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Easton Power
ENGL 2327.02
Professor Baker
4-22-17
Miss Polly Baker: A True Work for Equality
Originally published in 1747, Benjamin Franklin wrote the speech of Miss Polly Baker as a work of fiction, this work indicates Franklin’s usually progressive views of women for his time period. Although for many years some did believe the story and speech to be true, the character of Miss Polly Baker, and anything that concerned her was completely made up. While some praised the speech, acclaiming its message and welcoming it into the canon of modern American Literature, others saw it as it would question the traditional life as so many people of this time knew. Despite these objections, the speech of Miss Polly Baker remains widely read today by reason
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Who is put on trial due to five counts of wedlock (having children when not married). Due to being underfunded, Miss Baker represents herself against a court of only men. Polly Baker sees that she has done no wrong, and yet has been dragged into court multiple of times facing fines, and public embarrassment. Miss Baker then peruses to plead to the court and ask them to persuade the governor to remit her fine in this case. “This is the Fifth Time, Gentlemen, that I have been dragg’d before your Courts on the same Account; twice I have paid heavy fines, and twice have been brought to public Punishment, for want of money to pay for those fines” (The Norton Anthology, The Speech of Miss Polly Baker. Pg. 464). Miss Baker continues to argue her case saying that after each account of wedlock, not once was the child’s father held accountable. This pushes the point of view Benjamin Franklin’s earnest plea for women’s equality. Miss Baker then states that it should be “Praise worthy” that she is having all these children, for it will help repopulate the world. Miss Polly Baker states that she is the only one being wronged out of this whole situation she is in. She says her first husband betrayed her, and her former lover is now a magistrate and a pillar of the community, but she keeps getting fined and punished, when he hasn’t even been questioned about a wed locked child. The …show more content…
This is due to Franklin taking upon the roll of a women narrator who is pleading for women’s equality. Franklin wanted his readers to easily understand the issue on the lack of women’s rights during this time period, and assumes the role in order to reach out to other people without getting shunned away because he is a man. His main goal in this work was to entertain, but the significance of this work points out the importance of women’s unequal rights. Through the voice of Miss Polly Baker he not only created a work of satire but an earnest plea for women’s rights and
The plot of the book, Speak is that Melinda Sordino, a freshman at Merryweather High went to an end of the summer party with some of her friends. Things take a turn for the worst when a senior named Andy Evans sexually assaults her at the party without her friends knowing about it. Melinda is frightened, afraid, and does not know what to do so she calls 911 busting the party, and causing her friends and everyone at that school to hate her, even if they don’t know her.
John Hope Franklin’s childhood had a huge impact on his life and scholarship. His parents were a primary influence in his education and much of the subjects he was passi...
Angela Davis, a renowned political and civil rights activist, was invited in 2012 to Pitzer College to give the commencement speech to the graduating class. Her speech touched on important points in her life as well as many of the values she fought for and believe in. I have never heard her speak before watching this commencement address, and my initial thoughts when hearing her speech was that she was old. Her speech was slow and at first a little boring. However, as her commencement continued onward, she started to get more into rhythm and while she stayed relatively slow, the power behind her words as she spoke made me want to listen more to what she had to say. Angela Davis has had an interesting history as an activist and educator, and
In the novel we see many examples of transition of America interfering on the Baker family. One of them is his when his mother debates on Women’s suffrage in 1913. During the change of America, his mother saw the difference of men and women. Russell Baker describes his mo...
Mary Wollstonecraft lived with a violet and abusive father which led her to taking care of her mom and sister at an early age. Fanny Blood played an important role in her life to opening her to new ideas of how she actually sees things. Mary opened a school with her sister Eliza and their friend Fanny Blood. Back then for them being a teacher made them earn a living during that time, this made her determined to not rely on men again. Mary felt as if having a job where she gets paid for doing something that back then was considered respected than she wouldn’t need a man to be giving her money. She wasn’t only a women’s right activist but she was a scholar, educator and journalist which led her to writing books about women’s rights.
Franklin looks back on his fervent love of books, particularly Dr. Cotton Mather’s Essays to do good wherein the minister preaches about the importance of human courtesy and doing good unto others. He concludes that Dr. Mather’s essays “gave [him] a Turn of
Throughout the Novel F. Scott Fitzgerald establishes gender roles through women being seen as the second sex. The female characters throughout the novel follow the pattern of being unspoken, plain and proper, proving true to the social dynamics of the 1920’s and therefore further influencing men to be the greater sex:
In, “The Speech of Miss Polly Baker” written by Benjamin Franklin (one of the Founding Fathers) in 1747, brought up the disparities that were between men and women within the judicial system. Also, “The Speech of Miss Polly Baker” also briefly points out, how religion has been intertwined with politics. All throughout “The Speech of Miss Polly Baker,” Benjamin Franklin uses very intense diction and syntax to help support what he is trying to express to the rest of society. Also writing this speech in the view point of a women, greatly helps establish what he is trying to say. If Benjamin Franklin was to write it as a man, the speech my have not had the same passionate effect as it currently has.
Benjamin Franklin has been without a doubt one of the most relevant individuals in US history. His autobiography gives us a brief but detailed summary of what his life was like and how society worked in the eighteen century. This autobiography gives us many details of how the colonies where and offers and an overall image of the development of British North America which later turned into the United States. Due to the fact that this book was originally written for Franklin's son, the book concentrates in personal information and has very little information about other topics. However, there are some topics that can be extracted from his writings; one of them is gender. Even though, Franklin never talks openly about gender, we can observe how in his writing these roles are clearly assigned. In this paper, we will analyze how Benjamin's Franklin autobiography showcases the importance of gender in the early eighteenth century. Gender can be analyzed in Franklins book by looking at different topics. This given to men and women by society can be seen in the workspace, in the education of each individual, and in the family and family structure.
James’ character did what most rebellious young American women would do. She broke free from cultural restrictions and lived her life as she pleased. A woman of passion, she chose to ignore the repressive attitudes of those around her. Women of today are still fighting for equality, but have authors of the past and women like the characters in their stories to thank for the improvements they made.
...a classic British author who observed and wrote on society in the late 1700s. Her comedic dramas focused on women and their journey through society even though her own remained stagnant.
Fuller personifies what is wrong with the thoughts of people in nineteenth century society. She is a well-educated, attractive woman and yet, in America she is considered unmarriageable because of the unintended intimidation her knowledge brings forth. She can’t understand why men would not want to find a woman with whom they can carry on an intelligent, meaningful conversation and still be physically attracted to. She knows that once this inferiority complex is gotten past, women will start to excel in all different fields.
Houston, Alan. Franklin: The Autobiography and other Writings on Politics, Economics, and Virtue. New York: Cambridge UP, 2008. Print.
Feminism today remains prominent because even while women’s rights are very strong, women are still fighting for equality every day. In the time of Anne Bradstreet, women had few rights and they were seen as inferior to men. Anne lived among the puritans whom ruled her everyday life. Although it was against the puritan code for women to receive an education, Bradstreet’s father, Thomas Dudley, loved his daughter dearly and made sure that she was well educated which shows in her works. Anne Bradstreet’s literature became well known only because her family published her works under a male name. This was done because writing poetry was a serious offense to the puritans since poetry was considered creative and the only creating that was done was by God. In the works of Anne Bradstreet, she conveys a feminist attitude, and could very well be one of the first American Feminists.
Following the Enlightenment, Mary Wollstonecraft wrote the feminist novel The Vindication of the Rights of Woman. In this novel she applied rights to females that had formerly been reserved to males, such as unalienable rights. Her novel impacted different areas of society. Wollstonecraft called for the advancement of women’s rights in areas such as education, work, and politics. She also proposes that women are just as capable as men and have a far greater purpose than simply to be pleasing to men. Her novel became a bestseller in the summer of 1792.1 After reading her novel, many women applied her views to their lives to the greatest extent possible in the time period in which they lived. Mary Wollstonecraft’s novel was the first major stand for women’s rights creating the feminist movement in Great Britain and consequently the Americas.