Amelia, an 11 year old, whose sister has been traumatized
First person narrative
Sister, Laura, a victim of rape
6 teenage girls have been raped in town
Father is absent from the family (cheating/technology)
Mother avoids crisis through cooking/crafts
Laura (victim) and her family traumatized by a rape.
Laura refuses to communicate (selective mutism)
Ameila, a fire girl, thinks she can save her.
investigates rape and communicates with sister through emojis, finds Laura's sneakers
Amelia CHANGES. She realizes that she cannot save Laura until Laura wants to get better.
"if she wants us to hurry, she could speak"
Unreseolved
Laura has improved slightly, running again, goes to chorus and counseling.
Laura is NOT speaking yet.
Family continues to struggle with the trauma.
Hopeful to hopeless
confused
Resigned/Accpetance
stressed/angry-Laura has been attacked
scared/anxious-Amelia keeps returning to the woods, scene of the crime
frustrated-Laura has not recovered and the rapist was never caught
Working through a trauma
The trauma affects the victim and anyone those that love her.
There are many ways to deal with trauma and healing.
The victim must take some responsibility to move on before they can heal.
sneakers-Laura's strength and power become her lost innocence
bike-Amelia's freedom f
phone-communication through emojis
signature-loss/anger
hanging bottles-1 bottle for each victim, voices are trapped inside the bottles
leaves-the pst, memories
poison ivy-trauma and pain
red foods
fire girls/water girls
technology
emojis
silence
rape anger
redemption
Loss of Innocene-Laura and Amelia have lost their childhood innocence and trust of the world because of the rape
Moral Struggle-The victim and family struggle to cope with the aftermath of a rape and create a new normal life after the trauma
Communication-People can communicate in many ways besides words (emojis, support, feed victim, offer physical comfort, record good events, take to counseling)
Dave, the father of an 11 year old daughter
Third person narative
Ivy's emotional outbursts
Ivy's injury, needs to go to PT
Ivy talks to her couselor
Dance try-outs
Presidential Election 2016, Trump wins
Dave, a father, feels like he is losing his daughter.
Dave feels like an outsider or an observer of his child's life.
Ivy is coming of age, chnaging from a child to a teenager and being more independent
Dave realizes that his daughter is growing up and does not need him.
YES!
When Dave and Ivy create a literal Instgram picture using the window.
Still connected yet separated by the glass.
Hopeless, worried, bewildered
Annoyed: Dave's whinning
Concerned: Dave's mental health. Is he going crazy?
Anxious-Where is this story going?
Relationships evolve and change over time.
This change is normal and natural.
Trust your loved ones and don't control them.
Instagram pictures: Ivy's independent life and thoughts
Window: connection and separation
Happiness Planner: birght, positive future
Inspirational Quote: there is hope for the future
PT exercises: health and happiness
Voting Sticker: Community connection
Newspapers: knowledge
silence
social media: outside influences on Ivy's life and thoughts
therapy
dance class
driving: Dad is in the "driver's seat" he is in control of Ivy
Car Accident: Dad has lost control of Ivy's every thought and activity
Coming of Age: Ivy, aga 12 becomes a teen, is more independent, has her own friends, ideas, activities
Moral Struggle: Dave struggles to accept some new realities in his life. Ivy doesn't need him and there is a new political landscape (Trump 2016)
The Optimism of Youth
Search for identity
Individualism
Postive vs Negative
Old vs. Young
Male vs. Female
POV: Point of View
Ivy views life through a different lens than her father Dave
Privacy vs. Public Exposure
Detective Rivera, a police
officer investigating a murder
A Mika Model kills her owner
Mika wants a lawyer
Should she be charged with a crime
Holly from Executive Pleasures "shuts down Mika Models's CPU"
Is the Mika Model entitled to the same legal rights as any human because Mika can "think" and "expresses emotions"
None.
Detective Rivera sees the Mika Model as "a girl" more than a bot throughout the story.
Detective Rivera sees the Mika Model's humanity
At the end of the story Mika is an object, a bot, her CPU (central processing unit) is shut off.
The model's CPU will be updated.
Male (Detective Rivera) is emotional and sexual. The male sees the Mika models humanity.
Condescending: the male, Detective Rivera, is suseptible to Mika's sexuality and flirting.
Females are portrayed as dispassionate and logical
Introspective: the story makes the reader think about what separates humans from robots with AI
Horrified: by the violent murder, by the advanced technology, by the outcome (Mika is shut off/kill switch)
Society's laws cannot keep up with the rapidly evolving advances of technology.
What separates humans from AI?
The religious concept of a soul separates humans from animals and robots.
Screwdriver: death, a kill switch for Mika
severed head of victim: a human has been separated from his brain or (CPU)
Nordstrom shopping bag: are humans only consumers of goods
torture dungeon:
handcuffed in the front: Mika, a robot or piece of technology, is treated compassionatley and humanely
CPU: is like a brain but made of plastic and metal, capacity is defined and limited
Brain: organic can "see" colors and "depth". Has infinite capacity.
sexual innuendos
flirting
violence
the law/legalities
Search for Identity: Is Mika a robot or a sentinent being because of her AI (artificial intelligence)
Rebellion vs Conformity: Detective Rivera fights against the traditional concepts who has rights. Is Mika entitled to human rights because she has AI?
I think therefore I am. ~Descartes
Wes, a single father.
Wes' wife, Christine has abandoned her husband and daughter, Katie, and moved to Asia.
First person narrative
Wes has stayed up all night playing the Relive Box.
Wes and his daughter, Katie, fight about who can/should use the Relive Box
Wes, a father to a Katie, teenage girl, becomes addicted to the Relive Box. He neglects his present life and responsibilities.
None/Negative
Wes is addicted to the Box. When his daughter goes on a winter vacation Wes stops living his life and falls deeper into his addiction to the box. Wes isolates himself from society and his family.
None.
At the end of the story, the reader does not know Wes' fate. Has he lost his entire present and future life to the box?
Katie says, "Dad are you there?"
Wes replies, "I'm not here."
Cautionary tale, a warning about the benefits of new technologies.
skeptical
cynical
hopeless
Dark, depressing
revolting, gross
anxious
Does technology always improve our lives?
Are you LIVING in the present or have you lost your life to technology?
Relive Box-addiction and remorse for past actiions
The Christmas Wreath-family has given up traditions
Re-living Room-Tech has replaced family time (the living room)
"Stop-Reset"
Time/Date
Restarting the relive box
All motifs show an obsession with the past, memories and loss. Avoiding his present life and future.
1. Obsession with loss. You cannot change the past. The past is immutable.
2. You cannot change the past but you can change your reaction to your past, your memories and your regrets.
the voice of a "smart" house
nucler blast
owners of the house have died
falling tree branch causes a fire
food uneaten/floor gets dirty mechanical mice clean up
Humans through their superior intelligence (minds) have created
None. The voice of the house continues, "today is August 5th"
The house is burned to the ground when a falling branch causes a fire in the kitchen. The voice continues
spooky-empty
a warning/cautinary tale
a futuristic fairy tale
contemplative
anxious/nervous
lonely/isolated
The earth/nature will still be here even after all "life" ceases to exist and the earth will be better off without us!
Silhouettes
Sara Teasdale poem
The nursey
the dog
the spoken time
the food
cleaning mice
the glow/light (fire, radioactive, lit cigar)
The senselessness of war.
The end of humanity will come at the hand of humanity
The fragility of life/peace/the planet.-