Name Post

My name is Matthew. This name has been in use for hundreds of years and was in use as far back as biblical times because Matthew is the name of one of Jesus's 12 apostles in the bible. This makes sense considering Matthew means' "Gift of God." It was also a popular name in medieval times.

Matthew is and has been a very popular name in the United States. At the year of my birth, Matthew was the third most popular name in the United States. From 1981 to 2007, Matthew was one of the top five names. Because of how popular my name is, I have met numerous other people who have the same name as me. This has resulted in quite a few situations where I have mistaken people talking or calling out to another person as trying to talk to me. This, in combination with my introverted personality, has resulted in me assuming in most situations where someone is calling for a Matthew that I am not the one being referred to, so I don't tend to react.

My nickname, Matt, started to take root in fourth grade because of my teacher. At the beginning of the year, she had asked if I had preferred Matt or Matthew, and I said Matthew because I hadn't really been called Matt before. Despite what I told her, she ended up calling me Matt because she had a brother named Matt who she had become accustomed to referring to as Matt. I never corrected her because I didn't really mind; although, at first it was strange to be called by a different name. Soon I noticed that not only was my teacher calling me by this new name, but many of my class mates had also joined in. Eventually I got used to it, and today I go by both names and use them interchangeably.

I think that Anna Quindlen brought up a very good point and that I have found myself in a few situations where I have had a dilemma between being an individual and a part of a whole. One time where I can remember this occurring was during a cross country meet. I had to make the decision to either stay back with the people that my coach told me to pace with or to move forward in the race by myself. If I stayed behind then I would help other members of my team do better, but if I moved forward then I would possibly get a better time. I ended up helping out my fellow team mates because I saw the value in making a small personal sacrifice for the whole of the team.

1st Post

Real Cowboys - Minneapolis, MN
It is from the archive/ is by Wing Young Huie
Lake Street USA (1997-2000)

The picture has an older, well dressed man with a cowboy hat on. He looks like he is a bit over weight. The picture is black and white, and it could be an older picture. The billboard in the back says, “What’s your flavor?” and looks like it is a cigarette advertisement. The car on the left side of the picture looks at least 20 years old and possibly older. Also, the style of the signs for the “Super Subs” restaurant looks older, possibly from the ‘70s or ‘80s. The man is standing alone in the middle of a parking lot.

The fact that the man is well dressed could show that he is well off or rich. The fact that the man is standing alone in the middle of a parking lot makes him stand out and seem different from his surroundings. The man has an uninviting facial expression that makes it seem like he has been through a lot in his life and that he is hardened. The old style of the restaurant behind him, the cigarette billboard (which is a lot more uncommon today) and the old style car makes it seem like the picture was taken a while in the past, but those things could have been included in the picture on purpose to give it that feel.

Huie definitely seems to be showing the man the man in the photo as an “other”. One way that this is shown is through the title of the picture, “Real Cowboys.” This makes the man with the cowboy hat in the picture seem like the cowboy that Huie is referring to. Because of the title saying real in it, it makes it seem like the “cowboy” in the picture is one of the few real cowboys left. Even though the picture is set up to look older, the man still looks out of place because of his nice attire and because of his location in the parking lot. This might be a way for Huie to show that this man is or would be even more out of place today, since he doesn't even fit in back then. This seems to be a different form of "othering" compared to Atwood’s way of showing it in The Handmaid’s Tale. Some “others” that are shown in the book could be the unwomen because of how they are shunned in society and even forcefully removed. These are different concepts of “othering” because of the fact that one is a picture and the other is written, causing some major differences. Atwood could not describe every minute detail of a person or situation in the same way as what can be seen by a picture, which can restrict or result a different types of interpretations. Also, the perspective of the reader is limited to Offred’s point of view, which is very limited and full of her own assumptions and interpretations.