Annotated Bibliography.

Hinton, A. (2018). Making Do with What You Don’t Have: Disabled Black Motherhood in

              Octavia E. Butler’s Parable of the Sower and Parable of the Talents. Journal of

               Literary & Cultural Disability Studies, 12(4), 441–457.

               https://doi.org/10.3828/jlcds.2018.35

In this article Hinton analyzes the subject of  black motherhood through the view of disability. The Author is able to Exam disability and motherhood together reveals how stereotypes of poor black motherhood have been permeated by ableism throughout history.Hinton is able to analyze how laurens experiences as a  disabled mother figure   who is constantly being  discriminated against can  devalue  Black Motherhood. Hiltons analysis of Butler’s novel will allow me to further explain the connections of hyper empathy within the novel.

Blazan, S. (2022). ‘Something beyond pain”: Race, gender, and hyperempathy in

              Octavia Butler’s  parable of the sower. Gender Forum, (82), 34. Retrieved

https://www.proquest.com/docview/2764532780accountid=27495&parentSessionId=Ipm49GXjR7YkiH3E9TFxdKEaegPAENuKfJFqJwNQ0aA%3D

        In this piece Blazan Sladja discusses how speculative fiction addresses the violence of liberal conceptions of the human under racial capitalism.In her article Blazan   is able to trace the steps taken in reimagining opinions under the guidance of relationality. Blazan is able to argue that Butler’s text is able to show us a different way in which people  can relate to one another by using empathy .Blazan’s discussion  will allow me to argue the importance of hyperempathy in peoples relations.

Wanzo, Rebecca (2005). Apocalyptic Empathy: A Parable of Postmodern

            Sentimentality. Obsidian III, 6/7 (1/2), 72-86. viewcontent.cgi 

 In this essay  Rebecca Wanzon   argues that parable the sower is a postmodern  sentimental fable that further studies  the relationship between feelings and politics.Wazon is able to revise  sentimentality’s privileging of the role of feelings in political progress.  In this essay Wazon  is able to dig deeper into the connections between Butler’s Novel  and political progress.. This essay will allow me to state the use of hyperempathy  in the noble.

Whatcott, Jess. “Crip Collectivity Beyond Neoliberalism in Octavia Butler’s Parable of

              the Sower.” Lateral, vol. 10, no. 1, 2021. JSTOR,

              https://www.jstor.org/stable/48671632. Accessed 30 Nov. 2023.

Whatcott Jess  talks about the importance of  the novel Parable of the Sower  in neoliberalism .Whatcott states that In the novel Parable of the Sower Butler is able to trace these disabling contradictions  of neoliberal governance. In the text Whatcott explains how Butler is able to illustrate cripistemological critique of neoliberal governance. This text will allow me to further examine The importance of Hyper empathy as a way to contradict neoliberalism.

 Stark, Doug. “‘A More Realistic View’: Reimagining Sympoietic Practice in Octavia

              Butler’s Parables.” Extrapolation, vol. 61, no. 1-2, spring 2020, pp. 151+. Gale

             Academic OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A624327073/AONE

              u=cuny_hunter&sid=bookmark-AONE&xid=289fa979. Accessed 29 Nov. 2023.

In this essay Stark  Doug  argues that Butler’s presentation of hyperempathy demonstrates that sharing experience is not a solution for human and non-human relations.  He argues that her representation of hyper empathy  is instead a restaging of the politics of identification and institutional power in another dimension.Stark explains how Butler is able to show the violence  that follows the  people who are different by showing how sharers are exploited in the noble. Stark’s  essay   provides a great amount of information  on hyperempathy and the way it is used in Parable of the sower to represent the maltreatment of different kinds of people.

       In Ben Lerner’s novel  10:04 the concept of time is shown  all through the Book . We are able to first see this  in the beginning of the novel when he suddenly finds himself in the pediatrics office. He is looking around the room and realizes that he is in a place where he doesn’t belong.Ben has been diagnosed with a heart problem  which should have been found when he was a child.  “A giant octopus was painted on the wall of the room where I’d been sent the previous September for evaluation– an octopus star fish  and various gill-bearing  aquatic craniate animals— for this was the pediatrics wing “ (pg.4).  He realizes that  he has no time and that this should have been something he should have known sooner .It’s as if he has a time ticking bomb that can go off anytime . Ben is aware that his time is limited.  The way in which we think a child should be born and conceived is completely different from  what we traditionally know . They instead used IUI, a way in which they can both have a baby without having to do it the traditional way . This made  Ben think of what his future child would think of the process.  Ben often speaks  about the future and what life will be like. It seems that he is always worried about time, especially since he has a condition that can cause his death anytime .It is only normal for him to be worried about silly things like  what his future kids will think of how they were made  and so on . This novel was very interesting as we were able to learn about   the concept of time and how it affects Ben’s world.

 Research question:

What are some ways in which Hyperempathy is shown through the Novel ? How does laurens perspective on her hyperempathy change throughout the novel?

       My research question has changed after  doing further research. My initial question was more  historical  and sociological than English . My new question focused on  Hyper empathy and how it plays a role both in the book and Lauren’s life . For my research question I was able to select a few articles that I believe have some good discussions  on the Topic of hyperempathy in Butler’s novel. For my research question  I want to Discuss  how hyper empathy  was used throughout the novel . What role did the hyperempathy play in the novel? How was Lauren’s character able to use hyper empathy to her advantage . How was she influenced by her hyperempathy?

Butler, Octavia E. Parable of the Sower. New York: Four Walls Eight Windows, 1993.

Sources :

Bailey, M., & Jamieson, A. A. H. (2017). Guest Editors’ Introduction: Palimpsests in the Life and Work of Octavia E. Butler. Palimpsest (Albany, N.Y.), 6(2), V–225.

; Guest Editors’ Introduction: Palimpsests in the Life and Work of Octavia E. Butler

Blazan, S. (2022). “Something Beyond Pain”: Race, Gender, and Hyperempathy in Octavia Butler’s Parable of the Sower. Gender Forum, 82, 34–34.

; “Something Beyond Pain”: Race, Gender, and Hyperempathy in Octavia Butler’s Parable of the Sower

Leong, D. (2016). The Mattering of Black Lives: Octavia Butler’s Hyperempathy and the Promise of the New Materialisms. Catalyst (San Diego, Calif.), 2(2), 1–35. https://doi.org/10.28968/cftt.v2i2.28799

Stark, D. (2020). A More Realistic View: Reimagining Sympoietic Practice in Octavia Butler’s Parables. Extrapolation, 61(1–2), 151–172. https://doi.org/10.3828/extr.2020.10

Phillips, Jerry. “The Intuition of the Future: Utopia and Catastrophe in Octavia Butler’s ‘Parable of the Sower.’” NOVEL: A Forum on Fiction, vol. 35, no. 2/3, 2002, pp. 299–311.https://www.jstor.org/stable/1346188

McIntyre, Vonda N., et al. “Reflections on Octavia E. Butler.” Science Fiction Studies, vol. 37, no. 3, 2010, pp. 433–42. https://www.jstor.org/stable/25746443

Is Lauren’s  Hyperempathy  a Power or a disability?

what kind of society would see it as a power and which would see it as a disability ?

          I started The Novel The Hungry Tide enthusiastically as I had been very pleased with the novel The Parable of The Sower.  I was expecting the book to have a similar layout  and to grab my attention as much as The previous novel had done. I was completely wrong as It was very different from The Parable of the Sower and the book did not  draw me in as much as I would want it to.

          The beginning of the novel was quite interesting. We first get introduced to Piya, a young, smart and independent Indian American girl who completely stands out from their ordinary girl. We also  get to meet Kanai who is an Educated , business New Delhi Man. He seems quite arrogant, quite the contrast from Piya. But what was even more interesting was seeing how Piya’s character was somehow similar yet completely different from kanai’s.They both dont seem to fit their surroundings  as they are dressed differently than the people around them.the way both characters had differences and similarities really had me interested in what would happen next between them.Somehow I started to force myself to read it when the journal was added into the reading. I was confused with how both texts related to each other in the beginning and it was confusing to have two readings in one book for me.

       As I kept reading and The character of Fokir was introduced I was hoping that his character and the part he played in the book would make me want to look forward to reading the book . I found his scenes and Piya’s to be  worth reading . I kept looking forward to their interactions.  Although Fokir did not speak in the text he still played a major role in the book .He was looked down on by Kanai and even by his own wife But he was respected by Piya. I was really let down by the ending of the book and how Fokir had to die. I was looking forward to something more But it was cut short . Overall the text was fine. I understood what the author was trying to get across . Both the present and past stories were interesting   to read but it was not my favorite. I wish the ending would of have given the characters some closure but I felt it was cut short