Rachael’s Blog

       I chose to read and analyze Maya Angelou’s Awaking in New York poem because I thoroughly enjoyed the imagery that she used to portray a visual to the reader. The first quote that showed this imagery was the first line of the poem that stated, “Curtain’s forcing their will against the wind.” Not only does this paint a perfect picture in the reader’s head of a city apartment with the curtains flowing through the window, but it also personifies the curtains, acting as if they (an inanimate object) can fight against the wind. In addition, I thought that this was a good way for the author to begin the poem, considering the imagery that it includes and how it creates a setting for the rest of the poem.       The second quote that I pulled from the poem states, “I, an alarm, awake as a rumor of war.” This quote stood out to me for a few reasons, one being because she brought the story to first person by saying “I”. This brought the poem to a more ...

       After reading Story in Harlem Slang by Zora Neale Hurston, it is evident how Hurston feels about men, especially in Harlem. The first quote that I chose that represented this idea well stated, “How can I be broke when I got de best woman in Harlem? If I ask her for a dime, she’ll give me a ten dollar bill; ask her for a drink of likker and she’ll buy me a whiskey still. If I’m lying, I’m flying.” Jelly says this to Sweet Back as they are walking down the street. He is full of himself and is disrespecting women at the same time, saying that no matter what he does, all women want him. I think that the author chooses this quote for Jelly to say because this is how she sees men, or in other words, this is how she feels like men treat not only her but other women too.       Later in the story, Jelly was hitting on a girl on the street and she stated, “You barking up the wrong tree. I wouldn’t give you air if you was stopped up in a jug. I’m not...

Charlotte Perkins Stetson’s The Yellow Wall-Paper piece introduces mental health awareness into women’s literature. The first quote that I thought was interesting from the piece stated, “And it is like a woman stopping down and creeping about behind that pattern.” I thought that this was interesting because the author definitely purposefully used this imagery to show that women have to hide from society. Women feel as though they are constantly having a wall up for society and not being able to express themselves thoroughly. Mental health has never been a topic covered in women’s literature before this point, which makes sense because mental health is a more recent topic in general.  After reading Why I Wrote the Yellow Wallpaper , I thought that the last line stood out to me and was a good way to leave off the piece. She stated, “It was not intended to drive people crazy, but to save people from being driven crazy, and it worked.” I thought this was a good way to end the explanat...

       Towards the beginning of the film, Mrs. Dalloway, Septimus and Rezia are sitting in the park and Septimus begins to act up. He has visions of war and explosions. This sort of choice by the director leads us to believe that he has some psychological issues and that they might have an impact on the storyline of the movie. I thought this was intriguing, especially because I was questioning why Rezia would walk away from him when he was going through these flashbacks instead of trying to help him. In addition, I thought this scene was very different from any other pieces we have looked at in this course. In other works, women have been portrayed as more of the caregiver and had motherly traits whereas Rezia just walked away when Septimus was needing help. This is very different from the dynamics of the relationships we have seen in other readings and films.       Throughout the film, and specifically at the end, we are also shown that Clarissa ...

          In the second half of The Awakening by Kate Chopin, similar ideas and themes were represented. The first quote that I chose stated, “She began to look with her own eyes; to see and to apprehend the deeper undercurrents of life. No longer was she content to ‘feed upon opinion’ when her soul had invited her.” This quote is speaking about Edna and her individuality. Throughout the novel, she is becoming more and more independent and is gaining the willingness to express herself how she wants, regardless of what people are going to think of her. At this point in the novel, people’s opinions are having no impact on her behaviors and decisions, which is an outgrowth of her rejection of social standards, as well as her growth in independence.  The second quote that I chose was, “She felt like some new-born creature, opening its eyes in a familiar world that it had ever known.” I pulled this quote from the last chapter of the book because I thought...

       After reading the first part of The Awakening by Kate Chopin, many themes that we have been exploring in class were represented. The first quote that stood out to me was, “‘Leonce, go to bed, ‘ she said I mean to stay out here. I don’t wish to go in, and I don’t intend to. Don’t speak to me like that again; I shall not answer you.’” In this, Edna was relaxing outside on the hammock when her husband, Leonce, was yelling at her to come inside and go to bed. Edna stood up for herself and told him she didn’t want to go inside and that he should basically leave her alone. In this, we see that she has more power as a woman, specifically a wife, than other women have had in past readings. As we read more modern women’s literature, there is a trend in the more power that women are getting in comparison to men.       The second quote that I pulled was from Edna again and she stated, “I suppose this is what you would call unwomanly; but I have got i...