Raymond's Run Argument

Feminist Criticism Paragraph

The article, "Overview of ‘Raymond's Run’" was a particularly effective feminist literary criticism because the claims that supported its argument were clear, well-supported, and well-connected to its argument while criticizing the short story, “Raymond’s Run” through a feminist lens. Notably, the author included the claim, "Hazel's voice and behavior reflect her strength". The claim was clear and connected to the article's argument which was that Hazel was a self-confident female character who became uncomfortable by meeting "a young, confident African-American girl." The claim described how Hazel was self-confident in the short story, "Raymond's Run" and was supported by evidences such as "she asserts that, though small and thin, she would rather act against taunts from others" which explained her self-confidence in her ability to fight and "she implies that she does it better

than her brother George who had previously had the job of 'minding' Raymond" which showed her self-confidence in her ability to "mind" Raymond.

Since the article was a feminist literary criticism, the claims and evidences had all shown a focus on the female character, Hazel and her self-confidence in her abilities. Similarly, the author used the claim, "Hazel claims space in the traditional male territory of athlete with her dedication to running" which happened because of her self-confidence in her ability to run as well as the male opponents. To support the claim, the author provided evidence such as "she '[high-prance[s] down 34th Street like a rodeo pony to keep my knees strong,' despite her mother's embarrassment" which showed her self-confidence from her lack of care of her image and "She is proud of what she has accomplished and proclaims her skill to herself and to anyone else" which helped her develop her self-confidence. Therefore, the claim was clear, well-supported, and well-connected while analyzing how the character was defying traditional gender roles in sports. Additionally, the author had also explained what the discomfort was for Hazel since it was part

of the argument of the article. The author stated, “When Hazel confronts the newcomer Gretchen, however, she also comes face to face with her own inauthenticity”, and the encounter had caused Hazel a lot of discomfort. To support the claim, the author described how Hazel felt defeated even though she was neither “bested by Gretchen either physically or verbally”. Through quotes from the story the author analyzed how Hazel thought about her inauthenticity since she was part of the “‘girls’ who can only exchange phony smiles.” The claim and evidences, supporting it also criticized how Hazel, as a female character was not genuine with other girls. Given these claims and evidences, the article “Overview of ‘Raymond’s Run’” was an effectively written feminist literary criticism since its argument was supported by clear, well-supported and well-connected claims that analyzed and criticized the female character, Hazel, and its effectiveness allowed people to see Hazel through a feminist lens and understand feminists while providing an model of an well-written feminist literary criticism.