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(2017
premidterm assignment) Model Student Pre-midterm answers 2017 (Index) Essay 2: Propose topic for research and reading essay on personal / professional topic of your choice |
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Katie
Morin
10/12/2017
The Face of the Future: Octavia Butler
While I can honestly say that I have enjoyed each of the readings covered
so far this semester, one writer in particular stands out from the rest: Octavia
Butler. Since I have only just been exposed to her work, I look forward to
learning more about her over the next few weeks. I believe further research will
benefit me personally since I am relatively new to the genre, but as an aspiring
teacher who feels that Butler’s works should be more widely read and discussed,
I will profit from a professional standpoint as well.
While I believe authors of futuristic literature each exhibit some level of innovation, Butler manages to do so while also addressing the flaws and shortcomings of both present and future societies. So far I have only finished reading her novel entitled Parable of the Sower, where I could see how the narrative’s protagonist, Lauren Olamina, struggles to survive in a society rife with racism, violence, poverty, and sexism. Parable of the Sower serves as a social criticism which brings to light issues that are still very relevant to this day, but likely even more so during Butler’s lifetime. As a future educator hoping to make a difference in her students’ lives, I believe Butler’s writing to be both engaging and impactful. Because of this, I intend to study more of her work firsthand (Parable of the Talents, Kindred, and “Speech Sounds,” specifically) in addition to conducting outside research in order to better comprehend (and later convey to others) the importance of Butler’s works.
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