In her article “ Uncovering Subversion in Phillis Wheatley’s Signature Poem: “ On being brought from AFRICA to AMERICA”, MaryCatherine Loving states the reading strategies to reveal Wheatley’s rejection of Christianity, her acknowledgement of life before slavery, and her efforts to position her own body with those of other enslaved Africans. Wheatley’s choice of title provides an early frame of reference for the movement will be more fully described. The movement was not only to AMERICA it originated in AFRICA. Wheatley’s use of capitalization in the title of work can be proposed as a forerunner of the term African American to denote blacks of African heritage. She carefully mimicked the forms of language and stereotypes regarding enslaved African, which she inherited.
In her essay, “The Importance of Work,” from The Feminine Mystique published in 1963, Betty Friedan confronts American women’s search for identity. Throughout the novel, Betty Friedan breaks new ground, concocting the idea that women can discover personal fulfillment by straying away from their original roles. Friedan ponders on the idea that The Feminine Mystique is the cause for a vast majority of women during that time period to feel confined by their occupations around the house; therefore, restricting them from discovering who they are as women. Friedan’s novel is well known for creating a different kind of feminism and rousing various women across the nation.
It can be said that society has always been quite judgmental, and at times misguided when it comes to women. The negative perceptions that society has towards females are often times directly related toward her actions. What a female does seems to degrade her identity and capabilities in the eyes of some men. In the poems “The Lady’s Dressing Room” and The essay “A Modest Proposal” by Jonathan Swift, we can see both authors use of tone, form and style to develop their works. These poems are mainly driven by men’s attitudes towards women.
Plath lived in a society where women cooked, cleaned, and cared for unruly children—also referred to as hell. Plath makes it evident that she does not want to “[cook] three meals a day”; instead Plath wants “to be free--free to know people and their backgrounds” (Plath 5). Plath’s use of dashes in her journal indicates a break in thought--a break in thought that exposes Plath’s unruly side. Plath’s desire for freedom was a form of defiance in and of itself. Women were expected to stay locked up at home waiting for their “loving” husband to return, so by turning against these ideals Plath rebells against the system.
Poetry Analysis Once the poem “History Lesson” was written numerous poetry foundations celebrated it for many reasons. “History Lesson” not only makes an impact on literature today it has also impacted people also. This poem inspires people and moves them to the point to where they can find a personal connection to the poem itself and to the writer. Not only does it hold emotional value for those who were victimized and those whose family were victimized by the laws of segregation, but the poem is also celebrated for its complexity. The poem uses many techniques to appeal to the reader.
The poem, “Body Politics”, by Louise Bernice Halfe, originally Sky Dancer, shows different types of women who vary as a result of their community. In the poem, there is a woman, the author’s mother, who bashes city women for not being ‘real women’ despite the different upbringing and surroundings. The media and culture around city women is different from what the other woman was surrounded by. In addition, varying experiences between the women have resulted in differing standards for women. At one point in the poem, it discusses varying appearances between real women and city women.
Kate Chopin’s short story “The Story of an Hour” is set in the late 1800s – a time when women were considered inferior to men. Women had traditional roles as wives and mothers. In this 19th century patriarchal society, Chopin shows us Louise Mallard, the main character, who does not comply with the female gender norms of the Victorian period. When Louise learns about the death of her husband, her reaction and the reaction of her sister and the doctor tell us a great deal about gender stereotyping during this time. Louise Mallard is described to us as “firm” and “fair.
In a group with Anna Duncan, Nina Zhu and myself, we read the poem “Outbound” by Greg Williamson. We took the same strategy that was used when we deciphered the poem “On my First Son” by understanding the poem line by line. Going line by line, we were able to understand our assigned poem and have a conclusive idea for the meaning of the poem. As a group, we originally thought we had understood the poem, right before we moved on Nina
Chanel Courant Poetry Analysis As two 20th century female poets who served as feminist figureheads for the literary genre, Sylvia Plath and Adrienne Rich's works experience some expected crossover in thematic content and overarching ideas about the stifling entrapments of womanhood, abuse of power, and pain as means of freedom. Plath's "Lady Lazarus" focuses on the control that comes with the vulnerability and entertainment tied to public displays of mental illness, while Rich's "Valediction Forbidding Mourning" depicts the female struggle to express emotion within the confines of male dictation, and the two find their commonality in the search for autonomy in a world where women are not afforded the luxury, and where their feelings are watered down to spectacles to be watched or immaturity to be subdued. Plath's works are overwrought with autobiographical sentiments of suicide and depression, and
“Poetry Is Not a Luxury” (1982) intertwines feminism and poetry together. Author Audre Lorde says that for women, “poetry is not a luxury, but a necessity of our existence” (Lorde, 1982, pg. 281). In today’s society, women’s opinions aren’t really expressed, because it’s not widely accepted in this man-built world. Lorde’s quote “poetry is not a luxury, but a necessity of our existence” means that women should use their voices and channel their energy into poetry. Since poetry is accepted, women aren’t being deviant.
The poem A Step Away From Them by Frank O’Hara has five stanzas written in a free verse format with no distinguishable rhyme scheme or meter. The poem uses the following asymmetrical line structure “14-10-9-13-3” while using poetic devices such as enjambment, imagery, and allusion to create each stanza. A Step Away From Them occurs in one place, New York City. We know this because of the lines, “On/ to Times Square, / where the sign/blows smoke over my head” (13-14) and “the Manhattan Storage Warehouse.”
The play An Ideal Husband was written by Oscar Wilde in 1895 in England’s Victorian era. This era was characterised by sexual anarchy amongst men and women where the stringent boundaries that delineated the roles of both men and women were continually being challenged by threatening figures such as the New Woman represented by Mrs Cheveley and dandies such as Lord Goring(Showalter, 3). An Ideal Husband ultimately affirms Lord Goring’s notions about the inequality of the sexes because of the evident limitations placed on the mutability of identity for female characters versus their male counterparts (Madden, 5). These limitations will be further elaborated upon in the context of the patriarchal aspects of Victorian society which contributed to the failed attempts of blackmail by Mrs Cheveley, the manner in which women are trapped by their past and their delineated role of an “angel of truth and goodness” (Powell, 89).
The feminist manifesto who constantly bashes women During the 1950’s in America it was normal for women to be opressed by society’s notion that men were superior. Sylvia Plath’s novel The Bell Jar challenges this and is considered a major feminist work by many. I do not agree. Several of Esthers reflections regarding society and womens roles in it were quite controversial for the time, and she often speaks about how women shouldn’t settle for a husband, kids and a house in the suburbs.
This week’s poems where Lord Alfred Tennyson’s “Mariana” and “The Lady of Shalott”, Christina Rossetti’s “No Thank You John” and “Promises Like Pie Crust” and William Morris’ “The Defence of Guenevere”. All these poems displayed something about how women were viewed and the way that they were perceived back in the Victorian times. The first poem “Mariana” is about a woman who lives in worn down house because she doesn't have any meaning to her life because she was never able to marry. The second poem, also by “The Lady of Shalott” is about a woman who was stuck in a tower weaving for her entire life, because if she left a cure would fall on her and she would die. She stayed in the tower growing lonely until she saw Sir Lancelot and decided
What is Slam poetry? Hmm?? It is a type of poetry expressing a persons personal story and/or struggle usually in an intensely emotional style. Very powerful, sincere, and moving.
