Summary : ' Kindred Story '

The cold harsh winds of the winter whistled through the ranch. Nothing moved, the grounds lay bare the only sign of life was an illuminated window on the far side of the silent ranch. The light came from a small wooden shack; the shack appeared newer than the rest of the weather worn buildings, it also looked better cared for than the other buildings. Next to the shack was a small garden and in it were gravestones. Two were lined side by side, but another sat lonely in the corner of the garden. The lonely gravestone was simple it was made from wood unlike the other two that had been carefully crafted out of stone. Then a creak echoed around the garden and the shack, it was no louder than a whisper but in a place where nothing made a single

The book The Human Story by James C. Davis is about the way humans evolved from Homo erectus to where we are now. The book starts off by telling us how archaeologists found paintings in caves leading all the way back prehistoric times. These people were mainly from Africa and spread all across the world just because they followed herds of animals which they lived off of. They spread from Africa to Europe and Asia, from Asia they followed the herds across a land bridge to North America and all the way down to South America. They were also able to reach Australia and the island surrounding it. After a couple thousand of years they began to settle down into civilizations. These civilizations included Athens, Sparta, Sumer, Egypt, and China. We

The dirt path led from nowhere to nowhere, and the other road, which was made of something far less substantial than earth, led to just about any destination one could think of. And an inn had sprung up where the two roads met, as inns are wont to do. Later, a little town had built itself around the inn. The town was just like any other town, and the inn like any other. Horses brayed in their stables. Fields of crops grew. But if you were observant, and you walked along the wheat, you would notice something strange about it. It was. . . Wispy, almost. Shimmering. Almost like it was not quite real enough, or perhaps a bit too real. And if one walked through the horses' stables, or among the cows in the field, one would see a fierce, wild intelligence in the animals' eyes.

In Kindred by Octavia Butler, Dana is subject to many different wounds all over her body; the more involved Dana becomes in the story the more damaging the wounds are to her everyday function. These wounds, their severity, and their position represent certain emotional and mental scars in Dana made by her travels into the 1800’s.The most severe of these wounds and the bait of the novel, since it is the opening chapter and I am awaiting for this scene throughout the book, is the losing of her left arm. Losing such a vital part of one’s body can be devastating and for some this can be an unsurpassable obstacle, but for Dana is a reminder of her travels, her new found knowledge, and her

Human nature in America has changed significantly from the nineteenth century to the twentieth century. In one, slavery had been flourishing and African slaves were regarded as less than human, whereas in the African Americans are fighting for their civil rights and people begin to recognize them for who they are. In Kindred, Octavia Butler explores this juxtaposition of time through a fantasy in which Dana Franklin, an African American woman, jumps through time from her home in 1976 to her ancestor’s plantation in 1815. In her journey, she will encounter challenges among the slave community and her family that expand and transform her past notions of kinship, family, and marriage.

Butler uses the motif of certificates of freedom and passes to illustrate different kinds of freedom in Kindred and portrays death as an irrational but possible cost of liberty. According to Dana, “free blacks had paper to prove they were free" (Butler 48). This statement illustrates a kind of independence that requires ownership of a piece of paper which states one's liberation. Another type of freedom is a transient one, and it involves passes - written permission for a slave to be somewhere other than at home at a particular time (Butler 49). Given the passes' benefit, the slaves are still under constraint for they have the option to be where they want to be at certain time frame but are still limited with regards to what they can do. The

This intrinsic formation of expansive foliage, stone and soil showcase what can be offered in the form of natural beauty -- bolstered in part by a creation of a seamlessly interwoven trail, taking many forms it will follow throughout the musty voids of cool stone, past the crashing flow of waterfalls, and into the expanse of lumbering cedar giants. Natural formations of rock with stunning depth and size introduce a smooth, chiseled out staircase, of solid gray stone, which leads downward into grooved out tunnel of stone running through the earth. The solid walls are rough and uneven, with an oozing stability. Running a finger across may yield a feeling of minor abrasion, with a small, distinct scraping heard. This sound

The clearing was quiet, it seemed lifeless. The Salinas River still flowed merrily near the hillside. The water was still warm from the afternoon sun, and still reflected a green hue. On one side of the river, the smooth foothill slopes still curved up to the strong and rocky Gabilan Mountains, and the other side was still lined with trees. The willows and sycamore branches still swung gently in the wind, and the leaves still created a green light within the space. It was totally calm and peaceful… but something was wrong. The air seemed heavier, and the sun seemed dimmer. No animals stirred, and everything seemed to be aware of a deep sadness. Nothing moved save for a small group of men standing around an unmoving figure.

The car suddenly stopped and jolted me from my sleep. Disoriented, I looked around and tried to make sense of where I was and what I was doing. Over to my left, I saw my sister doing the same. Tall, blue, connected houses surrounded us and we were parked in the middle of a pristine parking lot. Green, luscious lawns sat in front of those blue houses. A gigantic tree surrounded by beautiful multicolored flowers sat to the left of a dumpster and a wooden sign with white script on it. “The Pointe at Stoneview,” I read to myself.

She said to herself scrambling through the forest ever more eager to get to the safety of the neighboring country of Salved. As she broke through the branches of a wild berry tree, partially covering her sent from bloodthirsty Shepherds chasing her, she found herself in a small little clearing about twelve feet across. Sunlight lit the clearing from two parted trees somewhere above, the only lighting in this cursed forest, towards the left of the clearing there was a mossy boulder with a tree growing around the backside. Towards the right there was a single tree branch that seems to existed on its own, pulled down by a perfectly seeming fully ripened red apple. Running down the middle of the clearing was a little stream. But as much as her legs yearned to rest on the boulder and as much as her stomach grumbled and her throat begging to be wet by the cold stream water she knew it was either just her imagination or a trap. Real or not she chose to avoid it running around the outer right side still unsealed by the

Surprisingly, I landed on something mildly bouncy. It was the bodies of the previous prisoners. I had survived. I looked around and all I could see was blackness. As I layed on top of the rotting corpses, I heard a hum. I got up and decided to follow it. As I took several steps, the noise got louder and louder. There is light! I started to sprint, yet I felt a sharp pain in my leg. I realized my ankle had been twisted upon my fall. I didn’t care. I ran with joy. I was free! I was outside. I had reached the

I made my way towards the woods. After I was a little away, and then I ran. I ran as fast as I could, not bothering to look back. My heart pounding as I dodged fallen trees and the ones in my way. I didn't want any more accidents like before.

I wish I could run faster. I wish so many obstacles weren't in my way. I wish I knew why so many people wanted me dead. I wish I could...remember.

One morning, I was dancing and playing in the wood, when my feet brushed away some leaves. Then my shoes made a sound like on wooden flooring. I looked down, and what did I see? An old, old trapdoor! I opened it and went down, down a stone stairway. It was dark, and cool, and suddenly the stairs ended, and I stepped into a large cavern. I tripped on a root and fell. I got up quietly, though I did not know why.

I wonder how Eric ever came to find the place. My eyes flickered over the thick, dark trunks of the trees that rose steadily into the sky, its branches interlocking with its neighbors like giant’s arms linked together protecting their home. The trees were densely packed together, leaving just enough space to allow someone to maneuver through. I pressed my palm against its rough bark, and breathed in the scent of the forest. The musty scent of leaves after rainfall, the warm soil packed against the earth by scurrying animals, the scent of things in different stages of blooming and growth. The smell of life. The forest was teeming with