Read Irina's post, background for Parable of the Sower, & group work for Mon

First, for reasons too complex to enter into here, I broke the most recent update of the Utopias-Dystopias Senoritas blog, and as a result there's not a real link to the most recent post, Irina's post comparing the main female character from Brave New World and 1984. But you should still read it, and comment! Thanks.

Second, you don't need a whole lot of background to begin Octavia Butler's Parable of the Sower, but it might be useful to read the parable in the Christian Bible that the title alludes too. Here it is, beginning with Jesus sharing the parable (or simple story used to illustrate a moral or spiritual lesson), then offering some interpretation of the parable:

“Listen! Behold, a sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured it. Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil, and immediately it sprang up, since it had no depth of soil. And when the sun rose, it was scorched, and since it had no root, it withered away. Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no grain. And other seeds fell into good soil and produced grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.” And he said, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

And when he was alone, those around him with the twelve asked him about the parables. And he said to them, “To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God, but for those outside everything is in parables, so that they may indeed see but not perceive, and may indeed hear but not understand, lest they should turn and be forgiven.’”

And he said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables? The sower sows the word. And these are the ones along the path, where the word is sown: when they hear, Satan immediately comes and takes away the word that is sown in them. And these are the ones sown on rocky ground: the ones who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy. And they have no root in themselves, but endure for a while; then, when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately they fall away. And others are the ones sown among thorns. They are those who hear the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. But those that were sown on the good soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold."


— Mark 4:3-20 (From the English Standard Version of the Bible)

Finally, if you haven't shared your plan for your fourth quarter project, please do so now at this link. Everyone who's writing a Letter Regarding Our Level of Stress should also return to that link and let me know who the target audience for your letter is (P for parent(s)/family, T for teacher(s), M for myself, and S for other student(s)). Get into groups according to the audience for your letter, if you're writing one. (If you're not, you'll be working on your individual project during this time.) In your letter groups, work out the following:

• Will you actually give your letters to a representative of your intended audience, and if so, how? ("Myself" group, this might take the form of exchanging letters and reflecting on reading another letter with a similar focus.) Consider all the options you can think of as a group.
• Share your progress on your letters so far. What has been illuminating about writing them? What do you feel you want to say but are having trouble saying? What has gone well so far in your planning/writing? What struggles are you having?