Parable of the Sower Syllabus

September 2020

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Parable of the Sower

Author: Chloe Jones

Editor: Morgan Holloman Bryant

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Author History06

Book History07

Reading Tips08

Objective & Themes09

The Discussion10

Further Reading/Resources 17

Final Thoughts16

Table of Contents

Author HistoryOctavia E. Butler, born in Pasadena California in 1947, was an award-winning science fiction author, the first African-American woman to receive high praise and acclaim

for writing in the genre. In 1995, Butler became the first science-fiction writerawarded a MacArthur Fellowship. At the time of Parable of the Sower’s publication in 1993, Butler had already published several popular works such as Kindred (1979) and Hugo Award-winning Bloodchild (1985). Many of Butler’s works emphasize questions of power, morality and the human condition, and the role of religion. Butler’s literary

archive is maintained at the Huntington Library, Museum, and Botanical Gardens.Octavia Butler passed in February 2006.

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Parable of the Sower (1993) is the first book in a two-book series (with an intended third book, Parable of the Trickster, that was unfinished at the time of her death). Most recently, fans have

revisited Parable of the Sower and other works in Butler’s oeuvre as incredibly insightful and prescient texts to our present dystopic reality.

Book History

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READING TIPSTips for Fresh Readers

1. You do not have to have profound thoughts right away: Everyone reads and digests at a different pace. Take your time in understanding the text but you do not need to dissect it immediately. Make a note of any points that are significant to you and move on.

2. Set aside 15-20 mins a day to read: Much like power nap — a power read — can energize your reading and help you focus. You do not need large chunks of time. Set aside 15-20 mins to read a day and make sure you have no distractions during this time.

3. Reflect on what you read: a) What were the themes and/or major events that had taken place in your selected readings?

4. Take notes: a) Highlight terms, phrases, quotes etc that may immediately grab your attention

5. Build a personal glossary: If you don’t know a word, circle it, get the definition and reread the section in context. This may help you come to a new understanding of the text or discover concepts you didn’t notice before.

6. Discuss the book: Healthy discussion on what you already know can entice you to read more and that’s what the #SmartBrownGirl Book Club is here for. Join in on our discussions. Post your questions to the Facebook Group.

7. Author Background: When approaching a text that you’re unfamiliar with, it may be beneficial to do some quick background research on the author, as it can help provide insight on what the text may be discussing.

TIPS FOR RETURNING

READERS

1. Put the book in context: Times have changed and so have you. Before rereading think about who you were, and where you were in life the first time you read the book. Think about who was influencing you/your thoughts. (School, friends, family, news etc.)

2. Be Critical: First reads are a time to be open-minded and give the author lead way to understand their thoughts. Second reads you can be much more critical of the work and its intentions. So get on your soapbox boo we got some boxes on reserve too.

3. Focus on Few Chapters at a Time: For non-fiction (and some fiction) it’s not totally necessary to reread the book chronologically from start to finish. Try focusing on themes that you may have grazed over the first time around andchoose a few chapters to lean into at a time.

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Discussion Objective:

For this syllabus, we’ll be exploring the literary elements that guide the story. Beyond theprescience of Octavia Butler’s story to the realities of our present day, we will consider the power in how she builds this story. What are some recurring images or motifs? How do they contribute to plot and character development?

Themes:

• belief - faith - religion

• survival

• uncertainty

• transformation

• change

• empathy

• life and death

• dystopia

• slavery

• weather - nature - storms - climate change

• fire - flames - arson - burning

• garden - planting - farm - seed

• world-building, world-ending

• reading - writing - literacy

• Los Angeles, California

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Notes on Epigraphs

An epigraph is a quotation or inscription at the start of a book or chapter that relates to the

central content that follows. I really love looking at epigraphs because they offer clues to not just

the content (perhaps the who, what, when, where), but often relay the heart of the story’s drive

or purpose without us fully realizing. When reading a story with an epigraph, I encourage

pausing where I am in the story (and especially at the end) to return to the epigraph and

consider its relevance or meaning again.

Many times an epigraph is a quote from an existing text and author. Other times, particularly in

fictional stories, the author cites a fictional work nested within the universe of the story. This is

the case here.

We don’t yet know who Lauren Oya Olamina is or what Earthseed is. We are provided a quote

without elaboration or context. We likely won’t get much from reading the epigraphs at the

start of each section. However, we can take a close look at the words to anticipate the tone of

the story to come.

For instance, the opening epigraph identifies the year the story begins. Considering the novel’s

publication in 1993, what might it mean for Butler to create a dystopian world just 30 years later?

What might the closeness in time suggest about Butler’s anticipation of this country/world’s

future?

The Discussion

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The Discussion

CHAPTERS 1-5

• What is the narrator’s relationship to dreams? What does she learn from her dreams?

• How does the narrator characterize dreaming from the “ordinary and real”?

• Considering the first chapter, what does the stepmother’s description of the sky and the city

suggest about this world’s recent changes?

• What is the nature of Lauren’s sickness?

• What is the role of religion and belief in their present society? In Lauren’s family?

• Why might folks insist on the survival of religion in this dystopian society?

• How does Lauren’s father relate faith and belief to the environmental calamities?

• How do Lauren and her peers characterize the adults in their lives and in society at large?

• What are the characters’ overall impression of or reaction to the death they witness?

• How does Lauren define survival? What does she offer Joanne to better prepare herself for

survival? Why might she derive inspiration from “California Indians” specifically?

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CHAPTER 6 - 9

• The quote excerpted from Earthseed at the start of Chapter 6 reads:

“Drowning people

Sometimes die

Fighting their rescuers.”

• From Lauren’s perspective, who is drowning? Who is rescuing? Do you think the roles of

drowner and rescuer are clearly defined?

• Lauren’s world-ending preparations and concern for a world that is soon to come

(if not already present) distresses the people around her. Why might Lauren’s father and peers

refute the reality of their world “coming to an end” (63)? Why might Lauren’s father caution

against frightening others and inciting panic?

• “God is Change, and in the end, God prevails. But God exists to be shaped” (76). Lauren’s

thoughts at the end of chapter 6 give rise to Earthseed. How does an amorphous God and

faith, imbued with the individual will to change, feature in Lauren’s determination of

Earthseed?

• What are some other tenets of the belief system Earthseed?

• Lauren considers the potential for life outside of the Earth, but derides the possibility of an

umbilical cord keeping new living worlds tethered to the old and dead.

• “No one is expanding the kind of exploration that doesn’t earn an immediate profit, or at

least promise big future profits...There’s always a lot to do before you get to go to heaven” (85).

‣ What is Lauren’s opinion of exploration and destiny?

‣ How might Lauren distinguish between New World exploration and exploration for a

new, habitable world among the stars?

• Lauren appears incredulous that Bianca and others would be consumed by the possibility of

marriage and children during this time (87).

‣ Why might folks continue to pursue traditional families and motivations despite the

obvious hurdles outlined by Lauren?

‣ How might Lauren’s hyperempathy influence her disinterest in this life?

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CHAPTER 10 - 13

• “Civilization is to groups what intelligence is to individuals. It is a means of combining the

intelligence of many to achieve ongoing group adaptation” (101).

• What does Keith reveal about his time outside the city?

• What happens to Keith after his 13th birthday?

• What sort of pathways are available to young people like Keith and Lauren?

• How does Keith’s retellings of his experience outside inform Lauren’s desires and plans to

leave?

• How does Lauren decide upon the name for her Earthseed text?

• How does the disappearance of Lauren’s father relate to the events of Keith’s death?

• How does Lauren honor her father?

• What are Lauren’s reservations about sharing Earthseed with Curtis?

• What does Wardell exclaim following the death of his family? Who does “everyone” refer to?

CHAPTER 14 - 19

• How do the gaps between journal entries (between chapters 13 and 14) contribute to the

dystopic nature of the novel? Why might it be important that Lauren continue writing,

even in her most distressing times?

• What does Lauren see upon returning home? What family articles does she see along her

way?

• How does Lauren navigate safely through the neighborhood?

• Despite Lauren’s frequent stoicism and rationality, she is hopeful that her family is alive.

Is her hopefulness desperate or irrational? Is it unreasonable?

• Lauren is reminded of Keith’s remark about the burn-the-rich movement upon seeing a

scavenger woman with Cory’s shoes. How has Lauren’s scorn for the “addicts” and the

desperate compare to her earlier sentiments about survival in the neighborhood?

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• What remains of Cory’s garden?

• How do Harry, Zahra, and Lauren’s reactions to death compare?

• How do Harry, Zahra, and Lauren’s respective upbringings and beliefs inform their

relationships to the outside world? To survival? To trust? To morality?

• What does their time together reveal about the persistent class and cultural distinctions of

their old neighborhood?

• How does Lauren’s hyperempathy influence her ability to navigate the suffering of the

outside world? Was Keith’s assumption correct?

• What might it mean if/that Lauren’s hyperempathy is a consequence of her mother’s drug

addiction?

• After sharing the first page of Earthseed, Lauren says, “Imagine him asking me for it.

I must be careful” (195). Why might Lauren be suspicious or distrusting of Harry’s interest

in Earthseed?

• How does Lauren’s family history inform her sense of distrust and secrecy (194-5)?

• What is the group’s relationship to privacy? How does Lauren violate it?

• How do Zahra and Lauren evaluate risk differently?

• In a novel overcome by images of fire and scorched earth, what does the presence of the

ocean and water offer to the story?

• How does Lauren’s sense of loneliness and isolation change as the group grows into a

community?

• How do Travis’ questions emphasize a distinction between Earthseed and commonly

practiced religions, such as the one Lauren grew up in? How does Lauren distinguish

Earthseed from traditional worship of God?

• How does Lauren react to Zahara and Travis’s differing attractions to Earthseed?

• How does Lauren’s sense of trust evolve with her new community?

• How does the group evolve from a random assembly to an organized and functional

community?

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CHAPTER 20 - 25

• What is Lauren’s initial impression of Bankole? How does this impression change, if at all?

• How do care and trust appear as dangerous vulnerabilities within the group?

• How is Lauren’s relationship to Bankole connected to her past?

• How are images of death and destruction in close proximity to promise and new life?

How does this closeness resonate with the tenets of Earthseed?

• How do the histories of slavery persist in the social relationships and upbringings of the

group? (consider literacy, chattel, rape and reproduction)

• What does Lauren learn about hyperempathy from her new community members?

• What does the group find when they arrive at Bankole’s property?

• Compare Lauren’s final visit to Cory’s garden and her arrival at Bankole’s farm?

• How are the characters’ sense of hope and despair colored by their pasts?

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What does the style of journal entries add to the overall narrative?

How do change, stability, and adaptability appear and evolve throughout the story?

How does political suppression compare to individual, emotional suppression?

Why the “parable of the sower” (see Mark 4:3-41)?

How does Lauren’s turn from her family’s faith to a belief system of her own making

complicate the title of the novel?

Final Thoughts

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Notes

FURTHER READINGS/RESOURCES

Additional content & videos that relate to the reading.

Books

Octavia Butler, Parable of The Talents

You Should Have Been Listening to Octavia Butler This Whole Time by Alicia A Wallace

NK Jemisin, The Inheritance Trilogy

The Grand Central Publishing edition contains a Q & A with Octavia Butler.

“Octavia Butler: Science Future, Science Fiction” (YouTube)

“Octavia Butler’s Prescient Vision of a Zealot Elected to “Make America Great Again”

(The New Yorker)

Syllabi Author Bio

Chloe ‘CJ’ Jones is a doctoral student in the Department of African American Studies at Nor-

thwestern University. Her interests include baking, puzzles, and The Golden Girls.

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