Poor Things

We read the craziest novels in IAH 207. It is a course focused on Scottish identities. The professor assigns interesting novels for the class to read. They are all humors, wacky and sometimes dark and depressing all at the same time. The last book I read for the class was Poor Things.

Poor Things is a story about a scientist revitalizing a corpse of a woman. He transplants the brain of the woman’s unborn child into the dead woman drawing many comparisons with the creation of the monster in Frankenstein. The novel is similar to Frankenstein by the mad scientist and Victorian gothic style of writing.

Poor Things is an interesting novel and is written as the memoir of Archibald McCandless, Scottish doctor. The story focuses on Archibald McCandless and a man he works with, Godwin Baxter. Baxter’s character is similar to Dr. Frankenstein. He performs sensational medical procedures. The most outstanding procedure he performs is the creation of life. Baxter brings life to a dead woman. He does so by transplanting her brain with the brain of the fetus she is carrying. He names this creation Bella. Bella is an adult woman with an infant’s mind. Belle changes her name to Victoria later in the story.
By: Brittany McCallum

Cover of Poor Things

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Former DPS school teacher could become Supreme Court nominee

By: Allen Martin

President Barack Obama is considering Ann Claire Williams, a former third-grade Detroit Public Schools teacher, as his next Supreme Court nominee. I was intrigued by this article because it brings the very essence of localization to life. Here you have a national story with a local twist to it. The article also caught my attention because I used to attend Detroit Public Schools during my elementary school days and it would be great to see a teacher from where I’m from make it to our Supreme Court.

Williams is from Detroit and has attended Wayne State University and University of Michigan. She also attended the University of Notre Dame to acquire her law degree. Adding to her impressive list of accomplishments, Williams has served as a U.S. attorney and federal U.S. district court judge in Chicago.

I love how the article adds a homely feel by talking about how when she a small child she wanted to become a Motown star, at times breaking out in song. Hearing about her possible nomination is exciting to me because it shows kids in my town that you can make something of yourself, no matter where your from.

Pulitzer Prize Cartoonist

Mark Fiore is an editorial cartoonist who creates political cartoons from an undisclosed location in San Francisco. His work appears regularly in a wide variety of online news web sites. I felt like he efficiently utilizes his multimedia skills with every cartoon he illustrates. Not only are the editorial cartoons informative, but they are visually capitvating and interesting, which is what many web surfers are looking for.

Today is an age where even well-written articles are overlooked, simply because society looks for an easier way to get their news. They want videos that play with the click of a button.

Though, with an age so driven by visual entertainment on the internet, the content in these videos must also be easily grasped and understood. Mark Fiore does all of that–and then some.

Not only are the cartoons well-crafted artistically, but the scrfipts behind them are EXTREMELY well written. The voice overs are well fitting and the sound effects create the perfect scene. The animations tackle hard topics with a sense of humor and deliver your “NEWS in a NUTSHELL.”

As a side note, everyone should watch “Un-gay.” Hilarious!

By Mo Hnatiuk

The Burger That Shattered Her Life

By Brittany McCallum:

While searching for an interesting Pulitzer Prize story I came across this title that caught my attention. I immediately wanted know more about the burger. I recently became a vegetarian and have a new desire for learning about the production and distribution of meat products.

The New York Times’s Michael Moss won a Pulitzer Prize for his reporting on contaminated beef and food safety issues. The story focuses on Stephanie Smith, a children’s dance instructor. Smith thought she had a stomach virus, but her kidneys shut down.  Seizures knocked her unconscious. The convulsions grew so relentless that doctors had to put her in a coma for nine weeks. When she emerged, she could no longer walk. The affliction had ravaged her nervous system and left her paralyzed. Ms. Smith, 22, was found to have a severe form of food-borne illness caused by E. coli, which Minnesota officials traced to the hamburger that her mother had grilled for their Sunday dinner in early fall 2007. (New York Times)

Ben Garvin for The New York Times Stephanie Smith, 22, was paralyzed after being stricken by E. coli in 2007. Officials traced the E. coli to hamburger her family had eaten.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/04/health/04meat.html?_r=1

Weekly Blog Post Mo Hnatiuk

Just today I read an article that Zane had tweeted. It discussed Elián Gónzalez, who tried to escape Cuba on a raft that got him to Florida 10 years ago. As a six-year-old boy, he attempted to flee the communist nation with his mother. Now, as a teenager, he is a member of the Young Communist League in Cuba. Talk about irony.

The article  says that following his forced return to Cuba “he was taken under the wing of Fidel Castro himself and his birthdays are publically celebrated as true revolutionary acts.” It’s honestly heartbreaking to see a child who’s mother died in an attempt to give him a life free of communist rule become a part of the communist nation who caused her demise.

Not only did I find this article an interesting read, but since this class began I have been finding myself reading a lot more because of Twitter. The links from different newspapers and people that I am following have provided myself with ample distractions from my school work- extremely bittersweet.

By Mo Hnatiuk

The Trick is to Keep Breathing

By: Brittany McCallum

“The Trick is to Keep Breathing” is an interesting story of a woman dealing with clinical depression. The story is told through her thoughts. It is very different from most novels, allowing the readers to connect with the characters mind. Readers feel like they are wearing the shoes of the main character by reading exactly what the character is thinking.

The novel, “The Trick is to Keep Breathing”, is written by Janice Galloway. The author chose a unique style of writing. The text is in different fonts, different font sizes and some sentences run off the page. Galloway chose this style to show that it is not supposed to be read like a regular book. She wanted her readers to know that they are reading the main characters thoughts. Galloway was successful using a different writing style. The style was realistic.Galloway does an outstanding job representing how serious expectations from society can affect a person, especially women. One theme shown he novel is body image. Women cannot escape the pressure of how they are supposed to look.

Weekly Reading Blog Mo Hnatiuk

This week I read an article from the New York Times titled Lament for a Dying Field: Photojournalism.

As an aspiring photojournalist, this really upsets me.

The article touches on the fact that photojournalism is not really one of those careers one goes into anymore in order to have a “stable future.”  Many freelance journalists simply add their photos to bulk websites which are then sold by the website manager to newspapers and other online publications. While sometimes this pays off for freelancers (they may or may not get a stipend depending on the website they belong to) it is certainly causing a problem for photojournalists who want to get paid for their field of work.

As a student, I do both freelance and photojournalism. In a way, I feel like this may become  the way of future photojournalists. In fact, journalists such as Elizabeth Conley, Detroit News, have their own freelance business where they make some extra cash on the side– like taking pictures for weddings or portfolios.

While still upsetting, I did find this article enlightening– perhaps giving me some comfort that the way I go about my business is just what I am meant to do.