A Handmaid's Tale Quote

"You can see the place, under the lily, where the lettering was painted out, when they decided that even the names of shops were too much temptation for us."

        This quote emphasizes the extreme control the government in Gilead has on the women. The government does not even want the women reading signs because the only way (in their opinion) to show their tight hand on the women, is to have control over every aspect of the women, including their bodies. The handmaid's run-in with the Japanese tourist presents total opposite ideas of cultures. The Japanese women are wearing revealing clothes, while the handmaid's are totally covered in their robes. The emphasis of total control on the women's bodies is suggested again as Offred and Ofglen pass the Wall, containing hung criminals who have performed abortions before Gilead was in control. The extremity of the government is shown, as giving women control of their bodies would be considered a terrible offense.  
        The emphasis on the extreme control of the women then ties into their thoughts--the only thing that the government cannot control. Offred continually flashes back to her past with Luke and her daughter. Even though she flashes back to scary memories of running away, fleeing the borders, and leaving everything behind, I think Offred remembers it all with joy. She is completely unsatisfied and angry in her current life, so she must live by remembering her past. The government must have some sort of clue the agony the women are in from missing their family. All the memories Offred had of her daughter--the clothes, pictures, and hair, have all been confiscated by the government. The government is not only controlling their present, and future, but trying to destroy their past. Offred's memories are often recollected by certain events. Such as the doctor's office visit when the doctor attempts to seduce her. Although he is claiming that he is trying to help her, it appears to be more pressured. Other incidences such as the Commander and Offred's "fucking", brings back memories of Aunt Lydia's words. "For our purposes your feet and your hands are not essential."  Aunt Lydia's words prove exactly a women's role in Gilead. Pain, emotion, and your body no longer matter, only producing a child does. 

My Career Interest

           Walking through the doors of The Rise School, a preschool for children with Down’s Syndrome, after five summers, always makes me smile! It is hard to not feel joyous when you are receiving a big teddy bear hug from a child who cannot say your name, even if they know it. Giving and receiving hugs is only a small part of the volunteer duties at The Rise School. Helping with crafts, playground time, music, and lunch are all part of a busy morning there.  My favorite time of the day is helping the speech and music therapists work with the children.

During my volunteer experiences at The Rise School and at a camp for special-needs teenagers, I have had the opportunity to observe kids struggling to communicate.  The contact with these children has helped me realize that I am meant to help youth in a medical related field. It did not take long for me to figure out that I wanted to be a speech language pathologist. Many kids have the thought process of forming what they desire to say, but are unsuccessful in speaking and making proper sounds. A speech pathologist is the absolute dream job for me. I thrive on making a difference and helping others excel in even the smallest things

I plan to study communications disorders at University of Arkansas and then get my graduate degree in Speech Therapy. After obtaining my degrees, I want to work with children to help them speak and communicate clearly. These may be children who have learning differences, normal speech issues in early elementary school, or teens who have lost speaking abilities in an accident.  

I have loved all of the volunteer opportunities I have had working with children through National Charity League, National Honor Society, AIM High (an after school program for underprivileged students) and mission trips.  Volunteering with children has taught me patience because it takes time for kids to learn and not everything is developed or learned the first time around. I am detail-oriented and patient, which are very important traits to working in a medical field, and specifically Speech Pathology. With the skills that I possess, I know that I can be successful in this field and achieve my dreams. 

I'm a Serpent-Lion, No Shame!

 (Lion protecting Cubs) 

         Although I was being completely honest this time, I still felt classified as a mean liar. Being a serpent-lion meant it didn’t take much to make me lie, or feel physically violent. I was only one of three serpent-lions, but I know deep down, some of the lamb-angels were only kidding themselves. 

This activity put in perspective for me, how low I stoop when telling a little lie. The lowest thought I could think of, was telling someone I don’t have notebook paper to let them borrow, just because I don’t feel like leaning over to get it out of my backpack. That is called lying because of pure laziness. Also, the majority of the pointless lies we tell, we don’t even think for a split-second about lying. It comes naturally. 

When considering physical violence, I really had to think about what it would take to kill someone. Since I’ve never had the experience of killing someone, it made the thought a little terrifying. Simply put, if you were to threaten to hurt me, or hurt me physically, violently, or sexually, I would probably have the motive to kill you. The same would go if you were hurting someone I loved. If killing someone is the way to protect myself or a loved one, it is the action that needs to be taken. However, for me to be physically violent, perhaps slapping your hand at the least, would not take very much. Perhaps, if someone out of the blues told me my hair looked awful, without any opinions being asked for, I would quite easily punch your shoulder. But, I’ve realized that this actually properly conveys my personality. Not the fact that I want to punch people, but that I’m not afraid to be hands-ons. My tendency to quickly punch, also measures up for my quick urgency to hug when I see a friend in need. 

I honestly don’t feel terrible for realizing the smallest lies I tell, because I think a lot of the times it is to protect myself or other people. I have a very guilty conscious, so if  holding the lie over me starts to stress me out, I will eventually come clean. But if telling my mom the dinner she cooks is delicious, even if it’s not, will make her stop worrying about her cooking abilities, the lie will do. 

Serpents frequently symbolically represent fighting, rather than retreat. I think this really emphasizes that us “serpents” are not willing to let things that we care about slip away. We show guardianship in protecting ourselves, friends, and families, even if it means telling a small lie to the ones we love. The Lion is not angry as it may be perceived, but rather represents bravery. We will put up a fight and demonstrate our justice, wisdom, and authority. Although the Lambs and Angels represent more graceful characters, our hearts can frequently intertwine and find our balance. 

Image Credit: www.conservationcubclub.com

Sonnet: Day and Night

Sonnet

Day and Night

By: Andie Kohrs

Leaves are falling as the transition is ending.

Warm breezy days turn to cold bitter nights.

Upon the trees, no bird songs are ringing 

Sunset has fadeth, leaving the stars to nourish light.

Twlight of the morning bringeth no mournful dark

With ease comes the light, stronger than the wind

Which growls heavily like a large dog bark.

The dark is withheld so thou day moves with bend. 

That glowing in the distance is perceivest by the fire.

Fields grow tired of thee ashes trickling down.

Flames die slow waiting for our lives to expire

Thoughts are swimming in our mind almost to drown. 

Winter’s round may end today,

But is only as long as day and night delay. 

Frankenstein: Humanity

This is a revision of this blog: http://andiekohrsaplit.blogspot.com/2012/10/frankenstein-humanity-of-creature.html


Up to the point we have read in the novel, I've noticed that Victor fails to notice the humanity of his creation. When creating the monster, he took little thought of the outcome of the human nature laws. We are still being forced to call him "monster" for lack of a better name. However, the creation is in many ways not a monster, but human. We can assume that the creation possesses some human DNA, because he is constructed of human parts. Although a body does not necessarily make a human. A body is a body, but nothing else until human factors are placed. Language is one the most important factors to making a human.  Animals do have the ability to communicate, but only humans have developed oral communication. The creation does have the ability to create thoughts, and speak them, which is proving his human characteristic. If it wasn't for his appearance scaring away potential socialization, he would be able to communicate with other humans.
Thought is the next biggest attribute to human. The ability to think, form intelligent ideas and problem solving are crucial to humanity. The creation is able to think through problems and solve them. He understands the ideas of justice, alienation, and rights. Although his rationality fails at times, and he does not choose the right way to solve things, his thought process allows him to produce human ideas. 
Lastly, I believe our emotions make humanity. The creation feels sadness for the cottagers, and also excitement for the cottagers when Safie comes home. The creation expresses the emotion he is feeling to Victor about his loneliness, and the pain he his suffering. 

We can gather from the novel that a body is not a human nor a monster. A human is only something that produces human capabilities. And from the beginning, Victor judges the creation as a monster, even though it is Victors own fault. The  human processes the creation does allow us understand the essentials it takes to being a human, and that the monster should not have been automatically given the name monster when in several ways he is a human. 

Never Forget. Poem by Andie Kohrs

Never Forget. RIP Uncle Buddy, October 13, 2012. 

The disease has attacked

and is forcing you to quit

To shut down your body

and take no more hits

The four-wheeler you taught me

to shooting a gun

You’ve been there for me

since my very first breath

You’re more than family

you’re forever my friend

Although you are gone

you’re always still here

You have fought the cancer

for so long and hard

You’re too strong to give up

I beg just a few moments more

I love you and miss you

I wish you were here

The memories will stay 

As I will never forget

Frankenstein: Humanity of the Creature

Up to the point we have read in the novel, I feel that Victor fails to notice the humanity of his creature. We are still being forced to call him "monster" for lack of a better name. But in fact, Frankenstein is in many ways human. We can assume that Frankenstein (the monster) possesses some human DNA, because he is constructed of human parts. Then again, a body does not necessarily make a human.
I would have to say that language is a big part of what makes a human. Animals do have the ability to communicate, but only humans have developed oral communication. The monsters ability to create thoughts, and speak them, makes him human. If it wasn't for his appearance, he would be able to communicate with other humans.
The next attribute I believe that makes a human, is thought. Such as the ability to think, and form intelligent ideas and problem solving. The monster is able to think through problems and solve them. He understands the ideas of justice, alienation, and rights. Although is rationality fails at times, and he does not choose the right way to solve things, his thought process makes him very human.
Lastly, I believe our emotions make humanity. He is able to feel sadness for the cottagers, and also excitement for the cottagers when Safie comes home. Frankenstein also expresses his emotion to Victor about his loneliness, and the pain he suffers.
While several readers may not believe that the monster is human, I think that he possesses several human qualities even if he fails at times.