better than a man?

After taking a closer look at Speech Sounds I started to think more about the question posed in class about whether or not the author portrayed woman better then men in this story. You know what struck me most about this was when we started to discuss it we somewhat became defensive for Rye, but not for Obsidian. It was funny to me that there was such a reaction to the thought of Rye using him. Why couldn't she be using him more then he was using her. I mean look what he was getting if he was using her sex that's it really. On the other hand she was getting sex, protection, a ride, companionship and a way to forget. I 100% believe now that Rye was portrayed not better than a man but for some reason we still thought she was.

I wonder if we were to change Rye to being a man and obsidian to a woman how would we view the relationship then? I think the thought of a woman being the user is still hard for people to think. I think this story takes a look at those beliefs. I think taking a deeper look it makes us question the equal treatment of woman today. Why can't they be just as much of a user as a man? Thomas Moss (post 13)

Scared of Judgement

Everyone is seperated by looks, sexuality, and actions. In life what a person has is their own personality which truely defines them. In "Transformation of Silence Into Language and Action" Audre Lorde she states how if you stay in your safe corner not saying a word you will be safe and fear nothing. In life you should take chances and state your opinion and let your presence be known. Which is how you should be judged by your personality which comes out with your voice.
When Audre Lorde states "I think, we fear the very visiblity without which we also cannot truly live." It made me think about how a person is more afraid of being judged then actually saying what they wanted to say. Instead of speaking out and making a difference in there own life they stayed silent. This also hurts the people around them to make them know how you feel about a certain subject and could possibly also effect a bigger impact on life with out saying what you think or feel and worrying about being judged things could possibly be way different in the whole world right now.
Kevin Ostempowski Post 2

Loneliness

In "Speech Sounds" Rye was always alone even in my mind when she was with Obsidian. She was alone for 3 years after all of her family died because of the disease which spread all over the world. When she met Obsidian she was still alone to me because of at first wanting to kill him because she found out he could read and write. When he began to touch her she did not really know how to accept it because of being by herself for so long. She had sex with him because of the fact she wanted the short term pleasure instead of worrying about the long term problems with possibly having a baby without a father. She was so fast to want him to be with her she wanted to have sex with him afterward again. Rye also wanted him to come back with her to her house so she wouldn't have to go to Pasadena.
Rye finally convinces him to go with her to her house. When they get into the car to go back to her house she wants to make sure he is her's by pinning on her pendante onto his LAPD badge. When Obsidian is killed she throws up because she is sick from all the death and loneliness she has had to deal with in her life. The reason Butler kills Obsidian so fast in my opinion is because she doesn't want Rye to have the feeling of love or not being alone. She shows that Rye must go on alone in her life because she loved once and shouldn't love again.
Kevin Ostempowski Post 1

Silence is Golden, or is it?

In Audre Lorde's "The Transformation of Silence into Language and Action" it is conveyed that silence may not be the best for society or for yourself. Many people do things in life based on fear, however I feel that fear often paralyzes a person. If people remain quiet or silent, that silence can be seen as the protector from their fears. To remain silent is to not defend a position, explain a statement, or open yourself to new ideas.

In my personal opinion, speaking, especially the truth is what builds community. To remain silent is to hide from one's fears and feel as if you are protected. However, I don't feel that you are safe in silence. The illusion of feeling safe appears to me that it could be dangerous to the person themselves, almost like a self-destruction. Everyone should speak to tell yourself that your beliefs and ideas are real and should be able to become reality, not just stay hidden within you. I think this is the moral that Lorde wants us to believe, not the old rule that silence is a virtue or golden. (Shawn Parkhurst, 16)

Reading and Writing or Speech

In the short story "Speech Sounds" by Octavia Butler the main characters along with the rest of the population have lost either their ability to speak or read and write or quite possibly both. Rye has lost only her ability to read and write, but still as the ability to speak, while Obsidian as retained the ability to read and write, but not speak. Although either way you look at it your communication skills have been lost to a degree and it will affect how you interact with others.

If I had to choose I would have to pick the ability to speak, over reading and writing. A persons voice is unique, distinct and helps define personality. Also, the ability to speak would be much easier to communicate with others because you can keep expanding on what your trying to describe, while if you only knew how to read and write you run out of ways to try to explain things with body language. For example, people may know how to read and write; understand another language, but when they are trying to describe what they need to the person they can't understand because that person does not have the ability to speak it. My voice defines me and I use it everyday, I do not need to read and write to get a point across. (Shawn Parkhurst, 15)

Speak

If I had to choose between being able to read and write, or speak. I would pick speaking. I have many things to say and I know if I was restricted to just writing, my voice would not be heard.

Everyone has their own voice, and without saying what you think many people will not take it the way you want them to take it. Like for example when you use your own voice it shows emotion and who you truly are. Your voice can be heard, and when you write it can be read but not heard, unless it is great. (Nicole Butzke, Post 17).

For Granted?

I think we take the ability to read, write and speak for granted. In the story "Speech Sounds" there were two separate people who had the ability. Rye could speak and Obsidian could read and write. In society today, I think we take the ability for granted because many people do not have it.

When people can not read or write, or speak they are put into separate classes when you are young. Many people are not well educated, and for that reason they are put down. In schools today, kids are tested. If the tests results come back low they are put with special help. The kids that are with the special help get picked on by the other kids. I saw it happen in my school when i was in high school the word "Retarded" was used. (Nicole Butzke, Post 16).

Breaking the Barrier

"The Transformation of Silence into Language" was an inspiring story. Audre Lorde had explained the significance of communication with society. Silence is something that can be fixed, one that can be rendered in order for a voice to be heard. Everyone has a voice, but sometimes it is difficult to speak about what is on one's mind. Silence is not a shield to hide behind but rather a shield that must be broken to reveal the true person. Lorde makes it sound as if we shouldn't be afraid to speak and to produce a voice which will represent who you are. The story that she shares about the cancer situation is tough and very sad, but a voice became the antidote. It is our silence that keeps us from being free and sharing ourselves to the world, so we must break this silence barrier and speak up.

Silence is a cage, a barrier, a wall in which we must break through. Lorde had explained that death is the ultimate silence when no more life is present. Death can prevent us from saying what it truly important to us, and we should thereby say what is on our minds before it is too late. That is to say that we shouldn't go around saying every last detail on our minds, but rather what is important and to have a voice for society to recognize you by. One's voice is a powerful tool in that it can allow one to connect to their surroundings. We should speak the truth and free ourselves from silence, because silence could evidently be the death of you.
(David Roberts, Post 16)

Actions Speak Louder Than Words

The story of "Speech Sounds" was an interesting read, portraying what the future would be like if speech was not present. It is hard to imagine such a world, one in which the basic means of communication is a difficult task. The people appear to resort to their body language to do all the talking for them, which is hard to believe but it seems to be rather effective when it comes to Rye and Obsidian. They make almost an instant connection with Obsidian coming to investigate the problem that has occured on the bus between the two civilians. He tries to get Rye to come with him, although they are complete strangers, which only further strengthens the connection between them. Rye is able to speak, but cannot read, while Obsidian is able to read and write but cannot speak, at least not properly. Basically their strengths help of speaking and reading and writing help to make up a complete person, which is perhaps the reason why Rye was so drawn to Obsidian in the first place. Obsidian's actions speak for themselves, thereby making not speaking not an issue.

Although Rye is able to make a positive connection with Obsidian, he is soon killed off. Obsidian had tried to stop a man from stabbing a fleeing woman and he even shot him. However, the man was not dead and grabbed a gun and shot Obsidian through his temple thereby killing him. It is an unfortunate event, but it could have been fate. After this incident takes place, Rye discovers two children who are believed to be the woman's children. What is so significant about these kids is that they can speak! Rye has discovered someone else who can finally demonstrate the ability to speak, which could mean that the virus hasn't affected them yet, or that they could possibly be immune to the virus. If they are immune this could mean that a cure could be developed, which coould prevent the further spread of the virus. The kids are almost thrown into Rye's life after Obsidian had been killed. Rye had wanted to feel the compassion of another human being, one who had not been completely rendered senseless from the effects of the virus. Obsidian was the perfect person for Rye, but all good things must come to an end, and soon he is killed off. The two kids had sort of replaced Obsidian in the fact they Rye was no longer alone. She would now be able to communicate with another person and one that would actually speak back.
(David Roberts, Post 15)

The Breaking of Silence

I enjoyed this speech of Audre Lorde who gives an unique view on what silience is. I never saw silence before as a dieses or a cancer that spreads to detroys ones body. But as t I thought about, I found it more and more true. Everybody has a fear wether it is self afflicted or inflicted upon by other. And I think she articulates this quite well as she says " In the cause of silence, each one of us draws the face of her own fear."(21) And these fear really affect us in proper living. Sometimes they get so bad the it destroys morals and even ones sanity. But truely if we don't Break the silence, death is sooner than we think." While we wait in silence for that final luxury of fearlesness, the weight of that silence will choke us."(23) So lets break the silence.

The Tragedy of being Misunderstood

The the story "speech Sounds" we see a world in utter ruin. It seems to that bulter was trying to communicate to us the importance of communicating between one another. We see in this world a lack of understanding between one another because they can not speak to each other. theirs fighting and violence all around and is that what we are today when we cannot proper understand each other. We just act like animals, taking what we want and killing and beating who ever we want. it remind me of a the tower of babel story in the bible, when they loss the ability to speak in one language, men started getting angry and violence there to erupted. It seem strange that though they can communicate through writing they still put the greater value on speak in stead of adapting. I guess the loss of ones voice means everything to a person in a world of silence.

Breaking the Silence

"The Transformation of Silence Into Langugae and Action" was very interesting to read. I enjoyed the way Audre Lorde included her breast cancer story. When someone is told that they have some kind of cancer that could potentially kill you it opens up your eyes to the way you are living your life. I definitely get the point that Audre did open her eyes and try to realize what she was doing with her life. She says "becoming forcibly and essentially aware of my mortality, and of what I wished and wanted for my life."

This shows the awareness brought to you when something drastic happens. This work makes me think of this girl that I learned about while living in Chicago. Her name is Erin Merryn. She wasn't told about having cancer or anything like that but she was sexually abused when she was younger. She was raped at the age of 3 by an uncle of a friend but then molested from ages 11-13 by an older cousin. This took away her innocence as a child. Soon after she learned that he was doing the same thing to her sister. This made Erin realize she needed to speak up. In 1996, she started speaking out in schools and other organizations to gain awareness for this epidemic. She gained from this terrible tragedy a voice. Her voice is very important for our society. She used her voice to write books and even go to lawmakers.

There are so many examples of silence that need to be broken but when something drastic happens we need to break the silence just like Audre is saying here and how Erin did. This is a very important message that we all need to accept. We need to spread the message to break the silence regarding any issue in society. Voice is the most important thing that we have and can share.

No More Silence

I loved “The Transformation of Silence into Language and Actions”. I thought it had an amazing message for all of us to think about. While certain silences can have their benefits, I think that Lorde is mainly speaking about the silence that each and every person uses when they don’t want to express what they are thinking about, whether because they are afraid or anything else. This is the kind of silence that we think offers some sort of protection, when in fact it just keeps you in the dark and isolated from others that might be experiencing the same things you are.

I also understand her viewpoint about her experience with cancer, and how that brought about her revelations about silence. I hear stories about how cancer has made things clearer to people because it is an experience that really forces you examine your life. People really come to grips about where their lives are and what they have or haven’t done in their lifetimes. I hear stories like this all the time through my work with the American Cancer Society, but what I like about Lorde’s evaluation of silence is that it is a message so simple that we should all know and embrace already, but we don’t. We use silence as a protection all the time. I know I have done it too many times to count. But we never get anywhere by staying silent. It just keeps us at the same point in our lives. It is when we finally discover why we use silence, and finally learn to speak up that we start moving forward again.

I also thought that her daughter’s point about not being a whole person when you remain silent was quite enlightening as well. I like the idea that you are finally whole when you speak your mind because what you are speaking are your own thoughts. No matter what anyone else says, you have a right to think and speak your own mind, and no one has the right to tell you that your thoughts and ideas are stupid or dumb. It was fear of those people who say things like that that made me stay silent. And after reading this speech, I hope I will never give anyone that power over me ever again.

(Sarah Jaworowicz, Post 16)

The book of Rye

You may be wondering about the title well I recently saw the movie "The Book of Eli". It's about a man traveling across America in what seems to be a time of plague and destruction. The setting is quite similar to Speech Sounds. Eli seems to be carrying a book that can help create a new world. Without ruining the movie for anyone Eli played by Denzel Washington actually has a disability making it quite a remarkable story. If you compare these two stories you have two people with a disability caused most likely by the misfortune of what is going on in the world. There is also an emphasis on the importance of the written word in both stories. Lastly you have a relationship between the opposite sex where each is getting a need fulfilled by the other person. All and all very similar.
I'm including a trailer clip I found just a warning it is a little violent, but I think it shows a picture of what the world may look like in Speech Sounds. My question is where do you think we'd be today if we didn't have the ability to read? Would there be religion? Would we have a history? What about other cultures would we know about them? I mean how many people have actually been out of the country and how many people have learned about them from books? Anyway here is the clip I think you may see some visual that correspond directly with the story. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HlneJ7W7lAc. Thomas Moss (post 12)

Would You?

I really enjoyed the story “Speech Sounds,” but I was totally not expecting the point it left me with. It might not have anything to do with the actual story, but I really felt like Butler was asking us a question with the character of Obsidian, who is so determined to do the right thing in a very dangerous society. I think she is asking us whether, given this kind of desperate situation, would we do the right thing, even though doing so could very possibly cost us our lives? Or do we sit idly by and protect ourselves?

It is a very interesting question to me. This kind of situation has been asked of me in a high school Holocaust class, which required me to be a prisoner in a Nazi camp (not that I am equating this society with a Nazi prison camp. It is just a very similar, but real life application of this question). Would I protect a member of my family if a Nazi was beating them, even though it could very possibly mean my death? I don’t think it is possible to give a definitely true answer until we are faced with that situation in real life.

But I also think that it is an interesting question to pose to the characters in this particular story. Obsidian has already proven that he would not protect his own life, but would try to save the victim. But what would Rye do? I think at the beginning of this story she very possibly would protect her own life. She took herself completely out of the situation on the bus, which could have resulted in a huge brawl, and she didn’t join the situation with the woman until Obsidian told her to see if the woman could be saved. Even then, she didn’t become involved really until the man had shot Obsidian and was about to turn the gun on her.

However, I think that Rye’s opinion on the question changes as soon as she finds out that the children can speak. She had been on the verge of leaving them behind to fend for themselves, but then the little girl cries out to keep Rye from taking the woman. Rye recognizes what these children could mean for both her and the society they live in. They could possibly be an indication that the epidemic that has burdened them for so many years is finally on the way out, and they prove that it is possible to teach the young children in the society language. These children give Rye a real purpose in her life. She now has someone to teach again, and I think that Rye would have protected them and that hope they gave her with her life if need be.

(Sarah Jaworowicz, Post 15)

Africaqn American Rights

In this essay, many good points are brought up about African American rights. I think that the message being conveyed here is that African Americans have been imprisoned for so long and now they should have their voice to speak out and say what is on their mind. The song she writes about describes how mistreated and how poor Blacks were and how labor took affect on their lives. Speaking out from this African American writer is a good way to give African Americans the courage and strength they need to come together and fight for their rights. Forming unity with each other is a major step in receiving equality and freedom.

Reading about Kwanza seems like it has a major impact on African Americans. Each day represents something special to them. Unity is important because it forms a bond between them that cannot be broken. Self determination is important because it helps them through life and succeed their goals that they strive for and givers them the power to break away and become free within oneself. The last elemnt that was talked about was work and responsibility. This is important because it gives and African American an identity that represents who they are and what they stand for. It is important for them because they want to be treated like a normal person and this is one of the ways that they can show that by hard work and taking responsibility for thir actions. (Mason Roessler Post 14)

Mum's the Word

In "Speech Sounds," there is great significance to the story's theme of the characters using gestures instead of actual words to talk to one another. It is however important to use words frequently. Words are like air in that everybody needs it and everybody uses it. They form sentences to make statements, comments, or questions. If we did not use words, how would anybody know what we are talking about? These blog entries consists of words to let each other know what is on our minds. Words are imporatnt to everyday life such as reading the newspaper to keep updated on current events, Presidential speeches to let our nation know the status that we are in, and just simply talking to friends by finding common interest between them. Anywhere you look you always see words. Some our rules and guidelines that are to be respected and some are grafitti designs that people use to get their point across. Bottom line is without words, our society cannot function.

Gestures can be useful in some situations too. In playing baseball, the batter and runners look for signs and signals by their coaches as a code to either bunt or steal depending on their strategies. Same thing with the pitcher and cather giving out signs instead of talking so the other team does not know what you are going to do next. Crossing guards use hand motions to direct traffic so people can see if they can continue to drive on and know when to stop. In ways gestures can be helpful and easier than words, but they do go hand in hand with each other so you really do need both to function and not one without the other. (Mason Roessler Post 13)

Deeper Desires

The story "Motherfucker," by Aimee Bender was defintiely interesting to say the least. It was strange and I had to read it a couple of times to really try to figure out the deeper meaning. This man went around having sex with only single mothers. That was the connect between all the woman, mothers. That is odd. I feel like there should be a deeper meaning behind this desire but I had some trouble figuring it out. I feel like he keeps jumping from each other and not returning their calls because they aren't giving him the true desire he is feeling.

There is something missing in his life that none of these woman can fulfill. He keeps trying to find this secret desire. Eventually all this searching is going to catch up to him and he will feel the emptiness that he really has inside. I guess this story fits in well with the book because it is definitely odd. Bender does a good job of keeping us interested by her crazy twists in her stories.
(Kelcey Summers, Extra Credit)

Would you rather...?

In the story, Speech Sounds by Octavia Butler, the characters have chosen between having the ability to read and write or the ability to talk. During class, one of the questions we were asked to think of was which ability we would rather keep, the ability to read and write or the ability to speak. This is an interesting point to think about beccause these abilities are definitely taken for granted. How would we communicate if we couldn't speak? How would we learn if we couldn't read? I thought a long time about this ability and I believe that I would rather have the ability to read and write rather than speak.

I chose to give away the ability to speak in order to keep the ability to read and write because I believe reading and writing gives you more knowledge than speaking does. Books can give you so much knowledge and you can learn about different topics in the world. In class you read books in order to broaden your knowledge of certain topics. Reading is food for the brain according to some authors. I believe you can communicate your thoughts through writing just as well as you can through talking. Personally, I avoid confrontation so some times when I need to confront someone about something I do it through writing a note or a message because it is easier for me to convey my thoughts on paper rather than verbally. Writing is very important to me and I would rather have that ability any day rather than the ability to speak.
(Kelcey Summers 15)

House of Desire

The story of the "Motherfucker" was interesting to say the least. It seemed odd for Aimee Bender to incorporate such a story as this considering what she usually writes about, this came across as being more normal. However, the ending was quite similar to the rest of the endings in many of her stories, that being of sad nature. The main character in this short story acts like this is some game to be played, but only with women who already have children, which makes his actions look all the more inappropriate. He does appear to have a motive for why he might be doing all of this and perhaps it is because he is missing something in his life. He doesn't really appear to have anything else really going for him besides having sex with mothers and then not returning their calls. Also, he might have had this happen to him where some woman who he liked essentially just used him for sex.

Nothing about this story seemed at all odd when compared to stories like "Ironhead" or "The Leading Man." It actually reminded me of the movie "Wedding Crashers" because is was pretty similar in its events. It is evident that the motherfucker is not fulfilling his life and he is doing this because he can, there really isn't any purpose. It isn't until the end that he is viewed as being unhappy, while the starlet is better off now. He seemed like he was in control of his life for the majority of the story, but at the end he just seems lost, like he has been doing so much but nothing has progressed in his life at all.
(David Roberts, Extra Credit)

Loving Blood Child or Slave

Although this story seems to represent a case of domination and slavery of another race, the author mentions in the afterword that it wasn't meant to. However, I think that was her goal. Although we have equal rights in our society and everyone is supposedly equal to one another, there is still racial tensions and injustices that occur. Many people do not agree with that today, and if you used a realistic narrative people wouldn't either understand or believe what the author was saying. By putting it in a science fiction form people may become more aware and understand what injustice really is.

If people were able to realize that these social injustices still exist in our society today and understand what our ancestors did to others we may be more willing to change our behavior and our beliefs. This is literary piece is very similar to almost all of the other stories we have read thus far. It discusses instances of social injustices and outcasts although in this piece the humans are the ones that who are being exploited. (Shawn Parkhurst, 14)

The Keys of Life

Aimee Bender's story "The Leading Man" is not as unusual as many of her other pieces. To me it represents a story of a normal man, with a unique talent going through life. Each and every person on this planet is unique or different in some way, which leads to how we live our lives. Our uniqueness sets us on a path for the rest of our lives. In my opinion the title represents a lot about the message of the author. "The Leading Man", a man that sets out on a path with his own talent (keys as fingers), he leads his life with his own options and choices.

On a different note, the white light that the father always complains about seems more important then its made out to be. I'm not 100 percent sure what it represents, but because he was away at war it reminds me of something like shell shock. Also it reminds of the brother in "The Red Convertible" and how war changes a person. We are unaware of the relationship between the father and son before the father goes to war, but assume that they were very close, and then the father goes off to war and comes back very different. The war makes him unable to be aware of his sons accomplishments of becoming a hero and appears that he doesn't fully understand the special talent that his son has. (Shawn Parkhurst, 13)