Blogging on Tuesday for Wednesday’s class

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If you were asked to blog by 5:00 on Tuesday so that everyone can comment on your posts by 10:00am Wednesday, what do you plan to blog about? Here are some ideas, but I hope others will reply here with other ideas.

  • In class we looked at a selection from “Women and Economics” about housework. Does the short story “The Cottagette” present a solution to the issues raised in Gilman’s non-fiction “Women and Economics”? Explain your stance.
  • We began discussing the issue of narrator reliability. Consider narrator reliability in “The Cottagette” or “The Yellow Wall-Paper” or compare the two. Include examples by quoting from the text to show what informs your sense of reliability.
  • “The Yellow Wall-Paper” was once believed to have been out of print from 1920 until feminist scholars re-discovered it in the 1970s. Here are two possible topics to consider based on this statement:
  • How do you read “The Yellow Wall-Paper” or “The Cottagette” as a feminist text? What does that mean?
  • According to one examination of “The Yellow Wall-Paper” and its publication history, the story did remain in print in between its reprint in 1920 and its feminist re-discovery in the 1970s–in horror story collections. In what ways do you see “The Yellow Wall-Paper” as a horror story? Include specific references to the text to support your claims.
  • What connections do you see among the stories assigned from the start of the semester and either or both of Gilman’s stories? Are there trends you can identify? Or contrasting situations/characters/styles that are worth noting in their difference? Be specific!

These are just a few ideas that you might consider. For your post, choose one of these, or venture off on your own topic, using any of these as a guide to make sure your topic is as focused. Use the texts to guide you, consider that your audience will have read the same materials but might not have thought about them as much as you have or in the same way that you did, and enjoy sharing your ideas. On the nitty-gritty end of things, remember to include a title that reflects what you’re writing (it shouldn’t be able to apply to everyone’s post and can certainly be longer than one word), choose appropriate categories and tags (or add if you want a tag that isn’t there already), write at least 300 words, proofread, and publish! If there are links or media you want to include, please do.

Commenters–get ready! Everyone who isn’t writing a blog post will need to comment by 10:00am Wednesday, so make sure you’re ready to comment on your classmates’ work with 100-150 words of insights and reactions to share with the class.

“The Cottagette”: solutions to “who will do the housework” dilemma

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In the short story “The Cottagette” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, the protagonist Malda recounts her brief transformation from an embroidery artist to a housewife, done in an attempt to win the heart of a man she’d fallen in love with. The story itself serves as a critique of 19th century conventions, most notably, that a woman would not be able to find love or marry if she did not offer herself as a housewife to he prospective husband. There are two main solutions to this whole “who-will-do-the-housework” problem that arises when the possibility of a woman not doing all the domestic work comes up:

At the very beginning of the story, Malda descries the “cottagette”, and takes note that it lacks a kitchen area. But this doesn’t seem to be a problem for her, or the other people living with and near her: “You had to go quite a way through the meadow… to reach the town-connecting road below. But in the woods was a little path, clear and wide, by which we went to meals” (Gilman); this shows that she and the others living in the cottagette with her have no need for a kitchen or to do any of the cooking themselves, because they hired someone else to do it for them. This leaves them with more time to peruse their own artistic interests, such as music (or embroidery, in the case of Malda).

While this works for the characters in the story, this type of living isn’t financially feasible for everyone. To that, the story offers an alternative route: for both spouses to share the housework, as opposed to leaving the all of it to the wives. “’Of course the things taste good—but so do my things! I’m a good cook myself” (Gilman) says Ford, the man with which Malda has fallen in love. This, more than anything else, shows that he truly does care for her, and wants a partner in marriage as opposed to a live-in-maid. It also serves as a solution to those who cant afford to hire others to do their housework.

Flamboyant

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Flamboyant; adjective; strikingly bold or brilliant.

From “The Yellow Wallpaper” by C.P. Gillman. “One of the most sprawling flamboyant patterns committing every artistic sin.” (second page)

In this passage, the narrator is describing the wallpaper that she encountered in the nursery room, where she was going to be sleeping in. She didnt like the aspect of the wallpaper, nor the design. To her, it was strikingly brilliant in a negative way, not a good brilliant.

Blasphemy

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Blasphemy; noun; irreverent behavior toward anything held sacred, priceless, etc.

From “Young Goodman Brown” “On he flew, among the black pines, brandishing his staff with frenzied gestures, now giving vent to an inspiration of horrid blasphemy, and now shouting forth such laughter, as set all the echoes of the forest laughing like demons around him.” (p 53)

I now understand that Goodman Brown was cursing something sacred at the moment. Before, he was challenging all the demons and wizards to come forth, and was then cursing at something, maybe god himself.

Narration–a few more terms

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A narrative is heterodiegetic if the narrator is not a protagonist or if the narrator  exists in a different sphere than the protagonist. Third-person narratives are most commonly associated with this term, but other narratives can be, such as you-narratives, they-narratives, and one-narratives.

A homodiegetic narrative is equivalent to a first-person narrative. If the narrator is the main protagonist, such as in an autobiography, that is called an autodiegetic narrative. That style of narration is different from a peripheral first-person narrator, in which a first-person narrator is a minor character. First-person narrators, whether homodiegetic or autodiegetic, are inherently limited in their perspective and are potentially untrustworthy.

These definitions come from Monika Fludernik’s An Introduction to Narratology, 2009. These definitions draw on the work of Gerard Genette and Franz K. Stanzel.

Forsooth

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forsooth: (adv.) often used to imply contempt or doubt.

Used in “Young Goodman Brown”, paragraph 31; “‘Ah, forsooth, and it is your worship, indeed?’ cried the good dame.”

This word was actually pretty funny to me when I read it and I thought I was either reading early Shakespeare or the Bible; I don’t even think the Bible has the word “forsooth” in it. I’m glad I looked it up and now know the definition because maybe I can use it in a sentence just to throw someone off. In all seriousness however, it’s interesting to me that this word is an adverb, especially because we spoke about adverbs in class. It proves that  not all adverbs are noticeable or end with “-ly.”

Querulous

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Querulous– Adjective, habitually complaining, fretful,whining.

From ” The Yellow Wallpaper”  I don’t feel as if it was worth while to turn my hand over for anything, and I’m getting dreadfully fretful and querulous”. ( Page 4, paragraph 8)

Now i understand that the main character has been sick for a while and she has been whining trying to make herself feel better.

 

Peculiarity

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Peculiarity – noun; 1) the quality or state of being peculiar – adjective – different from the usual or normal

From the story “Young Goodman Brown” by Nathaniel Hawthorne “It was all as lonely as could be; and there is this peculiarity in such a solitude, that the traveler knows not who may be concealed by the innumerable trunks and the thick boughs overhead; so that, with lonely footsteps, he may yet be passing through an unseen multitude.” (paragraph 8)

Now I understand that he know it’s going to be a lonely trip but something special is waiting ahead of him after he pass through this road.

 

the overuse of adjectives

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hi everyone I’m so sorry this is late. I’m a manager/supervisor at Stop and Shop and with this snow storm i was stuck at work all weekend because customers like to over-react.

I read the short story The Cottagette from The Forerunner, Volume 1 by Charlotte Perkins Gilman.

I for one had to read this short story twice to fully understand it. The first time when I read it my mind was spinning because of the amount of adjectives that she uses. The author really does an excellent job of painting an image through words. Her sense of imagery is amazing.

Some of  her uses of adjectives in  the story I really liked the way she worded certain things like ” The working basis of the establishment was an eccentric woman named Caswell, a sort of musical enthusiast , who had a summer school of music and the “higher things”. Malicious persons, not able to obtain accommodation there, called the place “High C” The one adjective i liked was “eccentric”.Eccentric refers to unusual or odd behavior that contrasted to what is considered normal behavior.

In one paragraph of the story she says “There was one big room and two little ones in the tiny thing, though from the outside you wouldn’t have believed it, it looked so small; but small as it was it harbored a miracle– a real bathroom with water piped from mountain springs. Our windows opened into the green shadiness, the soft brownness, the bird-inhabited quiet flower- starred woods. In this one half of a paragraph the author in my opinion uses way too many adjectives to describe the cottage  Her overuse of adjectives made my head spin. The author says that her windows opened to view the “green shadiness, the soft brownness, the bird-inhabited quiet flower- starred woods”. WHAT? Couldn’t she just say that when she looked out her window she saw the woods, filled with birds and flowers. That’s it. It was an unnecessary part of the story.

I understand imagery and i understand how important it is for fiction and literature. I just feel that for me there is a line and she crossed it. This short story was very boring and really didn’t have much of a story to it.

Prithee

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Prithee (Interjection): used to express a wish or request

From “Young Goodman Brown” by Nathaniel Hawthorne.
“Ha! ha! ha!” shouted he, again and again; then composing himself, “Well, go on, Goodman Brown, go on; but prithee, don’t kill me with laughing!”  (Paragraph 24)

I now understand that he was being “requested” not to continue making comments that were humorous, by the response of “Don’t kill me with laughing!”.

Fatuity

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Fatuity: Noun: something foolish or stupid : a foolish or stupid quality

From the short story “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. “Looked at one way each breadth stands alone, the bloated curves and flourishes — a kind of  “Debased Romanesque” and delirium tremens — go waddling up and down in isolated columns of fatuity.”

I now understand that she was saying that the lines in the wallpaper were moving up and down and basically all over the wall in a stupid or foolish way. Sort of like they had a violent delirium and shook allover with tremors thereby it looked like it was all over the place.

Visage

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visage:noun: the face, countenance, or appearance of a person

From “Young Goodman Brown”:They turned; and flashing forth, as it were, in a sheet of flame, the fiend-worshippers were seen; the smile of welcome gleamed darkly on every visage. (Paragraph 62)

I came to understand that there was a light smile on every face.

 

Procession

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Procession: noun: a group of individuals moving along in an orderly often ceremonial way.

From “The Cottagette”: “The grass swept up to the door-step, to the walls–only it wasn’t just grass of course, but such a procession of flowers as I had never
imagined could grow in one place.” (paragraph 11)

Now I understand that the grass and flowers swept in a orderly fashion or perhaps they were put there.

Unwittingly

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Unwittingly: adverb: without knowledge or intention; not knowing

From the story “The Story of An Hour”, “…and she carried herself unwittingly like a goddess of Victory

Mrs.Mallard finally got over with her husband’s death and she is ready for her new life so she got up and open the door for her sister Josephine.