Movie vs. Book.

Barb Pohanish
Professor Cline
English 102
7 December 2010

Movie vs. Book

I would like to start off by saying, that I really enjoyed the movie, The Handmaid’s Tale. Fay Dunaway played the perfect “Serena Joy”, as well as Natasha Richardson as “Offred.” I would have liked to see a different actor play the Commander, other than Robert Duvall, definitely someone sexier.
In most instances when someone has to compare a book that they’ve read to the movie, the movie usually is not as good as the book. In this case the movie addressed some unanswered questions that I had after reading the book.
The first scene in the movie shows Kate “Offred”, her husband, and their daughter walking towards the border in the snow, when all of a sudden the military police shoots her husband, they capture Kate, but they don’t capture the little girl. Then it shows the little girl wandering around in the snow, while she calls out for mommy. This beginning in the movie grabbed my attention more than the book did.
The movie also authenticated the character of Aunt Lydia more than the book did, I couldn’t picture Aunt Lydia while reading the book. The movie also did the same for Moira; I don’t remember reading how Moira actually escapes. It was an interesting twist to watch, as Offred and Moira tie Aunt Lydia up in the bathroom, and Offred is never a

suspect.
There are a few things that the movie didn’t show, the first were the white wings that the handmaids wear, also I didn’t get the impression that the Bible was kept locked up. I didn’t see any angels in the movie either. I thought the movie should have shown, the Japanese tourists approaching Offred. The importance of that scene, is to show the audience how much Offred really misses the little pleasures in life ( makeup and nail polish) and to make the point, that you don’t know how much you miss something, until you no longer have it.
I didn’t get the impression, that Nick and Offred were having sex, while reading the book. I didn’t read that Serena Joy is the one who suggests that Offred sleeps with Nick. The book does suggest that there is mutual attraction between Nick and Offred.
I really liked the last few scenes in the movie, particular, the scene where Offred slit’s the Commanders throat. That was unexpected, since there wasn’t any mention of that in the book. Also the scene where Offred is leaving the house with the guards and Nick, and Serena Joy comes running out of her room, yelling to the guards “I didn’t call you!” I loved that, it shows the audience that Nick is helping Offred escape The Republic of Gilead. The last scene of the movie shows Offred walking along a path to her trailer in the mountains, with her dog, and she is pregnant. She tells the audience that she is safe in the mountains and she receives messages from Nick.
I enjoyed both the book and the movie. They both brought missing information that filled each other‘s void, which is great. Since watching the movie, I understand the entire story more.

Topic Proposal.

Barb Pohanish
Professor Cline
English 102
11 November 2010

Topic Proposal

The topic that I plan to explore for Essay #4 is Cults. You can compare The Handmaid’s Tale to a cult. The definition of cult is: A group of people showing such devotion. (Webster Dictionary). It doesn’t say whether this devotion is voluntary or forced. In regard to cults and The Handmaid’s Tale, the devotion is definitely forced. For this blog post, you have asked; What about this text confuses you? Cults don’t confuse me. The answer to this question is not the subject that I’m writing my paper about. My confusion is I don’t really understand what led up to the Republic of Gilead? Was it World War III? I read the book and then re-read some chapters. Another confusing point is how do we know that Offred made it to the Canadian Border? As you can see my confusion has nothing to do with my subject matter (cults). My main question would be; “how do people end up in cults?” In comparing the book to cults, they are both the product of major “mind f**k” and master manipulators.
I chose the topic of cult’s because I’ve always found them interesting, how one person can get total strangers to do the weirdest and sickest things. It’s so crazy and very sad.
I don’t know how this subject matter will help me better understand Atwood. I don’t quite understand this question? Atwood is a writer, who came up with this insane story.
Works CitedWebster Dictionary. New Edition, Springfield, Massachusetts. 1994.

www.joinusthemovie.com/

Thesis Blog Post.

Barb Pohanish

Professor Cline

English 102

31 October 2010

Thesis Blog Post

1. A. This thesis statement is weak, because it’s making a claim. It is also making a broad claim. Statement (B) can be argued.
2. A. I think this thesis statement is weak, because it’s obviously true. The second choice (B) can be argued, and it raises questions.
3. B. This thesis statement is obviously true, and is a statement of fact. The (A) statement can definitely be argued.
4. A. This statement is very obvious. Choice (B) is more original than (A). This statement can also be argued.
5. A. This statement is too personalized. It’s not one sentence like (B) is, and although it’s arguable the statement is making a claim. Choice (B) is arguable, and it’s also one sentence. Choice (A) is too overstated.

My thesis statement for essay #3 is “There are many people in society that think, if you resisted or dodged the Vietnam War, you are un-American and disloyal.”
This statement is definitely arguable, it also is specific, and I do support it with evidence from my text in essay #3.

Evaluating Internet Sources.

Barb Pohanish
Professor Cline
English 102
24 October 2010
　
　

Evaluating Internet Sources

I found this article, “Beyond the Border of War” By Tamara Jones on The Washington Post website. The Washington Post is a reputable newspaper, and they have a website. I did some research on the writer, Tamara Jones, and she also has a great reputation within the journalism community. The Washington Post was affected by the economy, so in May of 2008 Tamara was offered a buy- out from them which she accepted. Prior to taking the buy -out, Tamara’s story on The Virginia Tech Shooting won the Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Reporting in 2008.
The Washington Post’s website is updated everyday. As for Tamara Jones, she mentioned in an interview that she wanted to write fiction. This article that she had written on draft deserter’s fleeing to Canada was very interesting. She talks about the people who have traveled to Canada instead of serving in the Vietnam War and the War in Iraq. This article will be of use to me when I’m writing essay #3.

Article for Essay #3.

Fennell,Tom, and Branswell, Brenda. " Hell no, they won't go: many draft dodgers found a home in Canada, and stayed." Maclean's. 24 April. 2000: Research Library Core, ProQuest. web. 21 October 2010.

I'm going to research this article, and others on draft dodgers during the Vietnam War. This relates to Tim O'Brien, because in 1968, he received his draft letter for Vietnam. He panicked and drove towards the Canadian border, Tim ended up in the mountains of Minnesota, where he stayed with the owner of a lodge for six days. He then decided not to dodge the draft and ended up serving in Vietnam. This article is from a Canadian Periodical, called Maclean's which was published in 2000.

My Letter to Professor Cline.

October 12, 2010

Professor Cline
English Dept.
Yavapai College
Prescott, AZ 86301

Dear Professor Cline:

My biggest challenge in this class was setting up my blog. For whatever reason, setting up the blog was really difficult for me. I still don’t know how to post my picture in the little box (where you follow other blogs). My biggest challenge now is to comprehend how to write an analysis, I don’t quite understand it one hundred percent. I think my biggest success so far was writing the Summary vs. Analysis Paper.
I really have enjoyed reading, The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien. I especially enjoyed the story, Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong. I’ve always had a real interest in Vietnam. The Sean Huze play was o.k. It’s a lot easier to write about something that you enjoy reading. There is nothing worse than having to write about something that doesn’t interest me. Most of the poems that we had read didn’t catch my interest in the least, so it was really hard to write about them, and then I didn’t produce a good paper.
Literary analysis is quite different from what I’m used to. In my previous English Classes, and Critical Thinking Class, I was given a list of subjects to write about, or given the freedom to choose my own subject to write about. Last semester in English 101, I had to write essays on evaluation, observation, position, and reflection. Surprisingly I did really well in my previous writing classes.
My goal for the second half of this semester is to perfect my writing skills, and to fully understand how to write an analysis essay.