Friday, January 24, 2020

The Left Hand of Darkness :: Left Hand of Darkness Essays

The Left Hand of Darkness      Although the author of The Left Hand of Darkness, Ursula K. Le Guin discussed in the introduction that this book is not extrapolative or a prediction of future, the plots in the book are extraporative to some extent.   Since the story takes place in the past, Ekumenical Year 1490-97, this book is different from other science fictions which the stories take place in the future.   However, the issues that the author deal with in the book are a prediction of the future; it can happen.   Guin also claimed that "if I could have said it non-metaphorically, I would not have written all these words, this novel."   Her metaphoric settings and words confuse whether or not our world is natural.      Since Guin set the story in the past with extraordinary imagination, it was very hard to get into her world from the first chapter, Winter, Hainsh Cycle 93, Ekumenical Year 1490-97.   In the first chapter, the way that Guin introduces the story pulling the readers in mysterious or mythic worlds even beyond any imaginative worlds.   She explains her imaginative worlds in detail every once in a while yet it is not easy to share and to understand her worlds.   The main reason might be the story takes place in the past instead of 'future.'   We normally perceive a mythic future.   And also, we think that we can not change our history.      The author of Utopian and Science Fiction by Women: Worlds of Difference, Naomi Jacobs pointed out that Guin's theme is gender differences and sexuality in the frozen landscape.   In the story, Gethen describes the setting as a place of gender freedom.   Gender issues are sensitive issues in our culture and will remain as it is.   In Guin's imaginative world, men's pregnancy is a natural phenomenon.   This imagination is used in many other books and movies even today.   (For more info, see Jason's paper)   However, Guin's use of the imagination is difficult to share because her imaginative world has already passed.      The theme that Guin discussed in the book was similar to other science fictions.   Death and fear are always the theme in science fiction.   Throughout the story, people died in the frozen landscape and they have fear in their life.

Wednesday, January 15, 2020

Miracles of Life Reaction Paper

Remarkably beautiful, the â€Å"Miracles of Life† records human conception and much more. Living and functioning reproductive systems are shown in the video, and there is so much to explore and absorb. I followed the short journey of millions of sperm as they develop and strive mightily to reach the egg. And I noticed that there isn't a guy in the room who can watch footage without squirming! Likewise, magnification of up to half a million times the actual size allowed me to see the egg from its development in an ovary, through the delicate fallopian tube for fertilization, and on to the uterus for growth and eventual birth. I have never thought about what an absolute miracle my life is. I can’t imagine how I came to be. Out of thousands of eggs and millions of sperm, one egg and one sperm united to produce me. Had the union of sperm and egg come a day or even a month earlier or later, I might have been very different, maybe the opposite sex or with blonde hair or longer legs. The exact person that I am, born to my parents, on the date and time I was born, with the DNA structure I have has about a 1:400,000,000,000 (one in 400 billion) chance of existing. If I don’t call that miraculous, then I don’t know what that is! The film has shown me something profoundly beautiful and yet has left its fundamental mystery intact. The â€Å"Miracles of Life† is exceptional and it is a documentary that can also be considered as art.