Reading âWhatever Happened To ___?â by Anonymous gave me as the reader a very telling inside view of what it’s like to be a woman in the writing world. I enjoyed the description the author gave us of scenes, but I especially enjoyed the detail she used to evoke and show us the emotions of others in the story like her husband. Throughout the story she was very open and honest about her struggles as a writer, a wife, a mom, and even just as a woman defeated in the courtroom. This transparency allows us to see the harsh realities of the world that we can either relate to or may have even encountered ourselves. There were moments in the story where Anonymous bolded certain sentences that were previously stated like âFor the story to work the way it always works, the woman has to be better than averageâ and âMy husband came home as a cyclone, ready to take down our house. He was a car wreck, an assault.â I believe these sentences were being restated with bolded emphasis because these were the main struggles the author went through, this was her life and she wants these particular moments to stick with us the way they have stuck and changed her. Some questions I still have are did her ex-husband ever show signs of jealousy before her work became more known? Also, did she look for support though other outlets like other female writers?
About
Professor: Jessica Penner
Email: creative.writing.citytech@gmail.com
Office Hours: Tuesdays and Thursdays, 11:30 AM – 12:30 PM. Iâll be available through Zoom and will send an invitation via email that you should keep all semester. Try to join my meeting at the start of the hour, not at the endâsince I may be talking to other students or have another appointment after the hour is up. If those times donât work with your schedule, we can schedule a different time. This means youâll have to schedule an appointment in advance. I suggest you have multiple times in mind, since your schedule may not mesh with mine!
I agree with what you mentioned about “the woman has to be better than average”. I think women, in general, have to be constantly proving they are fit for their tasks in this case the author had to be a great writer in order for her to succeed.
I agree that the author shows her struggles as a woman in a writing world and the responsibilities she has to take. She wrote it in a way that the audience can relate to or have a connection to. I enjoy how you quoted from the text and explained in depth the meaning of it.
I agree that how open she was when writing this. Thought it may be because she is writing it anonymously. There are plenty to things I would be able to say if I knew it couldn’t be traced back to me.