1)
Passage “That woman, then, who was born with a gift of poetry in the sixteenth century, was an unhappy woman, a woman at strife against herself. All the conditions of her life, all her own instincts, were hostile to the state of mind which is needed to set free whatever is in the brain. But what is the state of mind that is most propitious to the act of creation? ”
Title of text: A Room of One’s Own
Author: Virginia Woolf
What is happening in this passage is that Woolf is talking about woman’s state of mind. She leans towards the argument that women might be the best writers because of all of the conditions in their life. They would be able to write against the struggle against themselves that most male writers do not have.
This passage connects to larger issues in the essay because it is about women in the 16th century. It talks about their struggles, and how because you are a women you have no chance of following your passion. It argues what state of mind is right for creation? What do males have that the females do not?
2)
Passage: “…who had been born in this dirty, mad, hurrying city, had no home here. She had not even any friends here.”
Title of text: Quicksand
Author: Nelia Larsen
What is happening in this passage is that the reader is learning that Helga Crane has no home, or friends and we learn that she is going to be starting a journey of finding herself
How does this tie into the main themes of the novel? Well especially in the first half of the novel we follow Helga on her journey of finding herself. We watch her move to Chicago, to Harlem, to Denmark, and back to Harlem. We see that she has no real home, and she does not feel comfortable with her mix race.
Loved the quotes that you chose they were very interesting, but they were very difficult as well ! I had a hard time with the second quote that you have chosen. After reading your explanation it was much more clear to me what the quotes meant.