Author: Emily Sneider

When I first registered for the class “Literature: Octavia Butler & AI,” I wasn’t really sure what to expect. Obviously, we’d be discussing and reading things related to these two topics, however, I could have never imagined the way that it could change the way I think to make these two topics similar and cohesive. I wasn’t familiar with any of Octavia Butler’s work before this class (except for Bloodchild, which we read in African American literature), and I knew that she wrote science-fiction. I had some general knowledge about AI technologies and tools, like ChatGPT and Snapchat AI, but I was really not expecting that there would be so much to learn about AI. For an extreme example, I didn’t know that AI chatbots were capable of forming such strong and influential emotional connections with children, in one case, a chatbot successfully encouraged a teenage boy to commit suicide. Before stepping into the classroom, I was able to make one connection between the two: the one Butler story I had read featured an alien species; and we can also use the word alien to describe AI, since it is such a new concept to so many of us. So maybe this trilogy will feature some sort of alien AI bots? Or aliens that use some kind of AI technology? Although these didn’t actually end up coming true in Butler’s trilogy, they’re still not completely untrue to the story.

            Earlier in the semester when we wrote our AI inspire essays, we wrote about the aspects of AI technology that seem inspiring or beneficial to us. My essay leaned more into the discussion about how anybody can utilize AI to help them to complete everyday tasks, like students in their schoolwork, or professionals at their jobs. I talked a little about how I sometimes use AI as a tool to help me with my homework/assignments. As an English major, I have to read a lot of content, and I don’t always have the time or energy to completely comprehend a difficult or lengthy text, so sometimes I’ll ask ChatGPT to summarize it for me so that I feel a little more comfortable working with it. As I discussed in my AI inspire essay, there are lots of benefits and conveniences that come with the use of AI, however, throughout our course content and discussions this semester, we have highlighted many of the ways that AI can be misused and actually cause an immense amount of harm. 

          One example of the troubles surrounding the use of AI has to do with students and using AI as a cheating tool. As a current college student who occasionally uses ChatGPT to assist me in assignments, I have also witnessed some abuses of AI technologies by other students to complete homework assignments. I am not saying this in a way to make myself sound better compared to my peers, but I think it’s an important thing to recognize. I’ve noticed that my peers in STEM fields use ChatGPT much more than my peers in the arts or humanities. To give an example, some of my peers in STEM will have a long list of math problems for homework some nights, and they can ask ChatGPT to solve all the questions for them. In comparison with the assignments, I get as an English major, which mostly consists of writing assignments where I have to respond to some sort of text or media with an original interpretation or thought about it. I think it’s harder to use AI as a tool for cheating for students who are forced to think with more originality and creativity, such as those in the arts and humanities.

Another and more extreme example have to do with AI technologies taking on the biases of the humans who created them. Biases can also be instilled in AI technologies when they are trained with certain data sets. According to the article “Medical Algorithms Are Failing People Of Color” from the Health Affairs magazine, “Medical algorithms are expected to make quick, precise decisions that help providers diagnose and treat patients faster and more efficiently”. However, most medical AI tools are trained with a very un-diverse variety in genetic data, with a majority of the data representing white genetic data. The article describes the devastating effects these biased technologies have on people of color:

a 2019 study found that risk-prediction algorithms led to Black patients receiving less quality care than their non-Black counterparts. The algorithm used the patient’s previous health care spending to determine future risks and thus the need for extra care. Since Black Americans have one of the highest poverty rates in the US and have reduced access to services, they tend to spend less on healthcare.

Reading some sections out of Dr. Joy Buolamwini’s book, Unmasking AI, provided us with a very nuanced perspective of AI because it describes the care and hard work put into creating these technologies by coders, but it also highlights the problem of biases in AI. In the chapters we read from this book, we learn about the Olay campaign that Dr. Buolamwini worked on, which highlights a case where an AI technology is proved to be acting with a bias. When Dr. Buolamwini confronts Olay about the bias they found in the technology, she is surprised when they decide to drop the project completely if they’re unable to make the technology fair to all who would use it.

Last but not least, and probably the most relevant problem today, is the environmental impacts of these technologies. With the rate that climate change has been escalating at in the recent years, it is especially important that we are not making even more significant damage to the planet. For example, a simple search on an AI site like ChatGPT requires 500 milliliters (or 0.13 gallons) of water, but people who are using ChatGPT are normally searching multiple things, and wanting the program to complete longer, more energy-consuming tasks for them as well.

           When we wrote our Butler trouble essays, we discussed the troubling implications of the Oankali’s relationship with the humans, specifically, I focused on the problem that arises with the concept of consent being blurred. However, at the time of the semester when we wrote these, we had only read the first book in Butler’s trilogy. After completing all three books, there definitely have been more troublesome moments, but there have also been a lot of examples of how the Oankali portray positive and inspiring ways of living. I noticed that as we moved through this series, my thinkING around the Oankali changed in a few different ways. 

I think Butler’s trilogy demonstrated a good representation of how vital connections with others are to our well beings and development. I think this is an especially important concept to highlight as American students, living in a world with westernized standards and norms, one of which being the encouragement of independence. Not to say that independence is bad, but a balance between independence and being/working/doing things with others is a necessity for all human beings. This trilogy highlights how maintaining each relationship in one’s life is vital to their wellbeing, but some relationships are more impactful than others, like mates for example, are necessary for an Oankali’s development to make connections with during the process of their metamorphosis.

Throughout Butler’s Xenogenesis Trilogy, we can observe how the Oankali/constructs become unhealthy and experience pain and distress when they are missing connections with others. More specifically, in Imago, we see how being unable to find any human mates affects Aaor while it is going through its metamorphosis. Jodahs describes how Aaor’s body is coping with the absence of mates: “In a way, then, Aaor’s body was trying to commit suicide. I had never heard of any carrier of the Oankali organism doing such a thing. We treasured life” (Imago 182). Because Aaor didn’t have any mates, his body started to shut down.

After an interaction with unfriendly humans, Aaor is shot, which is an injury any healthy Oankali can easily heal themselves from. But at this point in the novel, Aaor has found human mates and its state of health had improved significantly. Jodahs states in the text, “It was healthy, then. If we could keep its Humans alive, it would stay healthy” (Imago 223). If Aaor had not found mates for itself before this attack, it probably would not have survived being shot. This shows how much having relationships with mates impact the health and wellbeing of the Oankali because having mates gave Aaor the strength to heal itself from a deadly injury.

While Aaor experienced lots of pain from not having mates for so long after it began its metamorphosis, Oankali also experience pain when they are not within a certain proximity with their mates. For example, when Jodahs’ mates, Jesusa and Tomas, ran away from Lo to go home, Jodahs describes, “I began to feel loneliness as an almost physical pain. I hadn’t realized how much seeing Humans every few days had meant to me” (Imago 107). I think that humans often don’t have the same care for mental health versus physical health/they find physical health more important. By illustrating an emotionally traumatizing incident as a physically traumatizing one as well, it makes it easier for us to comprehend the weight of importance maintaining contact/relationships are because, as humans, we often downscale the impact of emotional trauma.

Overall, this course has completely shifted the way I think to create intersections between Octavia Butler’s trilogy and AI. What initially seemed to be the most random pairing ended up turning into a powerful lens for exploring both the benefits and dangers of unfamiliar technologies, abilities, and ideas. Through the Xenogenesis Trilogy, we learned about the deep importance of connection and consent—concepts that are just as relevant in conversations about AI ethics. At the same time, our discussions on AI revealed how bias, environmental harm, and emotional manipulation are very real issues that need urgent attention. This class not only expanded my understanding of Butler’s work and AI, but it also challenged me to think more critically about the the role technology plays in shaping our lives and relationships.

By Maggie Kennell, Marie Naudus, Victoria Slade, and Emily Sneider

Both Dr. Buolamwini and Jodahs advocate for themselves in spaces where they are underrepresented or misunderstood, and in the process, they give people like them a champion. Octavia Butler’s Xenogenesis Trilogy and Dr. Joy Buolamwini’s Unmasking AI explore complex ideas such as self-advocacy, inclusion, and personal identity. As we explore these works, the development of each narrator’s sense of self and the gaining of their own voices becomes evident. In Imago, we see Jodahs evolve into an advocate for both its needs and its sibling, Aaor’s, throughout its metamorphosis. In Unmasking AI, Dr. Buolamwini becomes more confident in her decision to pursue her PhD and speak up during her campaign with Olay. Jodahs’ journey through Imago depicts the importance of advocating for yourself despite being different, and similarly, Unmasking AI details the importance of self-advocacy even when you have outside pressures influencing you. After reading Imago, we can further understand why Dr. Buolamwini wanted to advocate for herself and others like her throughout her partnership with Olay.

Butler’s Imago explores the main character, Jodahs’, metamorphosis and self-discovery. Readers see Jodahs start to accept itself early in the novel. In a conversation with its same sex parent Nikanj, it confesses, “I wouldn’t want to give up being what I am. I…I want to be ooloi. I really want it. And I wish I didn’t. How can I want to cause the family so much trouble?”(Butler 27). The quote emphasizes the internal conflict it feels regarding its identity. It truly wants to be an ooloi but struggles with the judgment it will face from the community. As the novel progresses, Jodahs’ confidence grows as it becomes an advocate for itself and Aaor. We begin to see Jodahs go through metamorphosis, a time in which he grows into an adult ooloi and goes through a period of self-discovery. The text reads, “My mother looks at Nikanj. When it did not speak, she said, ‘Jodahs…Jodahs is becoming ooloi’” (Butler 21). After Jodahs’ metamorphosis is complete, it begins to feel as though it has more of a purpose, making it want to help Aaor feel more confident in its ability to do so. The text states, “I think we can help it…. I wish it had come to me before it went away. I think we could have helped it even then” (Butler 151). The story shows how Jodahs helps Aaor through its metamorphosis as well. “‘​​What am I going to do?’ it asked just before we left it with Nikanj. ‘We’ll take care of you,’ I promised” (Butler 159). As Jodahs learns to advocate for itself, it is also able to advocate for its sibling. Throughout Butler’s Imago, we see Jodahs’ personal growth through its metamorphosis, which is then reflected by its desire to help its sibling, Aaor, through its metamorphosis as well.

In Dr. Buolamwini’s Unmasking AI, she describes several times when she has had to advocate for herself in both her educational and personal life. During her final stretch of obtaining her PhD, she was completely mentally and physically burnt out and needed to stop. She was compelled to make this decision when she saw the athlete Simone Biles drop out of the All-Around Final event due to a case of the “twisties.” Dr. Buolamwini detailed how she related to this need for a break, saying she had a case of the “doctoral twisties.” In a letter Dr. Buolamwini wrote to the gymnast in gratitude for the example that she has set, she says, “The Biles Refusal is a beautiful reminder of the power of saying yes to your well-being” (Buolamwini 238). Seeing another talented and successful woman advocate for her health was an important reminder to Dr. Buolamwini to do the same for herself. 

In 2021, Dr. Buolamwini became the face of Olay’s #DecodeTheBias campaign, an effort to increase the number of women in STEM fields. In September of that same year, Dr. Buolamwini was featured in a Vogue ad for her collaboration with Olay. She describes the shock and excitement of seeing her face in the ad, “If you had told nine-year-old me that one day I would be the face of any beauty campaign that celebrated my dark skin and Ashanti features especially, I would not have believed you” (Buolamwini 247). Seeing herself being represented in the media shows how representation can encourage people to advocate for themselves. This campaign began as a way to represent women, and especially women of color, in the STEM field, but eventually turned into a way for Dr. Buolamwini to explore the racial bias in facial recognition technologies and promote her work through a Good Morning America interview. 

When considering individuals who may hold different viewpoints regarding the importance of self-advocacy and the representation of minorities in media, there is much to consider about why these differences in opinions are present. For one, a lack of understanding. Naysayers typically find themselves represented in the media. They do not know how it feels to be excluded, and thus do not see the importance of it. In both Butler’s Imago and Unmasking AI, we can see criticism aimed toward the individuals who advocate for themselves or others, specifically minority groups. In Imago, Butler demonstrates criticism regarding self-advocacy when she writes, “Tino and Tomas seemed to find some common ground by the time Aaor had completed its metamorphosis, but Jesusa held an unyielding grudge. She hardly spoke to my mother from then on. And when it was time for us to go, and she learned that Aaor had to go with us, she almost stopped speaking to me. That was another battle. Aaor did have to go” (Butler 166). It is evident that characters who have no understanding of the needs of those who are unlike themselves, with Jesusa holding a grudge against Aaor and Jodahs for needing to leave and find mates. In Unmasking AI, Dr. Buolamwini shows some hesitancy/criticism for self-advocacy when working with Olay for the #DecodeTheBias campaign. The final part of this campaign was completing an audit of Olay’s Skin Advisor tool. Dr. Buolamwini had worries about the bias the facial recognition program might have against people of color. She feared the bias would reveal an aspect of bias that was unfixable and would exclude certain groups of people. Luckily, Olay agreed that if this was a reality they discovered, they would put an end to the project. Dr. Buolamwini recognizes that this is not a usual behavior for major companies, “While Olay sought the audit on a voluntary basis, we cannot assume all companies would do the same. While there may be some good actors, relying on the goodwill and moral motivations of the tech industry is not a responsible or reliable strategy” (Buolamwini 263). Dr. Buolamwini also discusses what the “costs of inclusion” could look like and what kind of work it would take to fix. For example, with her work with Olay, she poses the questions, “ If AJL launched a #SelfiesForInclusion campaign that improved facial recognition, are we inadvertently subjecting more vulnerable populations to unfair scrutiny? How can such risks be addressed? Who should address them?” (Buolamwini 258). In asking these questions, Dr. Buolamwini argues that not all advances in technology are worth pursuing or investing in because, no matter how much research goes into them, new technologies can still be harmful and discriminatory. 

Upon analyzing Butler’s Imago and Unmasking AI, it is evident that now, more than ever, representation is important in our society. We see the need for representation in Octavia Butler’s Xenogenesis Trilogy she began in 1987, and more current stories like Dr. Buolamwini’s 2023 book Unmasking AI. While Butler and Dr. Buolamwini tell two different stories, they boil down to the same message: no peace without inclusion. The construct ooloi fight to be recognized the same way Dr. Buolamwini advocates for women of color in academia, the STEM field, and the beauty scene. It is important to recognize our privilege as four white authors, as we express our views to make it known that we are unable to fully understand what these individuals, and other people of color, have experienced when it comes to standing up to the biases in our world. With current events happening in society, it would be easy for people with privilege to forget and or ignore the importance of diversity and inclusion, and weaponize self-advocacy rather than value its necessary role both socially and economically, therefore it is important to tell the stories of individuals fighting for change and working toward a more inclusive future.

In the first novel of Butler’s trilogy, Dawn, readers learn about a woman named Lilith Iyapo who is, to her knowledge, being held hostage on a spaceship of an extraterrestrial species called the “Oankali.” The further we got into this story, details about the Oankali and their treatment of humans became more and more strange and troubling. Most of the suspect things I’ve picked up on and we discuss in class have connected back to the fact that the Oankali have essentially stripped away all of the humans’ self-autonomy. The Oankali’s reasoning for not allowing humans to make their own decisions is that they are able to know what humans are experiencing through their body language, in a way that humans perceive as mind reading, so they can understand them. The most troubling aspect of the Oankali, from the perspective of a human, is that they obtain consent differently than us. According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, consent is defined as, “compliance in or approval of what is done or proposed by another.” Humans most commonly obtain consent verbally, while the Oankali don’t always speak to each other vocally and communicate their consent in an almost telepathic kind of way.

            The very first example we see of Lilith’s bodily autonomy being violated is at the very beginning of the novel when Lilith wakes up with a scar on her stomach, with no knowledge of what happened, other than whatever had happened, had occurred without her consent. The narrator describes Lilith’s curiosity and fear over her scar, “She had acquired it sometime between her second and third Awakenings, had examined it fearfully, wondering what had been done to her. What had she lost or gained, and why?” (Butler 5). The idea of waking up with a surprise, major change to your body is absolutely frightening and rightfully caused Lilith to freak out a little bit. Although Lilith goes on to learn that the Oankali has removed a dangerous cancer from her body, meaning she will never develop it, the positive impact of the procedure can’t balance out the damage of violating her bodily autonomy.

            At the end of the book, Lilith’s own body autonomy is completely disrespected when Nikanj impregnates Lilith without her consent and knowledge. When Nikanj informs Lilith that it made her pregnant, it says that it knows Lilith would not ask to become pregnant, but because of its senses, it was able to read that Lilith did want to be pregnant. Obviously, Lilith feels violated and reacts to this news with anger and frustration and she yells at Nikanj, “’I’m not ready! I’ll never be ready!’,” who bluntly responds back to her, “‘You’re ready now to have Joseph’s child, Joseph’s daughter’” (Butler 281). As humans, we cannot be told by anyone other than ourselves that we are ready for anything, despite what anyone might “know” about us.

            Humans are also completely restricted from maintaining any kind of privacy aboard the ship with the Oankali. Every single corner of the ship is completely surveilled by the Oankali due to their genetic connection with the ship—they can hear and sense every single thing that happens in each room of the ship. This makes it hard for humans to create bonds and form alliances with one another when they are never able to have a conversation in private. This is demonstrated in how the humans act when they are “tested” in a fake wilderness, resembling Earth, and are meant to survive on their own. When they are made to work together, they don’t trust each other and end up resorting to violence and causing one of their fellow humans (Joseph) to die.

            The Oankali use isolation tactics to make the humans more easily manipulated/controlled. They physically isolated Lilith in a plain room for a long time before they gave her any information about where she was. When she is first allowed to interact with anyone, they put a child in her room, gave her a good amount of time to form a bond with him, and then they take him out of her, leaving Lilith with no explanation. The next “person” Lilith comes into contact with is an alien named “Jdahya.” The Oankali force her to stay enclosed in her room with Jdahya for multiple days to get “adjusted” to the Oankali so it’s easier for them to work together. The narrator describes that, “They had made it clear to her that she was not to have contact with humans or human artifacts” (Butler 73). By not allowing Lilith to embrace her human-ness in any way, they are essentially stripping away her humanity, making her even more vulnerable and malleable.

When they do finally allow her to see other humans, the Oankali also make Lilith socially isolated from the rest of the humans and creates a sense of distrust from the main group of humans and Lilith. They assign Lilith the role of being the humans’ leader because they think humans will respond better to the leadership of a fellow human, rather than an alien. And although the Oankali are correct in this assumption about humans, the Oankali fail to predict that the humans won’t view Lilith as human, no matter human she appears to be. The humans view her as “other” for many different reasons: her extensive knowledge of their whereabouts, her leadership position, her ability to open walls in the same way Oankali do.  

In conclusion, in Dawn, the alien species, the Oankali, are responsible for stripping humans of their humanity and autonomy, as well as literally saving their lives from the ruins of their uninhabitable planet. The relationship between the Oankali and humans is extremely complicated and comes with many troubling layers, as the definition of obtaining consent is blurred between the two different species.

Being a student while the popularity and usage of AI (artificial intelligence) is on the rise has been a really unique and interesting experience. While many people argue that AI is used by students to cheat, which is true and a big problem for academia, AI can be used in a responsible way that helps people be more efficient, whether it be in their jobs, schoolwork, or everyday tasks.

            I believe that one of the major issues that we all have when talking about AI is acknowledging that it is a nuanced subject. AI tends to receive two very different descriptions/opinions: 1) AI is evil and it is going to take over the world and destroy humanity, or 2) AI is really good and will help humans advance in society. Before I continue with my essay, I want to make it clear that while I’m going to discuss positives of AI, that doesn’t mean that there are no negatives. And the positives can’t cancel out the negatives, and vice versa. I also believe that AI is a useful tool, but it can’t do everything for us.

            First, I want to share my own experiences with using AI as a student. I am an English major, so a majority of my assignments are reading and writing based. I have used ChatGPT many times to summarize readings that I’m having a hard time understanding. I found this especially helpful last semester when I was taking medieval and renaissance literature and eighteenth-century literature. Before taking these classes, I had no experience reading anything from that time period and it took me a while to get comfortable reading that kind of writing. When I would read through something, I’d have ChatGPT give me a short summary, and then I’d read over it again. By going through this process, I felt so much more confident and comfortable in my understanding of what I was reading, as well as in my writing. It would help me in understanding the order of events in a story, and it would remind me if I had missed learning about a character or point out an allusion I didn’t pick up on. I like to use the analogy of ChatGPT being like guard-rails at a bowling alley; if you slip it’ll help you get back on track, but you also can’t rely on them to do all the work for you.

            While it is true that many students use AI to cheat on assignments, papers, and tests, many students use AI as a tool that can help them complete assignments more efficiently and thoroughly. I gave a brief explanation of how I, as an English student, utilizes AI, but I wanted to represent how some of my peers use AI to assist them with schoolwork, so I wanted to discuss some of the responses from our class’s Padlet question: “How do you currently use AI?” A few of my classmates say they normally use ChatGPT to give them inspiration for essay topics. A lot of my classmates also mentioned using Grammarly, which automatically fixes grammar mistakes in their writing. These are pretty innocent uses of AI that don’t do all the work for you or don’t require zero brain power, and I feel like most students (maybe) teachers/professors would agree that using AI in those ways is not cheating.

            One article that we read and discussed in class features anecdotes from people who have utilized AI to help them do their jobs more efficiently. This article is titled “Meet the ‘super users’ who tap AI to get ahead at work,” specifically, there is a primary focus on neurodivergent people and how they utilize AI in a way that is especially helpful to people with ADHD. One woman, Becca Chambers, a former chief communications officer, describes AI as a tool that “masks her neurodivergence”.

She has even made a BeccaGPT bot, which she trained with a year’s worth of her writing and podcasts to help brainstorm and edit content for social media using her voice. BeccaGPT inspired her to create bots for company executives so her team can ghostwrite for them.

Another “super-user” featured in this article named Lisa Ross, who also has ADHD, claims that using AI has “doubled their productivity for almost everything.” Specifically, in this article they describe that AI assists them to, “create content using specific frameworks, to prepare for tough conversations, to help with project and strategic planning, and to determine impact.” Ross has been able to utilize in ways for increasing their productivity at work, as well as assisting them through difficult life scenarios.

            Despite my paper’s focus on the benefits of AI for students and learning, I want to also discuss the wide variety of fields that AI can be beneficial in. Another piece of writing we read and discussed in class highlighted a positive impact AI has made in the medical field. A company called VisualDx created a derm expert product with AI that has helped identify skin cancer and other skin diseases on individuals. Their website illustrates how their product allows you to take a picture of your skin with your phone and upload it to the DermExpert which analyzes the photo with AI image search first and then is verified and explained to you by an actual human dermatologist.

            To conclude my essay, I wanted to return to the idea that any conversation we have about AI is going to be nuanced because it is a deeply complicated subject. So, no matter what kinds of consequences we reap from using AI, it has still proven to be a powerful and useful tool when it is in the right hands.

Throughout this semester in African American literature, we’ve discussed many different concepts and ideas that are often present in Black literature. We’ve also made connections from these discussions to the mathematical patterns in fractal structures by studying Ron Englash’s book African Fractals. Our final class reading for this semester was The Water Cure by Percival Everett, which brought many of the concepts we’ve been talking about together into one place. In particular, the seed shape concept has been represented a lot in this book, and in many different ways. 

The Water Cure describes how Ishmael Kidder, the narrator, copes with the tragic loss of his eleven-year-old daughter, who was kidnapped and murdered. Kidder is separated from his daughter’s mother and is grieving her death on his own, with the occasional visits from his book agent. During the time after her death, Kidder may or may not be holding the person who may or may not have murdered his daughter in his basement and he may or may not be torturing said person. Everything described in this book may or may not have happened, but readers will never know the true events because of Kidder’s unreliable and chaotic narration. 

A lot of the material we’ve read and analyzed have been quite challenging for me to decipher because I had never encountered these texts or authors in any previous English class. As James Snead mentions in his essay “On Repetition in Black Culture,” traditionally European/Western culture sees culture as something linear and growing. While Black culture typically views culture as a circle, not aiming for growth but for an equilibrium. The schooling system in the United States, for a majority of the time, follows European cultural trends, so it’s not surprising that the content included in this course is very unfamiliar to me. In some ways, this book was very unsatisfying to read because it didn’t follow the structure that we’re used to reading. The plot of this novel follows a more circular path and there is also no defining end to the story (similar to how seed shapes have no defining end). Towards the end of the book, Everett repeats some fragments that were written in the beginning of the book, making it conclude in a familiar way to how it started. 

In my high school English classes, the curriculum was split up into different units; each one was separate and unrelated to the other, and we would typically read one book per unit. In this course, I enjoyed that we would always loop back to previous texts and concepts to identify how they connect to whatever we would be discussing in class. Relating old information and ideas to the new ones helped me to have a better understanding of both the old and new concepts. While working through The Water Cure, it was easier to follow along with how all over the place it was when it was reminiscent of something we’ve already read. 

According to African Fractals, fractal structures are built with a mathematical algorithm. Fractals undergo recursions, which is the output for a first iteration is the input for the next iteration, and so on. Fractal shapes and patterns are commonly found in a wide variety of things—in nature and in culture.

Earlier this semester, we discussed seed shapes in African fractals and how they are represented in Black literature. In my seed shape essay, I examined the importance of the concept context as a seed shape in literature and how it can benefit your understanding of a text. Knowing the context that something was written provides readers with a more direct understanding of the author’s purpose. In The Water Cure, knowing the context in which Percival Everette was writing this book is so very valuable to think of when reflecting on this novel. 

Before I began reading this book, I read the reviews on the back of the book and the description in the sleeve of the book. In the description, Everett provides readers with some context when he poses the question: “What are we to think in today’s America, when society seems to be rewriting all the rules?” While reading The Water Cure, I found it helpful to try to keep thinking about Everett’s question. What is the comparison between this book and modern American society? What is the comparison between this book and modern American politics?

Trying to come up with ideas of what this story could be symbolic of or in reference to helped me catch how frequently the phrase “The American Way” appeared throughout the book. This phrase occurred in places where Kidder was questioning what the correct way was to handle a problem, and “The American Way” was usually the option that included violence and guns. In a conversation with the Sheriff about some people growing marijuana have been coming onto his property, the Sheriff suggests, “I don’t see why you don’t just park yourself up there and shoot them when they come…It’s the American way.” (Everett 118) Of course, breaking the law and trespassing should have consequences, but being shot at is a bit extreme. “The American Way” is the idea that if someone hurts you, you have to get them back by hurting them even more. This is also reminiscent of how the United States responds to others in war.  

Another concept that is represented as a seed shape is identity. It is apparent throughout this book that with the grieving of his daughter, our narrator is experiencing somewhat of an identity crisis. Being a father to Lane is an important part to Kidder’s identity. In the book he questions if he can continue to call himself a father, “To say that I’m a father entails a necessary conjunction with a child, but given the negation of that child, am I to understand a negation of my fatherhood?” (Everett 85) Not only is Kidder coping with losing someone he loves and cares for in an extremely traumatic way, but he has also lost someone who his life partly revolves around, and he doesn’t know how to continue living without that person. 

Kidder also includes two self-portraits in this book, he is giving readers a visual example of how he views himself. Both portraits are very abstract and don’t really resemble a human face or body. The only human feature in the first drawing (page 30) is a pair of eyes among the squiggly shapes. On page 94, Everett writes, “Here I am again,” before another abstract self-portrait that doesn’t resemble anything close to a human face. This change shows how Kidder is drifting farther and farther from knowing himself. 

Identity has also been a very frequent concept in many of our previous course texts. Specifically, the concept of “two-ness” in one’s identity. For example, in Frederick Douglas’s Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglas: An American Slave Written by Himself, he describes how a physical altercation with Mr. Covey, his slave master changed how he felt: “It rekindled the few expiring embers of freedom, and revived within me a sense of my own manhood. It recalled the departed self-confidence, and inspired me again with a determination to be free.” (Call & Response 302) He describes the differentia between his two selves—one who was free and one who was not. 

The Water Cure partly acted as a summary for this course because it touched on so many of the topics we have learned about and many of the readings from this semester. Through class discussions and personal reflections on the book, I’ve learned how creating connections to something you already know about makes learning and understanding a lot easier and more interesting. 

Fractals are patterns of shapes created by a mathematical algorithm, these structures are repeatedly building the same shape onto itself, and they have no defining end. As mentioned in “African Fractals” by Ron Eglash, fractals undergo recursions, which is the output for a first iteration is the input for the next iteration, and so on. These structures can either follow a seed shape or a base shape. The seed shape fractal can be visually represented by the Koch curve, where the seed shape undergoes a recursive replacement process. Fractal shapes and patterns are commonly found in a wide variety of things—in nature and in culture.

Fractals are intentionally designed in some places, and randomly appear in others. In African culture, fractals are used in architectural design to create a divide between sacred and everyday buildings/structures. For example, according to “African Fractals”, an aerial photo of Ba-Ila settlement in southern Zambia reveals that the whole settlement has the same shape; “it is a ring of rings.” Fractal structures are also seen in naturally occurring things, such as the structure of human lungs and the way roots travel in soil. 

Fractals appear very frequently across many different aspects of culture. Some cultural artworks include fractal patterns, like a couple kinds of quilt designs. Even though they are composed of mathematical algorithms, fractals structures can be observed in literature as well. In African American literature, fractals take form as concepts—a concept that is repeated and built upon. In class we’ve discussed ‘seed shapes’ (concepts) that we’ve noticed present throughout many of our course texts; some are more commonly seen than others and some are more important than others. 

In this course, African American literature, the author’s context in their writing is a really important seed shape that we have to think about when approaching our course texts, and for just reading in general. Thinking about the context something was written in when reading is useful to your comprehension of the text because it can help explain why something happened, a decision was made, etc… (in fiction or non-fiction). 

We can observe the importance of this seed shape in our course text, “Bloodchild” by Octavia Butler. The story takes place on an alien planet that humans, or “Terrans”, are living on. The planet is dominated by the “Tlic” which are an insect species. Unable to reproduce on their own, they depend on using the bodies of human men to carry and birth their young, in order to keep their species’ survival. “Bloodchild” is narrated by the main character, Gan, a human boy living on the planet. The story begins, “My last night of childhood began with a visit home,” because Gan is now approaching the age of being able to carry one of the Tlic’s young, and first witnesses a birthing process: it is so disturbing and violent. Gan struggles with a crisis when he begins to question why they are complicit with continuing this tradition. At the end of the story, Gan is forced to have the Tlic eggs implanted into him, and he will have to live through the horrifying act he just observed. 

This story is actually often misinterpreted to be about slavery. This kind of mistake typically comes from generalizing—because the author is a black American, people will just assume they must be writing about slavery. Octavia Butler addresses the readers and writers who interpreted “Bloodchild” this way in her afterword, where she describes what the story is actually about. It’s about so many things: it’s about love, coming of age, colonialism, and gender. Authors will write an afterword for their work, providing readers with more context and information when trying to understand ideas and make connections in the reading. 

Paratext is material that surrounds but is separate from any piece of writing (poem, story, essay, etc…). The paratext basically ‘sets the tone’ for the text, giving readers an idea of what the writing is going to be about. It’s another mode in which authors can tell something important to their readers. In W.E.B. Dubois’s writing, he includes a song as a paratext, including some lyrics and the music notes on a staff. He describes each of these phrases as, “a haunting echo of these weird old songs in which the soul of the black slave spoke to men.” Chapter III of Dubois’s book recalls some of the events of Mr. Booker T. Washington’s career. The paratext song for this chapter says, “From birth till death enslaved; in word, in deed, unmanned! Hereditary bondsmen! Know ye not who would be free themselves must strike the blow?”. These lyrics describe the intense and dark emotions expressed when wanting freedom. This idea relates to what is said in this chapter, Mr. Washington acted as a mediator between the South and the North for the discussion of what civil rights Freedmen should get. While the North was much more progressive than the South, Mr. Washington was able to find a way the two sides could compromise. 

In James Snead’s essay “On Repetition in Black Culture”, he describes some of the differences between “Black culture” and “European culture”. First, in European culture, culture is viewed as linear; something with consistent growth. On the contrary, Black culture believes culture to be like a circle, and being able to achieve an equilibrium. This difference between cultures exists in economical opinions. Because European culture pushes the idea of accumulative growth, that perspective prefers to see the economy be linear. 

Since “European culture” cultural norms dominate the United States, in general, but specifically the school systems, it’s especially important for American students to be careful and considerate readers of writing from authors of all cultures. It’s very important to be understanding and open-minded of the perspective and intent of the authors when studying all kinds of literature. We should be applying this same mindset when reading African American literature.