tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8011304218892238385.post7031981649194735546..comments2023-10-12T05:37:20.816-07:00Comments on Suko's Notebook: A Room of One's Own ~ Women and PoetrySukohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11893742747135555499noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8011304218892238385.post-46176669313790526852008-09-05T00:28:00.000-07:002008-09-05T00:28:00.000-07:00Oops. No worries, mate! I have no intention of d...Oops. No worries, mate! I have no intention of doing so -- I was just brainstorming about how I might handle a similar situation. So sorry! However, I share the dismay of the myopia, especially for an honors English course.Sandiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09260300229659938444noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8011304218892238385.post-85007658340500640642008-09-04T13:56:00.000-07:002008-09-04T13:56:00.000-07:00Sandie, this is an Honors English course (currentl...Sandie, this is an Honors English course (currently they are reading Fahrenheit 451). Please do not go to the trouble of locating a quote or poster for me! Thanks again for your visit and comments, Sandie.Sukohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11893742747135555499noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8011304218892238385.post-29593459962842675512008-09-03T21:42:00.000-07:002008-09-03T21:42:00.000-07:00Perhaps finding a poster with a quote from a femal...Perhaps finding a poster with a quote from a female writer or including such in your e-mail will be compelling. What is the focus of that particular course, and what is the background and what might be the interests of the teacher? That would guide me to finding an engaging and lasting impression to offer. Good idea to tread gently for greater influence.Sandiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09260300229659938444noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8011304218892238385.post-39753953304835288192008-09-02T22:49:00.000-07:002008-09-02T22:49:00.000-07:00Sandie, I was looking forward to the Adams mini-se...Sandie, I was looking forward to the Adams mini-series; it was John Adams who said, "Let us dare to read, think, speak, and write" (though maybe, just maybe, he picked up that phrase from his wife), but couldn't watch it, as we don't have HBO.<BR/>As far as the classroom goes, I was surprised that there wasn't a poster on the wall of a woman writer (not necessarily a poetess) such as Virginia Woolf, and I ALMOST said something (I may send a friendly email to the teacher later in the year mentioning this lack).<BR/>Sandie, I appreciate your thoughtful comments and hope you'll "visit" again soon.Sukohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11893742747135555499noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8011304218892238385.post-24209369358235840102008-09-02T22:27:00.000-07:002008-09-02T22:27:00.000-07:00Many women have gone underground to write, hence a...Many women have gone underground to write, hence all the pen names, to give the illusion of acceptance. Virginia Woolf was passionate about building and expressing her written voice, although she was not entirely confident in it or perhaps feared retaliation, and it explodes in another place in her writings, "The London Scene: Six Essays on London Life." After pages of boring chit-chat descriptions, her expression suddenly detonates in an affirmation of democracy and individual rights as she describes the hall where many gather vs a dominating tribute to statues. It is a veiled criticism of gender pomposity and domination in addition to the political pontification. ("Let us rebuild the world then as a splendid hall; let us give up making statues and inscribing them with impossible virtues. Let us see whether democracy which makes halls cannot surpass the aristocracy which carved statues.") It reminded me of the outbursts of surprise words here and there, in poetic form, of the repressed (physically, not intellectually or creatively) Emily Dickinson. I'm sure there are many examples historically of the written form being an outlet, even if not published, of frustration and repression. There are, and have been, many poets, not published, of able and creative mind that have contributed to civilization. I felt this way about Abigail Adams when I watched the mini-series "John Adams." She was an eloquent intellectual who refined the lives of two presidents, not to speak of other acquaintances and relatives, from the US to France. She was wise, thoughtful, and used her gifts of expression to enhance the quality of life, with all its vagaries. It was disappointing to hear of the lack of representation of women poets in a current high school curriculum. However, it may be due to the fact that women, in my view, tend to push one to think rather than myopically to celebrate male military victories such as epic poetry might suggest. I suppose the argument could be made, also, according to Deborah Tannen, that men communicate for facts and women communicate to socialize (apologies if I'm not recalling the precise definitions and subtleties implied therefor). Also, the high school teacher might not have been introduced to women poets in the course of their education. Perhaps it is a case of laying down the handkerchief, too, to get a rise out of the students. I rail at being forced to read (for credit) things of little interest to me, and relying on a school librarian to quietly guide me to exciting and intriguing readings that don't get credit in any (then junior high school) curriculum but do make more sense to me as far as cultivating a positive mind-set for approaching the world. My soap box needs to be scrubbed thoroughly. I think I may be blowing bubbles, now!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8011304218892238385.post-69552982554785733832008-08-22T21:28:00.000-07:002008-08-22T21:28:00.000-07:00Oops! That should be Edgar Allan Poe.Oops! That should be Edgar Allan Poe.Sukohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11893742747135555499noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8011304218892238385.post-88146566700565505432008-08-19T22:23:00.000-07:002008-08-19T22:23:00.000-07:00Proof that even in literary circles preferences ca...Proof that even in literary circles preferences can be influenced by popularity/ notoriety, as in popular media like TV and magazines? I am not shocked however.Rudyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05000083932741779202noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8011304218892238385.post-66954323818416283562008-08-19T14:39:00.000-07:002008-08-19T14:39:00.000-07:00In J.'s English classroom last night (for the meet...In J.'s English classroom last night (for the meeting) there were four posters of great writers up on the wall--F. Scott Fitzgerald, William Shakespeare, Edgar Allen Poe, and Ernest Hemingway--no women, even in this day and age.Sukohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11893742747135555499noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8011304218892238385.post-60481057993071864012008-08-18T08:56:00.000-07:002008-08-18T08:56:00.000-07:00I've added to the original post since your comment...I've added to the original post since your comment. Women are the subject of many poems, but sadly, not many women were poets. Thanks for your comment, Rudy.Sukohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11893742747135555499noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8011304218892238385.post-73458179456319525482008-08-17T23:04:00.000-07:002008-08-17T23:04:00.000-07:00Is it true there are fewer women poets than men? I...Is it true there are fewer women poets than men? If so that may help explain why poetry never interested me much! Egads!Rudyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05000083932741779202noreply@blogger.com