Wikipedia talk:Education program archive/CUNY, LaGuardia Community College/The Research Paper: Kindred (Spring)

--== Wikipedia hands-on workshop 10/8/14: Butler Biography Revisions==
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Username	Article section	Work to be done
1. [Sign your username here]	Life and Education	Footnote reference for http://www.sfwa.org/members/butler/Autobiography.html to replace external link in the following line: Butler would later credit two writing workshops for giving her "the most valuable help I received with my writing" SFWA:
2. [[[User:Bd1896|Bd1896]] (talk) 19:59, 8 October 2014 (UTC)]	Life and Education	Proper footnote for http://voices.cla.umn.edu/artistpages/butlerOctavia.php to replace footnote at the end of the following passage: Octavia Jr., nicknamed Junie, was paralytically shy and a daydreamer, and was later diagnosed as being dyslexic. She began writing at the age of 10 "to escape loneliness and boredom" and was 12 when she began a lifelong interest in science fiction.
3. [Sign your username here]	Life and Education	Proper footnote for http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/27/AR2006022701585_pf.html to replace footnote at the end of the following passage: 1970: The Clarion Science Fiction Writers Workshop, (introduced to her by Ellison), where she first met Samuel R. Delany.
4. [--DrJayk (talk) 20:01, 8 October 2014 (UTC)]	Life and Education	Proper footnote for http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/01/books/01butler.html?_r=0 to replace footnote at the end of the following passage: She died outside of her home in Lake Forest Park, Washington, on February 24, 2006, at the age of 58.
5. [sochara]	Life and Education	Revise quotation and reference for the following passage: Another suggestion, backed by Locusmagazine (issue 543; Vol.56 No.4), is that a stroke caused the fall and hence the head injuries. using the source http://www.locusmag.com/2006/Issues/04Toc.html
6. [--DrJayk (talk) 20:22, 8 October 2014 (UTC)]	Awards	Footnote reference for http://www.sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/butler_octavia to be placed next to the 2012: Solstice Award
7. [Joydoc]	Awards	Add or replace footnote reference for 1985: Science Fiction Chronicle Award for Best Novelette – "Bloodchild" with a footnote reference to http://www.sfadb.com/Octavia_E_Butler because the Locus Index to Science Fiction Awards is being replaced by the Science Fiction Awards Database.
8. [Sign your username here]	Career	Add a second reference to the passage Butler's first story published was "Crossover" in the 1971 Clarion Workshop anthology from http://www.sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/butler_octavia Maybe add the name of the editor of the anthology?
9. [Sign your username here]	Career. Subsection: Kindred	Proper footnote reference for http://www.seattlepi.com/ae/books/article/Octavia-Butler-1947-2006-Sci-fi-writer-a-gifted-1196968.php to replace current footnote at the end of the following passage: Kindred became the most popular of all her books, with more than 450,000 copies currently in print. “I think people really need to think what it's like to have all of society arrayed against you,” she said about the novel.
10. [artlicari]	Career. Subsection: Themes of social criticism	Revise quotation and reference for the following passage: In "Further Considerations on Afrofuturism, Eshun writes, "Most science fiction tales dramatically deal with how the individual is going to contend with these alienating, dislocating societies and circumstances that pretty much sums up the mass experiences of black people in the postslavery twentieth century" (298) Reference: http://muse.jhu.edu/login?auth=0&type=summary&url=/journals/new_centennial_review/v003/3.2eshun.pdf

Extra credit: Butler's biography

There are dead links included under the "External Links" section, i would suggest removing them to provide a more organized and reliable article. Mel26 (talk) 20:15, 17 March 2014 (UTC)

Hello Mel26. A good idea. After the different groups have made their changes next week, see which specific links you are thinking of removing and let me know. DrX (talk) 17:11, 18 March 2014 (UTC)

They do not give enough details when explaining Kindred. There are only two lines which do not sum up the description of Kindred. More should be written about the book that was her best seller. Gpo20 (talk) 06:36, 29 May 2014 (UTC)

Mmm--I like the idea, Gpo20 (talk). Can you write here what you think it should say?

Collaborative Summary of Kindred

Prologue and The River

Dana wakes up in the hospital with her arm amputated with the police by her side trying to figure out what has happen. The police tried to blame her husband Kevin for her arm being lost. However, she tells them that it was an accident and that it was her own fault. Then when Kevin got released from the prison, he comes to see her in the hospital. It seemed that they both knew what happen but they are not really sure on how to explain it because they knew that nobody would believe them. All of this confusion started on Dana’s birthday, June 9, 1976.

The day before of Dana’s twenty-sixth birthday, she decided to move into a house with her husband a couple of miles away from their old apartment in Los Angeles. Dana does the majority of the unpacking and settling in while Kevin focuses on his office and on his writing. Soon after, he fails to write so Dana offers him to arrange the books. A couple of moments later Dana gets dizzy, and her surroundings begin to fade away. When she comes to her senses, she finds herself in the early 19th century in Maryland. Looking up she saw a young white boy named Rufus struggling in the river. Dana wades in after him, but he is unconscious by the time she reaches him. She drags him to the shore and tries to save him. At that moment the mother of Rufus appears screaming and hitting Dana thinking that she killed Rufus. Then Tom Weylin, Rufus’s father, arrives and points a gun at Dana, terrifying her. Dana was so scared that she starts to get the dizziness feeling back and arrives back at her new house with Kevin beside her. Kevin, really shocked at her disappearance and reappearance, tried to understand if it was a hallucination or dream. teekay25 (talk) 19:57, 31 March 2014 (UTC)Steezin (talk) 19:58, 31 March 2014 (UTC) US:Mayday (talk) 19:58, 31 March 2014 (UTC) Nina9723 (talk) 19:59, 31 March 2014 (UTC)

The Fire

Hours after Dana’s return from the river bay, she had time to readjust to her life in 1976. She was able to wash the filth from the river off of her, and settle in before the dizziness set in once again. Moments after her vision blurs, headache begins, as she begins to disappear off her chair. This time, she is whisked back to an unfamiliar place and sees a red-haired boy who turned out to be Rufus, only now a few -years older. watching in horror as his bedroom drapes burn. He had set fire to them because he was angry with his father for beating him after he stole a dollar from his father's desk. Dana puts out the fire, talks to Rufus, and discovers that not only is she is now in Antebellum, Maryland 1815, Rufus is also an ancestor of hers. With Rufus’ guidance, Dana then manages to escapes from the house before the senior Weylin finds out she is there. She runs to the home of Alice Greenwood and her mother, free blacks who Dana suspects may be her ancestors. A group of young white men smash down the Greenwoods’ door, drag out Alice’s mother's husband, who is a slave, and beat him for being there without papers. Alice’s mother gets hit for interfering. After the men leave, Dana comes out of hiding and helps Alice’s mother. Dana steps outside, and a returning white man finds her, beats her, and attempts to rape her. Dana fears for her life as a patrolman attempts to take her away. She clings for her life onto a tree. The fear and adrenaline rush blurred her vision and she flashes back home to her own time. Upon her return to 1976, Dana is Feeling as though she had spend hours away from home, but Kevin assures her that she has only been gone for several minutes. Afraid, that she might teleport back again to Maryland, Dana prepares a bag packed with what she thinks is necessary to survive out there for a longer period of time.Ronin1123 (talk) 19:32, 23 April 2014 (UTC)

The Fall

Dana and Kevin meet while working out of a casual labor agency. Kevin began being interested in Dana when he found out she was also a writer. Dana’s interest of Kevin really began when she found out that he was a writer and that they had a lot in common. Both Dana and Kevin’s parents died when they were young. Both Dana and Kevin’s families disapproved their dreams of becoming writers. Dana and Kevin’s families both disapproved the idea of an interracial couple. Dana begins to feel dizzy, but this time Kevin holds on to her and travels to the past along with Dana. They then encounter Rufus and find him on the floor in pain, they realize Rufus had broken his leg. Standing alongside, there was a black boy named Nigel. They send Nigel to get help. Rufus then asks who Kevin is and that’s when Dana tells him that Kevin is her husband. Rufus was shocked because whites and blacks were not allowed to get married in his particular time period. Dana and Kevin then explain to Rufus that they’re from the future and show him dates on coins that they have in their pockets. Both Dana and Kevin tell Rufus to be secretive of the fact that they’re from the future. Dana tells Kevin to pretend as if he’s his slave owner. Tom Weylin comes with his slave Luke to get his son Rufus. Kevin introduces himself and Dana to Tom Weylin. Tom Weylin then invites both of them to his home. Luke puts Rufus on his bed with Dana beside him, while Dana and Rufus are talking, Margarete, Rufus’s mother runs into the room screaming about Rufus’s wellbeing. Jealous of the attention Rufus is showing Dana, Margarete sends Dana to the cookhouse. Dana meets Sarah and Carrie which were slaves that worked in the cookhouse. Kevin and Dana stay on the plantation for several weeks and help educate Rufus. But when Dana gets caught reading, Weylin whips her. Dana returns to 1976, but Kevin does not arrive in time to go with her. R 1994 (talk) 20:24, 31 March 2014 (UTC) Gpo20 (talk) 03:02, 1 April 2014 (UTC)SNSmith27 (talk) 17:06, 1 April 2014 (UTC)

The Fight 1-10

In a flashback, Dana reminisces about her relationship with Kevin regarding their living situation and his proposal. Being white, Kevin’s sister didn’t agree with the idea of him marrying a colored woman and disowned him. Dana on the other hand was experiencing a disappointment of her own. Her uncle opposed to the biracial marriage due to the fear of a white man having a hold of his property. However, her aunt thought it would be good since their kids would have lighter skin. Despite the families racial oppositions, they married. After eight days of being home recuperating without Kevin, Dana time travels back in time to find Rufus getting beaten up by Alice’s husband Isaac. Dana learns that Rufus had attempted to rape his long time friend Alice. Dana convinces Isaac not to kill Rufus, and Alice and Isaac run away while Dana gets Rufus home. She realizes that it has been five years since her last visit and Kevin has left Maryland. Dana aids Rufus to recovery in return for help with delivering letters to Kevin. Five days later, Alice and Isaac are caught. Alice is beaten and ravaged by dogs and brought back. As punishment for helping Isaac escape, she is enslaved. Isaac was sold to traders heading to Mississippi and Rufus, who claims to love Alice, buys her. Dana is ordered by Rufus to help Alice until she is better. When Alice starts to regains consciousness, she questions Dana about Isaac remembering that they had cut his ears and curses Rufus for doing this to her. Mel26 (talk) 20:28, 31 March 2014 (UTC) ; Adoreher;Adoreher (talk) 21:16, 11 April 2014 (UTC)Jarika5230 (talk) 01:50, 1 April 2014 (UTC) ; another student, name added later

The Fight 11-16

Rufus forces Dana to convince Alice to sleep with him after her body has recovered. Dana goes to Alice to speak about Alice going to Rufus. Alice asks Dana if she would sleep with Rufus and Dana responds with “no”. Alice decides that she wants to run away again then go to Rufus; Dana tells her she will stall Rufus to give her a head start. Alice breaks down and tells Dana that she will go to him. Rufus tells Dana he has been sending her letters to Kevin, but Alice finds the letters and shows Dana. After Dana finds out that Rufus was lying about sending her letters, she runs away to find Kevin. Liza, who is a slave, went and told Tom Weylin that Dana ran away, so Weylin and Rufus went looking for her. They found her. They bring Dana back to the plantation and Weylin whipped her for running away. She is whipped so badly that she becomes frightened and loses the will to run away again. When Weylin finds out that Rufus failed to keep his promise to Dana about sending her letters to Kevin, he writes to Kevin and tells him that Dana is back on the plantation. Kevin shows up, as Weylin had written to him, and the couple attempts to escape. Rufus catches them on the road and he starts asking them to come back for dinner and when the decline, he then pulls out a rifle and attempts to shoot at them but they manage to time travel together back to the 1970s.Pacer87 (talk) 20:08, 31 March 2014 (UTC)Pacer87, Goldilocks14

The Storm

Dana returns home with Kevin, she spent 8 months and kevin had sent 5 years. When they get home they have sex even though Kevin is afraid of hurting Dana because she is injured.Dana wakes up from sleeping with Kevin not in her bed she notices that Kevin has changed and has a hard time adjusting back to the present.He started opening to Dana after a little while and told her how he witnessed a master beat a pregnant slave until she gave birth to her baby, both the baby and mother had died. He also told her about his travels and how he spent his time during those five years being a teacher and helping slaves escape. Kevin is growing increasingly agitated , throwing things and raising his voice.Dana packs a bag just in case she gets called back again and after a few days, Dana time travels alone to Maryland and finds Rufus very drunk and lying facedown in a puddle. Dana was unable to get Rufus to his house so she goes to the Weylin plantation on her own and gets help. There Nigel greets her in shock that she has come back. Nigel then accompanies Dana to go rescue Rufus. On the way home Rufus so drunk and sick has vomited all over Nigel. At the Weylin house Tom Weylin was there waiting for Rufus.Weylin refuses to get a doctor,he appoints Dana to take care of Rufus and threatens Dana that if Rufus does not make it he will flay her alive. Dana suspects Rufus has malaria which she knows she can not possibly cure it but she is better equipped to handle it than the doctor because at that time the doctor was purging and bleed sick people in order to cure diseases. Over the course of many days, Dana nurses Rufus back to health, however he got got worse before he could get better. At one point his fever came back and Dana gave him Asprin praying the fever would go away and it did. Rufus remains weak for weeks.Dana learns of the children that Rufus has fathered with Alice. Together they lost two children after they got sick and the doctor bled and purged them. All they had left was one boy named Joe who was quite sickly and Alice was pregnant again. Suddenly Weylin has a heart attack, and Dana is unable to save him. Rufus blames her for his father’s death and forces her to work in the fields until she collapses from exhaustion and being beaten. Rufus saves her and Dana is not exactly grateful she’s upset that he sent her out there as punishment. Rufus assigns Dana the task of caring for his mother. Alice then gives birth to her second child with Rufus, Hagar, who is Dana’s direct ancestor. She tells Dana that she plans to run away as soon as she can. She fears that she is getting too used to Rufus, that she doesn’t hate him enough anymore. Weylin’s wife, Margaret, returns and Dana is forced to care for her. Rufus sells off some slaves, including Tess, his father’s former concubine. He also sells Sam, a field hand, as punishment for flirting with Dana. When Dana tries to interfere, Rufus hits her. She slits her wrists in an effort to time travel and is successful. Maxamillion412 (talk) 20:00, 31 March 2014 (UTC)The North Remembers16 (talk) 00:15, 2 April 2014 (UTC)

The Rope and Epilogue

Dana is back at home after she slit her wrists on the plantation. She and Kevin quarrel a little about Rufus because Kevin believes Rufus raped Dana, to which Dana responds very surprised because she cannot believe that Kevin would think of rape as something that just happens, as something that can just be accepted. Therefore, Kevin is jealous of Rufus relationship with Dana, which she finds ridiculous. When Dana returns to the plantation because Rufus was almost drowning between his own numbness, alcohol and mud. She finds out that Alice has attempted to run away trying to break away from the harsh rules of slavery and the limitations of Rufus. To retaliate, Rufus told her that he sold her children, although he only sent them off to live with his aunt in Baltimore. Alice is sick with grief and hangs herself because that was the ultimate way for her to be finally free from both slavery and Rufus. Racked with guilt and anger about Alice’s death, Rufus nearly follows her in committing suicide, but after Alice’s funeral, Rufus frees their children. He keeps Dana at his side almost constantly, having her share meals, teach his children and just share time with each other. One day, he tells her that she is so like Alice he cannot stand it.Rufus truly believes that Dana and Alice are halves and together they form one whole and solid woman, the woman that he desires. He grabs her in the attempt to stop her from doing anything that could separate them both, to which Dana tries and struggles to break free. Full of anger, desperation to go back home and sadness she goes to the attic, planning to reopen the scars on her wrists in order to get home, but Rufus follows her and attempts to rape her. This is a very crucial time for Dana because she has the option of just laying down and letting Rufus rape her or follow her instincts and do what makes her a kindred spirit woman. Dana stabs him twice with her knife, killing him. She returns home immediately. Her arm is severed and crushed in the spot where Rufus was holding it, this is why Dana comes back home without her left arm, a part of her was hold in the past.]

Now it is present day and Dana and Kevin go back to Baltimore to see what it is like now.Nothing of what they both had seen is there but they still want to try to figure out what happened after the death of Rufus. All they find in a newspaper is that Rufus had died due to the fact that his house caught fire. Nonetheless, Dana knows that perhaps Nigel tried to cover up what she did and started a fire. All the slaves were sold except Nigel, Carrie, Joe and Hagar. They looked through as much information as possible but they simply couldn’t find what had happened after she left but for both Dana and Kevin it was enough to know that the people that they met and the time in which they temporarily lived in were real. Knowing this could help them keep their sanity and perhaps they could be able to write again. However, all the marks that the past left in both of them cannot be erased because the cruelty of slavery can’t never let someone be whole again.

Article Summaries and Discussions

Research Assignment 3

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Research Assignment 3 - Article Summaries

Rafaella Baccolini. "Gender and Genre in the Feminist Critical Dystopias of Katherine Burdekin, Margaret Atwood and Octavia Butler." In his interview “Gender and Genre in Feminist Critical Dystopias”, Raffaella Baccolini points out how Butler uses science fiction, time-travel stories, and the autobiographical slave narrative in Kindred to show the distinction of feminist critical dystopias. Butler mentioned that in Kindred there are no use of science involved, but puts the protagonist Dana Franklin in a position where she is able to travel from 1976 Los Angeles to 1800 antebellum Maryland. As we all know Dana travels back to antebellum Maryland whenever Rufus Weylin the son of a white plantation owner fears for his life. As an African American woman Dana is placed where she is able to see who her deceased ancestors were, in which she is faced with painful and unpleasant choices it’s either she continues to assist Rufus until he fathers her ancestor or compromises the lives and survival of her family and her own life. Raffaella mentions that “Dana’s time travel to the past, however, foreground some of the issues in Butler’s novel” such as the relationship to past history, the need to understand one’s ancestors, and a means to resolve feelings about the past. Butler wrote Kindred to resolve her feeling towards the things that were happening in the sixties when people were feeling ashamed of and angry at their parents because they weren’t able to improve things faster, so Butler wanted to take someone from present time send them back to slavery. Dana needed to come to terms with her past discloses Butler way of settling her feelings of shame and anger towards her mother and previous generation. Besides her twentieth century knowledge of American history Dana is not prepared to face the reality of slavery, she lacks the language, the practical knowledge, the necessary attitude to survive. Dana must accept the fact that she is a descendent of Rufus and Alice and a product of slavery, she belongs to that history and that home is not only 1976 Los Angeles but also the Maryland plantation. Although Dana body displays all the marks of slavery she faces a fear of losing her identity an identity that is both racial and gendered, Dana is oppressed both as a black and as a woman. SNSmith27 (talk) 20:27, 31 March 2014 (UTC) In “Gender and Genre in Feminist Critical Dystopias” the author Raffaella Baccolini maintains that the very famous novel Kindred written by Octavia E. Butler, should not only be labeled for slavery and science-fiction, but also for the characteristics that it has that make it fall into a feminist dystopia. In Kindred we explore the world that Dana faces as well as all the obstacles that the system of slavery make her a victim of. She is not considered a person not only because of her skin color but for the fact that she is a woman. When we analyze Dana we discover that what makes her a very complex character is the fact that she is a literate and modern 1976 woman. Dana is able to think and interpret things, she is able to make her own decisions and she’s used to have her own choices. Nonetheless, when she is suddenly placed back in 1819, is a place of cruelty and segregation, all of Dana’s knowledge and freedom not only physical but minded as well take a very important role on how she’s seen and judged by others. There she is, a black woman that threatens the very system of slavery by proving that women have the same abilities and skills as men, that color is nonsense and that both women and men, both black and white are equal. Dana becomes the physical representation of equality, liberty and justice by behaving, dressing, speaking, thinking, listening, viewing, questioning or just the act of being who she is. This is seen in a more micro-leveled way when Dana negates everything that the white owner of the plantation is. The individual and personal problems that Tom Weylin experiences even though he is a white male that has a higher social status because he is the owner of a plantation and because he is a little more educated than the average white man in 1819. However, he was still threaten by a “black” female that seem to be in a higher plane of existence and to make her into a slave, he will whip her until she fears for her own life. This can also be looked in a larger scale when she first comes into the Weylin’s plantation she is quickly seen as threat for the social construction of “race, the whole idea of segregation, the negative connotations attached to her skin color are abruptly teared down by the simplicity of her presence. Joe0312 (talk) 19:44, 7 April 2014 (UTC) The reading that I’ve been assigned was "Gender and Genre in the Feminist Critical Dystopias of Katherine Burdekin, Margaret Atwood and Octavia Butler" By Rafaella Baccolini. The section that I read was specifically about Octavia Butler and her book “Kinderd”. The author of this article focuses on Octavia Butlers symbolism in “Kindred”. A highlight of the article was when Boccolini states “this novel’s ending also stresses ambiguity. Kindred does not attempt to explain; it opens mysteriously with a list of the things Dana has lost – An arm a year of her life (29). This was significant to me because I did not quite understand the open ending and how much the journeys through time and space affected Kevin and Dana. However after reading the article and going over the text I understood the book more in depth. Another thing that the article pointed out to me was that Danas involuntary travel in space and time is a metaphor for the slaves journey from Africa to America this was pointed out to me on page 28. This article was very informative and helped me understand the text a lot more. Maxamillion412 (talk) 00:37, 30 March 2014 (UTC) In the article “Gender and Genre in Feminist Critical Dystopias” by Raffaella Baccolini discuss Octavia E. Butler book “Kindred” which is a science fiction about a African-American woman who was transported to the 1800’s. Baccolini say one of the reasons who Butler written this book is because in 1960‘s African-American and especially Butler was feeling ashamed and angry at her parents. For the reason that her parents and other African-American in privies generation didn’t improved thinks faster. Therefore with this book she wants to show people true colors of slaver. She takes a modern black woman from 1976 and sends her to antebellum Maryland. Baccolini says “Writing enables both author and protagonist to resolve their drive to understand and confront complex feeling. For Dana, a young novelist, recording events and emotions derived from her strange and estranging journey is an attempt to grasp and come to terms with history; for Butler, the blurring of genres is the answer” (28). The story allows readers not just read history but to really see and feel slavery. Baccolini also points out that the protagonist feels the life of the slaver emotionally and physically. Baccolini also states “Her symbolic journey of education cannot be separated from the physical experience of slavery, a painful heritage that literally marks her” (29). She was also oppressed both as a black person and also as a woman. That we see in the book many times that slave’s body is an owner’s property. The owner can do anything he wants to do with his slaves. Baccolini discuss that Rufus didn’t asks Dana if she wants him he just grabs her by force. As a self-defense she kills Rufus and as a result she loses her left arm. After reading this book almost everybody will realize how difficult the slavery was. How hard it was physical and emotionally on people and that no one from today’s generation can’t judge them. Goga1994 (talk) 13:26, 31 March 2014 (UTC) Octavia Butler. "Black Scholar Interview with Octavia Butler: Black Women and the Science Fiction Genre." In the Black Scholar Interview with Octavia Butler by the author Frances M. Beal, the main topics discussed was how she got started writing science fiction, what Kindred is about, and how being a black female is like when writing science fiction novels. Racism and prejudice played a big role in this interview and Butler gave a lot of good answers to Beal’s questions. Some key points Butler said were that she began writing science fiction at age 10 after she saw a bad sci-fi movie and wanted to see if she could write a better story. She also mentioned that it was rather unheard of for a woman, let alone a black one to be writing science fiction so it took a while for people to finally accept her and her work. She also mentioned that she enjoyed the freedom science fiction writing had and that one can really write about anything in this genre. She also writes a lot about woman power in most of her books and how courageous women are. She liked going against the norm of what was expected of her. She also mentioned that she doesn’t consider Kindred to be a science fiction novel at all. One interesting thing Butler said on page 14 when asked about why she doesn’t write about utopian societies said “I don’t write utopian science fiction because I don’t believe that imperfect humans can form a perfect society.” This is something that hasn’t really been said a lot, which is why it’s so fascinating. This is a good secondary source for Kindred because this interview really goes into depth on the meaning behind this book and why Butler wrote it. It also really discusses on major themes of this book, which will be very useful when it comes time to write the research paper. Redhead321 (talk) 19:36, 24 March 2014 (UTC) In the scholar’s interview of Octavia Butler, the scholar is asking Octavia on what she thinks about the change in science fiction writing. The scholar mainly points out on how more women and more blacks are writing science fiction novels. The scholar wonders how the more women and blacks writing these novels, does it change the idea, feelings and perspective of the genre. Octavia Butler, a black women science fiction writer, feels that in the past blacks or women didn’t look really into science fiction because of racism and criticism of writing. Octavia states how science fiction writing was more a boy’s genre book. Sex and blacks were not included in the science fiction writings because of that. Part of the women’s movement helped women to proceed in writing science fiction writing. Octavia believes so because women now have the freedom to add and speak about whatever they want. They can also stop viewing the world as white and male dominance. Octavia Butler feels as in science fiction writings you have the freedom to write however and whatever you want in it. This interview was very mind opening to me because I helped me realize and see where Octavia Butler comes from. It helps you understand her feelings behind what she writes. Octavia Butler goes into detail about her book and why she wrote it. In the interview Octavia also gives us a reason why she began to write science fiction novels. Steezin (talk) 20:02, 24 March 2014 (UTC) In his interview “Black Women and the Science Fiction Genre”, Frances M. Beal points out that Octavia Butler’s way of writing is unique and rare in the genre science fiction. Beal explored her reasons for writing science fiction, what Kindred was about and touched on the topic of colored/females that were evolving into writers of this genre. During the interview, Beal analyzed Butler’s way of writing Science Fiction. He interpreted her works to be focused on the problems of current society and projecting them in an alternative ideal society. She politely corrected him and said, “I’ve actually never projected an ideal society. I don’t write utopian science fiction because I don’t believe that imperfect humans can form a perfect society” (Beal 14). This represents her clever perception of society which is somewhat shown in her novel Kindred. As Butler was briefly explaining the plot and conception of the novel, she mentioned her reason as to why she wrote it. She claimed she grew up in the 60’s and had experienced her mother being treated like a “non-person”. She also realized that her mother had almost no education due to being taught by her grandmother, who was a slave and also had little education. This might explain the theme of learning and education which is constantly mentioned in the novel. Beal also approaches the reason as to why such few colored woman have chosen to explore science fiction. Butler believes that it is because it began as a boy’s genre which portrayed a white male nerd – making it lack popularity with colored, adults and women. She explains how adding black characters into novels and movies could enhance the diversity in the popularity of the project. Mel26 (talk) 20:06, 24 March 2014 (UTC) In the article “Black Scholar Interview with Octavia Butler; Black Women and the Science Fiction Genre” Octavia Butler points out that there were many reasons for her to write Kendra. Throughout the whole interview Octavia seemed like a straight up person and was not scared to express her opinions. She talked about the reasons for her becoming a science fiction author as well as some obstacles she had to go through. Not only does she talk about herself, why she pursued this career, and why she wrote the book, but as well as why the genre in general started to become bigger as well as more authors beginning to write in this genre especially females/blacks. “My mother was a maid and sometimes she took me to work with her when I was very small and she had no one to stay with me. I used to see her going in back doors, being talked about while she was standing right there and basically being treated like a non-person: something beneath notice, and what was worse, I saw this” (15) teekay25 (talk) 20:16, 24 March 2014 (UTC) In this article “Black Scholar Interview with Octavia Butler: Black Women and The Science Fiction Genre” by Frances M. Beal, Octavia Butler points out that being black and a women did not always fit in science fiction. She started writing science fiction because she felt, she could write better than the movies she saw on television. In the article she mentions as she grew up she heard a person say “I would like to get rid of that older generation that betrayed us”. This is the main reason on why she created “Kindred”. She tells her experiences from what other writes and her society at the time felt about Black writers in general. On page 18 in the article she told Frances M. Beal that she was sitting by an editor of a magazine and he got up and said “He didn’t think that blacks should be included in science fiction stories”. Also reading this article the reader finds out that she related Dana the main character in “Kindred” to her life story. She was a writer and did not have a lot of success at her young ages just as Dana in the story. Gpo20 (talk) 20:31, 24 March 2014 (UTC) Pamela Bedore. "Kindred." In the article " Kindred " by Pamela Bedore, she gave the readers an overview of the book " Kindred". I personally think she summarize the book well and clearly. Bedore didnt give to much details away, so there will still be suprises. For example, in the artlice, Bedore didnt mention that Tom Weylin sent out Dana letter, which is why Kevin came back to get Dana. In the very beginning, Bedore gave the reader an little background of Octavia E. Butler, a quick reference of the book and a list of the principal characters.I think that was a great idea to do because readers wouldnt be confused reading the article. In the second part of the artlice "Kindred" is called Critical Evaluation. In this part of the article, Bedore start by talking about Butler history. Bedore speak about Butler other successful books and the awards she got. Bedore also tell the readers how Butler got the idea for " Kindred" which made me look at the book differently. Bedfore explains the relationships in the book. She explains Kevin and Dana and Rufus and Alice relationship. She also explain the main theme of the story. Goldilocks14 (talk) 22:57, 6 April 2014 (UTC)Goldilocks In the article of “Kindred” by Bedore, she is giving us a summary of the novel chapter by chapter and the most important key points of the story.For the most part she has summarized it in a very understanding way. Although in some paragraph I feel she could’ve been more specific in explaining that every time Dana is about to travel back in time she feels the nauseous and dizzy feeling instead of just saying she vanished. Also it was never specified that the patrolmen were from the Ku Klux Klan. So it shouldn’t had not been describe like this. The description of the book, plot of the story and the principal character are well described. Bedore critical evaluation is very well describe. Bedore evaluates the relationships in the book and compares and contrast Alice and Rufus and Dana and Kevin relationship. She describes it by gender and bi racial difference also the time we live in and what reaction some people still have. It also describes the book a little better by evaluating why all this event had to occur in the order that they did. Bedore also informs us about Octavia Butler’s idea on creating this book and other books she has wrote. Bedore also gives us the name of two books that are similar to this one by other writers. Bedore critical evaluation was definitely very informative and I like how she broke it down. I thought that by knowing a little more about the writer it helped me understand why the book was written in that order. Jarika5230 (talk) 07:19, 7 April 2014 (UTC) This critical evaluation by Pamela Bedore starts off with the Octavia E. Butler, of the book Kindred, accomplishments. Bedore says Butler includes boundaries of race, gender, sexuality, and history in her novels and Kindred is no different. Bedore describe the theme for Kindred as time travel because the novel the main character, Dana is a woman from the 20th century (a woman from modern time) that travels back in the times of slavery, which is American history. In Kindred Butler include two inter racial couples, one during the times of slavery- Alice and Rufus. The other inter racial couple is Dana and Kevin from the modern times. In both couples there’s as Bedore says a power dynamic. Although Dana seem to more power and a voice than Dana does with Rufus; both Kevin and Rusus seems to have more of a upper hand over their woman. Just as Alice gave up her life to show her power, Dana had to show her power by killing Rufus. Rufus grabed hold of Danan;s Arm, and only a part of her arm came back to present time, which meant what BEdore says “the loss of her innocence in believeing that race relations are different in the present.” One interesting point Bedore made was “Kevin present-day suggestion that Dana type his manuscripts (she hates to type) or get rid of some of her books (she lives her books) can be seen as a white man subtly disempowering an African American woman.” This shows the power that Kevin has over Dana in the present –day , just as the powers Rufus had over Alice in the past. Both Kevin and Rufus has power over there woman. The times don’t make a difference. Adoreher (talk) 21:33, 11 April 2014 (UTC) In the article "Kindred" Pamela Bedore goes on to sum up the most essential segments pertaining to the novel Kindred by Octavia E. Butler. Pamela Bedore first begins with biographical data about Octavia E. Butler, thus her birth date and the day in which she passed away. Bedore also makes note on the many components of the novel Kindred, such as the types or genres of the book. Pamela Bedore would then include the main characters which pertain to the novel Kindred, that being Dana, Rufus, Kevin and Alice. After she makes note of the characters pertaining to the story, Bedore then begins by giving a brief summary of the novel. Bedore's brief summary centralizes mostly on all of Dana's time traveling experiences. The time traveling experiences in which Bedore utilizes for her brief summary demonstrates the dramatic changes of certain characters. Rufus and Dana could be used as prime examples. Rufus went from being an innocent little boy who didn't really know much better, to an evil master mind who became much like his father. Pamela Bedore makes note that Dana on the other hand went from being extremely confident and in touch with her inner intellectual self to losing her identity at one point due to her enslavement in the antebellum. Works Cited R 1994 (talk) 01:43, 29 April 2014 (UTC) Jane Davis. "Kindred." In her article, “Kindred”, Jane Davis explains how the novel Kindred handles both emotional and physical aspects of the characters and the situations they are faced with. Davis begins telling us how Dana starts to travel back whenever Rufus, her ancestor, puts his life in jeopardy. Dana begins to get more involved with the planation, the slaves, and the Weylins. She also tries to teach Rufus to not be a racist like his father, but fails to do only so much since whenever she is sent back in time it may be minutes in the present time while it is months/years that have passed since she was last called back. According to Davis, “his decision to rape and impregnate Alice both affirms his power and, ironically, ensures the birth of Hagar, who will initiate Dana’s family line and ensure Dana’s existence” tells us of another reason of why Dana was sent back in time to protect Rufus from getting himself killed. She was sent back to make sure he was to be with Alice in order for her family line to exist. Redrosex1025 (talk) 19:31, 24 March 2014 (UTC) In the article “Kindred”, Davis summarizes the novel Kindred which was written by Octavia Butler. Davis points out many important parts of the story and its characters. Something I found to be amazing which I hadn’t realized is why the novel is told in first person by Dana whom is the main character facing many life changing challenges. Davis states “Since the Novel is told from Dana’s point of view, readers can empathize with her reactions to both her extraordinary experiences and to the brutality of the slave era” (Davis 3). This is very true and a brilliant way to make the Novel one the reader can have a better understanding of what woman who lived through the slave days were put through. This article can be a useful secondary source because it tells us who the main characters are and their role throughout the Novel. Another important part of this article is the fact Davis also gives us a summary of the novel along with major themes which are developed during the reading. Davis also gives the readers reasons for why she chose these themes. This article would also be useful helping readers who are having trouble understanding the Novel because it breaks down some of the main turning points. In order to use this secondary source the novel has to actually been read to understand what parts of the novel Davis is summarizing. Telissa18 (talk) 19:41, 24 March 2014 (UTC) In her article "Kindred", Jane Davis explains the many dynamics of the novel "Kindred" by Octavia Butler. Davis summarizes the plot of the novel and weaves her way into the many themes and meanings the lingers throughout the Kindred novel. Some of the themes that Davis points out are the role of the environment and how it can shape people, Dana's new identity when she returns back to her present-time home in Los Angeles, as well as the exploitation and mistreatment of slaves. One crucial theme that sparked my attention is when she states Kevin's naivete on the outlook of African American and Indian history because he has never been oppressed being a white man. This idea led me to reevaluate Kevin's character and his growth throughout the novel. Before reading this idea, I did not think Kevin grew as a character throughout the novel. Now I realize that Kevin is indeed one Butler's dynamic characters. This article would be great to use as a secondary source because Davis proposes many interpretations of certain themes and meanings within the novel. I can feed off some of her ideas and come up with my own as an argument in my research paper. Primadonnagirl123 (talk) 17:47, 23 April 2014 (UTC) Jane Davis explains the background of the emotional and physical hardships of the individuals in the novel, Kindred. This reading works for anyone trying to grasp the functional side of Kindred, and the key aspects of life in those days. The article is structured to read and understood easily so that the concepts that Butler was trying to get across with Kindred are seen. Ronin1123 (talk) 19:27, 23 April 2014 (UTC) Mary E. Virginia. "Kindred." According to Mary Virginia she discusses, "Kindred" by:Octavia Butler she explains that this woman Dana life was in the palm of this young boys hand in a period where she didn't belong because she wasn't white. She saves him when he’s in danger but surprisingly to return home she has to put herself in danger as well. Dana Franklin is brought back in time where her great grandfather is becoming a man and she saves him from drowning, breaking his leg, and an altercation that he caused. Dana is like this boy’s mother she saves him and keeps him out of harm’s way to protect her existence. Time after time she travels back she often is put into many circumstances which is very uncomfortable and displeasing. Traveling back and forth she doubted that she would be able have “sufficient fortitude” to survive in these troubled times for blacks, but she finds out that she actually can survive and gain courage and stamina. Since Kevin wasn't cooperating the way she would have liked him to she assumed if this continue it could be worst then before getting a gun to her head from the boy's father. So she was worried and afraid to continue to travel through time again and again besides last time she went she almost got raped as well. But eventually Kevin started to believe her and wanted to help her on future voyages, but in the process he later comes with her and is treated like one of them. These times were bad for African Americans they had little rights and were treated subhuman. Which in these times it was the Slave Era , she was transported too.A time in order to survive “she had to “learn how to cook on an open hearth, sew, and doctoring without the benefits of medicines or antisepsis”, and keep Rufus out of danger at any cost. The word “survival” in this world was different to anything she was used to, she was nervous because she had talents she wasn't supposed to have more like an alien because she talked black dressed out of the ordinary and talked to Rufus without respect she had the knowledge to read and write , she wore pants, and she was black with a white husband. Traveling through time she learned much about the past that she wasn't truly aware of and she basically was scared to continue it. So thankfully she had her husband join her which didn't help much because he received benefits why she had to listen to orders and be beaten and do things she never though she would do.1876 Los Angeles was a Spanish Colony so it was completely different then living in a time where the law was against her in the Antebellum south Maryland 1815. In these travels back to the plantation of belonging to Tom Weylin she wants to learn an escape plan, but she refrains and endured all the challenges and she had to endure living in this cruel world. Slaves were being sold, abused, raped, but she gain character and was actually able to live in these circumstances more easily. Also Mary describes that Dana is learning and experiencing things to better understand how to survive, tolerate the slaves and take the punishment if it does happens. Mary also talks about Octavia Butler’s life and how her father died when she was a baby and worked as a maid at age 10. Also Butler before she died was a role model for woman, both black and white. This is a good source if your writing about Dana time traveling experiences and her role as being a woman and adapting to the many challenges she has faced while attempting to protect Rufus until Hagar was born as we all know she ends up killing him and returning losing her arm. Watoflifej23 (talk) 19:55, 24 March 2014 (UTC) The book kindred written by the the famous science fiction writer Octavia butler. She was a anthropology student who had big interest in the culture and human races which enriches her writing. She was raised by a single mother where her father had died when she was still baby. Octavia butler has several successful novels including those of “patterns” series- pattern master (1978), mind of mind (1977), survivor (1980), wild seed (1980) – and others such as Xenogeneic (1987,1988,1989) and kindred. The book kindred somewhat matches with the life of the butler as she was reared by her mother, who had worked as maid from the age of ten and her Louisiana-born grandmother, who had endured a life of hardship on sugarcane plantation. According to Mary E. Virginia Dana is a young black role model for women who has a potential to be a guardian for the slaves back in time. Mary usually talks about the way Dana acquires the basic skills about her strength of character required for survival in a world that is rough and crude in which black people are believed to be subhuman and are kept as chattel and where physical and psychological punishments are daily tribulations. In this article she is mainly been focused on the way she prepares herself to the later trip to the back in time with Rufus who is the great grandfather of her. She will have to tolerate, if not condone, life in the nineteenth century in order to survive. Moreover Dana also discovers that she have abundant courage and stamina to fight against the slavery system when she had to travel back in time and been tried to rape by a white patroller. Furthermore she also learns about the ways slaves establish and maintain their families despite of the omnipresent. Dana also discerns the manifestation of slave resistance and endurance. Lastly this article clearly emphasize on the interracial relationship between male and females where Dana and Kevin’s marriage is clearly a marriage of equals. They share similar upbringing as orphans and worked in menial jobs as an adults. Kevin and Dana relation is still intact in the present after their separation for five years in the plantation. An286 (talk) 18:38, 23 April 2014 (UTC) Randall Kenan. "An Interview with Octavia Butler." The known dark skin author Octavia Butler was interviewed by Randall Kenan by phone on November 3, 1990 in Los Angeles. The first thing that the interviewer asked Octavia butler was: “how she prefers to call her work speculative fiction, science fiction or fantasy?” She definitely stayed with fantasy because she didn’t use any science in her book Kindred. The author states that “I don’t use a time machine or anything like that.” It just happens that Dana could transfer from her world to the past. The most interesting thing that Randall Kenan asks her is about her mother because now I can see why Octavia Butler was writing in Kindred about Margaret, Rufus’s mother and Dana. I can say that Dana was for him like mother. She felt ashamed in her real life because of her mother and angry at her. She wanted in her story to send someone to 19th century. The interviewer also asked about her researches while she was making book, he was very curious about that. She traveled to Maryland to see the society and environment to help her with the book. She wanted those streets to look as she said “fairly disreputable” because it would make her to feel the way people from 19th century felt. Octavia Butler was experiencing more than she thought to experience because she didn’t have enough money for a better hotel that she slept because the one that she was sleeping was very bad and dirty. She also saw the plantation, the tools and the cabins for working. Another important thing that happened in the interview was that when Randall Kenan, the interviewer started to mention about violence that she really liked to put in her book “Kindred”. Octavia butler was obviously sure that she couldn’t let Dana come back to 20th century without any harm that white people could do to her. Nina9723 (talk) 20:21, 24 March 2014 (UTC) In his interview with Octavia E. Butler, Randall Kenan points out several important ideas and one of them is violence in “Kindred” seems to be the result of the author’s work. Randall Kenan, especially points out the part where Dana returns without her arm, to which Butler answers that Dana couldn’t possible return whole: “Antebellum slavery didn’t leave people whole.” So Butler refers to the idea that blacks who experienced slavery are were totally scarred emotionally and physically that there was no way for them to come out whole. Another important idea, Kenan puts forward in his article is parallel between the Butler’s background or the way she grow up which affected her writing career and most importantly the themes she explores in her novel. For example, Butler says: “My mother did domestic work…I spend a lot of my childhood being ashamed of what she did.” So by saying this Butler admits that she was trying to resolve her feelings of shame by writing “Kindred” because eventually she understood that her mother’s work was feeding her. Also her mother’s childhood experiences in sugar plantation and was just like slavery with only exception that she could leave. Moreover, Kenan mentions the amount of research Butler used while writing “Kindred,” which is actually very interesting because at that time there was no internet and everything was done by exploring the places. So Butler says that she had to spend most of her time in the Enoch Pratt Free Library and at the Maryland Historical Society. Also she didn’t have much money that she had to stay in the cheap hotels and travel with buses and do a lot of research in the library. Anyway when she took the bus tour of Mount Vernon and could see one of the plantations. In the result, she created most interesting fiction novel which many people love reading. US:Mayday (talk) 20:42, 24 March 2014 (UTC) In his interview with Octavia E. Butler, Randall Kenan reports what influences Butler to write such novel as Kindred and what type of research she goes threw in order to obtain her facts. It is recorded that Butler use some of her life experience to influences her in the writing of her 1979 novel Kindred. In the interview with Butler she admits how she writes mostly about sciences fiction but is opposed to the idea of being label, by being categorize she is put in the eye of certain audiences. It frustrates the author because not only is she being pre judge by the reader but is only in the view of the science fiction audiences. Her fear is in the fact that she might not reach a certain reader due to the labeling of her work. Most of her research for her work comes from visiting libraries and historic sights, but mostly spending her time looking actual facts such as slave narrative that she admits is not pleasant reading. In the writing of Kindred she points out in having some personal life experiences influences her. The conflict of Dona was one that Butler felt she wanted to address at her early age. Her mother being a domestic worker wasn’t at the same level as the other people (whites) in society. Butler states “I was around sometimes when people talked about her as if she were not there, … I spent a lot of my childhood being ashamed of what she did.” That made Butler angry because she felt that her mother never tried hard enough to push herself to be notice and fight for rights. Butler wanted to be the voice of the unspoken in this case her mother.This is an issue that Dona faces in the novel being a free women of the present put in a time where she would be consider the a slave, how would Dona address the problem? How is she going to try and rebel and fight off the concept of being a slave? The novel was written to address the situation. The book is a reflection of her issue as a child. Pacer87 (talk) 20:46, 24 March 2014 (UTC) The reading I was assigned is An Interview to Octavia Butler by Randall Kenan and the first question to be asked was regarding as to what Butler prefers to label her work. To this Octavia Butler answered that she doesn’t like to label her work but she mostly does science fiction and that when she writes she doesn’t really have in mind what genre it will be because she doesn’t just want to target just the audience for that specific audience. As the interview goes on she labels Kindred as fantasy even though she uses time travel in that book she doesn’t use any science at all to explain why it occurred. She also states that one of the main reasons she wrote Kindred was because she was ashamed of her mother’s job which was domestic work and she needed to deal with those feelings she had. Octavia Butler’s research for Kindred was done by going to libraries and reading many slave narratives so that in her book she could give readers a sense of what slaves felt during that time period. Kenan then starts to talk about her use of violence in her books and as example used when Dana loses her arm. To this she responds that she couldn’t let her go back into the 1960’s without having something to remind her of what she went through just like slaves that survived slavery have a reminder of what they went through. Lissetlot15 (talk) 22:51, 31 March 2014 (UTC) In his interview with Octavia Butler, Randall Kenan illustrates the key themes present in Kindred. The first thing Kenan rings up is whether or not Kindred is in fact a science fiction novel or not. Butler responds by saying it’s not since “there’s absolutely no science involved” to explain the time travel and that Kindred is in fact a fiction novel in all the sense. Next Kenan points out the connection to Butlers own mother and the mother figures in Kindred. Butler says “I think one of the reasons why I wrote Kindred was to resolve my feelings, … Kindred was a kind of reaction to some of the things going on during the sixties when people were feeling ashamed of, or more strongly, angry with their parents for not having improved things faster, and I wanted to take a person from today and send that person back to slavery.” Kenan next asks what kind of research Butler conducted when she was working on the book. Butler states she went to Maryland and spent time at Enoch Pratt Free Library in Baltimore and the Maryland Historical society and even went on a tour in Mount Vernon near Washington D.C., which was as close to a plantation as she could get, but most of her work was done at libraries. Kenan then ass if this led to slave narratives to which Butler replies “Yes, yes. Very much so. It was not fun … it’s not pleasure reading” and she had to “do a somewhat cleaned up version of slavery.” Kenan notes that Butlers still did a good job of making the reader aware of the brutality that took place and “how much we are separated from the past reality and how television and movies have prejudiced us or in some ways blinded us to the fact.” The Last theme Kenan brings u is violence and how Dana loses her arm. Butler explains that she “couldn’t let Dana come back whole” and that “Antebellum slavery didn't leave people quite whole.” The North Remembers16 (talk) 18:19, 23 April 2014 (UTC)

Research Assignment 4

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• Please sign your Username under the column "Readers" for your respective article(s).
  
• Except for Allison, Kubitschek, and Bedore, all articles can be found in the databases of the LaGuardia Library Media Resources Center.

Readers	Articles	Main Topics
1. Ronin1123 (talk) 20:07, 7 April 2014 (UTC). 2.Milokarter39 (talk) 20:29, 7 April 2014 (UTC) . 3. [[[User:Maxamillion412|Maxamillion412]] (talk) Maxamillion412 (talk) 18:11, 14 April 2014 (UTC) 18:10, 14 April 2014 (UTC)].	Lisa Yaszek. "'A Grim Fantasy': Remaking American History in Octavia Butler's Kindred." (12 pp.) / Pamela Bedore. "Slavery and Symbiosis in Octavia Butler's Kindred." (7 pp.)--this second article is on Blackboard	Slave narrative; neo-slave narrative; revision of American history; Afro-feminist narrative.Kindred as science fiction; time travel; woman as alien; master-slave power dynamics. / master-slave power dynamics; interracial relationships; social construction of race; doubling; strong female protagonist; literacy.
1. Redhead321 (talk) 14:19, 6 April 2014 (UTC). 2. The North Remembers16 (talk) 20:14, 7 April 2014 (UTC). 3.teekay25 (talk) 20:07, 28 April 2014 (UTC).	Ashraf A. Rushdy. "Families of Orphans: Relation and Disrelation in Octavia Butler's Kindred." (20 pp.)	Historical reality; slave narrative; slave life; community formation; family; the body as site of conflict.
1. Redrosex1025 (talk) 19:28, 7 April 2014 (UTC). 2. Adoreher (talk) 17:54, 23 April 2014 (UTC). 3. Nina9723 (talk) 19:38, 23 April 2014 (UTC).	Sandra Y. Govan. "Homage to Tradition: Octavia Butler Renovates the Historical Novel." (15 pp.)	Historical reality; slave narrative; neo-slave narrative; master-slave power dynamics; slave life; strong female protagonist.
1. Primadonnagirl123 (talk) 20:29, 7 April 2014 (UTC). 2. R 1994 (talk) 17:34, 23 April 2014 (UTC). 3. [Replace this text with your signature].	Marc Steinberg. "Inverting History in Octavia Butler's Postmodern Slave Narrative." (9 pp.)/ Dorothy Allison. "The Future of Female: Octavia Butler's Mother Lode." (4 pp.) --this second article is on Blackboard	Historical reality; time travel; critique/revision of American history; social construction; slave narrative; neo-slave narrative; master-slave power dynamics; literacy; feminism. / strong female protagonist; feminism; female sexuality; motherhood.
1. SNSmith27 (talk) 22:05, 6 April 2014 (UTC). 2. Goldilocks14 (talk) 20:20, 7 April 2014 (UTC). 3. Joe0312 (talk) 20:24, 7 April 2014 (UTC)].	Angelyn Mitchell. "Not Enough of the Past: Feminist Revisions of Slavery in Octavia E. Butler's Kindred." (24 pp.)	Historical reality; feminism; female sexuality; motherhood; master-slave power dynamics; strong female protagonist; social construction; community formation; slave life; interracial relationships.
1. Lissetlot15 (talk) 20:26, 7 April 2014 (UTC)]]. 2. An286 (talk) 16:48, 7 April 2014 (UTC). 3. [(Telissa18 (talk) 14:28, 23 April 2014 (UTC))].	Guy Mark Foster. "'Do I Look Like Someone You Can Come Home to from Where You May Be Going?': Re-Mapping Interracial Anxiety in Octavia Butler's Kindred." (19 pp.)	Interracial relationships; anxiety over miscegenation; social construction of race; racism; narrative doubles; strong female protagonist.
1.] ([[[User:Jarika5230|Jarika5230]] (talk) 00:00, 22 April 2014 (UTC)]) 23:21, 4 April 2014 (UTC). 2.Mel26 (talk) 19:13, 5 April 2014 (UTC). 3. Steezin (talk) 17:59, 7 April 2014 (UTC)	Diana R. Paulin. "De-Essentializing Interracial Representations: Black and White Border Crossings in Spike Lee's Jungle Fever and Octavia Butler's Kindred." (beginning on page 178; 15 pp.)	Interracial relationships; social construction of race; racism; master-slave power dynamics; strong female protagonist.
1.Pacer87 (talk) 20:30, 7 April 2014 (UTC) 20:26, 7 April 2014 (UTC)]. 2. [Replace this text with your signature]. 3. [Replace this text with your signature].	Sherryl Vint. "'Only By Experience': Embodiment and the Limitations of Realism in Neo-Slave Narratives" (242-46; 248-55 plus notes; 11+ pp.).	The body as site of conflict; slave narrative; neo-slave narrative; historical reality; social construction; time travel.
1. Watoflifej23 (talk) 20:08, 7 April 2014 (UTC) 2. User:US:Mayday (talk). 3. Gpo20 (talk) 20:27, 7 April 2014 (UTC). 4.Goga1994 (talk) 20:51, 7 April 2014 (UTC)	Missy Dehn Kubitschek. "'What Would a Writer Be Doing Working Out of a Slave Market?': Kindred as Paradigm, Kindred in Its Own Write" (13 pp.)--this article is on Blackboard.	Confronting history; time travel; female quest; feminism; community formation; interracial relationships.

[Click on 'Show' to see the article summaries.]

Research Assignment 4 - Article Summaries > Click on 'Show' to see them

Lisa Yaszek. "'A Grim Fantasy': Remaking American History in Octavia Butler's Kindred." In the article “A Grim Fantasy: Remaking American History in Octavia Butler’s Kindred” the author Lisa Yaszek discusses the science fiction elements of the novel Kindred as well as the relations between race, gender and history. Yaszek also discusses how these relations are represented in the novel by Octavia Butler. Yaszek focuses on the lack of representation of black women in slavery and how for so long they have not had a voice. She also spoke about how Butler debunked the cultural stereotype of the happy black woman playing the role as mammies or long suffering victims. She presented Dana has a heroine. Although she is stuck between two worlds and is often put in conflicting situations she always makes a firm decision. In this article Yaszek states that black women in the antebellum south are the alien in this novel. They are the alien because they are the unknown, they are not really recognized in this part of history. The last thing that Yaszek discusses is how the experience of slavery left its mark on Dana physically. In the final part of the novel Dana gets into a physical altercation with the plantation owner Rufus Weylin and she stabs him. Her stabbing him makes her fear for her life so she time trvels back to her time. However at the time of her time travel Rufus is holding on to her and she loses her arm in the travel. This is a representation of all that Dana has lost in her travels back in time. With all this Dana generates her own representation of black women’s experiences in America. Maxamillion412 (talk) 20:09, 14 April 2014 (UTC) This article closely examines the science fiction aspect of Kindred by Octavia Butler, by analyzing a first-hand account of Antebellum Maryland from an African-American woman of the 1970’s perspective. It also actively speaks about race and gender in those times. This article enforces the views and representations of African-American women by Octavia Butler. It illustrates roles of femininity and masculinity, and distorts them to blend Dana as the heroine of the story. Dana acclimates to her new environment and begins to formulate teachings and ideas for other slaves. Women, especially black women in these times were not recognized and dismissed. Dana, undergoing all of her harsh treatment, was made to endure and to leave a mark in history. Dana adapts and molds herself into a more historically accurate depiction of an African-American woman. Ronin1123 (talk) 18:26, 23 April 2014 (UTC) Pamela Bedore. "Slavery and Symbiosis in Octavia Butler's Kindred." In the article “Slavery and Symbiosis in Octavia Butler’s Kindred” by Pamela Bedore the author discusses the symbiotic relationship between Dana and Rufus and how the lines are blurred. Dana and Rufus struggle with mutual dependency throughout the novel, it is very difficult to tell who needs who. Dana is as essential to Rufus’ survival as he is to hers. Bedore also makes parallels between Kindred and previous work by Butler. Butler made a point that this use of symbiotic relationships is a tool that Butler often uses in her novels. The use of such relationships is to express the significance between characters. Bedore also shows us how butler grouped the novels main characters into triads with Dana, Alice, and Sarah being the different dimensions of the black slave women of the time and Kevin, Rufus and Tom representing the different depictions of the white male master. This article goes into detail about the repetition of characters and the repetition of relationships. Although relationships and characters are repeated the details and complexity are not. Butler uses several different characters and relationships to show the reader how diverse the slave system and race relations were at the time. Bedore ends her article by questioning if the fictional shifting of power help America overcome the legacy that slavery has in out history. Maxamillion412 (talk) 20:33, 14 April 2014 (UTC) This article "Slavery and Symbiosis in Octavia Butler's Kindred" by Pamela Bedore depicts the connection between characters such as Dana and Rufus. It shows the conflicts between the characters, and the struggles to each follow their own path/role. With Rufus being a Caucasian slave owner, and Dana being a modern African-American, the conflicts were clear. One sought out to manipulate and control the other emotionally (Dana), while the other sought out to enslave and dictate the other physically (Rufus). Their relationship is intertwined, and both require each other to survive in their environment. Rufus would have died without Dana’s aid, and Dana would have never made it out without Rufus’ guidance. Also, other characters such as Alice and Kevin are connected to Dana and Rufus in more ways than are shown on the text. They are all connected like a three dimensional prism. Rufus and Dana, Rufus and Alice, Dana and Alice, Dana and Kevin, Kevin and Tom, Tom and Rufus…etc… They all are connected. Ronin1123 (talk) 17:56, 23 April 2014 (UTC) Ashraf A. Rushdy. "Families of Orphans: Relation and Disrelation in Octavia Butler's Kindred." In the article, "Families of Orphans: Relation and Disrelation in Octavia Butler's Kindred” by Ashraf A. Rushdy, Mr. Rushdy goes through a summary of the whole book and talks and analyzes about the major themes after each chapter or so. Two of the biggest themes Rushdy analyzed were the significance of Dana losing her arm and why the title Kindred is so important as well as who are Dana’s “kindred” in this novel. He uses a lot of other authors works to compare themes in Kindred to those other books. He used a lot of quotes to compare and contrast Kindred to another book. Rushdy also talks a lot about Dana an Kevin’s relationship and why it is so important in this story. One of the most interesting things Rushdy wrote was on page 147 when he said that by Dana’s blood spilling, it represents her managing to lose her “blood relationship” to Rufus. This is a very interesting idea and I have not even thought about it in that way at all. This article is definitely a great secondary source for Kindred because it goes into a lot of detail as to what the book is about but he also goes into great depth about the major themes of the book, which is a very useful thing to know. Rushdy also used a lot of other sources as well, which made this article even better and more in depth, which is helpful as well. This article will be very good to use when writing a paper on Kindred. Redhead321 (talk 21:15, 8 April 2014 (UTC)21:15, 8 April 2014 (UTC) In the article, "Families of Orphans: Relation and Disrelation in Octavia Butler's Kindred”, Ashraf A. Rushdy summarizes Kindred and while doing so, he points out key moments and the significance of each one. For example Rushdy goes into to great detail about the loss of Dana’s arm on her final return home. Rushdy explains the loss was a result of Dana’s interference in history and that it was necessary for her to have this consequence. Rushdy also explains Dana’s and Kevin’s interracial marriage and its importance. Also how Kevin’s and Dana’s experience in the past differed because of race and gender, and how it changed each, specifically for Kevin it changed his way of thinking, “Kevin’s return to the past, then, offers him some enlightenment about the extremity of a patriarchal form of thinking in which he is still mildly engaged. What Dana tells Kevin about the slave experience helps him change some of his ways of thinking.” (Rushdy) This article is a great secondary source for the research paper and should definitely be considered if you are using Dana's loss of her arm as your paper topic. The North Remembers16 (talk) 03:47, 29 April 2014 (UTC) "Families of Orphans: Relation and Disrelation in Octavia Butler's Kindred” is an article written by Ashraf A. Rushdy. Rushdy summarizes the whole book as well as analyzing/discussing the major themes. One of the major themes that he discusses was when Dana loses her arm and the reason behind it. Another subject that Rushdy seemed to talk a lot about was Kevin and Danas relationship. It seemed that this was a big deal to the Rushdy because he explaining it in great detail and talked about the horrible relationship in the book. He makes a good point on page 149 in the first paragraph explaining how Dana wanted him dead and how she feared him, but then when he spent five years in the past he talked about how it could have an effect on him, including when seeing Dana. In my opinion this is a secondary source! It has great detail between the relationship of Kevin and Dana as well as Dana losing her arm. teekay25 (talk) 00:06, 30 April 2014 (UTC) Sandra Y. Govan. "Homage to Tradition: Octavia Butler Renovates the Historical Novel." In the article of Sandra Y. Govan, she is comparing two novels by Octavia Butler and is describing how Octavia Butler takes the traditions of African and Afro American and reshapes them to use in her writing. Govan explains that Butler's way of writing linking both the Black American slavery experiences and slave narrative with science fiction, gives way a new type of writing that Butler has created not only for herself but for future writers to follow. Govan then speaks about slave narratives through the first Black autobiographies, telling us that the narratives were also known as to help give the image of being a powerful key as to what happened in the past. Govan explains more on slave narrative that is based on actual facts whereas the narratives in Kindred are not because it is based on for entertainment, not to educate. Govan also summarizes both novels equally, analyzing every aspect of them. With Kindred however, Govan explains that before it was turned into an actual slave narrative, Butler had admitted to removing and softening some aspects to make it her own, using what she had read about the slave narratives. Redrosex1025 (talk) 19:21, 22 April 2014 (UTC) Govan points out that kindred has a "linkage of future fiction to that past" (p.79) I agree, because in the past Rufus had control of Alice , Alice didn't have a voice. In the future Dana had a voice, but still in a sense controls by her husband Kevin. Govan said "African kinship networks seems to b the major structural device Butler uses to build dramatic complexity in this novel" (p.86). This is true because Dana was different than the slaves. Although she had the same skin color, she was still separated from them. Dana found herself trying to blend in and proving to the slaves that she was one of them. Govan states that Dana is both a reporter and a respondent for she witness and participates in the salve experience (p.89) Dana does witness slave life, she witness slave beingsold (Tess and Sam) abruptly. She participates in slave experience, because Both Tom weylin and Rufus order Dana work. Tom made Dana teach Rufus to read.Rufus order Dana to work on the field after he wrongfully blamed her for his father death. Another slave experience Dana encounters was getting whipped after being caught reading. Govan said "black woman were... Sexual baseless " (p.92) . This is true, Alice was not sexually interested in him. Rufus tried to rape her , and later forced her to be sexually involved with him. Overall butler gave readers a closer look into salve life and their exprience. She exposed slaces hn a way readers has ever seen or read before. Adoreher (talk) 03:29, 29 April 2014 (UTC)the This article was a good source. This source is useful for arguments about slave life and experiences. Adoreher (talk) 19:28, 23 April 2014 (UTC)Adoreher (talk) 03:29, 29 April 2014 (UTC) The Article “Homage to Tradition; Octavia Butler renovates the historical novel” written by Sandra Govan tells as about two similar science fiction novels about black characters that play the major roles in the stories. Both novels written by Octavia Butler “Wild Seed” and “Kindred” are defined as a historical novel. Both stories share almost the same protagonist which is power and right to wield power on an equal basis. Those two stories tell us mostly about the past in the lives of African and African American social and cultural history. Both stories were about reality of slave life and how they were treated by their slaveholders. The slave’s master always punished most of the slaves because they didn’t listen to them or tried to escape from the plantation. Most women were abused sexuality by their masters and other white people which make them to escape from the plantations. In both novels we can find that those two stories were about needs, dreams, ambitions, and power. Both characters in “Wild Seed” and “Kindred” had to change their identity because they both transferred from their world where they were living to a world in the past. Kindred show the plantation life as the slaves were living and the technique of the slave. Most slaves experienced brutally as Frederick Douglass or Harriet Jacobs. Octavia E. Butler’s works are mostly about African American history that bring us to a different world of slavery and brutally. This article is good source to see the similarities and differences about Octavia E. butler’s two written stories about African and African American history that was about slavery. Nina9723 (talk) 19:54, 23 April 2014 (UTC) Marc Steinberg. "Inverting History in Octavia Butler's Postmodern Slave Narrative." In his article "Inverting History in Octavia Butler's Postmodern Slave Narrative", Marc Steinberg analyzes Octavia Butler's Novel "Kindred" and take note of the many "masks" the novel wears. Steinberg illustrates how Butler cleverly uses Dana's character to make the "readers aware of how Americans,inevitably, live the slave past in the ostensibly free present" (stienberg473). He give examples of past actions surviving in the present. One concept that Steinberg points out is the oppression which marriage can bring. The connection between past ownership and present day ownership is drawn when Kevin responds "In a way...she's my wife"(Butler60) to Rufus' question of whether Dana belonged to him. This shows that marriage is in some way, shape, or form, indeed a kind of ownership. Dana is bonded to Kevin psychologically as she risks her own survival during her fourth trip to slave-time Antebellum Maryland by attempting to runaway North where she hopes to find her husband. One of the major arguments Steinberg presents is the power struggle and Dana's attempt to maintain control of herself. Dana is forced to play roles that entitles her to essentially sacrifice who she really is as a person. For example, Dana has to play the role as a slave and submit to ensure her survival on Weylin's Plantation. She is no longer allowed to read or write, unless ordered to ; as an author, that is a huge sacrifice. Dana is also stripped of the title as Kevin's wife to being dubbed as his slave. Steinberg would be a great secondary source for my research paper. He elaborated on many of the ideas that i had for my paper , such as Dana's attempt to adapt to Antebellum without losing her whole self and evidentially doing so. He comments on the symbolism of lose of an arm as well as Dana's and Kevin's visit to their present time Maryland. Primadonnagirl123 (talk) 04:06, 23 April 2014 (UTC) In the African American Review of 2004, in the segment titled “Inverting History in Octavia Butler's Postmodern Slave Narrative” Marc Steinberg adverts many of the main themes regarding to Octavia E. Butler’s Kindred. Marc Steinberg begins by implying Kindred’s setting or background, that being the antebellum south. Steinberg begins to discuss essential themes which pertain to Octavia E.Butler’s Kindred, which he claims are “possession, oppression, and violence” (Steinberg, 467). Steinberg addresses that Octavia E. Butler simulates or adopts the idea of time travel in Kindred from other authors. He goes on to discuss the relation of the oppressed and the oppressor in Kindred by explaining that the protagonist Dana needs Rufus who is both “her master” but yet her ancestor. Steinberg goes on to quote what Dana says in Kindred where she says "Was that why I was here, not only to insure the survival of one accident-prone small boy but to insure my family's survival, my own birth"(Butler, 29). He makes note that that itself is very coincidental, in terms of the relationship between the oppressed Dana and the oppressor Rufus. The fact that Dana's oppressor Rufus is related to her is pretty ironic and that's where Steinberg tries to get at. The constant danger which the protagonist Dana faces in Kindred is also noted by Marc Steinberg in which he states “Dana flees not only from the horrific images of the antebellum past but also from the patroller who both beats and attempts to rape her”(Steinberg, 468). Marc Steinberg obviously acknowledges the troubling and horrifying experience in which Dana must encounter in the novel Kindred. He also discusses what I believe is very essential, in terms of symbolism where he states "Dana escapes rape by Rufus, but ends the novel without two of her teeth and one of her forearms and she has slit her own wrists at one point as well"(Steinberg, 470). He would later discuss the symbolic meaning of the protagonist Dana missing an arm, and Octavia E. Butler's comments on not letting her come out whole. Ultimately, throughout his critique Steinberg centralizes on the main themes which are essential to the novel Kindred. Works Cited R 1994 (talk) 02:40, 29 April 2014 (UTC) Dorothy Allison. "The Future of Female: Octavia Butler's Mother Lode." Angelyn Mitchell. "Not Enough of the Past: Feminist Revisions of Slavery in Octavia E. Butler's Kindred." In Angelyn Mitchell’s essay, “Not Enough of the Past: Feminist Revisions of Slavery in Octavia E. Butler’s Kindred” she maintains that Kindred should not only be considered as Science-Fiction but rather as a Feminist genre. For such estament she provides several reasons of why female sexuality is a very strong concept which the institution of slavery uses to perpetuate itself. Mitchell qualifies that Kindred is a “ liberatory narrative [that] is centered on its enslaved protagonist’s attainment of freedom and is focused on the protagonist's conception and articulation of herself as a free and self-authorized agent” (52-53). Therefore, by Dana being under the 20th century social awareness and her own individual governance is that she is capable of ending her enslavement even if that signifies killing her ancestor, Rufus. Nonetheless, while traveling back and forth Dana experiences the cruelty of slavery and especially the sudden subordination of her sexuality. In 1815, being able to choose was something alien to the people, in occasions for both white and black but being a woman meant having even fewer opportunities to chose and surrendering when there were any. Consequently, choosing one’s sexual partner became a very act of liberation and so it needed to be eradicated as well as previously indulged by the owners of the women. Since sexuality and motherhood go hand in hand, it becomes another and perhaps a more powerful way of controlling and owning women. In such manner, giving birth to a child in a time of slavery could only enslave the mother even more because a child is the ultimate way of controlling as well as manipulating someone. Especially for black women for it only “complicates their lives in ways that are fundamentally insurmountable” (Mitchell 63). This type of objectification represents the submission that most women have to undergo and survive. The agents of slavery obligate women to suppress all of their sexual desires and all of the qualities that come with being a human therefore not making possible such thing as “true womanhood”. The way in which someone’s own sexuality can serve as a way of subjection is so unthinkable for a 1976-modern woman like Dana who is able to have full control not only of her sexuality but her emotional and physical actions. It is merely because Dana is so used to her way of living in the future that she does not allow the ruthlessness and cruelty of the system of slavery to isolate her from her personal system of values and beliefs. As Mitchell says, for all the women who were victimized by the system of slavery there was something that not even all the whippings and humiliations could ever take away from them, and that was “their own personal codes of morality [which] were valid and intact” ( Mitchell 59). Thus the past marks the present as much as slavery marked Dana the in between-bits that she was allowed to choose and to be free and who she wanted to be were the ones who defined her future. Joe0312 (talk) 05:07, 21 April 2014 (UTC) In the article "Not Enough of the Past: Feminist Revisions of Slavery in Octavia E. Butler’s Kindred” by Angelyn Mitchell, she mentions that Kindred is not only a Science-Fiction but also as a Liberatory Narrative because Butler engages the dominant themes of the 19th century female emancipatory narrative, female sexuality, motherhood, individualism and community. Dana is the main character of Kindred who is a 20th century black women who travels back to antebellum Maryland whenever her ancestor Rufus is in danger. "Dana can be read as a heroic figure " (54) because she is responsible for saving the lives of her ancestors and her own life. Mitchell talks about how " Butler provides it only a view of a free 20th century black woman's challenging experiences in and unpredictable responses to 19th century chattel slavery but also as in the female emancipatory narrative, a window on the 19th century black women's life in slavery. This dialectic reveals how the past and the present influence each other "(55). Mitchell's explains Dana sexuality and how she have control over her body, emotions and she endure physical pain in oder to reclaim the expression of her sexuality. But back in antebellum Maryland her sexuality is in danger because of slavery. Dana enjoy intercourse where Alice doesn't. To Alice, sexuality produces trauma. Mitchell also explain how Dana is not a real mother but she care, protect, nurture her ancestors, just like a mother would. The past influence the present. Alice influence Dana and Dana influence Alice. Motherhood for enslaved black women complicates their lives.Dana didn't have any family because her family disown her because she married a white man so in the 19th century she nurture and care for others. Dana is able to identify herself and know who she is compare to Alice who can't . Mitchell explains the feminist, motherhood and sexuality that taken place in Kindred. Goldilocks14 (talk) 21:43, 21 April 2014 (UTC)Goldilocks14 In her article “Not Enough of the Past: Feminist Revisions of Slavery in Octavia E. Butler’s Kindred, Angelyn Mitchell points out the different interpretations of slavery in Kindred and the significance of the theme and setting in which it affects the present. In the novel Kindred Octavia E. Butler uses two specific historical moments in American history, which is the period of chattel slavery and the richly symbolic bicentennial year of 1976 Americas 200th year of independence. When Edana the protagonist travels from the 20th century to antebellum Maryland and learns about the past and how it reflects and shape the present. Through the time travel of her heroine and from a feminist perspective Butler was able to connect the 19th and 20th centuries. Mitchell explains that Butler engages and revises the themes of the 19th century female specifically for female sexuality, motherhood, individualism, and community as she questions the construction and nature of freedom. When Butler chooses the setting of Maryland she wanted to remind her readers of how widespread slavery was and that it was not confined in the deep South, and gave a general understanding that slavery wasn’t just bad in the south but slavery was bad overall. As we all know Edana travels to antebellum Maryland whenever Rufus Weylin life is in danger, she constantly saves his life because if Rufus did not survive there wouldn’t be any existence of her family or her. Edana was only able to return to the 20th century whenever she feels that her own life is in danger, it is only when Edana fulfilled her responsibility in the past that she was able to have control over her life in the present. Being able to save the lives of her ancestors and herself, Edana can be seen as a heroic figure although her actions depends on the sexual enslavement of her great grandmother. To examine freedom Butler established a relationship between the past and present by providing a view of a free 20th century woman challenging experience with slavery and a view of a 19th century black woman’s life in slavery. When it comes to sexuality Butler portrays Edana as an empowered agent in her contemporary environment, living in the 20th century doesn’t put an end or abuses her sexuality. She embraces her rights to choose Kevin as her sexual partner a white man despite how their families felt about their marriage. Unlike Alice who sexuality produces trauma, Edana enjoys sexual intercourse because in the 20th century she has control over her sexuality. However in antebellum Maryland her sexuality is threatened by slavery. Each time Edana travel to the 19th century she realizes that the past changes the way how she and Kevin perceive their present lives, individually with each other, and their racial histories. Butler revises the theme of motherhood by stating that unlike Alice, Edana is not a biological mother but she however protects and nurture as a mother would to her own ancestors and that motherhood for enslaved black women complicates their lives. Edana embraces her ability to define herself instead of accepting the definitions of others, she possesses a clear sense of her individuality in which is her racial pride, her personal responsibility, her free will, and her self-determination embraces her ability to define herself in both her past and her present. In the 19th century enslaved black woman had only a few possibilities for self-definition in which Alice has no uncompromising options. In the 20th century however Edana lacks community, she finds cooperation, collaboration, and nurturing in the 19th century because at home she doesn’t have any families or friends. Butler was able to offer her readers both sides of the colors line not only the opportunity to understand slavery better, but to explore possible collaborative solutions for race related problems. SNSmith27 (talk) 21:01, 21 April 2014 (UTC) Guy Mark Foster. "'Do I Look Like Someone You Can Come Home to from Where You May Be Going?': Re-Mapping Interracial Anxiety in Octavia Butler's Kindred." In the article “Do I look like someone you can come home to from where you may be going?” by Guy Mark Foster, Foster touches on the different main topics which occur throughout the Novel one example the interracial relationship between the Black female writer Dana and her white husband Kevin during the time of slavery. Foster argues this novel of Kindred was not so much about the Slavery African Americans had to face but about how black Americans learned to renegotiate the history of slavery with their present circumstances. He also informs the readers about the ways racism was being brought up more through Dana then through Kevin because being white was not the issue, being black was. Foster gives an example of the situation in the ware house when Buz made a remark to Dana about them making a “Poor-nography”, at this moment Dana knew exactly what he was saying and tried to brush him off but later that day when she was with Kevin, Buz made the comment again and Kevin didn’t feel insulted by the remark. This clearly showed Kevin as a white American has not really faced any racial troubles in his life and doesn’t see the wrong in racial comments. In addition Foster states the reason for Butler using a black female protagonist is because it created a stronger reaction when black woman were victims of white men oppose to Black men being the victim. This essay is will be very useful for someone who is writing about the challenges Dana and Kevin faced due to their interracial relationship and how it impacted them differently. Foster gave different situations where race was problematic when Dana and Kevin Presents themselves as a couple and how each of them reacted. An286 (talk) 20:32, 23 April 2014 (UTC) Telissa18 (talk) 17:40, 23 April 2014 (UTC) Guy Mark Foster an Assistance professor of English from Bowdoin College, talks about the interracial differences between male and female in a relationship. He chooses the topic from the Octavia butler’s 1979 novel about slavery and time travel, kindred. In this article he tries to explain about the black female and white male unconventional portray of relationship survival. He talks about how the interracial relationship between Dana and Kevin is more being masked by the cultural and political implications of that relationship. He says the loving healthy relationship between them is not much been surfaced in the book. He talks about the anxiety between this kind of relationship does take place which was not been able to focus much in the kindred due to time travel between 20th century in los Angeles and in the 19th century Maryland. Moreover e he adds how both the couple manages to maintain their relationship at the time when Kevin becomes stranded in the nineteenth century, unable to return to the 20th century without the aid of his own wife. On the other hand Dana has lost her left arm in the struggle of freeing herself from Rufus. Furthermore, he tries to explain the anxiety of this relationship in various dimension of the event took place in kindred. Hence this article clearly clarifies about the challenges of being interracially coupled in the society. An286 (talk) 20:32, 23 April 2014 (UTC) Diana R. Paulin. "De-Essentializing Interracial Representations: Black and White Border Crossings in Spike Lee's Jungle Fever and Octavia Butler's Kindred." In the article "De-Essentializing Interracial Representations: Black and White Border Crossings in Spike Lee's Jungle Fever and Octavia Butler's Kindred." by Diana R. Paulin, she examines black/white interracial relationships. She discusses how Lee's and Butler's representation of black/white relations function as examples of transgression, desire, and even boundaries crossed. Paulin focuses on the main relationships of “Jungle Fever” and Kindred to describe racial complexity and gender roles. In Spike Lee's Jungle Fever, Flipper is a black man who encounters an affair with an Italian woman named Angie. The cover consists of two hands – one black and one white. In addition to the color, the white hand is smaller and has bright red painted nails. The black hand, however, is big and aggressive looking. This conveys feminism. She briefly describes how Lee portrayed the life of a struggling black family and a comfortable white family. These two races colliding in the film stirred up problems within both families. It was an unhealthy relationship and they divorced by the end. Paulin claims their interracial desire for each other manifested itself as a sickness – confirming that interracial relationships are wrong. However, in Kindred, Dana and Kevin genuinely love each other despite their color. In the beginning of their relationship, both families were against them. Regardless, Dana and Kevin still proceeded to get married without their families blessings. Throughout the novel, They are sent back in time where slavery existed yet still managed to keep a somewhat healthy relationship throughout the adventure. Dana and Kevin confirmed that they were romantically involved during their adventure. With the way society was organized back then, they encountered a major border-crossing. In addition, Paulin also mentions Dana's strong personality as a feminine character. She has an advantage due to her ability to read and write. She wore pants which was highly unlikely for a woman to wear in the 1800's. Both works represent interracial relationships in different ways. Paulin explains how in “Jungle Fever”, the film ends implying that (exception of Paulie – who ended with a shockingly good relationship with a black woman) both blacks and whites would be better off had they never interacted with each other. In Kindred, Kevin and Dana's journey allowed them to have a new understanding of the implications of their relationship, but they remained together and reevaluated their relationship in an instructive manner. Paulin ends with confirming that we must confront labels and work to construct useful livable understandings of border-crossing, a.k.a interracial relations. Mel26 (talk) 07:12, 22 April 2014 (UTC) In "De-Essentializing Interracial Representations: Black and White Border Crossings in Spike Lee's Jungle Fever and Octavia Butler's Kindred. Diana R. Paulin analyzes the relationships in both Jungle Fever and Kindred". Paulin points out that in Kindred, Butler does very little in describing Dana and Kevin relationship as sexual. Instead she emphasizes in their personality and what they share in common. Dana and Kevin both share the same profession as creative writers. They both are free spirit that they decide to get married despite their family’s opposition because of their race. In both stories the females are being describe as smart intellectual woman that due to their color aren’t being treated as equal to a person of white skin color. Paulin also shows that in both stories the color woman are making the white man uneasy because they are educated and strong. The white skin people felt intimidated that they needed to make sure they understand that they aren’t equal although they know that they are capable of it. Overall Paulin breakdown of Kindred was very descriptive and extremely helpful when it came to how woman were view and color people. I really enjoyed being able to see it from her point of view. Paulin states in her article, “slavery who have also been forced to serve the white on a more intimate (sexual) level, such as Sara, Tess, Carrie and Alice receive certain privileges but are subsequently disliked by the field slaves. This hierarchization of power perpetuates the inequality among the slaves and weakens the slave community as a whole”.(184) This is very powerful and true. Slaves were in a battle against themselves due to the hierarchy system, masters had put them in within the slave system.Jarika5230 (talk) 04:46, 29 April 2014 (UTC) Sherryl Vint. "'Only By Experience': Embodiment and the Limitations of Realism in Neo-Slave Narratives" In the following article written by Sherryl Vint she examines the two types of slave narrative, the traditional slave narrative of the 19th century versus the neo slave narrative of the 20th century. It also helps to understand the affect and impact it has on reader. Both narratives aimed to remind the American culture that slavery is an open wound that the American society has deal with in the everyday life. Yet both are separated by time and aim to get a different reaction of the reader. In the 19th century slave narrative there are two purpose behind it, we are two narrate the historic life of a slave. To educate the audience of what slave life was and the second reason was to persuade a reader who in general wasn’t black to abolish slavery. The purpose was to notify the audience that slavery was at hand. Unlike 20th century neo slave narrative it is about the result of slavery. It is the after affect that it has on America, the psychological after math that it has left on the American culture. Neo slave narrative is fuel with the knowledge of the Civil War and the feminist struggle and it help emphasize their work. It is also important to express the way both slave narrative and neo slave narrative have distinct ways of describing the experiences of slavery. In slave narrative we see more of a physical and embodied story, in compare to neo slave narrative which deals more with the concept of slavery; it focuses more on the psychological aspect of a slave, due to the time the writer is at with no actual slave experiences. In the case of Butler Kindred is her interpretation of how she perceives slave life. All though slavery has been abolished, it is no different from the past. The idea of slavery is still in society just in a different shape and form. In the case of Dana with the help of unexplained time traveling Butler is able to connect the reader with her situation. It eliminate the time between both Dana and audiences. This new kind of narrative helps connect the audience, it is not based on actual facts and experiences that help penetrate some reader, at time loose most because it doesn’t have a direct connection to the reader. It is important to point out that the concept behind slave narrative is an overall sentimental dialogue to convince emotionally and intellectually that slavery must end as explained by other critics. Sanchez Epper argues that the success of a story is to gauge the reader, turn words into pulse, and it what Butler successfully translate in her story with Dana. The reader embodies the story and makes it possible for everybody. Butler a neo slave narrative moves away from the educating her reader but helping her contemporary black readers come into term with their personal and family history of slavery. The article the goes and explains how successfully Butler is able to convince the audience and break the wall and engage the audience no matter what background they come from. Butler finds a way to puts Dana a 20th century women into a 19th century world with a mentality of a modern black women. The altercation between both Dana mentality and the customs of slave life clash helps her deal with her historical past. Such concept helps the audience connect and even attach themselves to the character. This is a great sources if you are looking for the motivate behind Butler slave narrative.In relation to the traditional slave narrative, her style makes it more engaging to the audience. Pacer87 (talk) 19:29, 23 April 2014 (UTC) Missy Dehn Kubitschek. "'What Would a Writer Be Doing Working Out of a Slave Market?': Kindred as Paradigm, Kindred in Its Own Write" The article “What would A Writer Be Doing Working Out of A Slave Market?” by Missy Dehn Kubitschek talks about a lot of key points of slavery. Comparing the book Kindred by Octavia Butler to slavery and the mentality a person might have during slavery. Kubitschek said in the article “Kindred provides a literal paradigm of coming to terms with a history of slavery and oppression, a process that is in other works frequently metaphorical”. The book kindred is basically a look into the past as modern person. Which Kubitschek comes up with a great point, she states “Histircal Knowledge changes Dana’s understanding of both self and context”. Octavia Butler puts Dana the main character in her book into the past. Not just any past but into slavery. Dana must adapt and learn in order to live and survive. Society believes that this is a man’s world, making it hard for women especially African American women to survive. Also the world has not yet grasp interrelationship. Although some of the society is alright with it. There are still people who do not like interracial couples. Certain people would like other to stick to their same race. Kevin and Dana overcome the society barriers. “Kindred” the name of the book, Kevin and Dana are kindred souls. Dana an African American and Kevin a white man together. In the past this is against the law and in the present a lot of people look down on. But finding out that Dana ancestor is actually white. This shows how some of the past is still not gone and it will be a long time before society fully accepts interracial couples.This article is very good for a person comparing and contrasting kindred to the real word, slavery, and female heroes. Gpo20 (talk) 09:14, 23 April 2014 (UTC) This article is based on the chronological events that happened throughout Kindred By:Octavia Butler from the Prologue-the Epilogue. It expresses how Dana was able to survive in another time or dimension where she had limited control over what and how this all was ouccring. Kubittschek relates to the different aspcts and obstacles Dana faced from interrationr ealtionship with Kevin to A slave owner son Rufus being her ancestor. This all became realavant as she continued to save this boys life over and over again. Which really dawned on me by reading this article is how the author gives us their own in sight on how they see the book more like an interpretation on what and how she made it through a slave system from the beggining to the ending. Also experiencing cruel activities through experiencing the cruel actvities towards her. through surviving in the south in the 1800's through living in modern day ages their analyzes gave much detailed information without having to read the read or actually interest you to actually see what happens next. Throughout all the chapters this author picked out something very significant to the story "As I lay dying" that showed imagery how the character Dana felt like after recieving her first beating for getting caught teaching and reading to other slaves. Ths was significant because it described everything in one quote how blacks were treated from what punishments they had to endeavor for the simplest things. In What Would A Writer Be Doing Out Of A Slave Market?" also gives insight on blacks and whites realtionships, simalarities, and differences how other people recieved different previlages for being a different color. Also in in this Article it tells us how the characters in Kindred have certain emotional states from Dana traveling through time, from slaves being sperated from their families and a slave owner saden because of their parents death and sickness. It shows people are people the true "self" defines all the people in the south and shows that Dana had trouble, obstacles and challenges adapting to the different lifestyle she quite wasn't really used to or just never experienced. Since dana was African American it was very essential how she survived and made some of her own decisions by being a threat and fanishing mutliple times to make whites afraid of her in a way. This source is good if you want to compare and contrast others that resembles Dana also it gives great detail from start to finish from each and every chapter very useful if you didn't quite understand some of the chapters like I did. Watoflifej23 (talk) 14:28, 23 April 2014 (UTC) Missy Dehn Kubitschek is a wonderful critic. The article “What would a writer be doing working out of slave market?” is one of the great criticism on the book Kindred by Octavia Butler that I had red. She says that author “used time travel to examine the experience of female slaves and their legacies for contemporary black women” (25). Butler in her book wants to shows the world the true picture of slavery. She also shows their feeling, experience and the strain that the black women had before Civil War. She describes Dana to be a strong individual in the modern society. But even though Dana has the knowledge of the people of the twentieth century she is more helpless than her predecessors but in the antebellum Maryland. When Dana comes to live in the Rufus plantation she starts to work and volunteer her labor to help the slave community. Eventually they accept her as their own, we see it when the Dana want to runaway a slave woman told Tom on Dana and the slaves bait her because she told on Dana. But emotionally she did not become the part of the slave community before the incident with Alice. When Dana start to tend for Alice when she come almost dead. We see it when Dana says “watching history happen around us. And we were actors. While we waited to go home, we humored the people around us pretending to be like them” (35). She starts to feel as part of the community every day more and more. When reading this article is like re-read this book again in with different eyes. She opens your eyes to see the thing you didn’t see when you read the book the first time. As a result, she interested a reader to re-read the book Kindred for the second time. Goga1994 (talk) 15:45, 28 April 2014 (UTC) In the article, “What would a writer be doing working out of the slave market?” by Missy Dehn Kubitschek, writes an amazingly detailed analyses of the novel Kindred by Octavia Butler. The author of the article explained every part of the book using quotes and examples from other authors including the analyzed description of main characters. This article was useful to me since it included the details I missed or even misunderstood. For example, Dana and Kevin’s suggested careers, for him to be engineer and Dana mostly female related jobs such as teacher or a nurse are related to “gender-stereotyped roles.” Moreover, Kubitschek, points out another detail about Dana and Kevin’s moving to their new home, and how significant and symbolic to the convergence of the two individuals, and also Dana birthday been at the same day represents her new, self-emergence. Another important analysis, which the author wrote about, was Dana’s first impression of Sara, the cook and a black slave. Also dismissing her as a “the house nigger, the handkerchief-head” who accepted the slavery despite her losing three children as being afraid and she is not educated that Dana felt superior to her. However, later on when Dana herself runs away and is caught despite her knowledge of maps and how severely she have been punished, makes her see Sarah in a different perspective. In addition, the author of the article points out the Butler’s intentional underlining similarities of Dana and Alice, how they both had to be reborn to the slavery. Particularly noting Alice’s lack of emotional connections with other slaves that when her children are taken by Rufus, she had to grieve alone, while Dana is trying to be connected with other slaves through working hard and trying to help as much as she can. Another important point in this article is author’s opinion of Kevin as a white person who must learn to identify and refuse the privileges of his race and gender. Especially, Kubitschek, gives a critical remark about Kevin’s offer to Dana, to type his papers by saying, “In the past, his food is harvested by black labor and his food is cooked by black women; in the present, he confidently expects Dana to serve him by typing.” So all these authors detailed analyzes, helped to me to understand the book even more and realize the important details I missed that I suggest using this source for a research paper. This article includes everything starting with female critic’s views, other comparisons with similar novels, important quotes from the Kindred, and the good summary of the entire book. Work cited: Kubitschek, Missy D. "What Would a Writer Be Doing Working out of a Slave Market?" Claiming the Heritage: African-American Women Novelists and History. Jackson/London. University Press of Mississippi, 1991. 24-51. Print US:Mayday (talk) 19:58, 28 April 2014 (UTC)

Research Assignment 5

Research Assignment 5 - Article Summaries > Click on 'Show' to see them

Grace McEntee. "Kindred." The article “Kindred” by Grace McEntee talks about the female heroism shown in the book “Kindred” By Octavia Butler. Issue the characters Dana and Kevin had to face while being stuck in the past. The author starts off by telling the readers about the beginning of the book “Kindred”. During the first time that Dana’s time traveling back into the past she save a unknown redhead boy. Who she would find out is her ancestor Rufus Weylin. Dana not believing what had happen soon realizing that it was real. Later on Dana would time travel plenty of times taking of husband Kevin with her one of those time. Then McEntee explains how Butler had to make Dana adapt to the past in order to survive. Doing what she had to even till the end when she was force to kill Rufus Weylin or be rape by him. But experience all of these events Dana could never time travel back to her modern day without being scar. This is the reasons she loses her arm as a reminder of her events in the past. McEntee says “Dana is one of a number of strong black female heroes created by Butler”. This is shown a lot in the book “Kindred” Butler has a lot of strong black women Dana, Sara, Alice, Carrie, Tess. All women who had to face slavery and try and make the best outcome of their life until it ended. This article gives the reader a brief summary of Dana's life. Also Female heroism and problems females had to face during slavery. Gpo20 (talk) 18:40, 23 April 2014 (UTC) In her article “Kindred”, Grace McEntee writes about some of the major themes in Octavia Butler’s novel Kindred. McEntee notes how Butler shows how easy it was for people to assimilate to slavery, even for Dana a strong modern woman. McEntee also argues that Butler uses women in the novel to “explore the intersections of race, gender, and power issues.” McEntee then focuses on Dana’s somewhat successful attempt to get Rufus to treat the slaves better, however Dana pays a costly price physically and psychologically. Finally McEntee states “Dana's brushes with racism and sexism in her 1970s rife make clear that race and gender issues going back to our slavery history are so rooted into our social history that they remain unresolved, even many generations following emancipation.” This article is good for race, gender, and power issues in Kindred The North Remembers16 (talk) 19:54, 23 April 2014 (UTC) The article “Kindred,” by Grace McEntee starts with a summary of Butler’s Kindred and continues with a very important, analyzed details of this novel. For example, the McEntee, points out how Dana has to act as a submitted slave in order to survive: “And her greatest challenge eventually becomes to keep from internalizing the personality she projects, thus succumbing to a slave mentality” (McEntee, 524). By this, the author means that it was very challenging for Dana to keep her own identity and not lose herself completely to the slavery. Moreover, the author of this article points out how Butler shows the transition of an educated woman of our present time who at first acts as a slave and then becomes “psychologically enslaved” just like other slaves on the Weylin’s plantation (McEntee, 524). Another important fact by McEntee pointing to the transition of Rufus from a nice little boy to the vicious slave owner who, despite Dana’s influences to educate him, becomes a white master who likes the obedience. In addition, according to McEntree, Butler demonstrates the lives of the slave women during the antebellum time. For example, Alice, Dana, Sarah, Cassie, and Tess had to endure the constant manipulation through their children or husbands so that their masters ensure their obedience. Also, they all were viewed “as sexual objects at the mercy of their masters’ whims” (McEntee, 524). Also, McEntee suggests that Dana was worried that her husband, Kevin, seeing other white slave owners’s cruelties and acceptance of the slavery as the norm, would influence him in the same way. Most importantly, at the end of her article, Grace McEntee, states that Butler gives us examples of abuses of power through Dana’s experiences of the slavery, raising the race and gender issues. Also, it is the authors believe that Dana’s race confrontations in 1970 and also in antebellum slavery is deeply embedded throughout the history that it is not solved even today. I believe this article is very useful for the research papers, since it includes very important details and analyses. US:Mayday (talk) 01:36, 3 May 2014 (UTC) In Grace Mcentee's article "Kindred" she covers on very essential topics which dwell on Octavia E. Butler's novel Kindred. Although, Grace McEntee's summary was pretty short, McEntee acknowledges the main points of the novel. She summarizes by referring to the multiple time traveling experiences in which Dana must go through. Grace McEntee acknowledges the fact that Dana traveled back in time to Maryland at a time period where slavery was not yet abolished. Grace McEntee highlights the main themes of Octavia E. Butler's kindred and goes in depth with explaining for instance Dana's lost arm. In her article Grace McEntee refers to Dana's lost arm by saying "Her final, desperate attempt to return to the present (The opening scene of the novel) makes it clear that even though she escapes Rufus and the past, she will always be scarred by her experiences on the Weylin plantation, her lost arm an apt metaphor for the lasting damage of slavery or the African American psyche" (McEntee, 525). I believe Grace McEntee did more than a magnificent job when she noted the symbolism behind Dana's lost arm. I definitely think it is crucial to have the acknowledgement and truly understand the symbolism of Dana's lost arm. Dana's lost arm as McEntee stated was a form of symbolism of Dana being forever scarred from the time traveling experience which had her enslaved. Grace McEntee's article doesn't just revolve around Dana's lost arm and the symbolism behind it, but it also revolves around the physical and mental abuse which comes by within enslavement. Works Cited R 1994 (talk) 03:19, 29 April 2014 (UTC) Frances Smith Foster. "Kindred." In the article “Kindred “by Frances Smith Foster points out, during Dana travels to the past, Dana came to understand slavery as a psychological also as well as physical danger. Being that Dana is a twentieth century educated women, she uses her knowledge she has about the historical past and surviving to help other and herself without having technological aid to survive. Foster explains that Dana betrayed her own great grandmother Alice, to save Alice life. Dana and Rufus who is a slave-owner, but is also Dana ancestor, have mutual respect despite the fact in nineteenth century, whites don’t respect blacks.” Butler's juxtapositioning of life in nineteenth- and twentieth-century America deliberately suggests complicated comparisons” (Pg. 1). Dana who is a black unpublished writer, married to Kevin who is a white published writer. When Kevin travels back in time with Dana, she recognizes similarities between their relationship and the relationship of those in the antebellum period which she found disturbing. Foster explains, although the antebellum slave past marked a distinct subject and era changed for Kindred, the subject continues the explorations of individual heroism, human relations and social patterns. This article gives a belief summary of Dana relationship with Alice, Rufus and Kevin. Goldilocks14 (talk) 19:05, 23 April 2014 (UTC)Goldilocks14 According to Frances Smith Foster<"Kindred" was based on a modern woman transporting from home to an unfamiliar non safe environment for African Americans. Where she encounters time after time on her multiple journeys back to the south a boy named Rufus in danger. Which she later comes to terms that he is her great great grand father and if he dies she might not exist. She experiences how in the antebellum south in the 19th century in Maryland there is much cruelty and disgusting things occurring to blacks. She has to adapt to this lifestyles which is the slave system. She overcomes barriers with her husband being white and she's black so now she has to understand that the people in this time wouldn't look at this as normal or possible so now she has to "find her own identity" basically finding out who she is and how she can contribute and survive in this Slave era. Foster compares the book to Frederick Douglass who also was a former slave and was a hero to the slavery times just like Dana is Rufus hero by saving him constantly helping him complete cruel desires towards Alice and keeping him out of harms way. Foster also tells us that "Dana comes to understand slavery as a philological as well as a physical danger" to show that even though in these times blacks weren't really safe from their owners or whites because they had no rights and the justice system was against them instead of protecting them because they weren't free and were property not people. This is an excellent source if you are writing about how Dana was able to survive on the Weylin plantation and also her relationship with Kevin and Rufus. I highly recommend taking a look Foster is detailed and straight to the point with her arguments. Watoflifej23 (talk) 19:12, 23 April 2014 (UTC) In her article Kindred, Frances Smith Foster points out that Kindred is classified as an realistic science fiction, grim fantasy, neo-slave narrative, and initiation novel, due to the fact that the use of time travel allows Dana to go on repeated trips from 20th century southern California to antebellum Maryland. Butler tells the story of Dana an African American woman during the social revolution of the 1970s, who was able to “explores the grim realities and legacies of antebellum slavery, and speculates upon future possibilities for human equality”. Being that Dana travels to the 19th century constantly to save Rufus life and return to the 20th century when her life becomes in danger, Dana was able to “understand slavery as a psychological and as well as a physical danger, and she also learns how inadequate the average 20th century education is for knowing one’s historical past or for surviving without technological aid”. Butler states that “during the black consciousness period of early 1970s as her attempt to understand her own identity and the experiences that had shaped her ancestors” and that Kindred continues to explore individual heroism, human relations, and social patterns that mark her other writings. SNSmith27 (talk) 03:07, 24 April 2014 (UTC) M. Keith Booker and Anne-Marie Thomas. "The Time-Travel Narrative." In their article “The Time-Travel Narrative” Booker and Thomas they explain in depth how the use of time travel in literature can impact a story. In the article Booker and Thomas emphasize how Kindred (1979) is about more than just slavery and the racist Antebellum south, it also was a science fiction novel that used time travel to help show how destructive slavery really was. This article is very useful in making a literary analysis of Kindred especially when discussing the literary devices used in the novel. Maxamillion412 (talk) 18:07, 23 April 2014 (UTC) In the article "The Time-Travel Narrative" Booker and Thomas point out that time travel is a key factor to break down the walls between past and future. It is with this affect that we are able to connect both time periods in which Dana is driven to. The novel Kindred (1970) is only successful because we are able to see the different point of view of Dana. We get to get a deeper grasp of the idea of slavery threw Dana’s eyes. We notice that Dana’s life is not so different from the past and future. With this technique we are able to explore the world of slavery, it helps enrich and support the work of Butler, making Dana a more realistic character in which one can relate to, the concept of time traveling has no barriers and see no color, it could to anyone. As a reader we are able to experiences slavery vicariously, connecting us to the work. All though the noble is dismissed as a science fiction it is emphasize by Booker and Thomas that it is only successful due to the time traveling concept. This article is very important if you want to back up the idea that Kindred is a science fiction novel. Pacer87 (talk) 20:37, 23 April 2014 (UTC) Beverly Friend. "Time Travel as Feminist Didactic in Works by Phyllis Eisenstein, Marlys Millhiser, and Octavia Butler." “Time Travels as a Feminist Didactic in works by Phyllis Eisenstein, Marlys Millhiser, and Octavia Butler” by Beverly Friend is an essay that suggest that not all the knowledge, skills or experiences of the twentieth century can prepare women to survive in a time of domination and slavery. For such statement, Friend has decided to use three different works that describe the “unromanticized life that women living in those times did lead”(55), The Mirror, Shadow of Earth and Kindred. Works that explore and contrast the present and the past as well as how women are able to survive in both. The similarities that they all share is that modern women are suddenly transported back from freedom into slavery and oppression. Friend argues that even though these three women come from a modern and liberated time their intellect is not needed and their skills are limited when they are placed in an undeveloped and to a certain extent, barbaric time and space. For the three women, Celia, Shay Garrett and Dana have been forced by their surroundings to live under the principles of slavery and domination. The knowledge that they obtain in their modern worlds cannot prepare them to succeed and survive in such times since their present lacks of all the fundamentals and complexities of the past. Considering that in the past there are none of the commodities that the three heroines know,there is nothing that they can rely on to help them and everything that they know becomes useless. Even if they can read, what use is that? Reading won't help them survive. Dana being the only character that is allowed to bring things such as aspirins, paper, sleeping pills and clothing from the present to the past, she is not able to utilize them effectively. However, the three heroines are able to survive in the past by accommodating to it and accepting the reality in which they are in. Friend maintains that the, “contemporary woman is not educated to survive, that she is as helpless, perhaps even more helpless, than her predecessors”(55). In other words, that the modern world in which these women live in is a fairly easy place to survive, a place in which living is easy and that does not require much physical work. The author also adds that women would not be able to survive much without men in the world because men are the ones doing the “real work” and therefore they know better than women, she says, “Men understand how the world is run; women do not. Victims then, victims now” (55). Nonetheless, the real understanding of the world is revealed to us when we understand the difficulties of being seen as less, the ability to protect others, the caring for others more than ourselves and the luxury of giving life. This article is good for anyone interested in reading about feminism and how women were the ones who suffered the most throughout history especially in times of slavery and cruel domination since women were considered to be unworthy and subhuman. Joe0312 (talk) 19:11, 23 April 2014 (UTC) In the reading “Time Travel as Feminist Didactic in Works by Phyllis Eisenstein, Marlys Millhiser, and Octavia Butler" by Beverly Friend writes about how the authors such as Octavia E. Butler analyze on how will women from modern era would be affected when are subjected to time travel and whether or not a female will survive through that experience coming back untouched. The reading points out those females from modern time with such liberation and knowledge are doomed as to going back into time period because they didn’t use the information to their advantage. An example given from Kindred is when Dana questions herself on how come her education hadn’t come in handy to help her escape yet a runaway slave had managed to help other slaves escape. Also written is how the heroines don’t go through the time travel without experiencing some consequences their actions, either big or small. Like Dana when she killed her sibling, Rufus, when she return to the 20th century she return without an arm. That was how she was marked from her experience in time travel. This reading would be good for someone writing about female heroism they can disagree or agree with this reading and explain why. Lissetlot15 (talk) 19:23, 23 April 2014 (UTC) Beverly Friend writes about Octavia E. Butler and how she analyzes on how women from the modern era would be affected when they are thrown into time traveling. She also speaks about how whether or not a female will be able to survive through such an experience and come back untouched by the past. This reading also points out how those females from the modern time have such knowledge that are doomed if they were to go back into time because they didn't use the information they have to their advantage. An example that can be given from Kindred is when Dana starts to question herself as to why she has not use her own education and knowledge to help her escape unlike other runaway slaves who were able to help other slaves escape. Also, Friend writes about how the females don’t go through the time travel without experiencing some type of effect to their actions. For example, Dana, when she kills Rufus, she returns to the 20th century but she returns without an arm because of Rufus holding onto her arm before he passed. This shows us how she is marked by her experiences in time travels. I believe this reading would be good for someone who is writing about female heroism.Redrosex1025 (talk) 01:53, 29 April 2014 (UTC) Jane Donawerth. "Feminisms: Recovering Women's History." In her article “Feminisms: Recovering Women's History”, Jane Donawerth discusses the development of women’s writing in the 1970’s. As a result, the feminist Utopia resurrected (type of social science fiction). The feminist Utopia focused on central issues of the 1970’s and the 1980’s feminism. The stories normally revolved around white women, but soon African-American Studies evolved based on slavery to recover knowledge of black women’s lives back then. In addition, Donawerth gives examples of outstanding works created by women. One example she mentioned was Joanna Russ’s The Female Man (1975). It is about women who can do everything and men have disappeared. This conveys strong feminism that would exist without men in the world – women would take on their roles. Many years later, women continued to publish in the form of the feminist Utopia. Donawerth mentions how from the 1960’s on, slave narratives were recovered – such as numerous editions of Frederick Douglass’s autobiographies, The Life of John Thompson, etc. Angela Davis was extremely influential and caused people to rethink the roles of women under slavery. She focuses on how slavery denied black women the feminine role. However, she also analyzed the resistance of black slave women. Most importantly, she finally mentions Kindred. She gives a brief summary and claims how Dana is marked by her ancestors’ slave history and symbolizes heroism. Aside from Kindred, Donawerth continues giving examples of several feminist science fictions that draw on the slave narrative. Mel26 (talk) 18:27, 23 April 2014 (UTC) In the article Feminisms: Recovering Woman’s History: 1970-1995 by Jane Donawerth, Donaweth emphasizes on different ways the treatment of woman have changed. One of the main things she writes about is feminist literature during the 1970’s and beyond. Donawerth describes different pieces literature with different feminist utopias. There is feminist writer named Joanna Russ who wrote a story called The Female Man (1975), which mentions the future of woman with no change and a dystopian future; where sexes are at war and utopian future where men no longer exist and woman get to live their own life and do everything. The Utopian future demonstrates powerful feminism without men being around. In addition Donawerth mentions narratives which were published by woman during slavery. “From the 1960s on, slave narratives were recovered in important numbers, including numerous editions of Frederick Douglass's autobiographies, The Life of John Thompson, a Fugitive Slave (1968), A Narrative of the Life of Rev. Noah Davis (1969), and Six Women's Slave Narratives (1988), edited by William Andrews”(Donaweth 219). These narratives identify the roles of woman during slavery and the denial of the feminime role during the time. She then discusses Kindred by Octavia Butler, which is a novel where the narrator faces many challenges when she time travels to save the life of Rufus whom is a white male during the time of slavery. She continues mentioning different novels which discuss feminism during slavery in the 19th century. This article may be useful to someone who is looking to find additional sources from different pieces of feminist literature. She did a good job at describing the main points of various literature pieces but I would not use this as a secondary source but I would use it to find a secondary source. Telissa18 (talk) 19:32, 23 April 2014 (UTC) Summary # 5 This article is about the start of a movement of feminism. This movement was practice from 1970-1995. During the course of the movement woman had more of a voice, and played a major role in stories. Female authors were getting recognized for their work. DonaWerth pointed out that a story called The Wanderground (1979) “rebelled against man rape of the environment and has sided with woman.” This is an example that woman were becoming important in stories as well as the authors. Butler’s “Kindred” was a part of the movement. In the novel, the main character and narrator, is Dana; the entire novel is based on her point of view, her participation, and experience of slave life. Adoreher (talk) 20:02, 28 April 2014 (UTC) In the article of Jane Donawerth, “Feminism: Recovering Women’s History” Donawerth is describing the plot of various stories in which women started as slaves, or sex objects and weren’t as important in society but with time have been giving the right to be equal to man. In one story they are able to do anything without a man and have form an all-woman society secluding the man to the city while they rule the country. Donawerth is showing us how the roles of women have slowly evolve from 1970’s. Donawerth gives us titles of stories that show how literature has change through time. The genre of the feminist utopia open up the way for women to express themselves through writing. They were able to express different issues surrounding women in the 1970’s. whether it was inequality or slavery or any issue that was against women. Jarika5230 (talk) 05:49, 29 April 2014 (UTC) Alyson R. Buckman. "Butler, Octavia (1947-2006)." The article Butler, Octavia by Alyson R. Buckman focuses on Butler’s struggles growing up as person and as a writer. It was difficult for her, especially as one of the few Science Fiction writers out there. This article speaks on the various situations she went through. Whether it was attending college even though she was diagnosed with dyslexia, or the fact that she was an African-American female writer in the science fiction community. Later she was recognized for all of her works and acknowledged as one of the few science fiction/fantasy writers in the community worth noting. She received many distinguished awards and recognition for her work. This article works well if used to describe the struggles and accomplishments of Octavia Butler. Ronin1123 (talk) 18:46, 23 April 2014 (UTC) The article written by Alyson R, Buckman is about Octavia E. Butler biography which tells us about her childhood and awards. The writer starts that Octavia Butler was the most popular black skin writer and was the first one which received the Mac-Arthur Foundation Genius Grant for her writings. Octavia Butler was always fascinated to write even when she was ten years old. The popular writer was also diagnosed with dyslexia that made her difficult to study but she was a very good student because at first she received associate’s degree in 1968 and then she attended California State University, Los Angeles University of California and the Clarion Science Fiction Writer's Workshop. Octavia’s Butler first publication happened in 1971 that was called Pattemmaster. The best known novel written by Octavia E. Butler was called Kindred that have been published in 1979. The writer was always fascinated in race, gender, sexuality, community, difference, and human body that we can see in the novel Kindred. Octavia E. Butler was very intelligent woman, who wrote very good novel about science fiction. She won Hugo Awards for best novels. I think this article about Octavia E. Butler is very good because we can learn about her childhood and about her achievements. Nina9723 (talk) 00:03, 25 April 2014 (UTC) Octavia butler(1947-2006) was the first few writers in those time to science fiction books and make living out of it.she is the science fiction writer to receive the mac Arthur foundation genius grant for her writing. Octavia butler began to write at the age of ten. She received her associate degree from Pasadena City College in 1968 and the college in California state university and university of California. Octavia butler talks about the the way Dana handles every situation in the book kindred. Dana a women from future rescues human survivors from a holocaust of their own creation. Moreover she focuses about the racial and ethnic tensions between rich and poor. Hence butler work has been well received by the critics and has many awards for her works and achievements. An286 (talk) 20:10, 28 April 2014 (UTC) Charles H. Rowell. "An Interview with Octavia E. Butler." In the article, “An Interview With Octavia E. Butler” by Charles H. Rowell, the main focus was about how she got into writing and her various inspirations but part of this interview included some new facts about why she wrote Kindred. Some of the questions regarded Kindred and how she got inspiration to write this novel. Some interesting things she said were on page 47 when she mentioned that some of the blue and white collar jobs she had such as a clerk typist were featured in this novel and she based some facts of the book from her own life. Also, on page 50, she said that she got inspiration to write this book after a comment she heard in college by a young, frustrated, and angry young person about how African-Americans were being treated and how the older generation didn’t really seem to do anything about it. This article is definitely a good secondary source for Kindred because even though the majority of this interview wasn’t really about the novel, the arguments and things said by Ms. Butler were very interesting as well as detailed and could be used when writing a paper about this story. Redhead321 (talk) 18:22, 23 April 2014 (UTC) In an interview with Octavia E. Butler, Charles Rowell speculates the drive to Butler’s novel “Kindred” . Butler reveals in the interview that her novel was based on a comment made by a man she went to college with 30 years ago. She explains that the young man “never made the connection with what his parents did to keep him alive” and that is how “Kindred” was born. She says that she wanted to transport a character back in time to witness what their ancestors went through with the knowledge of modern day to see if that character would survive. What I found interesting was the connection between Dana and Octavia Butler herself. In the interview, you can see the similarities of the upbringing and goals of Octavia, with those of Dana. Dana, in a sense represents Octavia. Both where brought up in a working class family, who mothers dreamt for them a job as a secretary, and both Dana and Octavia neglected their mother’s dreams for them and pursued their own dreams in becoming writers. This article will be a great secondary source because I can see where Octavia got the idea for Kindred and how she was able to build Dana’s character. A fun fact is that Octavia originally planned on the main character of “Kindred” being a male, but as she states, he would not have been to survive because in those times of slavery , a man version on Dana would have been dubbed dangerous and immediately killed. Primadonnagirl123 (talk) 18:50, 23 April 2014 (UTC) This article is “An Interview with Octavia E. Butler” is written by Charles H. Rowell, the interview that he did with Octavia E. Butler. In this interview Butler revealed some of the reason why she has written the book Kindred. Her main inspiration came to her when she had attended a Pasadena City College. There she heard young man arguing about the problem that they have toward their parents. They were blaming the parents for their humiliation and that they acceptance of disgusting behavior on himself by their employer and the people that around them (51). Butler was holding this conversation in her heart for thirty years. In the beginning Butler what to make the main character a men. but after thinking for a long time she reallys that a man with his type of temperament a men couldn’t served for a long time. Therefore she let all the feeling that she had into writing Kindred. She also speaks about her mother live and the live she had. in addition the sacrifices that her mother has to make to give Octavia E. Butler a batter live. Goga1994 (talk) 05:39, 29 April 2014 (UTC) In "An Interview with Octavia E. Butler" by Charles H. Rowell I found it quite interesting on what Butler said. He caught my attention right away when he said he rather do something that he loves than something for the money. I strongly believe in that and found it interesting that we basically believe in the same thing. Butler also believed that writing is basically not all about the art and talent, but also learning from what you do and write. He talks about basically that it’s a skill to feed off someone saying that it don’t work and keep on practicing it until its perfect and makes sense. It seems like throughout his writing career he had a lot and ups and downs and the only way to express himself was through writing. Myself, just love that Butler admits that when he was becoming a writer he just learned but by bit and learning his own craft. It seems like that’s what people should really do in this world because people chase the money and don’t do what they love, or do something they are good at and don’t keep up with it and don’t do it to the best of their abilities. teekay25 (talk) 00:29, 30 April 2014 (UTC)

Editing Teams Planning

Editing Team 1: Is it Friday Yet?

Article Section: Characters Our plan is to divide the main characters, we will each cover four characters and provide the information on each character roles and importance to the story. Dana, Rufus Weylin, Kevin Franklin, Tom Weylin, Alice Greenwood, Sarah, Margaret Weylin, Nigel, Tess, Luke, Liza, Hagar.

Doctor X's feedback: Looks good, though please spell Sarah's name correctly.

Article Section: White supremacy and white privilege; Race as social construct / racism

Doctor X's feedback:

Sources to use:

1. for the historical background on race in the 1960s, see Bould and Vint 126-127 and 132; Smith Foster, next to last paragraph.

2. for Butler's description of Kindred as racial didactic, see the Black Scholar interview 15, Kenan 496, and Mitchell 74, note 17.

3. for the centrality of race in the novel, see Davis 2-4; Vint 248.

4. for black-white relationships as central to the novel, see Kubitschek 41-44, Mitchell 70-71, Foster 148-155, Paulin 190.

5. For how Kindred uses interracial relationships to suggest how systemic racism perpetuates past perceptions into the present, see Kubitschek 44-45.

6. for Kevin's challenges and his 'education" on how slavery affects his white identity, see McEntee 524; Rushdy 148-151; Paulin 186-187; Bedore, "Symbiosis," 78.

7. for how Dana as a modern African-American woman challenges racist constructions, see Paulin 182-184.

8. for how the science-fiction frame allows to posit the possibility of an egalitarian future, see Yaszek 1058.

9. for how Kindred moves away from communities of race to communities of experience, see Kubitschek 50-51.

R 1994 (talk) 18:54, 28 April 2014 (UTC) teekay25 (talk) 18:48, 28 April 2014 (UTC) Telissa18 (talk) 18:49, 28 April 2014 (UTC) Gpo20 (talk) 19:00, 28 April 2014 (UTC)Jarika5230 (talk) 19:33, 5 May 2014 (UTC)

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Editing Team 2: Power of the Females

Article Section: Reception

The main points/ideas that must be included are specific quotes from reviews by critics. We must observe how people reacted towards the book from the time it came out up until now. We are also going to include how the entire town of Rochester read the novel.

Ann Matsuuchi's feedback: Here are some book reviews to start looking at to get a sense of what other writers and professional literary critics thought about the book: http://guides.laguardia.edu/aecontent.php?pid=575709&sid=4875508. Keep checking this library page because Prof. X will add more good reviews to use once we find them. Mozucat (talk) 19:02, 28 April 2014 (UTC)

Doctor X's feedback:

1. For a description of the events at Rochester, NY, see Crossley 273.

2. For specific ideas of the Rochester events, see "For Readers" at http://www.wab.org/if-all-of-rochester-read-the-same-book-2104/

Article Section: Strong Female Protagonist; Female Quest

We are going to speak about how strong Dana and Sarah are. Alice is also considered strong. However, she committed suicide in the end of the novel proving otherwise. Butler intended for the main character to be a guy, but the guy wouldn't have survived through the novel.

Sources:

"An Interview with Octavia E. Butler" by Charles H. Rowell.

Doctor X's feedback:

1. For Kindred as part of a political movement, feminism, see Donawerth 218-219; as African-American neo-slave narrative, Yaszek 1056-1057; Crossley 278-279.

2. For Kindred as part of Butler's larger project to empower black women, see Crossley 274; for Butler's transformation of the main character from male to female, see Rowell 51, as you mention.

2. For Dana as strong female protagonist, see McEntee 525; as resisting white patriarchy, Kubitschek 47-49; as the Other not opposing the Other, Yaszek 1058-1063; as survivor (and author of her story), Vint 252-254; as sexually empowered, Mitchell 55-56; as self-defining, Mitchell 59 and 64-65;

3. For Kindred as female emancipatory narrative, see Mitchell 52-54; Virginia 2; as female quest, Kubitschek 24-25.

4. For Dana as a representative of the helplessness of modern woman, see Friend 50 and 53-55; for a response to Friend's argument, see Kubitscheck 29-30.

5. For Dana as a character torn between the necessity to compromise and the impulse to resist, see Baccolini 28-30.

6. For Sarah's courage, see the Black Scholar interview, 15-16.

7. For Alice's self-determination, see Mitchell 62-64.

Mel26 (talk) 18:40, 28 April 2014 (UTC) Goldilocks14 (talk) 18:41, 28 April 2014 (UTC) Primadonnagirl123 (talk) 18:42, 28 April 2014 (UTC) SNSmith27 (talk) 18:47, 28 April 2014 (UTC)

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Editing Team 3: The Kick Offs

Article Section: Background

The main points and ideas that must be included for this topic to be to be covered accurately are factual information about Octavia Butler’s life as well as whom her literary influences were. Another significant influence on Butlers writing was black history specifically slavery. One reliable source that we will summarize are interviews with Butler. One interview that we will use is an analyze that Mary E. Virginia had pertaining to butler in 1995. We also plan on using essays by literary critics who have analyzed Kindred. Also Butler worked didn't really have her mother in her life , she had a grand mother that worked on a Louisiana sugarcane plantation, her father died when she a baby and she felt much alone because her parents weren't really in her life. So by being motherless and fatherless she was alone a lot of the time which she starting to decide to start writing science fiction novels.

Doctor X's feedback:

1. For how Butler's family experiences influenced the novel, see Kenan 496; Rowell 50-51; Crossley 269-270; and, as you mention, Virginia 4.

2. For how Butler's own life experiences influenced the novel, see Rowell 47; the Black Scholar interview, 15; Crossley 270.

3. For the field research Butler conducted in Maryland, see Kenan 496 and Mitchell, 72-73, note 7.

Article Section: slave communities; slavery as a system

The main points and ideas that must be included for this theme to be covered is the details of how intricate slavery as a system was and how it penetrated almost every aspect of everyone’s life not only the slaves. The reliable sources we will be summarizing, paraphrasing and quoting are academic journals about the history of the slavery system. We will also include what influenced her to give insight on how people had to live in a society where there weren’t equality, or any right between whites and blacks.

Doctor X's feedback:

1. For how Butler set out to write a novel that would make slavery feel real, see the interview with Allyson Keyes:http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1745712

2. For how Kindred is a non-romanticized fiction of the slave experience, see Govan 89-94; Mitchell 56-62.

3. For how Butler's representations of individual slaves corrects literary and social stereotypes, see Crossley 270 and 275; Virginia 2.

4. Consider whether to include any of the quotes on slavery already in the Wikipedia article under "author's quotes."

5. Consider whether to link to Wikipedia's articles on slavery:

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slavery
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slavery_in_the_United_States

Maxamillion412 (talk) 19:02, 28 April 2014 (UTC)Goga1994 (talk) 19:04, 28 April 2014 (UTC)Watoflifej23 (talk) 20:10, 28 April 2014 (UTC)

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Editing Team 4: RedRoseAnn

Article Section: Style

The main points that we plan to use are how the Prologue and Epilogue relate to each other, how Butler writes in a mysterious way to make the reader captivated, and how Butler writes about American History, where the protagonist is sent back to the pre-civil war times and relives history.

Sources: Kindred, Janice Bogstad "Octavia E. Butler and Power Relationships", Marilyn Mehaffy and AnaLousie Keating "'Radio Imagination': Octavia Butler on the Poetics of Narrative Embodiment."

Doctor X's feedback:

1. For the "discovery" of Dana's and Kevin's ethnicity, see also Kubitschek 27 and Crossley 275.

2. Kindred is written from the first-person point of view of its protagonist, Dana. For the effects of using the first-person narrator, see Davis 2-3.

3. For Butler's framing of Dana's story between a "Prologue" and an "Epilogue" to pose and answer the question as to why Dana must time travel, see Kubitschek 25-26.

4. Butler uses time traveling a) as a metaphor, according to Crossley 274. b) as a way to juxtapose the past and the present. See Crossley 279; Mitchell 71; Bedore, "Kindred" 4; Steinberg 467, 472 column 2, 473 bottom to 474, first column; Foster 144; Vint 257; Sawyer 491.

5. Butler uses Alice as Dana's Doppelgänger to explore how one's environment influences one's destiny. See Mitchell, 54-55, Bedore, "Symbiosis," 75-76, Bedore, "Kindred," 4, and Westfahl 1120 at http://books.google.com/books?id=M_3kNDKhxIcC&lpg=PA1400&ots=UCtZ_Beq-Q&dq=The%20Greenwood%20Encyclopedia%20of%20Science%20Fiction%20and%20Fantasy%3A%20Themes%2C%20Works%2C%20and%20Wonders&pg=PA1120#v=onepage&q=kindred%20octavia%20butler&f=false.

6. According to Bedore, "Symbiosis," Butler uses character repetition to blur the boundaries between past and present race relationships. See pages 75-79.

Article Section: The critique or revision of American history

The main point that we plan to cover are date of independence (July 4), which in the book, it is also the 200th bicentennial. This date is significant in the book because that is the day that the protagonist leaves the plantation for good and is no longer a slave, so she gained her independence back after killing her master.

Sources:" Kindred, Foster, Guy Mark. "'Do I Look Like Someone You Can Come Home to from Where You May Be Going?': Re-Mapping Interracial Anxiety in Octavia Butler's Kindred.", Yaszek, Lisa. "'A Grim Fantasy': Remaking American History in Octavia Butler's Kindred."

Doctor X's feedback:

1. For the meaning of the 4th of July, see also Crossley 276. For the meaning of the Bicentennial, see Kubitschek 28, Mitchell 53, and Steinberg 467.

2. For the historical background of Butler's critique, see Yaszek 1054 and 1057; for how the novel responds to Black Power contempt of slaves' submission, see Baccolini 27; the Black Scholar interview 15, Rowell 51; for Kindred as a response to American history, see Crossley 276-278; as a response to American history as commercialized by television, see Yaszek, end of 1058 and 1059; for Kindred as a "novel of memory", see Rushdy 136.

3. For how, by "living" history, Dana discovers the connections between slavery and present-day America, see Rushdy, 144; for how Dana's musings reveal similarities between past and present, see Mitchell 64

4. For how Dana changes history, see Rushdy 143.

Redrosex1025 (talk) 18:39, 28 April 2014 (UTC), Redhead321 (talk) 18:41, 28 April 2014 (UTC),An286 (talk) 18:42, 28 April 2014 (UTC) Lissetlot15 (talk) 17:29, 5 May 2014 (UTC)

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Editing Team 5: Dana is All Right

Article Section: Genre
We believe that Kindred is a science fiction, fantasy, historical, and Neo-slave narrative.

Sources: Govan, Sandra Y. "Homage to Tradition: Octavia Butler Renovates the Historical Novel." MELUS 13.1-2 (Spring-Summer 1986): 79-96. JSTOR. Web. 27 Jan. 2014. Kenan, Randall "An Interview with Octavia E. Butler" Robert Crossley

Doctor X's feedback:

1. For Butler's definition of Kindred as fantasy, see the Black Scholar interview, 14; Kenan 495-96, as you mention.

2. For Kindred's changing classification, see Bedore 4, Smith Foster.

3. For Kindred's classification as neo-slave narrative, see Donawerth 218-219; Govan 79 and 81; Crossley 265; Vint 241-242 and 256, note 2; Yaszek 1053-1054.

4. For the ways that Kindred inverts the slave narrative, see Steinberg essay; for a rejection of the classification of Kindred as neo-slave narrative, see Foster 145-147.

5. For how Kindred uses two science-fiction devices: time-travel and the encounter with the alien, see Yaszek 1058-1063.

6. For how Kindred's time traveling narrative places it with texts such as Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse Five, see Booker and Thomas; Bould et al.

7. For Kindred as a variation of the "grandfather paradox," see Baccolini 27; for time travel as a metaphor of the Middle Passage, see Baccolini 28 and Crossley 268; for how Dana's interpretation of the time-travel paradox forces her collaboration with the white master, see Westfahl 1120-1121 at http://books.google.com/books?id=M_3kNDKhxIcC&lpg=PA1400&ots=UCtZ_Beq-Q&dq=The%20Greenwood%20Encyclopedia%20of%20Science%20Fiction%20and%20Fantasy%3A%20Themes%2C%20Works%2C%20and%20Wonders&pg=PA1120#v=onepage&q=kindred%20octavia%20butler&f=false

8. For the way that Kindred modifies the time-traveling motif of science fiction, see Vint 243.

9. Consider including the information on time travel already written in the article. If not, someone in the team please move it to the article's Talk page, explain why you moved it, and sign the edit on the Talk page.

Article Section: Trauma and its connection to historical memory (or historical amnesia)

physical, mental and emotional

Sources: Govan, Sandra Y. "Homage to Tradition: Octavia Butler Renovates the Historical Novel." MELUS 13.1-2 (Spring-Summer 1986): 79-96. JSTOR. Web. 27 Jan. 2014. Kenan, Randall "An Interview with Octavia E. Butler." Callaloo (spring 1991):495-504 Robert Crossley

Doctor X's feedback:

1. For the metaphorical meanings of Dana's loss of her arm: Kenan 498; Bedore 5; McEntee 524; Rushdy 143; Crossley 266-267.

2. For the meaning behind Kevin's forehead scar, see Paulin 188-189.

3. For how Kindred reminds white America of a time in history they would rather forget, see the Black Scholar interview 17-18; for Kindred's connection between slavery and the Holocaust, see Yaszek 1061.

4. Consider adding links to other Wikipedia pages on trauma: Historical trauma and Transgenerational trauma.

Adoreher (talk) 19:01, 28 April 2014 (UTC) The North Remembers16 (talk) 19:00, 28 April 2014 (UTC) Ronin1123 (talk) 18:57, 28 April 2014 (UTC)Nina9723 (talk) 19:02, 28 April 2014 (UTC)

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Editing Team 6: Team Butler

Article Section: Publication Information

Group Six Plan:
Search online for the revision history of Kindred Go to the Library and check for the physical copy of Kindred Check on Databases for Octavia E. Butler’s Bibliography Cite the sources we used Paste our work into Wikipedia’s Talk Page

• First Published as a hardcover by Doubleday in 1979
• First Published as a Beacon paperback in 1988 (Introduction by Robert Crossley was added)
• First Published as a Women’s Press in 1988
• Published as a Women’s Press in 1995
• Published by Beacon Press in 2003 (Reader’s Guide by Robert Crossley was added)
• Published Beacon Press in 2004 (25th Anniversary)

Citation:

Joe0312 (talk) 18:30, 28 April 2014 (UTC)US:Mayday (talk) 18:32, 28 April 2014 (UTC)Pacer87 (talk) 18:33, 28 April 2014 (UTC)Steezin (talk)

Doctor X's feedback:

1. For Kindred's working title, see Bogstad 30.

2. For how Kindred was advertised, see the Black Scholar interview 14.

3. Consider whether to include a link to Crossley's publications indicating when the introduction was added: http://www.umb.edu/academics/cla/faculty/robert_crossley

Article Section: Master-slave power dynamics

Reference Source: Paulin, Diana R. "De-Essentializing Interracial Representations: Black and White Border-Crossings in Spike Lee's Jungle Fever and Octavia Butler's Kindred." Cultural Critique 36 (Spring 1997): 165-193. JSTOR. 11 Feb. 2014.

• Oppression
• Punishments
• Manipulation
• Intimidation
• Acceptance and Collaboration
• Selling of Slaves
• Dependency on Slaves (Rufus and Dana)
  

Doctor X's feedback:

1. for a summation of the master-slave relationship, see Bedore, "Kindred," 4.

2. For the interdependence of master and slave, represented by the inexplicable nature of Dana's time traveling, which leaves open the question of whether she travels to safeguard Rufus or to confront the past, see Bedore, "Symbiosis" 75; for the masters' dependence on slaves, see Bedore, "Symbiosis" 80-81; for how Dana's mixed feelings about Rufus mirror those of the plantation slaves, see Yaszek 1062.

3. For the complexities of slave collaboration with the slaveholder, see Yaszek 1062; Beaulieu 129-130.

Article Section: The body/ female sexuality as site of power struggle

Reference Source: Baccolini, Raffaella. “Gender and Genre in the Feminist Critical Dystopias of Katharine Burdekind, Margaret Atwood, and Octavia Butler." Future Females, The Next Generation: New Voices and Velocities in Feminist Science Fiction. Ed. Marleen S. Barr. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2000. 13-34.

• Sexual Abuse (rape) - Rufus and Alice Tom Weilyn and the other women slaves
• No right over their bodies-objectified
• Forced Breeding
• Physical Punishment (Dana being hit on her breast)
• Jealousy/ Rufu’s Insecurities (When Rufus sold Sam)
• Perceptions of Kevin and Dana sexual life in 1815

Doctor X's feedback:

1. For how Butler uses female sexuality to explore power dynamics, see McEntee 254.

2. For the historical uses of the slave body and how the slave narrative reinterpreted slave bodies to affirm their "personhood," see Vint 244.

3. For how Dana's bodily experiences shape her identity, see Vint 248-252.

4. For how Kindred identifies rape as the one bodily violation that Dana will not tolerate, see Vint 252-254.

5. For Dana's body as a metaphor for slavery and her resistance to it, see Baccolini 29.

6. For a comparison of Dana's sexuality in the 20th Century and the 19th Century, see Mitchell 55-59.

7. For a description of Rufus' gradual control of Dana's sexuality, see Kubitschek 40; for Dana's rejection of Rufus' absolute control of her sexuality, see Paulin 186.

8. For how Rufus' rejection of Alice's agency reveals his loss of power and his need to recuperate it, see Paulin 186.

8. For how Alice must divorce her desire from her sexuality to preserve a sense of self, see Mitchell 60-62.

Article Section: Motherhood/mothering

Reference Source: Dorothy Allison. "The Future of Female: Octavia Butler's Mother Lode

• Forced Breeding
• Child raising
• Manipulation through children (very powerful)
• Mammy- Sarah (taking care of everyone)
• Dana’s mothering of Alice and Rufus
• Nature vs. Nurturing (Margaret vs. Dana)
• Sacrifice yourself for you children

:Doctor X's feedback:

1. For Butler's female characters as survivors who literally create the future by birthing and mothering the next generation at a great cost to themselves, see Allison 471-472; Jesser 50 and 53-54.

2. For Dana as mother figure, see Mitchell 62; Kubitscheck 35; Beaulieu 120-122 and 131.

3. For Alice as a forced and tragic mother, see Mitchell 62-63.

4. For Sarah's actions to preserve her family, see Mitchell 67-68; Crossley 270.

Joe0312 (talk) 19:15, 28 April 2014 (UTC) US:Mayday (talk) 19:18, 28 April 2014 (UTC)Steezin (talk) 19:18, 28 April 2014 (UTC)Pacer87 (talk) 19:23, 28 April 2014 (UTC)

Ongoing conversations with class members

Workgroups based on article sections > Click on 'Show' to see them

Workgroups based on article sections Ann (User:Mozucat) and I were discussing, that because this class is focusing on just one article (unlike most classes where everyone works on a different article), it might make sense to split up into workgroups of 2 or 3 students, each focusing on a major section of the article. A good method of picking workgroups might be to look at the types of article sections that turn up in other well-developed Wikipedia articles on books falling under speculative fiction and African American literature, and plan an outline for this article based on that.--Pharos (talk) 21:40, 15 February 2014 (UTC) Hey Pharos and (User:Mozucat). Great minds think alike! See, for instance, Weeks 4, 5, and 7. They definitely will be working in small teams (3-4 students) based on a chosen theme (one of the major article sections in the WikiProject Novels style page) plus other sections that we outline as a class on Week 8 (I will have an outline of my own, but I would rather we decide as a group). On an unrelated note, the two technical things that worry me are 1) making sure that students can get a Wikipedia account the first day. (The class meets once a week for three hours). I am going to encourage them to sign up using their smartphones, but I still expect many of them will have to use the lab's networked computers, which means we may get a message saying that there are too many requests from that address. Any ideas on how to manage that? I could send some to the library computers, I guess. 2) Whether, and if so, when to introduce Visual Editor. DrX (talk) 22:14, 15 February 2014 (UTC) Suggestions on Kindred's plot summary The third sentence in the plot summary does not seem significant at all. I believe it has very little importance, therefore it should be removed.R 1994 (talk) 19:14, 10 March 2014 (UTC)Raphael Abreu

Hello

Hello. I am responding back to your message. Feel free to make any suggestions.