Original Radio Drama of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Blog 14
Week of 12/2/19

                      This week's topic was on Satire and Sci-Fi. In order to explore this topic, I listened to  
the Original Radio Drama of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams. In the snippet of what I listen to I found out that Earth and its inhabitants are to be disintegrated by the Vogons to make way for a hyperspace bypass.This is all a big surprise to some of the people of Earth, like Arthur. Our main characters, Ford and Arthur, decide to hitch a ride on the Vogons' ship and are then thrown out into deep space by the Vogons to die after being caught aboard the ship. But, in the most unlikely situation they are rescued by the Infinite Improbability Drive spacecraft at the last second before they perish. 

                      The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy illustrates what we prioritize as problems in our world today and trying to find a solution to them. The story was a bit over dramatic at times but I really liked the way the story deals with the horrible situations our main characters our put through. It gave light on some very dark circumstances Ford and Arthur have to deal with. A example of this happening today is with the global warming crisis. Everyone knows about it and it's warning signs but a lot of people still do nothing. With the story being told in the future we are shown a scenario of the toll our planet will take, due to our current treatment of it, and the consequences that will most likely happen if we do nothing to prevent them.

The Handmaid's Tale

Blog 13
Week of 11/25/19

                        This week's topic was on Literary Speculation. In order to explore this topic, I read Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale. Atwood's novel uses elements of different types of genres but is essentially literary. The main types of genres elements I picked up while reading this novel was dystopian, historical fiction, and a memoir.

                         Dystopian is the main element in The Handmaids Tale due to the setting being in the near- future in a totalitarian-like state due to the decreased birthrate. This has cause the injustice of women having their basic rights taken from them. The elements of historical fiction and a memoir are not as obvious until you get to the end of novel. This is due to the big reveal of the last chapter of the book. This is where I found out that what I was reading in the previous chapters were tape recordings of Offred's account of living in Gilead,which makes it a memoir of sorts. The recordings are being reviewed at a conference years after being recorded and Gilead's fall. This creates a historical fiction element to the novel.

                    The combination of these elements would seem like they would mess with the flow of the story but I feel it only improved the story line. Without this surprise elements of the last chapter I think the readers of this novel would be left unsatisfied. The readers would never have gotten that sense of relief that Offred did indeed make it out of Gilead.  Personally, I wasn't affected by the merging of more than one genre because the overall story and message was more important to me. 

I Live with You

Blog 12
Week of 11/18/19

         This week's topic was on Diverse Position in Science Fiction. In order to explore this topic, I read the short story I Live with You by Carol Emshwiller. This story is about a woman, we later find out her name to be, Nora who is living a solidarity existence of a not at all interesting life. She spends her days going to work and coming directly home to her cat. This story would not seem of much interest if it was not for the unknown third occupant living in the house. This story is in the point of view of this unknown character and we see how this individual effects the daily life of Nora.

The unknown narrator of Emshwiller's story seems to be an odd mixture of a guardian angel and a stalker. In the story the individual mentions how once they saw Nora at the coffee shop, they realized just how perfect and alike they were, causing them to follow her home. From then on this occupant lives in the nooks and crannies of the Nora’s all too-big house. They then start to do tiny things on a daily basis to disorient Nora, like moving items where they were not supposed to be. At first I thought this character was out to get Nora and make her slowly feel like she is going crazy. I soon realized by the end of the story they were doing it for Nora’s own good. The character saw what kind of rut Nora was in, the loner that nobody noticed. By doing what seemed to be pestering daily actions added up and slowly got her out of her rut. And in doing so Nora could stand up and be the person she was always meant to be.

Fragments of a Hologram Rose

Blog #11
Week of 11/11/19

           This week's topic was on the sub-genres Cyberpunk and Steampunk. In order to explore these topics, I read the short story Fragments of a Hologram Rose by William Gibson. This story takes place in the future where people can relive other individuals’ experiences through a device called the delta-inducer. As readers we get to experience the device first hand through Parker, our main character. Parker is dealing with insomnia, heartbreak, and loneliness due to a resent breakup. In order to cope he delves into the sense-recordings of his ex-girlfriend in order to sleep through the night. 

            As we experience the recordings, we see tiny snippets of his past and how the nature of sense-recordings has shaped his adult life. What was once a promising future for Parker with the opportunities of working at an American subsidiary of a Japanese plastics combine. We soon learn that due to the invention of the delta-inducer Parker left all these great opportunities behind. With this being said, it is quite obvious how the machine's effects on people are quite severe.  I believe this to be true due to the way it seems as if Parker cannot live without this machine by his side. The machine has become the new street drug in this scenario of the future. People who use this device do not seem to get out and socialize instead they have created a companion like relationship with other individuals’ memories and experiences. I find this future to be quite troubling and hope that this setting of events does not happen to us in the future. If we all where to stay inside by ourselves and not deal with our problems who knows what the consequences to our world would be. 

The Man in the High Castle

Blog 10
Week of 11/4/19

           This week's topic is on the Fiction of Ideas. In order to explore this topic, I read the novel, The Man in the High Castle, by Philip K. Dick. The idea that is examined by the author is about what life would be like if the Allies would not have won the war in World War Two. This creates an alternate perspective where the victors, Germany and Japan, share control over the United States. The story switches between multiple point of views to give the readers insight on this new world. I found it intriguing how Dick chose characters that are not the heroic type we usually see in books. The main characters are just regular people who are trying to survive new hardships they never thought they would ever face. 

            The novel also had some weird but interesting concepts, such as the I Ching - a type of oracle. This is a device that can be viewed as a high tech magic eight ball, where one would ask the eight ball a question and it gives you a cryptic answer for you to decipher. At first I did not realize the I Ching was a real thing. The Japanese and the Americans use this on a daily basis where they seem to take this oracle quite seriously. I found this quite intriguing due to the stereotyping that goes on with fortune telling. When it comes to fortune telling in today's society,  it is frowned upon or is seen as not reliable information. 

              The one take away from the book is the domino effect one event has and the consequences it leaves behind. Even years after the publication of the book, I find that this story still has significance today. It has the effect to get people thinking about the concerns in today's society and how things are not always as they seem. The saying goes that history can repeat itself if we are not careful. The promises Hitler gave to the German people about making their country great again, made them turn a blind eye to the atrocities during the war. Promises like this are slowly happening again today in the political realm. If we are not careful or start making changes I am afraid we might be repeating history in certain ways to what occurred during this war era. Luckily, the war's outcome for the United States was not what is portrayed in Dick's novel. 

Song in a Minor Key

Blog 9
Week of 10/28/19

      For this week's topic on Space Opera and the New Frontier, I chose the short story, Song in a Minor Key, by C.L Moore. The story takes place on a clover-filled hill as the main setting. Northwest Smith, the protagonist, reflects on how at peace he is in that moment. After years of transgressions and being banned from taking a step on Earth, Northwest was able to come back home. On the hill he soaks in all he's missed out on and taken for granted. 

         Northwest realizes in that moment, as he is laying in the grass on the hill, all the small things he's missed out on. When I was reading the part about how he missed the feeling of the grass I found this to be a very insightful scene in the story. It got me thinking, even though it seems silly to miss such a trivial topic like grass, we as humans take stuff like this for granted. The little things in life like this that don't seem that important until we least expect it. This is happening right now with people not altering their life to fix the effects they are creating on the global warming crisis. Sadly, we as humans don't do anything about problems until it's too late.

Another scene I came across while reading that I found quite of an impact was Northwest reviewing all the sorrowful events in his life. Even though he has a lot of unhappy memories he knows he would never go back and change the past. The bad things that Northwest did lead him to his ultimate punishment, being banish from his home. But,without this punishment he never would have learned a valuable lesson. Which is never regret your actions because these are the moments in life that change us for the better. I agree with this statement made by Northwest because even though we all experience horrible things, it guides us to the individual were meant to become. 

Assessment

What was your reaction to what you just read?

My reaction to Blood Child was a mixture of confusion and intrigue. I was a bit confused at what the relationship that was going on in the household in the story. I wish there was more explanation of the history between the Tlic and the Terran. The relationship with Tlics and Terrans seem to be a norm which I found really interesting but crazy at the same time. I would not be so relaxed with the idea of being a host to another species offspring.

What connections did you make with the story you just read? Discuss the elements of the work you were able to connect with.

A connection I  made with the story is how Gan was conflicted with the commitment he made with  Gatoi. In life we all deal with making life decisions that will directly effect our futures. For anyone its hard knowing whether we're making the right decision. So, when Gan experiences first hand what will happen to him once an egg is implanted in him, he has a moment of doubt. When threatened by Gatoi about moving on to his sister instead he steps up and does his duty. I have had similar experiences for example trying to figure out what major I wanted to go into. Though, not as intense and altering as the situation in this story.

What changes would you make if you were adapting it into another medium? What medium? Why?

Some changes I would make if I was to adapt this story into another medium would be the background information on the norms of the world in the story. There needs to be more development of the history between the two species as well There are diffidently some holes in understanding the differences between the eggs the characters eat and the ones that are implanted. If I could adapt this short story into another medium I would choose a novel. I would choose this medium because I think there is a lot of opportunities to delve deeper into Octavia Butler's story plot.

What is the future look like to you in 15 years?

In 15 years I will have the job of my dreams! Which is to design collectible pins for Disney. I see the world having major technological advances. Also, I am hopeful that the disease (SMA) I have will have a cure.

What is the future look like to you in 50 years?

I will have had a successful career and retired. I'll have travel many places around the world. Maybe even live somewhere in Europe for a bit. Also, I'm hoping for cars to be able to fly by this time! And people living on Mars. I think cable TV will be non-existence and platforms like Netflix will be king.