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Important words that left an impression on a jury of her peers by susan glaspell
Important words that left an impression on a jury of her peers by susan glaspell
Important words that left an impression on a jury of her peers by susan glaspell
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A story of murder, fear, and the temptation of betrayal is one that easily snatches up the attention of audiences. In “A Jury of Her Peers” by Susan Glaspell, the author uses her southern female characters to emphasize the direct relationship between friendship and connection. Her plot circles around the disastrous discovery of their fellow housewife’s marital murder, and the events that unfolded causing their ultimate decision in prosecuting or shielding her from the men in the story. The author implements revealing dialogue and glaring symbolism to display the coveted relationships among the women, and the paths they take to personally understand the situation at hand with their own personal connections.
A majority if this story’s content relies on the very telling dialogue among the characters. As the women begin to uncover the crime secretly, their discussions
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reveal their feelings of connection and reluctant attitudes toward incriminating a fellow housewife. This is displayed clearly when empty bird cage is found to be barged up, something that would have surely provided the first hint to possible motive. Their facial expressions seem to tell all when “Again their eyes met—started, questioning apprehensive. For a moment neither spoke nor stirred. Then Mrs. Hale turning away said brusquely: “If they’re going to find any evidence, I wish they’d be about it. I don’t like this place.”’ (Glaspell 11). Although all of the women realized the importance of the newfound evidence, they purposely turned away from it to avoid being the prosecutors of Minnie Foster. It was clear that they understood Mrs. Wright’s struggles more than they felt obligated to let on, for according to The Sitting Bee, "when Mrs. Peters remembers the incident of the young boy killing her cat (when she was a child) it brings her closer to understanding why Minnie may have killed John Wright. These connections are significant as it is through them that both Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters start to not only understand Minnie better but they also begin to feel sympathetic towards Minnie" (Bee 1). The dialogue also displayed the gradual shift of the women’s opinions from siding with their husbands to protecting Minnie. “‘Dirty towels! not much of a housekeeper, would you say, ladies?” He kicked his foot against some dirty pans under the ink. “There’s a great deal of work to be done on a farm,” said Mrs. Hale stiffly”(5). The wives were content to allow the men to go about their business and completing their jobs correctly until the men started to patronize the women’s physical and mental abilities. The females are now responding “stiffly” rather than “quietly”(7) as before.
This adjective use serves to support the dialogue even more by allowing readers to see the progression from silence to bold defiance in the women to their husbands. “By hiding the canary Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters are also going against their husbands (or at least defying them) which maybe the point Glaspell is trying to make”(Bee2). Indeed, this act was the major act of defiance that secured the possibility of the women’s strengthened devotions to each other rather than their husbands. When, at the climax of the story, the bird is hid from the men in the sentimental tin box, Glaspell displays the tension with the selection of detail. She chooses to focus on the clammy hands of Mrs. Peters as she stuffs the tin away and the quivering voice of Mrs. Hale as she denies knowing any information about the crime. Considering that the adjectives show how difficult it is for the women to conceal the evidence, it truly proves how strong the relationships between them has grown based on their own personal connections and
understandings. Symbolism can be uncovered in every aspect of this story. The symbols we see, such as the deceased canary, birdcage, fruit, and rocking chair embody the fates of the other characters as their own. It even seems, in fact, that there are more hidden truths expressed in these symbols than the characters choose to emphasize themselves. After discovering the bird in particular, even the characters express their connections to Minnie through the animal. “‘No, Wright wouldn't like the bird,” she said after that--”a thing that sang. She used to sing. He killed that too”’(10). This comparison is clear as the women realize that when the bird was killed, a part of Mrs. Wright, or even the young version of herself named Minnie Foster, was murdered as well. It is then that it is obvious that “Though sympathetic to Minnie Wright, the women cannot deny the damning clues that lead them to the inescapable conclusion of her guilt” (Tate 1). The deteriorating condition of her house seems to match the attitudes of the women, as their moral code deteriorates as well. Their understanding of her pain is even explored when they look back at her younger self, the times when she filled with happiness and song. Margaret Tate makes a valid point when she concludes that “Minnie has endured many years of misery at the hands of John Wright, but he pushes her too far when he kills the bird. Then, ironically, he gets the “peace and quiet”(283) he values over her happiness” (2). Most of the objects in the story are described as unfinished or broken, existing to draw the comparison to the life of Mrs. Wright. When the female’s discover the ruined fruit preserves, however, the author seems to be including the other characters. “‘It’s a shame about the fruit,’ she said, and walked toward the cupboard the county attorney had opened, and got on the chair, murmuring: “I wonder if it’s all gone.”’ Soon after, Mrs. Peters also expresses her dismay with the sight. Preserving fruit was one of the things the wives also had as part of their responsibilities, and to see another woman’s ruined and time-consuming product is devastating to them. The ruined fruit symbolizes not only Mrs. Wright’s ruined life, but the now charred lives of the other women who are under the microscope.
In 102 Minutes, Chapter 7, authors Dwyer and Flynn use ethos, logos, and pathos to appeal to the readers’ consciences, minds and hearts regarding what happened to the people inside the Twin Towers on 9/11. Of particular interest are the following uses of the three appeals.
In the book Into the Wild, Jon Krakauer wrote about Christopher McCandless, a nature lover in search for independence, in a mysterious and hopeful experience. Even though Krakauer tells us McCandless was going to die from the beginning, he still gave him a chance for survival. As a reader I wanted McCandless to survive. In Into the Wild, Krakauer gave McCandless a unique perspective. He was a smart and unique person that wanted to be completely free from society. Krakauer included comments from people that said McCandless was crazy, and his death was his own mistake. However, Krakauer is able to make him seem like a brave person. The connections between other hikers and himself helped in the explanation of McCandless’s rational actions. Krakauer is able to make McCandless look like a normal person, but unique from this generation. In order for Krakauer to make Christopher McCandless not look like a crazy person, but a special person, I will analyze the persuading style that Krakauer used in Into the Wild that made us believe McCandless was a regular young adult.
Samir Boussarhane During the early 20th century in the U.S, most children of the lower and middle class were workers. These children worked long, dangerous shifts that even an adult would find tiresome. On July 22, 1905, at a convention of the National Woman Suffrage Association in Philadelphia, Florence Kelley gave a famous speech regarding the extraneous child labor of the time. Kelley’s argument was to add laws to help the workers or abolish the practice completely.
During the late 1800’s and early 1900’s the fight for equal and just treatment for both women and children was one of the most historically prominent movements in America. Courageous women everywhere fought, protested and petitioned with the hope that they would achieve equal rights and better treatment for all, especially children. One of these women is known as Florence Kelley. On July 22, 1905, Kelley made her mark on the nation when she delivered a speech before the National American Woman Suffrage Association, raising awareness of the cruel truth of the severity behind child labor through the use of repetition, imagery and oxymorons.
Over the coming months, Alice faces her friends and family, who look and treat her differently after the rape. She faces the criticism from her family and fellow officials who question the act. Sebold deals with th...
A story of murder, fear, and the temptation of betrayal is one that easily snatches up the attention of audiences. In “A Jury of Her Peers” by Susan Glaspell, the author uses her southern female characters to emphasize the direct relationship between friendship and connection. Her plot circles around the disastrous discovery of their fellow housewife’s marital murder, and the events that unfolded causing their ultimate decision in prosecuting or shielding her from the men in the story. The author implements revealing dialogue with subtle detailing and glaring symbolism to display the coveted friendships among women above other relationships and that the paths they take to secure them stem from inveterate personal connections.
I chose this word because the tone of the first chapter seems rather dark. We hear stories of the hopes with which the Puritans arrived in the new world; however, these hopes quickly turned dark because the Purtains found that the first buildings they needed to create were a prison, which alludes to the sins they committed; and a cemetery, which contradicts the new life they hoped to create for themselves.
The central theme in “A Jury of Her Peers” is the place of women in society and especially the isolation this results in. We see this through the character, Minnie Foster and her isolation from love, happiness, companionship and from society as a whole. Not only does the story describe this isolation but it allows the reader to feel the impact of this isolation and recognize the tragedy of the situation.
Susan Glaspell wrote many literary pieces in the early 1900s. Two, in particular, are very similar in theme, which is the play Trifles and the short story “A Jury of Her Peers”. The Trifles was written in 1920 and “A Jury of Her Peers” was written in 1921, a short story, adapted from the play. Susan Glaspell was born in Davenport, IA July 1, 1876 as a middle child and the only daughter. In college, she wrote for her school paper, The Drake, and after Glaspell graduated, she started working for the Des Moines News. She got the idea for the play and short story, after she covered a murder about a woman on a farm.
Though men and women are now recognized as generally equal in talent and intelligence, when Susan Glaspell wrote "A Jury of Her Peers" in 1917, it was not so. In this turn-of-the-century, rural midwestern setting, women were often barely educated and possessed virtually no political or economic power. And, being the "weaker sex," there was not much they could do about it. Relegated to home and hearth, women found themselves at the mercy of the more powerful men in their lives. Ironically, it is just this type of powerless existence, perhaps, that over the ages developed into a power with which women could baffle and frustrate their male counterparts: a sixth sense - an inborn trait commonly known as "women's intuition." In Glaspell's story, ironic situations contrast male and female intuition, illustrating that Minnie Wright is more fairly judged by "a jury of her peers."
Hedges, Elaine. A. "Small Things Reconsidered: Susan Glaspell's 'A Jury of Her Peers'. " Women's Studies 12.1 (1986): 89. Literary Reference Center Plus. Web.
Ortiz, Lisa. Critical Essay on “A Jury of Her Peers.” Short Stories for Students. Detroit: Gale. 163-166.
In the story, “A Jury of Her Peers,” by Susan Glaspell, we see how women are subjugated to stereotypical gender roles, where men are superior over women. The two main characters, Mrs. Peters and Martha Hale arrive at the Wright residence, with the men to investigate the crime scene. Minnie Foster-Wright has been arrested for allegedly strangling her husband with a rope. Mr. Hale (Martha’s husband), is a witness, who found Minnie sitting in a rocker and her husband dead upstairs. The attorney general, Mr. Henderson asks Mr. Hale and the sheriff, Mr. Peters to help him investigate the crime and explain what he had seen that day. As the men go upstairs and into the barn to investigate, Martha and Mrs. Peters are left in the kitchen to gather
The film A Jury of her Peers, is similar to the play, Trifles because it highlights similar points that are referenced in the text and is clear it was used as a basis for the foundation of the film. The names of Mr. and Mrs. Wright are changed to Mr. and Mrs. Burke. The use of facts to outline the climax, are the same as used in the play. Such as the building of suspense of the discovering of the bird and its strangulation and whether Mrs. Burke or Mr. Burke is to place blame. However, as an adaptation, opinions are added into the original framework of the play to add a touch of personalization. The film interprets the drama as a murder mystery, as the attorney and the sheriff search the household to find evidence to place blame on Mrs. Burke. A jury of her Peers, works to portray the emotions of Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale, as they discover items that would, (if found by the men) possibly prove her guilty (Bourne, 2013).
...x, M. (1996). Telling Stories Of Women Who Kill. Social and Legal Studies. 5 (4), 471-494.