the female womb to create life via male/medical control. The other presentations were as follows: comic books and Afrofuturism; Uncanny Women, representations of black women in culture; and "Skin Dreaming," the separation of mind and body and body transgressions. Dr. X provided instructions for the essay proposal, which is 300-500 words, due Saturday, November 7th at 9:00 a.m. We prioritized a list of themes for the professor to include in our WP article.

Journal No. 8

Today we commenced the writing of the WP article. We began by selecting a group of co-writers. I joined Group 1 and Virginia and I made a first draft of the characters section. We listed all the characters in the book, then we wrote from scratch a paragraph about Anyanwu. We started a paragraph on Doro but failed to complete it. The professor reviewed the essay proposals that were due today. She reiterated how to write MLA citations. Finally, Dr. X reviewed the essay requirements.

Journal No. 9

Having received comments from Professor X, Group 1 made corrections and continued drafting the section for characters to our WP Wild Seed article. The professor reviewed important parts of an essay (topics and thesis). We submitted a quick thesis statement online.

Journal No. 10

Team 1 reconvened to make draft 3 corrections to the Characters section. My group had to make but a few, so Virginia and I proceeded to the next level which was to place our work on the WP project page, print it, and proofread it out loud with full team input. We then posted onto the WP Wild Seed page. I configured the elements keeping with style. Dr. X reviewed required points for the draft essay, focusing on citations. She also advised us of her grading rubric.

Citation Practice

Octavia Butler was shy as a child.