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This week's submission for class, and potentially the last submission, is the introduction that got me into this era of poetry. When I was a freshman in high school, I was first introduced to Paul Laurence Dunbar's We Wear The Mask through this song right here, and it had sparked a lifelong love for poetry ever since. I love it when modern artists give light to classics such as this poem. It gives people an opportunity to experience something that has been so far outside of our time.

A look at Dorothy Parker's Big Blonde

This week's story that stuck out to me was Dorothy Parker's Big Blonde. I found this story to be so fascinating and it was so engaging to read. I found myself reading and rereading again right after. The disconnect between the main character's desire for a life of domesticity and the life that she lives is put in such a light that really feels relevant. The story is almost as if it seems the first display of "modern" romance. I had mentioned in my class that this is the beginning of the era where people didn't need to be married to have sex, and it feels like the fast and loose life style drastically juxtaposes the prior lifestyle to the point where they seemingly cannot coexist. It was really enlightening to be able to "witness" the first example of what modern romance is.

An askewed look at class and race in Passing

In Passing, there is a very real look at class from a stance that is not available to a white centric view of society, and it is the concept that being black is considered such an inferior alternative to whiteness that people would be so quick as to forsaking one's heritage and family to get to a point in society that is objectively a better place to be. It is so wild to think in modern contexts that one had to hide who they really are just to fit in in society, but that is the main focus of the story, and the intricacies that are associated with it.

A final look at The Awakening

This week marks the last visitation (for this class) to Kate Chopin's The Awakening, and I have to say that I LOVE the ending to this book. The entire book we had watched Edna struggle with herself, with finding herself, with being herself- so much struggle of self. This is not to say that I am particularly fond to see that Edna's solution to her problem of self is to kill herself, but I love that she does this. I love the symbolism that is embodied within the last scenes. The whole book we had wanted Edna to sleep with one of the men, but in the end it was not a man that for to ravish Edna, but the Sea. As I had said in my class, Edna had finally chosen something that chose her back. Edna wanted the sea as much as the sea wanted her.

Comparing Charlotte Perkin Gilman's Herland to More Modern examples

So this week I am reading Herland by CPG, a story that harkens to the Amazonian Women trope, and I've found myself realizing that this is the earliest example of the Amazonian trope that I've yet to see. I was first introduced to the trope by Futurama, the animated tv show by the same creator of The Simpsons. I was so young when I was first introduced to this concept, and it is so cool to see such an early iteration of this classic trope.

That aside, I find the Amazonian trope to be so fascinating. I love how it steeps itself in our culture even today, the most popular being Wonder Woman and her origins. Every generation has its own form of the trope, and it is almost like a puzzle trying to piece together the trope that is the Amazonians!

#literature

Clothing—Describe the clothing of Herland. What are their garments like and why are they designed that way? What point is CPG making about women’s clothing? In addition to referencing specific examples from the book, feel free to reference western women's clothing during the turn of the century or today.

The clothing in Herland has been considered by the men travelers to be very ergonomic, very flowing, and very free in use. The men have also said that the clothes are less attractive because they are not fitted pieces of clothing only drawing from their notion of men needing to be attracted to women. The clothes are less a tool and more of an extension of a womans body in relation to how the body can serve a man.

The Call of Cthulu and Other Mythos

So this week's readings were The Call of Cthulu and also a personal favourite, The Yellow Wallpaper. Both stories depict insanity and the embodiment of what that might look like. My favourite part of The Call of Cthulu was finally reading it and seeing the connection to other outlets of media that I've noticed it in before now. My friends and I always grew up playing tabletop games (like D&D), one of which was simply called Call of Cthulu, and playing the games gives such a great insight into what insanity can truly look like. There are entire cults and cities that are dedicated to the Eldritch Horrors, and while the game doesn't show the true capacity of what the insanity would be like, it puts it in a way that is accessible and easily registerable to the public. But the level of which the insanity goes deeper than stats on a paper. That's why I think that The Yellow Wallpaper is such a great conjunction piece because it shows what the depths of insanity could truly look like in a more realistic fashion. It shows that there is not much of a difference between one that insane and not.

Reflections on my readings

This week had culminated my course's reading so far, and the common theme that I've been noticing is that each story challenges what is today known to be the master narrative of the era. They paint pictures of characters that either represent the era that they were written in OR paint sensationalized versions of what the era actually were. Each story is a really interesting, fully built character that has depth, but paints a picture of how people behaved during their time.

Reminiscences of Desiree's Baby

I have recently re-read Desiree's baby by Kate Chopin, and I have found myself being far more impacted by this reading than I was before. The last time I had read this story, I was 17 in my Junior year of High School, and while I remember liking it, I do not remember being as impacted by the story as I was this time. I can't wait to read this in 7 years time again and see what more i can gather from the story!

#desiree'sbaby #katechopin #womenofliterature

A Thought While Reading Pudd'nhead Wilson

So I'm reading this book set in 1835, and there is so much that is relevant to the audience at the time of release that doesn't transfer quite straight to a modern reading audience. One of the biggest issues that I take away from this mis-translation is the use of the N-word. That sinister word. That vile word. That impactful word.

In my literature class, we had discussed the theory behind Roxy using this word, and the consensus was simply that it was just what the vernacular called for. I had tried to apply current logic of the use of the word, and while it could definitely be looked at from today's perspective, that isn't where the book takes place. The use of the word is not in today's vantage point, but in a time long gone that has been carefully packaged in a time capsule for us in the form of us in a book.

#Pudd'nheadwilson #marktwain

Discussions of Pudd'nhead Wilson

So I'm reading Pudd'nhead Wilson, and I am really enamored with the interplay between Roxy and Tom. Tom needed no proof when he was initially told that he was black and Roxy's son, which is funny because Tom is such a distrusting person. Of course, he had initially fought the idea, but quickly gave way to it.

#Pudd'nheadwilson #marktwain

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