Community Event

Mother and Child
For my community event I went to a special showing of a film at Harkins Theater in Sedona. The film was called Mother and Child. The show was about a mothers love for her children. There were multiple stories throughout the film that all dealt with the subject. One family was not able to bear a child of their own. Another had a child at fourteen and gave her up for adoption. The last story was about a young woman that slept around and ended up pregnant. These stories seemed to make me think back to the book we read in class, The Handmaid’s Tale.
The family that was having difficulties conceiving was looking for a child to adopt. They had been through a couple interviews already but hadn’t found anything they liked. Finally they met a twenty year old that demanded the truth about the family and wanted nothing but the best for her unborn baby. The family ends up passing all the tests that the mother puts them through. However, when the baby is born the mother decides that she cannot give up her child. She leaves the family in so much pain, but they understand. This story reminds me of the end of The Handmaid’s Tale when Offred tells Nick she cannot give up their baby. She wants to risk being killed in order to keep her child. Both mothers in these two stories demonstrate the unwillingness to handoff their child to a stranger. They realize that the child is a part of them and was created by them.
The next story was about a forty year old that was living her life in regret. At fourteen she discovered that she was pregnant. Her mother forced her to give the child up for adoption when she was born. For this, she never lived a day without thinking about her daughter. When she finally decides to look for her it is too late. However she is somewhat pleased to find out that her daughter was looking for her as well. This story reminds me of Janine in The Handmaid’s Tale when she has her child. When was reading the book I pictured what I would feel like if my child were to be taken from me. I put this feeling inside of Janine’s character to make the story more relatable. The emotion that I gave to Janine is the same emotion that the mother that had in the movie. Regret and pain.
The woman that was sleeping around was 35 years old. She was a strong business woman with an appetite for sex. She moved from town to town once things began to get too complex for her. Sleeping around with other people husbands and older men was her specialty. They never used protection because when she was thirteen she had her tubes tied in Mexico. Surprisingly she did end up pregnant. This story is similar to The Handmaid’s Tale by the action of having sex with strangers. Just like in the book when the deed was done she women switched to another man/family.
The film was comparable to The Handmaid’s Tale on many factors. The main theme being the love a mother has for her child. The first one was the unconditional love a mother has for the child. Another is the pain that goes along with having to give up your own child because someone is forcing you to. The last similarity was having sex with multiple people in order to gain something. Maybe I am reaching out a little too much but this film immediately made me think of The Handmaid’s Tale.

The Last Song Presentation

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Source Evaluation

Sexual Slavery on Main Street (Librart Source)
Cooper, Elissa. "Sexual Slavery on Main Street." Christianity Today 54.5 (2010): 17.
MAS Ultra - School Edition. EBSCO. Web. 21 July 2010.

This article talks about Christian organizations that are taking steps to reduce the teen trafficking in the United States. They have come up with many resources in order to fund their organization through federal grants and donations. It seems that many people are not aware of sexual slavery in the U.S but once they find out they want to help. The article gives many facts and statistics about the rate of teen disappearances due to trafficking, how many victims have been saved, and how many offenders have been caught. It also claims that the consequences of sexual slavery are low. It gives a few examples of how females were lured into sexual slavery. The stories go on to tell of the horrors the women went through and how they got out.
I plan to use this article in my paper by taking the statistics about trafficking and use them to have a better foundation for my paper. As said before many do not know how common teen trafficking really is. This article also gave me a better understanding of what sexual slavery is. Sexual Slavery on Main Street also made me realize that there are many organizations in the U.S that dedicate their time to saving sex trafficking victims.

Russia Today (Video Source)
YouTube. 9 Dec. 2008. Web. 20 July 2010. .
This video is a T.V broadcast from Russia Today about sex trafficking in the U.S. The anchor woman gives information about the sex trafficking statistics. She says that Washington D.C has the highest percentage rate for sexual slavery across the United States. The broadcast then goes into a interview with a victim of sex trafficking. The victim tells about her experience. She says that she was forced to sell herself for sex. Sadly she was convicted for prostitution and the man forcing her to sell herself was never convicted. Police made her believe it was her fault and also told her nothing would happen to the offender. Lastly the video moves on to an organization that helps victims and others that may be at risk for sexual slavery.
I plan to use this source in my paper to have more statistics for the support of my paper. However I will only use little information from this source. It was more for me to get a better understanding and view on the topic.

Spark Notes(Web Source)
SparkNotes Editors. “SparkNote on The Handmaid’s Tale.” SparkNotes.com. SparkNotes
LLC. 2003. Web. 21 Jul. 2010.
Spark Notes is an online source that a reader can go to for any information they want about a book. They have a list of characters and analysis of characters. The source also gives chapter by chapter summaries allowing you to make sure, as a reader, you didn’t miss anything. There is also a link for symbols and themes that let the reader know the hidden meaning behind the text. This site also offers a quiz over what the book was about. This really helps the reader to make sure he/she understood the text.
This source really helped me come up with my essay topic. I was having trouble narrowing down topics and this source helped me greatly. Throughout much of the book I was confused and irritated by the way the book left me to fill in all the missing holes. I was able to use this source to check my interpretations and get a better understanding of the text.

Atwood, Margaret. The Handmaid's Tale. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1986. Print.

The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood was a type of dystopian literature. This book is pulled from the first person narrative. The author changes Cambridge of Massachusettes into the Republic of Gilead and women’s rights are taken form them completely, not allowing them to own any property. Women who are unable to produce or bear child were either sent away or assigned other jobs. Those that were fertile were assigned to a household to produce a child for a husband and wife and they were called handmaids. Once the handmaid did their jobs, they were sent to another household to do the same thing. If rules were broken, they were either sentenced to death, sent away or were forced into prostitution. Some of the women and men in the Republic were a part of a group to restore things back to order. This was women’s only hope.
The Handmaid’s Tale was the main source for my paper. I was able to base my thesis around the text of the book. I plan to take quotes from the text in order to solidify my paper and prove me point. I plan to use more information of the text to prove my thesis more thoroughly.

The Handmaid's Tale Comparision

Book to Movie Comparison
It is well known to many book fanatics that the book is most likely always better than the film. In the case of The Handmaid’s Tale this judgment would be correct. Text versions of a story allow the reader to get deeper into the story. This helps the reader to develop a more personal relationship to events and characters. Films can lack this personal connection. Movies also tend to change things around in order to catch more of the audience’s attention. However, to the readers it changes the whole meaning of the story. The film of The Handmaid’s Tale alters symbolism in the text, the order of events and the first person perspective of Offred.
One major symbol in the book was the meaning behind the white wings that were worn by the Handmaids. The white wings were a type of headdress that restricted a Handmaid’s sight. The headdress was to be worn at all times except in private. Her vision was not completely covered but taken away just enough to belittle her. Handmaids were nothing more than a womb and ovaries to the higher status, and that was how they were treated. They were demeaned of any powers and luxuries. That was exactly what the white wings were designed for. Seeing was a privilege that Handmaids were not to have. The film’s version of the headdress was a scarf that was worn around the Handmaid’s hair. Not only was it not covering their face at all times, but it was also see through. Totally degrading the meaning and purpose the book describes.
The order in which the story is told in the book is greatly different than the movie. The text version of The Handmaid’s Tale jumps from one event to another often confusing the reader. Flashbacks seem to come out in the middle of an event. The flashbacks are difficult to catch and understand when in text form. Also, there seems to be more of these recollections in the book than in the film. The order of events in the movie made more sense to me. I was not left to make sense of the events like I was in the book. Given that the events were in better organization in the film it was easier to understand what was going on. Guessing as a reader only leaves me unsure of my interpretations.
The text edition of The Handmaid’s Tale is a first person narrative. This style of writing allows the reader to see and experience things through the main character’s eyes. However in the film the first person perspective is not present. Not being able to know Offred’s thoughts and feelings takes away from the story. Not having Offred’s insights makes the story less meaningful. Being able to hear her thoughts in the book had a greater effect on me than not knowing them while watching the movie. As a reader I was able to develop a bond with Offred, this bond was not there during the film.
Like most books that are made into movies The Handmaid’s Tale follows the pattern of the book being better than the film. It was not necessarily a bad film, but it took away from the meaning of the story. Changing the headdress worn by the Handmaids was a big change in the movie. Also not knowing Offred’s thoughts made it less personal than the book. One thing that did better the story was making more sense of the order of events. A movie is meant to entertain for a few hours while a book allows the reader to become part of the story.

Favorite Book Analyisis

Tuesdays with Morrie
A few years ago I read a book that happened to change my life. It was recommended to me by one of my parents, and because I don’t have a huge passion for reading I reluctantly agreed just this once. This book is “Tuesdays with Morrie”, written by Mitch Albom. I had recognized the author because Mitch Albom happens to be a world renowned sports writer and is on many weekly sports television shows. Because of this I decided to sit down and try a chapter or two just to please my parents. I quickly realized that I had made a very good decision. For the next day and a half I could not put the book down. It says on the cover that this is a book about “an old man, a new man, and life’s greatest lesson”. This lesson is to live every day to the fullest, because the tomorrow is never a guarantee in life. Morrie Schwartz was Mitch’s college professor. After many years and an unlikely television exclusive on “Nightline”, the teacher and student were reconnected. What transpired next is certainly overwhelming. It taught me to live every day as if it were my last and to love unconditionally. To be so content with my life that if I were to leave this world tomorrow, I would be happy with how I left it.
Morrie was a man without much time left in this life. He is petite person who has recently been diagnosed with ALS or Lou Gehrig’s disease. This disease attacks the muscle and muscle tissue, slowly diminishing it until it is no more. Thus leaving the body weak and unable to take another breath. It is in this episode of “Nightline” I referred to that Mitch becomes aware of his old professors situation. Mitch was flipping through the channels on television one night and he happened upon Morrie. He was exactly the man he remembered and was delighted to see him, until he realized why “Nightline” was there. After he got over the shock of it all, he decided to spend as much time with him as he possibly can before he passes. Mitch lives in Detroit and Morrie still lives near the campus in Boston, Massachusetts. Mitch flies back every Tuesday for about four months to see Morrie. Thus becoming his student once again, but this time the subject is life and the way to live it.
Despite all that Morrie is going through, he still manages to be happy with his life. On Mitch’s third visit, they talk about feeling sorry for yourself. Morrie says “I mourn what I’ve lost, I mourn the slow, insidious way in which I’m dying. But then I stop mourning... I give myself a good cry if I need it. But then I concentrate on all the good things still in my life” (Albom, pg 57). This is remarkable, even though his body is wilting away before his own eyes he still manages to be joyful about his life. When asked how he can be this way when he has such a horrible disease he replies “it’s only horrible if you see it that way. It’s horrible to watch my body slowly wilt away to nothing. But it’s also wonderful because of all the time I get to say good-bye. Not everyone is so lucky” (Albom, pg. 57). Lucky? He is dying of a disease that slowly turns your muscles into pudding and he describes his condition as lucky. However, in an odd way I agree with him. I wish that I could only be so lucky as to tell all my loved ones how much they mean to me before I go. But before I read this book, I don’t know that I would have had the maturity to fathom this reality.
I believe that anyone who reads this book will really connect with at least one, if not all of the topics they discuss. The topic that stood out the most to me is something that I had struggled with frequently. This topic is death. A topic that would literally keep me awake at night because of the fear that death is inevitable. Morrie states that “everyone knows they are going to die, but nobody believes it”(Albom, pg. 81). This is an absolutely perfect way to put it. Normally people choose not to discuss death because they fear it, because they don’t want to think about it until it is upon them. Most people think that by simply keeping it out of mind, they can live their lives better without the fear of death looming. But Morrie disagrees, saying “there’s a better approach. To know you’re going to die, and to be prepared for it at any time. That’s better. That way you can be more involved in your life while you’re living it”(Albom, pg. 81). This is a very important point that can possibly make life a lot more enjoyable for people, it certainly has for me. But perhaps the most important quote in the book for me, Morrie declares later in the chapter. “Once you learn how to die, you learn how to live”(Albom, pg. 82). One I read this quote I truly felt I was headed on the right path of learning how to live. It made me realize that running from my fear of death wasn’t allowing me to live my life to the fullest. This insight provided by Morrie I was able to slowly work towards making my life more fulfilling on a day to day basis.
Even in the face of death, Morrie Schwartz was a visionary. Knowing that his days were limited, he was able to be happy with himself and his life. He was able to have one more class, with one of his favorite students. I would like to thank Morrie for this last class because he unintentionally taught me to live the right way. It goes without saying, but it obviously changed Mitch’s life instantly. He took a dire situation as a sports writer in Detroit and turned it into a booming career as a prominent person in his field. Morrie told us all to embrace our lives, to love unconditionally and to never take any moment or situation for granted. Although Morrie doesn’t know it, it is actually his final course. So much information was taught about how to look at life in a better way. We must embrace ourselves and roll with the punches. There are no quizzes or exams, just one final. The final is pass/fail, that final is life.
Works Cited
Albom, Mitch. Tuesdays with Morrie. New York, NY: Little, Brown & Company, 2004. Print.

Atwood's Topic Proposal

The Handmaids Tale is a text full of mystery. The story leaves you guessing on almost every page. It is up to the reader to fill in the missing details as the story progresses. What I am questioning is how the people of the church overturned our system of checks and balances? In school and in the work place we as a country are always trying to respect others religious beliefs. In school we are asked not to say the Pledge of Allegiance because of the simple word “Amen” at the end. We were told that we were disrespecting those that did not believe in God. There was also no studying religion in public school systems. There are many other occasions where we as a country have had to walk on egg shells to respect others beliefs. Our government has always maintained a well working system to keep order in our country. So I want to know how the people of the church had enough power to overrule the government.
The topic I plan to research is how much power the people of the church really have. Obviously they took matters into their own hands about the declining birth rate and got the government to work in their favor. The people of the church either overturned it single handedly or manipulated it to work in their benefit. I chose this topic because throughout my reading I always wondered how our country could ever turn into what is happening in Atwood’s book. Researching this topic will help me understand the basis of the story and how it evolved.

Thesis Blog Post

1. Sentence A is the weakest thesis statement.
- Thesis statement A makes no claim by telling what the paper is going to be about.

2. Sentence A is the weakest thesis statement.
- Thesis statement A is too broad. It does not bring out the complexity of the subject like thesis statement B does.

3. Sentence B is the weakest thesis statement.
- Thesis statement B is also too broad. Sentence A is arguable, assertive, and is specific about the types of jeans.

4. Sentence A is the weakest thesis statement.
- Thesis statement A points out the obvious and leaves no room for argument. Also, the statement is a summary.

5. Sentence A is the weakest thesis statement.
- Thesis statement A is overly descriptive. The sentence goes way too into depth, and is a bunch of little sentences rather than one argument.

Thesis statement: Handmaids were forced to give up their bodies under government rule to help the declining birth rate.

Why did the government obtain complete control of the handmaid’s and their bodies?
The government obtained complete control over women’s bodies in order to fix the declining birth rates. They were sent to school in order to train to be a handmaid. Handmaids were assigned to conceive a child with a commander. They were being used for their abilities to bring the gift of life into a family for those who were unable on their own. They were responsible for the future. Because of this handmaids were sheltered. Always having to obey rules and be watched after continuously. Once the handmaid had conceived a child they would become released from their duties. The government used this as a way of a bribe to increase births in the country. Freedom from this life was what a handmaid had dreamed of. However, their one task was not that easy.

This statement is arguable because one would say the handmaids were not forced. It is also specific and I can use support from the text. There are many assertions in the book that lead to the handmaids being forced to bear a child. The consequences are either being killed or being exiled to another country.