Expand Mini Essays

April 23

I just finished reading Semplica-Girl Diaries by George Saunders for my English 103 class, and I am surprised with what I just read. The story takes place in a world not like ours, where humans can buy other humans to put on display. I know that this class was based on scifi, but this is the first one where humans are subdued by other humans. Overall, I was caught up in the moral decisions made by the main character. Whether it was how he spent his lottery money, or what specifically he spent it on, his decisions could have been different.

The main character lives with his family of five, two daughters and a son. They are not the richest family, but they are not dirt poor. They have a house and a car, but do not live an extravagant lifestyle. When the father, or the main character hit the lottery for 10 grand, I can not imagine how excited, as well as relieved he felt. I sympathized with him because I felt like this was a reward the world was giving him for all the hard work he has been putting in to keep his family afloat. He was behind on his bills, and this money would have helped him. Unfortunately, he chose to use that money for something else. He decided to put the money towards a surprise birthday party and a yard renovation for his oldest daughter, Lilly, who has recently been depressed. Trying to make his daughter happy is not a bad thing, but he did not have to spend such a large amount on a party and gifts. Instead, he could have still made her happy with the gifts she initially wanted. If he really felt necessary, he could have arranged a small get together.

Not only did he spend the money on the surprise, he also used it to purchase SG’s, which are poor humans who are being payed to be suspended in the air, as lawn ornaments. This was another of his gifts towards his daughter. I knew that this purchase would cause future problems. Early in the story, when the audience is first exposed to SG’s, Eva clearly expressed her discomfort with them. This should have clicked in the main characters head when he first thought about purchasing the SG’s. He should never put his daughter in such an uncomfortable position. In turn, she released them in the middle of the night, which caused further problems for the family. If they were not found it would cost almost 9 grand to repay the company. This is ironic because the father initially won about that amount. Now, he is right back where he started, all because he was being greedy.

Note to self: do not ever purchase human scarecrows. Also, try to reason with future children, make sure they understand and appreciate everything that we have as a family, and not to take anything for granted

I am confused as to why people resorted to SG’s in the first place. I understand that SG’s are immigrants who want a better life for their families, but there are many other jobs than that with much better job descriptions, and no surgeries required! It is troubling, because who in the right mind would voluntarily do that job. Also, it is so immoral that someone actually owns and operates a company that distributes SG’s. It is human trafficking, and slavery. The most unsettling fact is that despite all this, the main character still purchased SG’s. Sadly, I thought he was a genuine family man, judging by his early diary additions. It is clear that he is easily swayed by those around him and the social norm. At the end of the day, he did not deserve the lottery money if he was going spend it on slaves. The world granted him this opportunity and he spit it in the face. When he purchased SG’s, he cursed himself and his family, and he should have known what he was getting himself into. His father in law knew that SG’s are no good, that’s why he decided to not assist them with their debt. An alarming fact is that the youngest child, Eva, is the only one to really see the SG’s as a crazy thing in the whole family.

Peer Responses

Week 2: Bloodchild

Yaroslav Savchuk,
   
     Interesting points. I have to dissagree with you on your comment stating how the humans are not slaves, in my opinion they are slaves because they are held their against their will, and their rights are taken away. Also, they are used as hosts. Regardless, I like your point at the end explaining how pregnancy is a beautiful thing, it is indeed a shame that it is tainted in the story the way it is. Also, good job in pointing out how the mother was trying to protect her son. That is an important point because she has experienced this before.The short quote you chose has a strong meaning, since it is the first glimpse the reader gets as to what is actually going on in the story. Keep in mind to stay  in MLA format. 

Ekaterina Bentsa,
   
     First Interview style post that I have read! It was nice reading what may have been Gan's thoughts after he saw the birth. The only problem I have with the interview is that although it is nicely done, Gan and his older brother already had a talk about the birth directly after it happened. It seemed that it was clear how Gan felt in the story, and also his brother's views were revealed. Either way, you ask good questions like "are the T'lic and T'gatoi equal". Clearly they are not, and Gan's explanation is enlightening. Make sure you are mindful of spelling errors, and I am not really sure how you would format this to MLA since it is an interview. 

Week 3: The Black Box

Jordan Gilber,
     
     I like that you researched to find out why the author wrote this story the way she did. It was definitely uniquely written, and that made it interesting. I am happy to find out that the story was actually tweeted instead of released traditionally. By tweeting it, I'm sure that the story was made available to a wider audience who maybe would have never read the story in the first place. The rectanges that she used to write the draft definitely resemble twitter boxes, like I read in the comments, so it is interesting that she released the story in a similar way. 

     Also, its interesting that the main character of "The Black Box" was actually a character in one of her previous works. Now that I know who the character is, I would like to read the other piece of work and maybe compare the two. If the black box actually lines up with the other piece of work that would be exciting.

Alex Varsik,

     This analysis of the story is intriguing because after reading it, I can totally see how the author was trying to get to the audience. While reading, I had to really think hard on what each line meant. I even  had to go back and re read what it said a few times over, just to make sure I got the full idea. I was basically just playing the game the Egan set up for us. I was reading it so I could figure out exactly what was going on, and by the end I realized that these directions could be for anybody, including me. Other than the fact that I am a guy, these instructions could lead me to being a really good spy. The citizen agent aspect of the story helps readers relate to it even further, since it implies that the orders are being given to another regular person, like the reader. I wonder how an ex spy would react to this story, I am curious to find out if they are related to anything he/she has seen in the past, or even recorded on their own.

Week 4: Semplica Girl Diaries

Jacqueline Lynch,

     Interesting relation between the quote and your point about trying to reach the "American Dream". I like that because the quote says "what in the world was she seeking". She was seeking freedom and the opportunities that she deserved. I believe it is correct to relate the SG's to immigrants, since in a sense they are immigrants. People often come to this country to help people that they love, and often times it does not work out as easily as that. I'm not sure if you realized this while you were writing, but you drew the inference that many immigrants are being shafted, and used the SG's to connect that. Maybe the author was using this to mirror how immigrants are treated? Food for thought. 

Yaroslav Savchuk,

     Interesting submission because I also wrote an imitation and it was interesting reading yours to compare the differences. You completely wrote yours in the same style as the text, which is great. Every sentence and word choice is almost identical to what was shown in the story. You actually portrayed it as a journal entry entered by the author himself. On the other hand my entry was an entry written by me, so it varied slightly. You touch on great points about the authors grammar as well as his incompetence. Good relation by saying his incompetence is show when throwing the money away. All great points, but the point of an imitation piece is to write in the style of the text, and talk about the concerns yoyu have with it. If Grammar is your only problems then fine, but I think that there is much more that you can pull from Semplica-Girl Diaries, especially when analyzing the work as a whole. Overall, it was interesting and fun to read, nicely done. You definitely had great style when writing this piece.

All Mini-Essays

The Lottery (Author Research)

After reading “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson, many questions about the author and her life arose. The Lottery is an intriguing piece, so I wanted to learn more about Jackson’s writing style. Also, I was curious to see how the Lottery was received by its readers.

Jackson began her literary career through her involvement with the Syracuse University campus literary magazine. Through this job, she met her husband, Stanley Edgar Hyman. He himself was a noted literary critic. They settled in Vermont where Stanley worked as a professor, Shirley focused on her writing. They had four children, who she figured in her short stories many times.

In her obituary, it is explained how she wrote in two styles. “She could describe the delights and turmoils of ordinary domestic life with detached hilarity; and she could, with cryptic symbolism, write a horror story in the Gothic mold in which abnormal behavior seemed perilously ordinary.” She wrote with a great choice of words, which built a story so greatly. Of all of her horror stories, “The Lottery”, which was published in The New Yorker magazine is best known. Many questioned the meaning of the story and often wondered why Jackson wrote it. Other stories of similar genre portrayed Jackson as a moralist who believed that society picked on those who they found to be different.

On a lighter note, it was said that because she often wrote about ghosts, witches, and magic, she actually used a broomstick for a pen! In reality, she used a typewriter. Jackson enjoyed being an author greatly.  "I can't persuade myself," she once said, "that writing is honest work. It's great fun and I love it. For one thing, it's the only way I can get to sit down." explained Jackson. She greatly enjoyed seeing a story grow, she found it satisfying. She wrote two stories based on living with living with and raising her family, “Life Among the Savages” (1953) and “Raising Demons” (1957). These stories were not horror stories, but were actually cheerful ones. Orville Prescott, of the New York Times said that he read “Life Among the Savages”  "until I laughed so much the tears came to my eyes and I had to stop."

Jackson is the author of “The Lottery”, which has become “one of the most important American short stories and continues to be analysed, critiqued and taught in schools. She lived a happy life with her family, and was a great writer capable of moving her audience.

"Shirley Jackson, Author of Horror Classic, Dies." Editorial. The New York Times 10 Aug. 1965: n. pag. Www.nytimes.com. Web. 1 May 2015.

Bloodchild (Crux)

COLLAPSE

“"Yes." I leaned my forehead against her. She was cool velvet, deceptively soft. "And to keep you for myself," I said. It was so. I didn't understand it, but it was so.She made a soft hum of contentment.”(Butler)

In the story Boodbirth, humans (Terran) are living on a Preserve, where aliens (T’lic) are the authority. Terran are suppressed, they are not permitted to use motorized vehicles, and guns are also illegal. The T’lic use the Terran as vessels for their young. T’lic choose a Terran, and the host carries the duty of birth giving. Gan, the main character, is the host for a T’lic, T’Gatoi. T’Gatoi spends a large amount of time with Gan and Gan’s family. The family are fed “eggs” which inebriate the consumer, and are completely submissive to the T’lic.

The quoted line above is the main character, Gan, proving how dominant T’Gatoi is over him. At this instant, T’Gatoi is inserting the eggs into Gan, to serve as a vessel for birth. The reason that this piece of the story is so important is it clearly depicts how the Terran are brainwashed from their life of suppression. Throughout Gan’s life, T’Gatoi has consistently showed affection towards him. Through this, Gan may have started to feel special, and enjoy all of the attention that he has recieved. He has grown up to believe that the T’lic are good, and that the role that the Terran play is beneficial for Terran and T’lic alike.

The line is a turning point in the story because after this line, it implies that there is no hope. This can be taken in two ways. One way is that there is no hope for the human race as a whole, since they have succumbed to their role as vessels for the T’lic. In that world, Terran will always be less than a T’lic. Another way to look at this is that hope is lost for Gan at the very least. When Gan admitted that he felt closer to T’Gatoi because of this moment, it also is another victory for the T’lic. T’Gatoi successfully enriched the population of the T’lic. Even after Gan had such a terrible experience while viewing an actual birth, he is still satisfied that he is the one to serve as the vessel. The T’lic have domesticated the Terran, this adds to that idea.

Many would argue that the turning point of the story was when Gan witnessed the birth. He felt confused, and began to question the ways of the T’lic. Sadly, all that was lost the moment he admitted his true feelings to T’Gatoi.

The Black Box (Outside Research)

            After reading “The Black Box” I had many questions, generally about spies and what their job consists of. Throughout the story, it was mentioned that after the mission is complete, the spy would not return home the same person he or she was before. This made me think about the lives of spies after their work is no longer needed. This led me to an article about a CIA approved psychiatrist who speaks of his accounts and patients.

           The article tells us how the psychiatrist found that CIA personnel tend to have psychological tics depending on their trades. CIA personnel who have desk jobs tend to have obsessive tendencies. Since those people work with classified information day in and day out, they become paranoid at the end of the day, by thinking thoughts such as “Did I actually close all the safes?”, and think that the static on their clothing attracted a classified document and that document is now leaked.

For CIA personnel who are more like spies, he found that they have ADD tendencies. He explains how they are energetic, restless. He claims that these people enjoy things that have short time horizons. They enjoy being thrown into a project with no background knowledge, and absorb all of the information at a rapid pace. They then find a solution and move on. This rapid lifestyle is something the “spies” enjoy. The Psychiatrist gives them the title of  “excitement junkies”. Although ADD can be seen as a disadvantage, the psychiatrist claims it can also be an advantage. He claims that they have the ability to see things from all angles, by thinking outside of the box. They can easily synthesize information that would have otherwise been overlooked.

The Psychiatrist also found that the spies are at a very high level of honor, integrity and patriotism. Their job requirements include lying, stealing, and anything else that would aid them in their task. The interesting thing is that all of these acts are done for the greater good, at least that is how the spies deal with it. They see it as part of their patriotism toward the country. Once they return home, they throw away their “on the job” mindset. This connects with the story, because the narrator often exclaimed that these tasks were so that people in our country could live happily. That excuse was used as a tool to be able to get through the job. According to the article, this point is an actual one that is evident in spies that the psychiatrist observed.

Stein, Jeff. "CIA-Approved Psychiatrist Treats Cloak and Dagger Set's Woes."The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 21 Apr. 2009. Web. 01 May 2015.

Semplica Girls Diaries (Imitation)

April 23

I just finished reading Semplica-Girl Diaries by George Saunders for my English 103 class, and I am surprised with what I just read. The story takes place in a world not like ours, where humans can buy other humans to put on display. I know that this class was based on scifi, but this is the first one where humans are subdued by other humans. Overall, I was caught up in the moral decisions made by the main character. Whether it was how he spent his lottery money, or what specifically he spent it on, his decisions could have been different.

The main character lives with his family of five, two daughters and a son. They are not the richest family, but they are not dirt poor. They have a house and a car, but do not live an extravagant lifestyle. When the father, or the main character hit the lottery for 10 grand, I can not imagine how excited, as well as relieved he felt. I sympathized with him because I felt like this was a reward the world was giving him for all the hard work he has been putting in to keep his family afloat. He was behind on his bills, and this money would have helped him. Unfortunately, he chose to use that money for something else. He decided to put the money towards a surprise birthday party and a yard renovation for his oldest daughter, Lilly, who has recently been depressed. Trying to make his daughter happy is not a bad thing, but he did not have to spend such a large amount on a party and gifts. Instead, he could have still made her happy with the gifts she initially wanted. If he really felt necessary, he could have arranged a small get together.

Not only did he spend the money on the surprise, he also used it to purchase SG’s, which are poor humans who are being payed to be suspended in the air, as lawn ornaments. This was another of his gifts towards his daughter. I knew that this purchase would cause future problems. Early in the story, when the audience is first exposed to SG’s, Eva clearly expressed her discomfort with them. This should have clicked in the main characters head when he first thought about purchasing the SG’s. He should never put his daughter in such an uncomfortable position. In turn, she released them in the middle of the night, which caused further problems for the family. If they were not found it would cost almost 9 grand to repay the company. This is ironic because the father initially won about that amount. Now, he is right back where he started, all because he was being greedy.

Note to self: do not ever purchase human scarecrows. Also, try to reason with future children, make sure they understand and appreciate everything that we have as a family, and not to take anything for granted

All Conversations

Week 1:

     Mrs. Hutchinsons was painted the way she was in the story "The Lottery" because Jackson was showing the reader who the target was from the start of the piece. From the beginning of the story, Mrs. Hutchinson is portrayed as someone who is forgetful. She is late for the lottery, which is surprising since that now that I have read the whole story, I know that it is an important event. I believe that Mrs. Hutchinson portrays someone who does not believe in the lottery. She is someone who does not see its importance, and views it as unfair as well. Contrary to popular belief, I believe that her being chosen was not ironic, but expected. The ritual may have picked her out of the other citizens because she is a threat. She is the only one in the town late, she is the only one who views the lottery as unfair, and I believe that she was seeked out for these reasons. My reasoning is supernatural, but the story itself is a far fetched one, so any reasoning is viable. Hutchinson's personality helped me understand that the lottery was a creepy event where someone lost instead of gained, contrary to the title.

Week 2:

     "Bloodchild" is an intriguing story, with a unique series of events. The first person voice plays an important part to the flow of the story as well. The first person voice puts the reader in the exact same position as Gan. It also shows how naive Gan is and depicts how manipulated the humans are by the aliens. Through the first person voice, the emotion is felt as well, especially when Gan is in disbelief after he experienced the "birth". In contrast to "Bloodchild", "The Lottery" has a third person voice. This tone gives more of a mysterious sense to the story, since the true meaning behind the lottery was not fully revealed until the end of the story. Because the story was in third person, it felt as if what was going on was ordinary. Both stories are depictions of lives of people in a different world, but in "The Lottery" there is no development on what the characters are thinking during the whole process of the lottery, which adds to the big reveal of the story. Butler achieves more of a sense of emotion, and puts the reader in the shoes of the characters through the first person voice.

Week 3:

     While reading the story I had my own assumptions, but after reading some posts, I came to the final conclusion that the content of the story was actually someone taking notes on how to perform a certain job, or in this case a "mission". It stated that this was so future women would be successful, so she must have been recording this to be able to pass it on. The construction of this story did not affect my reading habits, it was quite interesting to read a story like that. The change in style allowed me to fully grasp what was going on, and it was also suspenseful at times. Line by line, it felt like I had read something very important. While reading, I was partly confused, since I did not understand whether it was an instruction, or an actual recollection of specific events. Parts were alarming, such as the sexual ones. The way that the narrator explained the method to cope with those situations was alarming as well. The way the story was written made the actual instructions seem to be easier said than done. The different scenarios in the story were intriguing. Scenarios where the narrator was in danger were the most suspensful, not only because it is full of action, but it also made me think that someone was actually in a dangerous situation, much like what was described. 

Week 4:

     George Saunders uses voice in the Semplica Girl Diaries to invoke both sympathy as well as horror to the reader. The first person diary entries invoke sympathy to the reader by identifying with the reader. The main character is in debt and having problems at home, which occurs in the lives of people every day. He needs to troubleshoot problems while raising his kids, as well as keep food on the table. When the main character hits the lottery, everything changes. Instead of using that money to help his family, he uses it to spoil his child. In his eyes he was trying to make her happy, but he stooped down to the level of the rich people, who are greedy. Not only this, he uses this money to purchase human dolls known as SGs. It is at this point where George Saunders uses voice to invoke horror. The main character now has these SGs hanging from his yard, and it is causing turmoil in his family, especially his daughter Eva, who feels conflicted. She sees through the merit of having SGs, she sees them as inhumane. I feel different that the main character in this story, he brought these issues upon himself, he should have been more responsible. This perspective is opposite of Gan's perspective in Bloodchild. Gan is in a more similar position to the SGs rather than the main character of Semplica Girl Diaries. He is being submissive to the aliens just as the SGs are submissive to those more powerful. First person point of view helps the reader be in the character shoes, but it also allows the reader to see with his or her own eyes and develope a unique perspective.