Narrative Elements In Octavia Butler's Bloodchild

This literary analysis will be of Octavia Butler’s Fledgling, exploring the role of lead character, Shori Matthews, who is both the narrator and protagonist of this captivating novel. The question being examined is whether or not the voice of the hybrid, genetically modified vampire, Shori Matthews, comes across as reliable, or unreliable to the reader. In the first chapter, Shori identifies only as a person, but through her quest to find out her true identity, it is later the reader learns she is actually a vampire. Can a vampire be thought of as a reliable, dependable source, capable of being taken at face value? Shori begins, “I awoke to darkness.” ( ) She is terribly burned, without clothes, starving for food, and has absolutely no memory

‘Red Peter’s Little Lady’ by Ceridwen Dovey and ‘A Report to an Academy’, by Franz Kafka, are literary works that use a variety of techniques to represent the concepts and themes of the ‘Animals, Monsters and Machines’. Over the years, animals have climbed their way into our literature and because of authors’ mastery, readers are able to think about and understand, philosophical concepts and social issues without the offense that is often expressed by audiences when writing about humans. ‘Red Peter’s Little Lady’, explores many concepts related to personhood and humanity to represent the concepts outlined throughout Animals, Monsters and Machines. This is only possible due to the appropriation and adaptation of concepts and themes from Kafka’s ‘A Report to An Academy’ which also explores personhood, otherness and the human condition.

Organ donations from one donor can save up to eight lives, and also change the lives of more than fifty people (“Facts About Organ Donation”). What is simply baffling about this statistic is the fact that most people usually don’t consider that something like organ donation could be that impactful. However, in Mary Roach’s Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers, she explores the relevance of this process, as well as many other topics associated with the scientific study of cadavers. The purpose that Roach is trying to convey in this novel is to persuade the audience to think about the impact cadavers have had in history, as well as in the world today, and to consider the options she provides as to what can be done with the human body after

In the story, “Because of Anya,” by Margaret Peterson Haddix, is a young girl, called Anya, which has a disease of Alopecia Areata. Alopecia Areata is a type of a disease that causes patchy hair-loss. At page #62, Anya’s wig detaches, and falls off. Anya, humiliated and speechless, rapidly snatched her wig, and ran out of the gym. The story states, “You lost your hair!” Tyler gasped. It seemed like the whole gym went dead silent after that. “It's…” Anya choked. She snatched up the wig and took off running.” After the incident, one of Anya’s classmate, Keely, decided to help Anya to feel better about herself. The resolution, at page #111, was that Keely and Stef, both donated their hair, to help children with Alopecia Areata. The statement

When thinking of personal experiences, “The Mother” by Gwendolyn Brooks touches on the emotional topic of abortion. Even though this poem was published decades ago, it can still be seen very relevant to this day. Accepting abortion and the outcome can indeed be a challenging task for many, while others seem to adapt to it without much of a problem. Gwendolyn Brooks’ writing lets us take a look at the mothers view point of abortion and how a mother responds to her new situation. Throughout the poem, the speaker shows signs of grieving concern of the topic of abortion and its outcomes by presenting emotions of regret and memories, shame and guilt, and contradicting herself to almost justify what she has done.

Organ donation definition: it takes healthy organs and tissues from one person(the donor) for transplantation into another(the recipient).

This essay discusses the unfortunate death of a Mexican teenager in 2003 by the name of Jesica Santillan. Jesica Santillan was a 17-year-old who mistakenly died after she received incompatible organs in the course of a transplant surgery at the Duke University Hospital (Burns, Bradley, Langan & Weiner, 2011). Many questioned how one of the nation’s top medical centers could make such a fatal mistake as given a donor a mismatched blood type of organs. Jesica parents smuggled her in from Mexico hoping to find a cure for a heart and lung disorder that otherwise was not able to be treated in her country.

One of the many short stories by Kate Chopin is “Desiree’s Baby.” In this story, Desiree was found as a toddler under the shadow of a stone pillar by Monsieur Valmonde. He and his wife took the child in and years later, under the same shadow of the stone pillar, Desiree met her husband, Armand Aubigny. Not long after marriage, they had a child. Soon after the baby was born, Armand uncharacteristically became nice to all around him including his slaves. Soon after he began to notice that the baby 's complexion became darker and made the assumption that the child is not his or his wife was of mixed race. The sad truth of the situation was received when he soon later discovered he was the one of mixed race, he then regretted telling his wife to leave with the baby (Chopin). Kate Chopin uses the different characters to create a storyline that the conflict of the story has ironic. (LitCharts)

When we think of ‘donating’ we usually associate the word with money and we sometimes make excuses on why we can’t donate. But, we need to realize that there are so many things, some even more valuable than money that we can donate like, our time, items we no longer need, and our blood. I believe that donating blood can have a huge impact on someone’s life and it is something we should all consider doing. Receiving blood can be even more valuable than money for some people. Before donating we just need to consider the place we are donating to.

In the article, "Organ Sales Will Save Lives," by Joanne MacKay, is an informative essay that appeals to a readers emotions by raising awareness that there are thousands of people in the world that are in need of life-saving organs, specifically kidneys. MacKay does a fantastic job capturing the readers’ attention by describing the grueling dialysis treatments patients suffer from End Stage Renal Disease and the lengthy wait for a cadaver kidney donation. Unhappy with these options, many patients opt for a third choice which leads them into the pit which is known as the black market. MacKay’s description of the black market has the reader visualizing a run down slum with the surgery being done in a small filthy back room. The reason a patient

Urban legends can be found all throughout our society. One of the reasons why they are so predominant in our society is because they are focused on topics that play key roles in our lives. There are urban legends that are filled with horror, anxiety, sadness, but most of all they prove to teach valuable lessons. These lessons are known to come across so clearly, simply due to the way in which they are shown. Legends are always supposed to be told in a convincing means no matter how suspicious their actual story seems to be. One of the most common as well as interesting types of legends is about vampires. Vampires have changed through the time from the myth, the legendary feared creatures, to those that are easily seen in the world nowadays

In response to a recent letter titled “Mis-Education of African Americans,” I would like to share with the writer and the readers the story of Dr. Charles Drew. It’s an example of the neglect of Black achievements.

Alexa Kersting was a young fourteen-year-old girl from West Fargo waiting for a life-changing lung transplant. Kersting was diagnosed with lung disease by the age of seven, and developed pulmonary hypertension-- high blood pressure that affects the arteries in the lungs and the right side of the heart-- by the age of twelve (“Pulmonary Hypertension”). Once she was diagnosed with pulmonary hypertension, she was placed on the transplant waiting list, and for the upcoming months Alexa was on that list, she was on oxygen twenty-four hours a day. Unfortunately, she could never do any of the things other “normal” children could do due to her illnesses and treatments, meaning her hobbies had to be less strenuous, such as piano and art. Thankfully,

According to Donate life, an organization that promotes organ donation, only 51% of the population are organ donors. People are not informed and educated enough about organ donation when it’s not implied. In the book Nudge which discusses “Improving Decisions about Health, Wealth, and Happiness,” Richard H. Thaler states “The concrete steps necessary to register as an organ donor appear to deter otherwise willing donors from registering,” (178). So Presumed Consent would enforce the amount of organs being donated to increase, and educate people in the process. If only 51% of the United States population are donors, than Presumed Consent would increase the percentages of organ donors. Which would later cause the amount of organs being donated

Specific Purpose: To inform my audience about the growing and never diminishing demand of human whole blood supply and to encourage or motivate them to be a regular blood donors to meet this demand with consistent supply at all times to save our fellow Americans who are in desperate need of blood transfusion.