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Let your mind wander... Just not too far!

I personally feel like the main aspect to being a good reader and writer is balance; the balance between being able to absorb what it is you are reading without it being completely laid out to you. Nabokov worded it as knowing when to curb your imagination and let the author take over. You have to have an imagination, yet the intelligence to comprehend where it is the author is going. The most crucial part of reading would have to be that ability to get lost in the story you are reading; however, in reading, it is also just as important that you are absorbing enough of what you reading to keep your imagination in line with the direction of the new world you are being shown. Going into a book with a pre conceived notion is dangerous, yet you do need some general idea of what is taking place. If it is a sci fi novel, your imagination needs to remain somewhere within that realm. If it is a factual based novel, you need to maintain some realistic notions of what is going to happen.
 

This also incorporates into being a good author, because you have to have the skill to keep the readers somewhat contained in the possibilities of the story. Yes, create this new world for them, but it has to make sense. They have to have faith in your consistency of writing. If things are sporadically changing and straying away from the original point, a readers imagination is going to wander, and the author will have lost control of his own story. :)

Found this article orginally on The Huffington Post. :)

 http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/01/25/us-japan-poet-idUSTRE70O0NQ20110125

I enjoyed writing this blog because I love reading more than anything. I have sacrificed every inch of space and storage I have to house all of my books, and I very anti Nooks or Kindles. I love the feel of a book, I love having a stack by my bed to read, I love jotting my thoughts down as I read. This was a fun first blog post because I think EVERYONE should be exposed to as many different styles of writing and topics as they can possibly be! :)

Connecting to the Poetry...

"Even when poetry has a meaning, as it usually has, it may be inadvisable to draw it out... Perfect understanding will sometimes almost extinguish pleasure." A.E. Houseman

I was most drawn to the poems, "Immigrants in Our Own Land" by Jimmy Santiago Baca, and "Letters Composed in a Lull in the Fighting" by Kevin Powers. I feel as though they have little in common, though they do share a mutual sense of disappointment. This seemed fairly obvious in the first poem, the realization that your dreams and aspirations won't stop you from being labeled. In the second poem, I felt that the last stanza, "I tell her how Pvt. Bartle says, offhand, that war is just us making little pieces of metal pass through each other," (Lines 1-4, 3rd Stanza) reveals that there is a sense of disappointment in the soldier. I interpreted it that the solidier was feeling as though what he was fighting for wasn't what he imagined, there was no glory, it wasn't what he was expecting. I think this poem stuck out to me because of its simple description of such a horrible thing. I can't imagine having to sacrifice what solidiers sacrifice, and the idea of someone jotting this down, thinking of who they love, and what their loved one will think when they open the letter, that it will have the stink of war, stuck with me. If the poem had had more to it, I think it would have taken away from it overall. The simplicity is what makes it.

 "Immigrants in Our Own Land" was my favorite of all of the poems from this section. I loved the look into how no matter how much hope you have, or how strong of a work ethic, you can be labeled and left to fade away. The line, "The administration says this is right, no mixing of cultures, let them stay apart, like in the old neighborhoods we came from," (Lines 15-17, 2nd Stanza) was a strong point in the poem for me. I felt as though it showed how strongly people are instantly judged, how scared we are of change. If change isn't reinforced, how can things get better? This poem left me thinking how people are left without options to improve their quality of life, to be able to acheive what they are capable of. The poem has its moments of optimism, of dreams and hopes, but shows how difficult it is to maintain that enthusiasm for life when you have so many things holding you down. Anyone can relate to this, but I think it stuck out to me because that is absolutely how the system works. I've worked with families new to the country, new to English. Rather than having options and chances, they are forced to scrape by, doing what they can. Making sure that communities have cultural resources is so crucial. People need a chance, they need to be able to show they are willing to work hard for the life they deserve. For race or status or orgin of birth to matter more than what someone has in their heart is a sad thing.

Love this poetry blog! 

 http://poetry.about.com/gi/o.htm?zi=1/XJ&zTi=1&sdn=poetry&cdn=education&tm=12&gps=204_156_1003_576&f=10&tt=14&bt=0&bts=0&zu=http%3A//ofkells.blogspot.com/

Image from http://www.haggardandhalloo.com/2011/01/29/poetry-2/

The world is a mess. It really is, we are slowly losing any sense of compassion or hope. People think that if they turn a blind eye to what is going wrong in the world, that they can hide from it and it wont affect them. I like how Sam Hamill viewed writing as an outlet for people to voice their tragedies, as a way for people to get their stories across. We stay away from the ugly truths of the world because we have been raised in society to do so. Reading a great poem or a great novel gives us the oppertunity to, at least in some way, put ourselves in someone else's shoes. All of the poemss in this section were based on something sad, something tragic. We all need a good dose of sadness to make us a little more proactive. Witnessing the sad can help inspire hope and a sense of change. We are all born into varying circumstances, and if we aren't exposed to way others live, we can remain ignorant and without that sense of compassion. Sometimes we need to absorb whats so sad just to make us appreciate the small things we can do to make it better. My favorite poem from the Poetry of Witness selection was "Immigrants in Our Land". People who make mistakes need our help. If you have been lucky enough to be raised with an open mind, with chances to better yourself, then it is your job to pass on that knowledge. I personally feel as though how inmates spend their time is the biggest waste. We send these people, who most likely have had few choices or oppertunities, to rot away with their own miserable memories, and then we seem confused when they return. Why not take advantage that you have this chance to rehabilitate them? Educate, open their minds. People can change, especially if they have been shown the errors of their ways and a way to fix what mistakes they have made. If we ignore those who suffer, we are leaving such a significant portion of people behind, we arent bettering anything. We dont have to be the ones beating our wives and children, or the ones making racial slurs. Being indifferent to what is awful in this world is just as bad as contributing to it.

I found the image above on http://www.n8w.com/image/art/ghandi/. :)

And here is small way to help save the world. http://www.thehungersite.com/clickToGive/home.faces?siteId=1

 

I think the title sums up my feelings on most things in life. We should appreciate and respect all the ifferent ideads and cultures and perspectives out there, even if we dont agree. Think what a great place the world could be if we just shut our mouths and listened more often! :)

Good Readers and Good Writers

Sexuality and Intimacy

In Margaret Attwood’s A Handmaids Tale, the focus of the Gilead’s regime is their attempt to have complete power of sex and any sense of sexuality within their government, and to attempt to manipulate society into a new bizarre form of sexual relations. The Gilead does not succeed, but eventually destroy itself. Their attempt to separate sex and sexuality only reveals their fear of and underestimation of the matter, ad I feel that this is a central theme throughout The Handmaids Tale. The separation of sex and sexuality in The Handmaids Tale is a governments battle against basic human instinct and desire, and is one of the many battles feminists have been fighting for years. A core aspect in this novel is the loss of female power and independence. One of the most crucial right s a woman can have is to choose what she does with her own body. This includes pregnancies, sex, and intimate relationships. This basic right is lost when the Gilead claims control over population increase, and therefore, the women in society. The are cherished for their ability to reproduce, but this obsession results in women being viewed as objects, as resources only to boost population numbers. The women in The Handmaids Tale were fighting their own feminist movement, however subtle their attacks.

 http://www.care2.com/causes/womens-rights/

Sex and power were both manipulated throughout the novel, resulting in a loss of rights and independence for females in society. Sex is a ceremonious thing in the Gilead society. The Reds are valued because of their hopefully optimal ovaries, and sex is manipulated into a patriotic duty. The loss of intimacy and love from the act of sex si what initially gives off a feeling of prostitution, yet in a world where this is the culture, it is viewed as just a nuisance every week or so. The separation of sex and sexuality results in the Reds becoming emotionally withdrawn, and confused by a desire to touch in a loving way. In our society today, this desire is what makes love such a sweet and innocent thing, simple touches and smiles cans et the tone for us to fall in love with someone. The Reds however, aren’t allowed to enjoy these basic pleasures. This desire is human instinct, and there is only so much control anyone can have over what is a natural born human desire. Today, sex is considered to be made better by love and a sense of intimacy. This is part of our nature, women especially, because we are driven by a maternal instinct to nuture and be taken care of as well. “Women view sex as a way to bond and appreciate one another… They desire an emotional closeness and intimacy, and they want to communicate at a deeper level.” (Metson) This can help to explain why the idea of Offred’s late night games and discussions felt natural to the reader, but are so taboo in the Gilead society. Offred is on her own emotional journey of realizing how it feels to be cared for again. When Offred realizes that something as simple as swaying her hips or moving in a certain sensual way, can attract the stares of the men in the community, she si embracing the lost art of being a sensual being, of expressing sexuality in a harmless manner. This is more exciting for her than the actual intercourse she frequently endures with the Commander. “Women derive pleasure from the things that follow up or lead to a sexual act - cuddling, tenderness, feeling connected, more so than they do the sex itself.” (Metson) The manipulation of sex and power create Attwoods own form of a futuristic feminist movement, because the women are born with the drive to be appreciated, t and t be loved. Being raised in a society where intimacy and appreciation of one another sexually are valued higher than actual intercourse, the idea that mindless sex partners is forced upon women, yet meaningful relationships are banned, seems impossible. The four main categories of events or feelings leading to sexual desire in women are: Romantic, Erotic, Status, and Emotional Bonding. Of the four, emotional bonding and feelings of romance have nearly triple increases in feelings of sexual desire in women today. Women are programmed to love, not just lust. The Gilead views intimacy as a sin, yet today we view consistent sex without an emotional bond as something to be ashamed of.

http://www.healthyplace.com/sex/psychology-of-sex/sex-and-intimacy/menu-id-1482/

“Feminism comes from a French term - Feminsme, that is essentially the idea that gender is culturally, rather than biologically, created. This is the root of feminism as a concept.” Our own society has had numerous gender oppression. Women have fought to be considered as equals, to be able to have a fulfilling career, the relationship and sex life they chose, and tot be able to be their own person. One of the conflicting aspects in the Gilead society compared to our own was the idea that sex, and a pregnancy, weren’t at all a choice. There is no family planning, there is no birth control, there is no need. They strive to have as many babies as they can, they strive to reproduce as quickly as possible. No thought is put into the woman carrying the child, or the attachment they are supposed to form. Our own society promotes family planning, and any method of birth control possible. To get to this point however, numerous feminism rights activists had to push. The very idea of birth control, first announced in 1960, was shocking. It suddenly put women into a place of power, and into a sea of possibilities; they could enjoy sex without it resulting in a child, and without the approval of a man. “A woman did not need the consent of her sexual partner to take the pill to prevent conception.” (LaDuke) This outlook changed our society for forever. Being raised in the generations to follow, this concept of new female empowerment has created a generation that feels entitled to equal rights. We don’t view our rights as something we had to work for, we view them as rights we are born with.

With the development of feminism and of birth control, the idea of sex positive feminism formed. Sex positive feminism is focused on the idea that an essential part of a woman’s freedom is their right to a sexual freedom. It is a belief that “sex is a natural force that exists prior to social life and shapes institutions.” In today’s society, sex is no longer simply between a man and a woman in wedlock, in the hopes of creating a family unit. We have same sex relationships, we have single parents, we have married couples who choose to never have children. Sex has become more than a wifely duty, or creating a namesake. It is an act of love that we are raised to appreciate and enjoy. This belief, in turn, makes birth control and sexual identities crucial, as a baby resulting from every sexual encounter would leave our planet with much more than it could endure. The Gilead society terrifies their citizens with horror stories of doctors who brutally murdered infants and embryos, and women who were selfish in their lack of desire for a child. The idea of sex positive feminism would be one worthy of damnation in their world. (Sex Positive Feminism)

http://www.forbes.com/wealth/power-women

While the steps that women take to feel a sense of individuality and discover their own sexuality are minute, they are a battle being fought all the same. In a government where society is ruled completely from the top, and under constant surveillance, there is an instant isolation between individuals, due to fear of being turned in to authorities. The fact that some sort of sisterhood is formed and that the characters in the novel were able to bond at all is their own modern day feminist movement. Women are shown to have more intimate relationships than men, and to have a larger family unit of non blood relations. (Metson) This intimacy is one that the women in The Handsmaids Tale strive to create without being exposed to the government. The Handmaids Tale is an extreme, but it is a healthy one to read and discuss. Yes, we have our rights now, yes, we have fought for and earned the, but the fact remains that women are the very root of human existence, we have the power to create human life. This difference, while it should be cherished, it also a frightening separation between genders. To maintain our sense of self while bearing a significant amount of responsibility is a battle we are still fighting, whether it be with the numerous teen pregnancies we have today, or if in the future like Atwood predicted, we are in need of more births. However much responsibility women hold, we must not lose track of our own intimate needs and desires. The Reds in this book has those taken away, and had to start from a standpoint much lower than what women in our society have had to. They are attempting to fight the battle women have already once fought, the battle to be able to enjoy sex, and intimacies, to lead their own lives, and to be their own person. Having control over their sexual identities and what they do with their bodies is an aspect the Gilead have total control over in The Handmaids Tale, and that separation between sex and sexuality goes against our human nature as women.

　

　http://litlists.blogspot.com/2007/05/5-best-books-about-powerful-women.html