Herland: Fourth Blog

          When Terry's punishment of trying to rape his wife was to go back to his own land, it was not really a punishment to him because he still cherished where he came from and did not take much pride in living in a woman domineering land. He takes pride in everything of his own, original country. He has nationalism which may represent why the girls and women of Herland liked him the least. Vandyck and Jeff were less stubborn in changing their ways and got more adjusted to the land because they were more like the women and did not have deep, firm belief in the ways of their own country.
          Jeff and Vandyck also did not want their wives, Cellis and Ellador, to be exposed to their country when Terry was going back. Ellador wanted to explore the outside world with Van because she was curious. Curiosity can sometimes lead to a big discovery. If the book were to continue on into when they got there, I'm sure the readers would find it interesting of what types of ideas and inferences she would gather in a short period of time.

Herland: Blog Three

          In Herland by Charlotte Gilman, the women of the small country, specifically the tutors of the three males, want to know the customs and habits of the "bi-sexual" nation that the boys come from. The women assimilate the information they hear, but they do not change because of it. This differs from the play, A Raisin in the Sun, by Lorraine Hansberry with the character George Murchison who is a educated black male. He absorbs and takes in the customs of the whites and even dumbs down his own race. The women of Herland would never do that because they greatly appreciate all that they are and love each other dearly.
          As the women are learning about America and the other countries, scarcely, they are disturbed to find out that the unborn are sometimes killed. Abortion is horrifying in their minds because they want to love and take care of all children. This can be connected with A Raisin in the Sun again when Ruth considers abortion because they don't have enough money. Walter is somewhat shocked because of this too. Abortion is still an arguable topic today because people have different ideas of how things should be done.

Herland; Blog Two

           My assumptions about Herland by Charlotte Gilman weren't as I expected. It's literally about a land full of women where no men are to be found. The area is tidy, pretty, and organized. It is all controlled by women, seemingly. This may depict how Gilman would like the world to be or thinks the world already is today. In the book, the women speak a different language from the men who come to investigate the land. This can symbolize that men and women speak a different language, and they have to learn from each other.
          In English class, we never really learned about women's rights, but from what I know, white males were the controllers of things , especially from 1920 to previous years before that. From what I've read, Gilman just flips the script to women being the controllers of the society in "Herland". Since it is a women's land, anyone who intrudes would have to abide by what the people from there tell them to do. Gilman was probably trying to make a statement for the time period in which this book was wriiten since women were trying to gain their rights.

Thoughts Prior to Reading Herland

         Herland by Charlotte Perkins Gilman looks boring based on the cover of the book along with the back of the book with a side view of a seemingly educated  white women. This most likely means that the book has to do with women's rights which I believe was around the 1920s, more or less. That era  was about  women's right to vote on laws such as alcohol, property, and/or divorce. The prominent  women that I know of during that time are Susan B. Anthony, Margaret Sanger, Angelina Grimke, and Alice Paul.
          From the title of the book,  it sounds as if the book is describing how the women rule America. It is broken up into "her" which denotes the female and "land" which denotes an area of the world.  This means a female  of an area of the world.  That basically sums it up. The area on the front cover of the book looks cold and has mountains. It could possibly be in areas of the northern part of the United States since the southern part of America is usually warmer because it is closer to the equator. What was previously said is most likely what the book is about.

4th response to the scarlet letter

          When they were describing Dimmesdale as the "Black Man", it was because black represents evil or badness. Since the town's people didn't know who the culprit was that Hester cheated on her husband with, they had to give him that nickname because it was a horrible sin that he allowed Hester to have sex with a man other than her husband. This really contradicts his role in their society since he was the minister. Usually white would be associated with a minister because it represents purity.

          Also he could have been seen as one of the elect since he could maybe have a closer connection with God in the Puritans eyes. Also having to do with the chest pains that he was having, anyone could easily predict that, he too, spiritually, had been stamped with the mark of an adulterer. When thinking of pain, someone may also think of the color red because of blood or the color skin can get from a dreadful occurrence. This links back to the scarlet letter that Hester wore which signified a connection between the two. The pains that he expressed could maybe represent Hester's inward pains as well, but that signifies that both of them should feel guilty about what they did and not just Hester.

3rd response for the Scarlett letter

               The Scarlett Letter on Hester's bosom is what is standing out
      the most so far, hence the title. In the book it says wearing
      it kind of tortures her day by day. Instead of people looking
      at her as an individual, they would now look at her as the
      scarlett letter because it seems as if it's consuming her as
      an individual. Now I think for further generations in Boston
      anyone would criticize people of Hester's descent. Also,
      people would refer to her if another occurrence happened like
      that of hers.
   
               It was strange when the stranger kept looking her in her eye
      and asking about her. Then I think he came to visit her in
      jail; I'm not positive if that was actually the case, but
      that's what I got from it. That made me wonder if that was
      the person she had an affair with since she doesn't want to
      tell who it is, although it does say he is even a stranger to
      her. If it is indeed the person she had an affair with, then
      it would take away the individuality from her and focus on
      both of them as a couple of some sort that should be
      condemned.

Beginning Chapters of The Scarlet Letter

     In The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, there isn't much of an introduction for the main character in the beginning. Hester is introduced to the readers as a sinner right when the negative commentary is being said about her from some of the citizens. They are Puritans so they just immediately condemn her for adultery. Hawthorne describes her as really pretty with details of how she is dressed and her facial features. The puritan females in the book probably secretly envied her grace and angelic outlook. I'm sure if anyone dared to compliment her physical looks, they would be negatively looked at by others.
          In the first chapter, there are some elements of Romanticism too. The jail is described as gloomy, but it is contrasted with scent and beauty of a rose bush. Nature is an element of romanticism along with dark, deep emotion/setting. Furthermore, a rose is red, and Hester had a red A on her bosom so that color is significant. When I think of red, I think of danger or urgency because of stop lights and signs.. I also think of passion and desire. Thinking of the devil also makes me think red could mean something with anger or  a wrath. The rosebush could hint to people coming near the jail that their is danger nearby because the people in jail have done something bad enough for them to get in there, but the beauty of it makes a view attracted to it. This could be similar to when Hester is seen with the red A. The red alarms the people to turn away from her, but her beauty and the loudness of the color of the red of the A attracts them to her or makes them want to talk pessimistically about her.