Greetings

 The aim of this writing space is to share our ideas more fully. During the book chat with Christina Sheldon, there were many questions and issues that were raised.  We questioned whether Parable of the Sower is science fiction or dystopian fiction (dys-bad topic-civilization). The book’s environmental, social, and political problems create this dystopia. The book is set in 2024; water is a precious commodity. People live in walled off communities to protect themselves from drug violence and crime. Poverty, hunger and corruption are rampant. In light of our own current social, political, and environmental problems, a good discussion for this blog might be to imagine where we see ourselves in 50 years. You might be interested in discussing this from the point of view of all the recent violent political uprisings in the Middle East, or the environmental disaster of the Fukushima nuclear power plants or even from a more local perspective: L.A.'s own water supply shortage. How can L.A., a semi-arid region, sustain its population growth? Nearly all of the available surface water has already been claimed and diverted for human use. Metropolitan L.A. needs to export its water from the Owen's Valley, 233 miles away. This has resulted in the desiccation of the lake, causing negative environmental impacts, such as, desertification and dust storms. You can also analyze these situations by creating your own creative science fiction and posting your vision of a dystopic L.A. If you're a consummate optimist and don't believe in all this 'doom and gloom,' then you might want to visualize a utopian world. There are many people who believe that technology will be the savior of mankind’s future. In this case, you can write your own techno-topia. But it might be interesting to note that most dystopias begin under the guise of being utopian (George Orwell's 1984, Aldous Huxley’s A Brave New World, Margaret Atwood's A Handmaid's Tale). Finally, if you have any other insights that were triggered by the novel's themes don't hesitate to share, including books or movies that you have read or seen that might have something in common with Octavia Butler's Parable of the Sower. Happy writing!

Hi I'm Cristina and i was a part of the SEED program this summer and i thought this book was great. I think this book is must read for all those people who like to calculate and imagine what this world might be like in the future. However, this book is definitely not for the faint hearted or easily freaked. This book does have a lot of very intense scenes and it shows the future in a perspective that many of us fear may come true. I think that this book also makes us realize that if we don't stop polluting and harming our environment we might end up in a future similar to Lauren's. However i believe that as long as we get more people aware of the problem we can all do something before its to late. I would like to end by saying that if there were more people like lauren, who is super aware of what's going on in her world, then people would have a better understanding of how the earth is being affected by our carelessness and try to fix things for the future generations to come.

Is this the future?

Posting for Maria Vasquez, who was having technical difficulties:

One of the things that I found interesting was the main character Lauren. One of the things I liked about Lauren was that she was being realistic about what was going on around her. What I did not line about the book was the discussion about religion. I believe that religion is important, but I do not normally read such material. Another thing that was very interesting was the relationship between Lauren and her brother Keith. She was upset with him for what he has done specially for killing people. At the end she did the same thing for the same reason “survival”. Early on, I found that she was different from the other characters from the beginning but, she ended up being an average dreamer just as the all others.

M. G. Vazquez

Bridges to the Future Program

A Doomed future

The idea that the world will descend into a post apocalyptic world in the near future is not an uncommon theme in science fiction. Perhaps the reason for this recurring motif in multiple stories can be attributed to the despair humanity faces repeatedly. Whether the end of the world is caused by war or a biological epidemic, one thing is certain civilization will crumble. Some will cast these predictions as nothing but hearsay. However, perhaps there is cause for concern. The world is facing a growing shortage of oil with no signs of an alternative fuel source. This lack of oil has led to the monopolization of it by huge companies like OPEC. In addition, there are many countries worldwide fighting one another for the right to sell black gold. Maybe mankind will solve this shortage of fuel; however, tensions and war fought in the Middle East say otherwise. if things don't change soon we will be seeing a new dark age real soon.

50 years into the world's future

Hello Everyone I'm Maria Escamilla and I'm a bridges to the future student. I'm not a big science fiction reader however, i really enjoyed reading this book. I specially liked that it took place here in California a place most of us know. This makes it a lot easier to compare things that are happening now to what is happening in the book. For example we see these huge corporations taking over cities and we see a lot of environmental issues. A lot of these environmental issues we are experiencing now and as corporations keep getting bigger; the idea of these huge corporations owning cities and the people living in them doesn't seem to be such a crazy idea. Reading this book freaked me out a little because one starts to see something that can very much happen. A lot of people don't see too far into the world's future or what the world will look like in fifty years. However one thing that is certain is that fifty years from now we will have serious environment problems. I think that most of what the book talks about will take place like, more unemployment and more poverty. Technology will be a lot better but i don't think there will be too many people in school. I also think that people won't be as crazy as the book describes them; that there will still be some sort of order. I just hope that things don't end up this way and that more people start waking up and seeing more into not only their futures but the worlds' future as well.

2061

August 18, 2061

I walked outside today and the air was coarse as it entered my lungs. I remember a time in my youth where money was being invested in research to improve technology to be less harmful for the environment. People viewed environmental threats as jokes- I knew they were warnings. The mask I have to wear everyday hides most of my face. I walk into the streets unshielded in hopes of taking in change. Each day I am brought down by reality.

On my way to work, I see nothing but brown lots and skyscrapers. As I close my eyes at night, I can still see the green richness the world once knew. The moist breeze overtakes my snooze. Each day of waking up saddens me. What happened to the world I once knew? What happened to the world I yearned to wake up to everyday? Venice Beach was my place of recollection and revitalization. The palm trees that once lined the sand are gone, with rarely a stump left to remember their lives. Corporations have taken over the cool and dewy sand that used to envelop my feet upon arrival.

The ecstasy of nature is now nonexistent. I walk this path of never-ending cement, yearning for days that no longer exist. Will these people ever realize what we’ve done? Will we ever take responsibility for the destruction of Mother Nature and begin towards reversing it?

I am counting the days until I see tomorrow’s yesterday… Maybe past trends are the innovations necessary for tomorrow. I am counting the days until I see tomorrow’s yesterday… I am counting the days…

-Alice V. Herrera

Hello! im Elizabeth and i am in project SEED and what i though of the book Parbale of the Sower was thath it was pretty cool but it did freack me out a little because it reminded me of what is happening in the modern day world and it was a little ironic how her ideas are similar to mine, i think about so many things that could happen and this book just opened my mind a bit more. perhaps it was the similarity of her world and this one. This book reminded me of a situation that occured in the lab i am working in and it is the want for water and it reminded me because on my first few days of working here at Cal State La me and another person working in the same project as me had to literally go water hunting. nonetheless, i really enojoyed this book.

fact or fiction

Hey everyone, my name is Norma Berben. In the last quarter I have read Parable of the Sower. Octavia Butler has a great imagination. The book is a fictional book but I do believe, in other countries people are living the same way as the book. The book is about chaos in Los Angeles. Global warming has cause people to turn violent because of the lack of resource. It is not a safe place because violence happens twenty four seven. Children can’t get educated because of the fear of getting killed. It’s a very sad place to live because people get murder on a daily. For my communication 150 class I study a country call Liberia. This country is the same thing as the book. The majority of the country is in poverty, violence is a common thing, and there no money or resources to survive. The book may be fictional but thing like the story plot actually happen in poor nations. Yes the book is very sad but events like the books are happening right now. I am pretty sure Liberia is not the only country living like the book parable of the sower. This could happen to anyone. I really don’t think it would happen to Los Angeles because the United State is one of the riches countries in the world. Also, the government is very powerful. With a strong government is very unlikely to happen. Butler makes out good points but the reality is, this actually happens, maybe not in Los Angeles but it does happen.

hard to read

Hello everyone, I am a MORE student and reading this novel was very difficult. It was hard to read because it was so graphic and it did make me think of how helpless one can become in Lauren's world. I was pleased to see the amount of multiracial people, but this book did scare me into thinking about what I would do or how I could possibly survive in Lauren's world. It was very interesting to see how many people in her neighborhood were in denial of how things could become worse. She was the only one who wanted to become prepared and get ready for attacks, but instead of people following her lead they were angry with her. I think this type of avoidant coping can be found in many places now, and the philosophy or religion she created, that God is change, was very enlightening and perhaps made it easier for her to try and prepare for change, whether that change be good (like her new family at the end of the novel) or bad (when her neighborhood was destroyed). What I couldn't get over and was hard for me to accept was the mystery of the disappearance of her dad, and hope badly she (and I) needed closure.

An Optimistic Outlook

Hi everyone! My name is Jamie Nickolaisen and I am not in Jenny Hicks’ class! I am the MORE Programs Writing Workshop Assistant and wanted to contribute to this blog as well.

To say that I enjoyed The Parable of the Sower would be inaccurate, although I found it very captivating and was unable to put it down. Honestly, it freaked me out just a little bit. I started thinking about what the end of the world would look like and decided it is going to be similar to the situation in the book. However, in fifty years, I see our great United States of America in a slightly different form of distress.

I think that relatively soon, the national government will be overthrown. People are already so frustrated with the government’s inability to make decisions and the political divide continues to grow. As the government continues to go into more debt and print more money, people will quickly become frustrated with the increasing inflation and rising costs of the necessities of life. As the economy continues to worsen and unemployment rates continue to rise, people will realize the government’s inability to allow people’s lives to get better. As taxes continue to be raised, people will have to spend more and more of their precious income in paying the national and state governments and will quickly grow tired of letting the incapable government have control over their money. For the most part, people are intelligent and know when something isn’t working. And when the day comes that the majority of Americans are frustrated, the national government will fall.

The states will then separate and run themselves as individual countries. The smaller governments will be better able to execute the political wishes of their constituents and will be far more effective than the national government for a time. However, some state governments will begin to fall as well. Sadly, California will probably be one of the first. Our huge debt and financial strain will not continue to allow the function of our state government. Also, the lack of water supply for Southern California will be an issue. California will have to make another deal with surrounding states to have a water supply and the other states will be less willing as their populations increase and their need for water increases. For our government to supply water to Southern California, it will be very expensive and require a lot of money that we simply do not have. The government will eventually fall under such strain and my guess is that Northern and Southern California will form two new governments to be run separately.

As governments continue to fall or be incapable of doing anything, people will band together in family or religious units to help provide for one another economically, spiritually, and emotionally. Other groups will form out of similar desires, but with an evil spin—gangs, drug dealers, etc. and probably won’t be seeking spiritual enlightenment. In urban areas, these evil groups will be more prevalent and what benign groups were formed there will quickly migrate to safer areas. Rural areas will be the safest as they are more out of the reach of drugs and violence.

In this sense, I am more optimistic than Octavia Butler who thinks everywhere will be dangerous. While she considers police and other public servants a threat, I think that very few will exist as governments will have either fallen or have no money to give to failing police departments. They will be just like everyone else, with a family they want to provide for and will seek some kind of protective unit whether it be good or evil.

I also think that similar things will happen across the globe. Already in the Middle East and Africa, revolts and civil wars have been going on for decades. In other places, as the divide between social classes grows, revolutions will become more prevalent. Throughout the world, people will be frustrated with what their governments have become and will take matters into their own hands causing universal upheaval and distress. It is sad to think that this is a more optimistic outlook of what is going to happen in our world.

Next Monday: Discussion & reception

It's great to see that Butler's novel has inspired such deep thinking via the postings here!

If you'd like to hear more about what other scholars have to say about Butler's work and legacy, then come to One Campus, One Book's year-end event:

Next Monday, 5/16, from 4:30-6pm
in Golden Eagle Ballroom #3

CSULA faculty (including Patrick Sharp, Michael Willard, and Catherine Haras) will join a church leader (Michael Koh, from Pasadena's Vision Christian Fellowship Church) in discussion about Parable of the Sower. A reception co-sponsored by the Honors College will follow, during which we can chat in person over snacks and beverages.

Please join us, pose your questions, and keep the discussion hoppin'!

Hi everyone, my name is Veronica Cano and like most of the people above I'm also a student enrolled in Calstate, LA. I am also currently a student in Jenny Hick's English Stretch Composition class. In our class we are currently focussed in a topic that deals with the environment due to this we were assigned to read Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler during our winter quarter. At first I must admit I was not excited nor looking forward to reading this novel, but all I had to do was read the first page for my whole perspective about the novel to changed drastically. It came to a point that I did not want to put the book down. I was interesting to know how Lauren would react to her obstacles and how others life's where affected and obstacles they had. I was always hooked to know what Lauren was going to have to confront, and her reactions, but most importantly how she would have to overcome these obstacles.

This novel is based in a dystopian world and although this is a fictional novel this has a lot events that can occur to us at a later date. In the novel she describes her world and what could be our future as a world where there is pollution, diseases, violence and poverty. This all happen because people like us did not bother to take care of their environment. This is something that sounds like us we don't take care of our environment and we really never put to much thought into what could happened in the future. This is a novel that is based on real outcomes we can later face because of the way we are living in today's world. In the novel Lauren portrays the lack of importance we give to our environment. Lauren explicitly explains that there are times where we don’t take care of our environment and we can simply lose things that we need. She does this with vivid description of the world she now lives in and the place which we might end up living in the future.

Parable of the Sower is the simple mirror of what we might end up as. Parable of the Sower is the image of how our world will look like in the future if we continue our ways of treating our environment. This novel was an eye opener that helped me become aware of the consequences that can happen if we do not take care of our environment wisely. It also taught me to value every bit of nature around me because one never know when all of that can end. For example water, I know I do not rake care of water very wisely. Not only would I not take care of water, but I never saw it as important or as something valuable at least not until I read this novel. I now consider water very valuable and my greatest fear is now loosing water. Not only am I taking more care of the ways i use water, but i am now concern about the fact that i live in a dessert environment which is pretty scary. I live L.A and yes theres water, but after learning that L.A is in fact a desert land I’ve come to the conclusion that i must take care of water one never know when we might just lose our ater. i mean L.A does gets its water from reservoirs that contain water from different parts of the world. And by the way people wast water we might end up with no water or may be we would might end up selling water for high price or even taxing it. I am scared to realize that we depend on a reservoirs.

How do I see my future in 50 years from today, I see my future something similar to Lauren’s world. I mean if we as continue to abuse the small amount water we simply might just end up like in the novel. In our daily routine we was water in recklessly. we sometimes do not value water and how important it is to us and the fact that water is not eternal.At least i know there are time where I leave the water running now I stop and think I’m not only one doing this therefore water is being wasted everywhere around the world. this will just lead us to land in Lauren’s world. Not only is water the only reason we might end up like that but because of all the events happening around us. Problems such as pollution, trash, violence, war and poverty. These are all things that affect us, our environment and our community. Every act that we do just makes me lead to the conclusion that we will end up in a dystopia world in a world were we will no longer have the luxury to live the way we live today not unless we do something about it.

50 Years From Now !!

Hello my name is Alexis R. and I am a students of professor J.Hicks. In class we have been reading alot of different stories. Most of them have to do something with the environment. We had many different things to write about such as the environment , race , class, gender etc. Last quarter we read the story Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler. 50 years from now i can only imagine the how the world would be . I think it would be similar to the story Parable of the Sower because the prices of things are becoming extremely to high . Due to that people are not going to be able to afford the things and are going to start acting like the people that live outside of the walls breaking in and stealing so that they can make a living .
Another big concern that was in the book was water . Water was expensive and many people couldn't afford it . If we don't take care of our environment we are going to wonder why we don't have anything because we didn't take the time to clean up or care for our environment . I think in 50 years from now water is going to be one of our main concerns because we pollute or water , take 30 minute showers about two to three times a day or just waist water period. Sooner or later were going to wonder why water is so expensive just like in the story Parable of the Sower.
If we start taking care of our environment we shouldn't have to worry about water or the prices of thing becoming to high. So maybe we should start now!

Parable of the Sower

Hello my name is Vanessa I am currently attending California State University of Los Angeles. Due to my professor Jenny Hicks, I got introduced to this interesting book. The parable of the Sower awarded me of two things that I had not realized until I read this book. Through Laurens daily life it showed me how bad the environment was. It was really hard to survive in their environment and you had to really make the best out of things because each day that passed it only got worst for Lauren. Lauren is a very smart character in this book and she knows how to survive in her world, a world that was described like dystopia. Through Laurens techniques to survive it also made me realize that being a woman in her environment was really hard. In the book women were seen as powerless, and week. One of the reason's why it brought that idea to me was for the reason that Lauren traveled dressed as a man to survive in her world. The Parable of the sower is a really good book because it can relate to our own environment and it awarding us of what can happen in the future if we keep this up. If we keep letting other people treat our environment bad and not letting others be aware of what is going on with our environment our world can turn out to be just like Laurens which is in my opinion dystopia. I highly recommend this book and for those who haven't read it , you really should besides it being very knowledgeable it is filled with thrill and excitement!!:D

Hi everyone my name is Vanessa Saldana I am currently in Mrs. Hicks stretch class. We read Parable of The Sower by Octavia E. Butler last quarter and I got to say this is a good book. This book showed how horrible the town will act to limited amount of resources, the enviorment was not in a decent place, it seemed like everyone was in danger and no one was safe except for the people who were wealthy. This is no science ficition this is soon to be reality if we do not change our ways. Many people let the water run while its not in use, we need to learn how to save. I can see our lifes in 50 years fighting for survival just like in the book Parable of the Sower if we keep living the way we are. Just imagine the world turning upside down, everyone will be killing each other and fighting for the simplist stuff. People stealing from one another in the community to the point were u can not trust anybody. There will be no such things as friends but enemies. I sure do not want to live in a place like this I want to live in a peaceful enviorment were we do not have to worry about scarcity. I want to live in a safe place and not worry about people stealing my things, so let us start saving our water and turning it off when it is not in use, that can be a great step to the first start of not living in a world like the Parable of The Sower. I reccomend this book to everyone just so they can picture how life can end up and just aware the people:)

In 50 years...

Hi everyone! This is Marina Josiff from Jenny Hick's English 101 class. In English class we were required to read Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler. This book was very sad, yet interesting. I did not like a lot of the things that happens in this book because it is very sad and unfortunate. For instance, people running around killing others and robbing houses. Also, the fires and the families dying. The scary part about reading this book is that that might be us in 50 years if we do not take care of our environment. I totally admire Lauren Olamina because she was very strong through her journey and she survived. She prepared herself for what was coming next. Along the way she had to take care of herself, others, and fight for her life. She also lost all of her family. I do not know how she did it, but she did and that is one of the reasons why I love this book. We need to learn from her just incase we go through the same thing in the future.

When I read this book I realized that this book is a dystopian fiction because the world they live in is no where near perfect! Whoever was still living, their days only got worse. As of today, we have global warming issues and environmental issues that need to be solved and taken care of. I totally believe that if we do not start now to fix the way things are, we will reach the point that Lauren did, along with the society in the book. In the book, one of the main problems was the water supply. Water today is free. If you are thristy you have the choice to drink out of a water fountain or buy a pack of water that is affordable. The people in the book did not have that choice. They had to buy water and it cost a lot and it cost more to those who did not work, which was a lot of people than. Our water supply today comes from other sources. Los Angeles steals their water supply from mountains and rivers. Imagine if we were not able to get water from those sources, than what? I do not want to end up like Lauren, her family, or friends. I want to be able to have the choice of drinking water when I please, and CLEAN water at that. The water they drink in the book was not even clean. They had to boil it to get rid of pesticides and diseases. To me that is a hassel and it should not be like that.

I wish for our society to start researching and learning about our water supply and environmental issues. I am sure when people read about it they will want to do things to make the future better for their selves, their families, and their environment. I know when I was finished reading this book, I seen our world in a whole different way. I recommend this book to be read by everyone! =)

50 years into the future

My name is Nicholas Nolasco and this is my first year at Cal State L.A. Mrs. Hix has been my English Proffessor all year long and since I have attended her english course, our class has been learning about the environment. we learned about how people view the environment, how religious beliefs and the environment connect, and most inportantly what our views and thoughts on the environment are.
50 years from now is tough to imagine, but based on what I have learned in class so far, it looks like it will be a very grim one. It seems as though the future will be a very bad place to live with the environment taking a turn for the worst. In 50 years, one major problem I see will be in the future is the shortage of water and will be very similar to the parable of the sower by Octavia Butler. In the novel water is very scarce. It is so scarce that only the rich can even afford to bathe themselves. I see our future very close to this since the price of water is always rising every year.
The environment is currently terrible. In 50 years i can possibly imagine it being worse than the way Octavia Butler described it in the book.we have an oil spill in the Ocean, a nuclear spill in Japan and in California, i recently heard about a huge earthquake that we should be expecting soon! I man how much worse can our environment get! 50 years into the future it will probably be much worse but i really hope not.
we need to start helping and preserving the environment instead of destroying it and we need to start as soon as possible. we need to also make people aware of whats going on in our environment and how its going to hurt us in the future because I know i did not think about the environment and the future it holds before i took this class. If we make more people aware about how bad our environment is, then i believe we can make a change for the better.

50 years from now

Like the rest of us I am also enrolled in Jenny Hicks English 101 stretched class. I am currently a Freshman started in fall 2010, and finally spring has come which is the last quarter of the year. These three quarters I must say I have learned many different things. Writing essays and reading books is not what I enjoy doing, but being in this class has not only thought me how to be a better writer or reader. It has also thought me a lot of the environment-our environment.

As human beings we want the best for us therefore we always imagine ourself's living in a Utopia. Of course everybody wants to live in the perfect world. However we never think of how much easier it is to live in a dystopia rather than a Utopia. I believe that we do not live in a Utopia but neither do we live in a dystopia, we have an average life style.

In this class we read many books with one being Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler. After reading this book i came to understand how lucky we are to even have free water. Have we ever imagine how would this world be if we had to pay for water specially in our economic status? It would be horrible! Yet instead of taking care of what little we do have, we take advantage of it and let the water run all the time. When washing hands we leave the water running,washing dishes, washing cars, washing our teeth.

How would it be in 50 years from now? I believe that everything will change either to better or worst. It is up to us- the people who will make a difference. So if we have in our hands what is needed to make our world better why not do it. Lets all do something to make our world better like not leave the water running. If every single one of us changes at least one thing it will make our environment 1000 times better.

50 YEARS FROM NOW...

Hello:) I am Laura Rodriguez, and like my fellow bloggers I too am attending Cal State LA. I happen to be one of professor Hicks' Students. In class we have focused on many topics, but the main topic overall is the environment. We have done a lot of reading over pollution, trash, pesticides, social class, water, and the environment in general.

We have been asked, what we think would change in 50 years. I am not sure but seeing it from Lauren's point of view, not in the very best of shape. Lauren is the main character from the book, "Parable of the Sower" by Octavia E. Butler. The way the environment is for Lauren is horrible. There is not enough water, and the people are incredibly corrupt. Everything is in ruins and not even the wealthy get by, day after day. Surviving for Lauren and the rest of the people is a never ending war. They have to steal and sometimes even kill for a bit of water. Her future scares me and would not surprise me if our future would end up like hers.

Most of the people I have talked to believed that in the future there would be flying cars, technology beyond compare of what we have now, and wacky/crazy homes. REALITY CHECK!!!! That was what was said for the 21st century. Last time I checked, we are not that far into technology yet. Our future will most likely be the same, depending on what we choose to do with our environment. What I mean is that if we continue to pollute and mistreat our environment, then in 50 years our world would most likely turn out like Lauren's.

We need to acknowledge now that our resources are scarce; therefore, we must not take advantage. The problem with this is that we have lost focus on what we should value the most. In "Parable of the Sower", everyone values water. A little too late, but nevertheless, they do. We take advantage and never realize how valuable a source is until it's almost gone. Just as Thoreau would most likely say, that the land is for our enjoyment, not for our destruction.

Thank you for your time:)

Hmm 50 years from now...

Hello everyone,
My name is Jenni Michua. Like most of the students here I'm a freshmen and is currently attending CSULA. Jennifer Hicks is my English Professor, and she's done a great job. Meaning that now I'm more concerned about the environment thanks to her. I can honestly say that before I didn't pay much attention to what's going on with our environment. But now thanks to all the assignments I've been given, it has brought me to a better understanding. Reading Parable of the Sower by Ocatvia Butler has definitely given me an image of how our what our environment might turn to in years from now. It shows that we can suffer from shortage of water and how it's really important.
5o years from now anything can happen! but of course we can all make a difference and make it look the way we want to look. How? Well, the first step is understanding the environmental issues and the importance of them. Why is it important? Hmm, well it's obvious that we all live here and anything that affects the environment affects us. Is that not a good enough reason?
For example, water is an important issue that's mentioned in Parable of the Sower. They don't have much and it relates to us because we as well don't have much water. We need water everyday period! We use it to brush our teeth , to cook, to shower, to water our plants, etc. Years from now we can suffer from even more shortage of water if we don't take care of it now. There's many ways to do it. We can turn of the faucet instead of letting the water run when it's not being used. As a result, that will help us save gallons of water. There's no doubt about that.
That being said, shows us that our environment looks the ways we treat it. Meaning that we have the chance to make a difference, it's all in our hands. 5o years from now sounds very far but that day will eventually come. So why not care for it now while we are in the moment.
I hope that we can all understand the importance of our environment and start treating it better. It's like a mirror it' reflects the way we look at it.
Thank you for your time !

In 50 years...

Hello everyone, my name is Nayeli Hernandez. Well, I am also Jenny Hick's student in English Stretch Composition class. During our winter quarter we were assigned to read the book, Parable of The Sower by Octavia E. Butler. Before I started reading this book I didn't have good comments about it. I simply did not find it interesting. However, when I started reading the book, it really caught my attention that I found myself interested in this book little by little. Reading this novel, I felt that I met a young girl, Lauren who I knew her struggles, what she was going through, the world around her, what she was like and what was she trying to achieve for her life and her family as well. I learned so many things just from reading this book. I learned how to see the environment. For example, now, I see the environment and the world as something precious and valuable, something I'd never thought I'd give importance to. Also, I learned how to not waste water as much as I use to. I've cut my use of water short as much as I can and tend not leave the faucet on and water running when not being used.
I believe this novel is a dystopian fiction based on actions of how humanity has treated this world and the possible outcomes of how our world will be if we do not take care of our world.
Our world today already has pollution, but i think that in 50 years from now it would most likely double or triple. We will end up having more pollution than now. In 50 years we will have more contaminated or polluted water that will cause a water crisis. Water shortage is what Lauren describes in the novel and how cost more than gasoline. Today, we care for gasoline and probably even more than water. I think people take water for granted but people need to be inform of L.A's water. They need to know for themselves that water is not easy to get, that L.A. does not own their own water, but that our water depend on other areas outside of L.A. Just like pollution already exists in our world, violence, poverty, and diseases will also be a problem in the future.
I believe that us as humans need to be educated of our world today and more of our background or history that will help us or reflect on our decisions today regarding to our environment and in any decisions in general as well.
After reading this novel, I really thought It was great. To me, is obvious that the novel is more of a prediction to our future and a big warning if we do not take care of our environment and use it wisely. I surely believe our world, our life today will turn out like Laurens' life and her world around her, but we can change our future starting from now on for our sake and our own environment. We need to protect our environment and use it wisely.

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Hello everyone :) I'm Gavi. It lookss like all of us are in Jenny's class. Moving on...

Over the past few quarters we have discussed the environmental issues we are now or have been facing. We have been assigned with readings regarding the privitization of land (Thoreau), the role of corporations (Bp), and how our background influences the environment. When I mean background I mean our social, ethnicity, and religious status. These were all subjects that were mentioned in The Parable of the Sower.

In this novel, Butler describes how water was treated as a precious commodity. Our water today is in fact a precious commodity. After watching the documentary Tapped, a film on the water we drink, I was informed that out of the 75% of the earth's water, only 1% percent is drinkable. JUST ONE! We all know LA (or our semi desert) is in danger :( So where is that water going? It's going into water bottles of course.And now corporations are taking over a basic necessity that was never meant to be owned or used as profit, which is what Henry David Thoreau argued in his essay "Walking". Thoreau argues that nature should not be gated or owned.Why? I gave it a lot of thought and I'm sure he knew the consequences of owning nature.Because we might just end up like Butlers dystopic world, where capitalism still stands and democracy no longer exist. We have seen Food Inc and the way corporations like Monsanto have the power to keep people silent and decieve consumers. Farmers working for these big corporations were putting their health at risk yet the corporations did not bother solving the problem. What I am really trying to say is that if we continue to let corporations own our natural resources, fifty years from now the corporations will be the ones controlling the environment while we beg to be heard and demand for our environment to be left alone (our voices will never be heard of course). Corporations do not have a limit and do not know when to stop making profit. I am sure we have read how corporations are still playing their part in the novel.

Another point I would like to make is the way people were divided in this novel. The well off were protected by a wall the same way we are protected by borders and the sea. I am sure we have all seen commercials of children suffering from poverty in different countries. I am sure we have all heard of the drug trafficing and violence going on in Mexico. I might be over analyzing this, but it seems like Butler was trying to let us imagine how our life would be if the borders were broken or if the countries somehow united. I am not saying there are good guys in this picture. As a whole, we are ALL bad, no matter how religious a person might be. It's sad to say there are very few care bears out here. However, the character Lauren knew the importance of working together,which is what our world lacks. Lauren formed a group of people and convinced them to trust each other and share what little they had. Which comes my Butlers main point : those who are able to trust one another and share resources, will survive. Sadly, our countries are nowhere near trusting one another. They will continue to fight over oil,land and power, and as result ,ruin the environment. In my opinion, fifty years from now sounds like wishful thinking. I feel Butler's dystopic world is much closer than we think.

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Hmm... 50 years from now?

Hello, my name is Gennesis Padilla I am currently a freshman in Cal State LA. I am and have been enrolled in Mrs.Hicks Stretch Composition class's since Fall of 2010. Being in Mrs. Jennys class I have learned alot about nature, pestisides, food, water, social class, religion and many other things. I have learned what the world in general has to offer us. Having read many articles I have not only learned about what is going on in other neighborhoods near my own, but i have learned to try and do something about it. I enjoyed when our class had to write a letter to a business woman to tell her why she should contribute to our reasons for helping the environment. I learned that one person can make a difference, as long as he/she tries.

Our class was assigned to read Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler at first like many college students, I wasn't to optimistic to start and read the book. Just by looking at its title and cover, it didn't catch my eye. (now i really dont judge a book by its cover) Once i started to read the first chapters a realized that the book was going to be good! Even though there are many sad moments in this book, there are also eye opening moments that make you think and wonder if our world will ever come to be like the main character Lauren's world. The poverty, violence, lack of water, and deaths do happen in this world we live in but, i never looked into it as much as in the way it happens in Laurens world. It's really sad the way her community tries to unite but yet the bad people still rob her and the neighborhood and just commit crimes without being stopped!

In 50 years I would see myself in an average world. I hope we don't fall into a dystopic world, I actually can't see the future looking as bad as Laurens. Yes, there are many people on this planet, but I believe that if we have made it this far on a good level of survival then why should it change in a couple of years? The only thing we need to focus on is taking as much care of the resources we do have now and not wasting them like if they will be around forever. For example, being in Jennys class I have learned to appreciate many things not only nature but things like water, food, shelter. I never really looked at my bad habits, like brushing my teeth, washing my face and simple little things like washing the dishes, so much water is being taken for granted there. I noticed that insignificant things like using less water, and just closing the sink can later count in the future. If I do things like waste water I know there are others that might be doing the same thing without thinking about it.

I believe techonology will continue to progress, so I see no need to worry about the future looking anything like Laurens. It's pretty scary when thinking about it ever coming down to traveling all over the world in need of survival, but I dont exactly see it happeing at least not any time soon. We humans are the future and I hope we don't bring our world to ever looking like Laurens.

IN 50 YEARS.... By Jazmin Salazar

Does a Utopian world really exist? I believe not.The book The Giver is a great example on how a utopia does not exist even in the most perfect society. In this book the government tries to have everyone be equal, so they say. But this ends up being false. There is never anything that is 100% perfect, especially not humans. We are the worst living species to the environment and there is nothing that can be done because majority of humans are Catholic. The catholic religion puts the man on top. Leaving out environment, where?

In 50 years everything remains the same; as far as our environment goes. At least that's how government wants us to think of it. They want to make us believe that there is nothing wrong with our environment, but in reality there is a million things wrong. 50 years later, we are drinking very unhealthy water that is not 100% water, since our valley is almost dry I feel like we drink artificial water. But this we cannot help since our current and past generations have been growing tremendously. We do not have sufficient water to provide every human being. This is why our water might be artificial. Another problem that is occurring is death. The percentage rate of death goes up every summer. The desertion and need of water is killing people because Global warming. Global warming isn't getting better, it's only getting worst. But the sad thing is that 50 years ago we were told that global warming was getting a tiny bit better. This I do not see, did the government lie?

The government will not admit, they cannot afford to tell California of the great risks they are running. California cannot afford a political uprising, like the one that happened in the Middle East. People would go crazy and would try to move out as soon as possible. Causing other countries across the nations to be over populated since California holds so many people. This is the big dystopia I see in 50 years and humanity will still be lied to by the government like it always has. Eventually people will find out of the horrible situation and will do something about it. Maybe it will take longer, perhaps another 50 years.

But this could have been prevented, a great example of this would be the book Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler. This book gave a clear message on how our lives would be on the long run. The main focus in the book was water and our main problem now is water. Another way this could have been prevented is having everyone believe in something different, a religion like Taoism for example. Because not unless people believe; they will do what they believe in and taoism is a religion that favors the environment in every way possible. I wish that 50 years ago, as I read the book and learn about Taoism in my English 101 class in California state LA I would have tried to spread the warning around or actually have done something about it with my classmates. Because here I sit typing this very thirsty.

50 years from now...

Hello everyone, my name is Cindy Velasquez. I am happy to say that I've been in Mrs. Hicks English class since the beginning of my freshmen year. During these quarters we've discussed issues about the deficit of water in California, the great amounts of pollution, the problems in the food industry and in corporations, we've also discussed about nature in Los Angeles, all of these issues connecting to the environment. We have read many essays that we've connected to the environment, and also watched films, and now we are discussing Religion and what the ideal relationship is for humans and the environment. The environment is a very important issues and most religions believe that the people must take care of the environment because God created the Earth for us, therefore we must cherish the Earth.

After reading Parable of the Sower I realized how good our environment is for us right now, because in the book Lauren Olamina is living in a dystopian environment. The author Octavia E. Butler really helps us imagine the way the environment looks with her descriptive writing. Octavia published this book in 1993 thirty-one years prior to the date in the book, which is what she believed the world to be like during those years. The environment Lauren Olamina lives in is horrible her family and community must watch their backs from scavengers who ruin everything. She's lost her family, food is scarce, and they never knew when something bad was going to happen.

Life in 50 years from now would be the year 2061, and maybe we'll have more technology, but no one would be able to buy anything. The way our economy is working it may even be hard to take care of our own environment. Water is extremely scarce, California has run out of water, and soon we won't see water anywhere. I don't think anyone will be able to hold up a decent job, which means we won't have those big trucks to pass by picking up our trash and recycles. Our environments our going to be filled with trash, and because this isn't like in other countries we'll be so careless as to just leaving our trash wherever. Like in Parable of the Sower there will be those who become scavengers and ruin everything, and instead of trying to make the world a better place everyone will just give up. We will see sad faces, dead people, and scavengers everywhere the most messed up part is that those who we may see doing all the bad things might be people we once new. Everyone is going to be so messed up in the head, nothing is going to matter to them.

I believe that if we don't want something like this to happen, because it's a possibility something this horrible can happen, we must take care of our environment and join together to stop polluting the Earth. We must all come together and try to make a difference in our economy because times are rough, and we never know what can happen with the next days, months, or years. This book can definitely be used as an inspiration to help us from keeping our environments clean or to start cleaning the environment.

Greetings, my name is Everth Sotelo, and I am a freshman at Cal State Los Angeles. I am currently taking English 101 with Professor Jennifer Hicks. Ever since the first day of class until now, being in this class has been totally educational, its the only class I like and the only I can learn; apart from my screenwriting class.

Being in this class has made me think more broadly about topics I found hard to deal with. We have been writing and analyzing aspects such as nature, water, pollution, food, social class and gender which have all been topics that really make you THINK of what is happening in the world around you. Ever since the start of winter quarter we begun reading a book titled Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler.

Even though this book covers many aspects in life and even politics that I am greatly interested and also were helpful to the understanding of the book, I am not too found of this book due to the cronological way the book is writen. It is a good book that examines the fictional story of a girl named Lauren Olimania who lives in a community from the future that is set 50 years from now. She is raised Baptist but has her own believes called Earthseed. The story depicts how hard life is living i poor polluted conditions, beigh a colored woman, and also how the rich exploite the poor. She experiences events such as, death of family members, racism, and even envasion of her own home. This girl then becomes the leader of the few survivors of her community and begins to teach them all her philosophies. In a way this book reminded me a lot of The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros; all the small anectotes from events in a poor community and one female character narrating them. Parable of the Sower is a good book, but it is not interesting. Nvertheless it was a big help in the understaning of the material of the class and the fun essays we have writen in Professor Hicks fun class.

Where would be in 50 years?

Hello my name is Diana Bucio and I'm a current student at CSULA. Since fall quarter all the way to spring quarter I've had Professor Jenny Hicks. What I like about having her is that the readings that we have to read have to do with topics that interest me the main one environment. Although environment is something that I enjoy reading but not so much of writting because I have a hard time to develop my ideas. The book that I must admit was the one that got my attention was the Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler. The book was interesting for the fact that for me it covered three main issue: environment, religion, and social class. From all the three that got my attention was the environment. Keeping in mind that the book was written in the future and their struggles for water get water for hours or days and all because it cost them. When I first started reading when the journey started and they had to get water I imagined myslef. I imagined myslef because there are times when we ran out of water late in the evening although we have three gallons and sometimes water bottle and I hate to wait till the night when I pick up my mom from work since the water place is nearby. Its frustrates me and I'll just go buy a water bottle at the liquor store by my house instead of driving to get water. This made me think to myself if that is for me only a few hours and in rare ocassions what would happen to me if I was in Lauren Olamina . Which when I saw that this blog had to do with where we would see ourselves in 50 years i realized that this wasnt a hard topic like my essays have been. Its hard to imagine myself living in 50 years like in the book because there is so many think i dont see myself living with out. The two main things I dont see myself living without is water and food. Water main thing for drinking, especially if it couldbe cold, and also for hygiene. Food would be the second thing I would care for since all I would need to survive is water. As I have seen in the movie Chinatown last quarter and read in articles here in Los Angeles we get water from reservoirs that are filled up with water from rivers around us. The thing that the book made me realize is that humans waste to much water that in the story they wish they could have. In the book they mention in Chapter 21 about how the San Luis Reservoir doesn't have as much water. Thats how i picture the Owens Valley to be since that is where we get water from right now in the present. The book helped me see water as a valuable thing and although my family hates it when I'm always telling them to value what we have I know some day soon they will. "Although the book is dystopian it can always happened just like lot of books that we have read where if we see the past it has happened." I tell them and I have faith that will change them.

In 50 years.....

Hello my name is Markisse- Collette Soleta and I'm a freshman attending Cal State Los Angeles studying to become a nurse. I'm a student who is a part of Jennifer Hicks's stretch program. Throughout the three quarters with Jenny, we've covered issues in the environment such as social class, water, environmental injustice, and nature. The class has read many articles, essays and watched films to help us write essays on the topics I mentioned. We are currently writing an essay on how religion relates to the environment. I enjoy having Jenny as a professor because her topics helped me look at our environment in a different way.

During the winter quarter, Jenny assigned the class to read a novel called Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler. At first, I thought the novel was going to be boring because it had so many pages, but once I started reading the chapters Jenny assigned, I began to like the book. I would always want to continue reading to see what happens to the main character Lauren Olamina and other characters in the book.

The novel Parable of the Sower became one of my favorite books becuase it made me realize that we should be aware on what's happening to our environment. It also made me realize that we shouldn't take advantage of what we have, because maybe one day everything that we have now will not be there. Like for example, in Lauren Olamina's world, people aren't able to afford water because it's expensive. Our environment could possibly look like Lauren's environment in 50 years if we don't take care of it. People may think that technology in the future is going to be advance as in flying cars or possibly living under water. If you look at what our environment is going through, I believe we are not going to have any of that. As of now, our environment is suffering through pollution, pesticides, trash, and social class problems. If we don't fix these problems, our world is going to end up like Lauren's. In Lauren's world, people are divided into different social classes in a dystopia environment. Living in a dystopia environment, people can end up having trouble living in such a corrupted world where people kill eachother to survive. In terms of water, not many people especially lower and a few of middle class aren't able to afford it. If we don't want to end up living in a dystopia world where people aren't treated equally, we as people should start taking care of our environment and make a difference. We are Earth's only hope and we should make the right decisions to make our world a better place where no one would have to suffer in the future.

My name is Sonia Contreras and I've been enrolled in Mrs. Hicks' stretch class my whole freshman year and I can definitely say it has been a pleasure having her as an instructor. We have discussed pollution, food, water, nature in LA, Corporations, Religion, Environmental Injustice but overall it all comes down to the Environment. We have been focusing more on the environment because everything after all leads to the environment we all live in. We were assigned to read the novel Parable of the Sower, when discussing the issues with both water and the environment.
The Parable of the Sower is a very interesting novel because it was actually written as form of the future. It is definitely a dystopia because it is warning us on how bad our environment will be in the future if we continue to use water the way we do. I believe the message behind the Parable of the Sower is that we need to switch the lifestyles we are used to because we are killing the environment slowly. We seem to take everything for granted and we don't see the negative side of things when we consume too much of something. For example, California doesn't have enough water, yet people continue to take long baths, leave the water running when brushing their teeth or when washing the dishes, or even when watering the plants, and washing their cars. It doesn't make any sense how people don't find anything wrong with the way they live and how they continue to take advantage of the environment. We might not see the damage right away, but as the years pass by we will see and begin to regret how much water we have wasted over the years. This is a big problem because we don't have enough water right now, and so this means we definitely won't have enough for the future.
This all eventually leads to where we might be 50 years from now. I see our future similar to Parable of the Sower because we will definitely not have enough water for everyone. If we don't have enough water for everyone we can definitely expect water to be more expensive then gas. Gas prices keep going up and the economy is bad already which makes it hard for everyone to find jobs. The question is what can the future really have in stored for us 50 years from now? I highly doubt that there would be anything to look foward to when we continue to take and take from the environment. We use or in other words, we waste water like there is no tomorrow. And if this continues the future will be full of poverty and that is for sure a fact unless we turn the way we live around. We all need to start to use of the environment carefully and more importantly take care of it. We can't afford to abuse of the environment, and therefore we need to act now by consuming less water and taking care of the environment as a whole. Let's see Octavia E. Butler's novel Parable of the Sower, as a warning from the future, and therefore, lets change for the good of our future. Thank You.

In 50 Years :)

Hi my name is Yessica Karina Gordillo. I go by Yessica. I am a freshman in college about to finish her first year. I am Jennifer Hicks student who attends Cal State Los Angeles. Jenny has been my teacher for three quarters, starting from fall quarter. I am in the stretch program. Through out my three quarters we have been studying about the environment. As of now I am in English 101 which I can say is challenging for me . I have trouble writing essays. I have really enjoyed being in Jenny's class. I have learned new things about the environment by reading other stories.
In the winter quarter we were assigned to read Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler to tell you the truth i wasn't happy about reading this book at first. I just kept looking at the book and thought to myself it is pretty long its going to be boring. I don't like reading that much. The only two series I have read were turned into movies. One of them has been a huge franchise for ten years, and the other one was turned into a movie last year. Things changed when I started reading the book and as chapter by chapter went by I wanted to continue reading because I wanted to see what happened to the main character of the story Lauren as she continue to live her life; after what happened to her family and also about the new religion she made Earthseed. This book has a lot of issues with environment and even thought the book is set to be in the future, it reminds me some problems that the environment of today has. For example the problem with pollution, today there is a lot of pollution all over the world.

I see my self in fifty years to be an old woman, who the world will still have the same problems with the environment as it has today in 2011. In my opinion i think the world is not going to change because i don't see any change myself today in terms of the environment. It makes me wonder if we will end like people of the parable of the sower or in much worse conditions that they were. One thing that we have in common with the book is the shortage of water and us buying water, twenty years ago there wasn't a need to buy water. Everyone needs water to survive and some animals are dying like in the lakes because we take that water for human use and to me that is not right; animals deserve the right to live too.
People don't still get that all of those chemicals that factories cause get absorbed in the air and we breath those chemicals. The book is a dystopian fiction because of all the problems with people and the environment. We have to take care of earth because it is our home and a place we can enjoyed with our families. Who now's maybe in fifty years we will end up living in space like in the movie Wall-e not all fat and living in chairs and someone has to take care of us but living in space because we cant live in earth because of all the pollution. We really have to change now the way we treat the environment if we want our future descendants to have a better place than we have right now. We have to apreciate what god gave us. We have to find a way that people can use so they can mistreat water or the environment. I have always wonder what life is going to be in fifty years. I guess we will find out soon.
Yessica