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Discussion of Class Readings Theme: Men and Women
Please post brief answers to as many of these questions as possible.
All students will be writing about all six readings for the next essay – which has not yet been assigned, so you should read the selections and respond to the discussions (which are what we would have done in a real classroom setting).
Right now, we are discussing three of the six. More questions on the other stories will follow in a couple of days.
Press Ctrl + click or cut and paste into your browser to open hyperlinks for 1 through 6
1) An essay by Judy Syfers called “Why I Want a Wife”
http://www.columbia.edu/~sss31/rainbow/wife.html
a) What is the writer saying essentially: why does she want a wife? Is it because wants a same-sex relationship or is it something else?
b) This is an example of satire. Please look up “satire.” Do you think her essay is a successful exposé of what husbands expect?
Is it funny or dated (it was written 50 years ago during the height of the Women’s Rights movement)?
Is what it says about husbands offensive or is it a criticism of what women actually put up with?
c) Notice what she says about what is expected when a family goes on vacation: whose children are being taken care of? (Notice the power of one word: is it “our” or “my”?
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