Paper 1

Celebrating the Alien
Sanavieai Brazeal
Sept 10,2007
EH 468 12:20p.m. class

An alien is defined as someone who is different and does not belong with the norm. In this reading, the author Carol Cooper gives an insight on a writer who had to personify what being different was about. Alice Mary Norton wrote novels under a fictitious male name. She did this so avid readers would read her novels thinking that a white male wrote them. Norton began publishing as Andre Norton in 1934. Many female authors used initials or took male names to gain authority for their work. The idea was made that only white male authors gain success and admiration.
In our society, race has been known to be a major factor in who and what we are to become in our lives. Many rely on race to judge a person’s weakness and their strong-points. The problems of society are unchanging and sometimes set in stone. Many people do not like change and many do not want to make people uncomfortable. The race card has been abused in that we believe that it is a basis for a person’s outlook on life. Whether white, black, red, or yellow, we all have a purpose in everyday life.
Norton’s novels gave rise to different races of characters. Each was strong in their own right and believed in doing what was right for the greater good. The assumption that it was a male writer shows how gender and race go hand in hand at times. It is common knowledge that we as a people are not based on what is on the inside but what is on the outside for the world to see.