Summary Of Sedgwick's Cacoethes Scribendi

598 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Purpose of literature review

Within Sedgwick’s Cacoethes Scribendi, Mrs. Courland subjects people into groups of either authors and subjects, active or passive roles (174). These perceived distinctions are key to understanding Sedgwick’s commentary on the relationship between author and subject. Alice is introduced as an observer of literature, the audience. She comments that she, “…hate[s] love stories that don’t end in marriage.” (170) Her passive role as an audience member allows her to remark on what she does and does not find favorable in a particular piece of writing, as she has no stake in it. However, this soon evolves as she is thrust into the spotlight when her mother, Mrs. Courland, begins to write. Her mother pens an article that, “consist[s] of her own

Show More
Related

  • Female Education In The Coquette By Hannah Webster Wharton

    1366 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the 18th century, reading novels served as a pass time and a diversion from household chores for the women. Though formal female education is not developed, the female characters are seen having a keen interest in books, something that was earlier frowned upon for the sentimental content of books might be destructive to societal values. At the time, books were meant to teach and reflect upon the socially acceptable ideas of romance, courtship, and marriage. We find Miss Wharton asking for books to read from her friend Mrs. Lucy Sumner, “Send me some new books; not such, however, as will require much attention. Let them be plays or novels, or anything else that will amuse and extort a smile.” (Foster, 192) Mrs. Sumner sends her novels which she considers “chaste and of a lighter reading” (Foster, 196). We can thus construe that books and novels in The Coquette though meant for reading pleasure, also play form part of the female

    Read More

  • Hannah Webster Foster's The Coquette

    4243 Words  | 9 Pages

    Writing a journal from the perspective of a fictional eighteenth century reader, a mother whose daughter is the age of Eliza's friends, will allow me to employ reader-response criticism to help answer these questions and to decipher the possible social influences and/or meanings of the novel. Though reader-response criticism varies from critic to critic, it relies largely on the idea that the reader herself is a valid critic, that her critique is influenced by time and place,...

    Read More

  • Racial Struggles and Maternal Creativity: Analysing Du Bois and Walker

    1044 Words  | 3 Pages

    It was from all this extraordinary strength that Alice found her strength,her mother handed down respect for the possibilities as she prepares the art that is her gift. She wrote about how our mother and grandmothers were been enslaved and were put to work so hard that they didn 't get the time to search for their inner gift. Alice advocated that women should use their mind and thought than been a baby bearer. That African American women then have gone through a lot of abuse and its time to wake up from what the society think of them and use their artistic talent that they were born

    Read More

  • Anne Sexton

    1279 Words  | 3 Pages

    The third decade of the twentieth century brought on more explicit writers than ever before, but none were as expressive as Anne Sexton. Her style of writing, her works, the image that she created, and the crazy life that she led are all prime examples of this. Known as one of the most “confessional” poets of her time, Anne Sexton was also one of the most criticized. She was known to use images of incest, adultery, and madness to reveal the depths of her deeply troubled life, which often brought on much controversy. Despite this, Anne went on to win many awards and go down as one of the best poets of all time.

    Read More

  • The Theme Of Quilt In Everyday Use By Alice Walker

    1625 Words  | 4 Pages

    Alice Walker is vital to the ideas of literary traditions because she is a writer who speaks about how she feels. She writes from what she knows, not what she has learned. Walker, in her stories expressed the problems that may have kept a group in people from achieving what they wanted in life, but still managed to show that these people still had joy in their lives. Her works should continue to be incorporated into Literature on the college level in order to maintain for those who do not understand the plot of African Americans the struggle they faced. She is a powerful force in the Literature that can stand with the likes of Shakespeare because she presents her works in a manner to make the reader think about what life and what is really important. All three of these short stories support the main thought in this essay because Walker as a writer, wrote from what she knew; she grew up in a culture where African Americans seemed to be enslaved to their race which in turn, forced them

    Read More

  • Flannery O'Connor's Use of Religious Allegory

    2386 Words  | 5 Pages

    Last but not least, O’Connor confirms that even a short story is a multi-layer compound that on the surface may deter even the most enthusiastic reader, but when handled with more care, it conveys universal truths by means of straightforward or violent situations. She herself wished her message to appeal to the readers who, if careful enough, “(…)will come to see it as something more than an account of a family murdered on the way to Florida.”

    Read More

  • Comparison of Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God and Walker's Color Purple

    2372 Words  | 5 Pages

    Modern Critical Views. Alice Walker. Ed. by Harold Bloom. Chelsea House Publishers. New York & Philadelphia, 1989

    Read More

  • An Examination of Royal Beatings by Alice Munro

    894 Words  | 2 Pages

    It has been said of Anton Chekhov, the renown Russian short-story writer, that in all of his “work, there is never exactly a point. Rather we see into someone’s hear – in just a few pages, the curtain concealing these lives has been drawn back, revealing them in all their helplessness and rage and rancor.” Alice Munro, too, falls into this category. Many of her short-stories, such as “Royal Beatings” focus more on character revelation rather than plot.

    Read More

  • Interracial Relationships In Kindred By Octavia Butler

    725 Words  | 2 Pages

    Alice and Kevin have an interesting start to their relationship. Initially, it appears that Dana is not interested in Kevin, as she tries to reject communication and his advances through buying her lunch. This distance on Dana’s part allows readers to contemplate whether Dana is put off by Kevin’s obtrusive attitude because he is a man, because he is white, or a combination of the two. As the novel advances, Butler continues to focus Kevin’s faults in his marriage because of his identity as a white man.

    Read More

  • Theme Of Mirror Image

    1295 Words  | 3 Pages

    A major conflict is focusing on after Alice’s brain operation, she perceives to everyone and herself she’s the same girl she used to be. Unfortunately, her friends and family don’t agree that she is the same person. “You’re always saying that you are still you because you have the same brain, but who is to say that your whole personality is in your head?” (pg.5) Jenny argues that Alice is a completely different person than who she used to be. Their mother stands up for Alice but secretly does not agree with her, she does not see Alice as the daughter she used to have. “Sometimes I think my sister is dead.” (pg.5) This similar quote is showing how powerful Jenny feels about the new Alice and her failure to see how Alice is truly seeking self reflection. “Alice stared at her mother, but again her mother avoided her eyes.” (pg.5) This final quote impacts the reader 's empathetically and Alice immeasurably knowing that her own mother doesn’t accept her for who she is now. These quotes show the frustration from Alice and her family, skillfully building apprehensive conflict in the rising

    Read More

  • Lewis Carroll Biography

    1434 Words  | 3 Pages

    SparkNotes Editors. “SparkNote on Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.” SparkNotes.com. SparkNotes LLC. 2005. Web. 30 Oct. 2013.

    Read More

  • Alice's Adventures In Wonderland Analysis

    1843 Words  | 4 Pages

    One such approach is that of Lydia Murdoch, who argues that Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland is a story about children becoming adults and the hardships they face when exploring the real world. In her article entitled “Alice and the Question of Victorian Childhood,” Murdoch uses the shifting role of children during the Victorian Era to suggest that Alice’s attitudes and behaviors, especially during the events towards the beginning of the book, are meant

    Read More

  • Analysis of Two Kinds by Amy Tan

    1425 Words  | 3 Pages

    By stating how other people behave or interact, the author offers a great chance for readers to interpret fairly for themselves what the reason for any conflict may be, or the nature of any essential contrast between the narrator and other adults in the story. In the story, there are many self-righteous opinions from people, which seem to be ironic to the readers; For example, her mother’s aggressive attitude of showing off her daughter, her piano teacher’s self-praise claiming him as “Beethoven.” All of the narrations including conversation clearly depict a different characteristic between the narrator and other people. For instance, a conversation occurs between the narrator and her mother when the mother criticizing a girl who seems similar to the author on TV which reveals dissimilar understanding for both of them to each other’s behavior. At first, the daughter speaks out for the girl by questioning her mother by saying “why picking on her […] She’s pretty good. Maybe she’s not the best, but she’s trying hard.” The daughter actually is defending for herself and reflecting that she feels uncomfortable with her mother’s disregard of her hard work. She wants to get her mother’s compliments instead of her criticisms. However, her mother response of, “just like you,” and, “not the best. Because you not trying.” Here, her mother doesn’t really answer her question, instead wants her put more effort on trying, neglecting how much she has tried before. However, in her mother’s perspective, she has never tried hard enough. By narratively stating the conversations she has encountered, readers perceive a strong implication of the reason for a future conflict between her and her mother.

    Read More

  • Celie's Struggle for Freedom in The Color Purple

    1416 Words  | 3 Pages

    Ryan, Bryan, ed. “Alice Walker.” Major 20th Century Writers. Vol. 4. R-Z. Detroit: Gale Research, Inc., 1991.

    Read More

  • Exploring Alice's Psychedelic Adventures in Wonderland

    1277 Words  | 3 Pages

    With many speculations as to what the story is about, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland is a tale that still entices readers. Written in 1865, Charles Dodgson created a tale under the pseudonym Lewis Carroll. Within that tale Carroll inevitably created a character of ambition within the little girl, Alice. From the beginning of the tale, she is displayed as being adventurous, leaving her sister’s side to follow a white rabbit down a mysterious hole; complacent until she finds herself in a predicament. New ideas about the story revolve mainly around drugs, speaking as if it were some psychedelic LSD trip. Another theory also led to the belief that its’ author was nothing more than a pedophilic gentleman who had too close of a relationship with

    Read More

More about Summary Of Sedgwick's Cacoethes Scribendi

Open Document