Women's Writing Worldwide

 Word Count: 233 Parker Greene From The Measure of My Days by Florida Scott-Maxwell " I have a duty to all who care for me-not to be a problem, not to be a burden. I must carry my age lightly for all our sakes, and thank God I still can. Oh that I may to the end. Each day then, must be filled with my first duty, I must be 'all right.' But is this assurance not the gift we all give to each other daily, hourly? " (pg. 703) In this excerpt of The Measure of My Days, Florida talks about how she must put on a façade for the people around her so that she is not seen as a burden by them. Florida wants to be able to live out the rest of her days making sure that she is still able to keep up this façade, while people tend to try to not be too much for others to take care of if needed. Florida in this case should want to have more help from her family in her older age as she is becoming more and more frail. While I understand that you don't want to have people have to take ...

Word Count: 255 Parker Greene From Lost in Translations by Eva Hoffman " The verbal blur covers these people's faces, their gestures with a sort of fog. I can't translate them into my mind's eye. The small event instead of being added to the mosaic of consciousness and memory, falls through some black hole, and I fall with it. What has happened to me in this new world? I don't know. I don't see what I've seen, don't comprehend what's in front of me. … " (pg. 389) I really wonder what it must have been like to be an emigrant from Poland going to Canada, and having to deal with the language barrier that exists. The only "language barrier" I have ever had to deal with is whenever I had to take foreign language classes in high school and college. So I really wonder what it must have been like for Eva trying to navigate her life while still learning another language. While Eva is learning to navigate this newfound world, she is starting to...

 Word Count: 232 Parker Greene From Zami: A New Spelling of My Name by Audre Lorde " My mother was different from other women, and sometimes it gave me a sense of pleasure and specialness that was a positive aspect of feeling set apart. But sometimes it gave me pain and I fancied it the reason for so many of my childhood sorrows. If my mother were like everybody else's maybe they would like me better. …  " (pg. 497) This quote really resonated with me because it is almost how I could describe my mother when I was younger. Coming from Grenada is a real culture difference to Harlem, New York since her family was coming from a country in the Caribbean to America in 1924. Especially since her family was coming from the Caribbean where they are of darker complexion into America during a time where blacks were still being treated as second-class citizens. I think that because of this time period and how high the racial tensions were in America, her parents were probably trying ...

 Word Count: 245 Parker Greene From Mules and Men by Zora Neal Hurston      " 'Hello, heart-string,' Mayor Hiram Lester yelled as he hurried up the street. 'We heard all about you up North. You back home for good, I hope.'     'Nope, Ah come to collect some old stories and tales and Ah know y'all know a plenty of 'em and that's why Ah headed straight for home.'     'What you mean, Zora, them big old lies we tell when we're jus' sittin' around here on the store porch doin' nothin'?' asked B. Moseley.  " (pg. 407) In this excerpt of Mules and Men from Zora Hurston, she talks about her journey back down to Eatonville, Florida in order to collect stories from people in her hometown. Zora was met with a warm welcome back to her hometown, people were asking her if she was staying fully or not since she had left to go to school at Barnard College. Zora had only come back with the intention on getting as many stories fro...

 Word Count: 253 Parker Greene From Meatless Days by Sara Suleri " … 'Sara,' said Tillat, her voice deep with the promise of surprise, 'do you know what kapura  are?' I was cooking and a little cross 'Of course I do,' I answered with some affront. 'They're sweetbreads, and they're cooked with kidneys, and they're very good.' Natives should always be natives, exactly what they are, and I felt irked to be so probed around the issue of my own nativity. But Tillat's face was kindly with superior knowledge. 'Not sweetbread,' she gently said. 'They're testicles, that's what kapura  really are.' … " (pg. 731) Sara is from Karachi, Pakistan where her father is a journalist and her mother is a Welsh-born teacher. Sara grows up having learned many things from her mother, but mostly learned about the different foods she grew up eating. One time her friend Tillat decided to tell Sara that kapura is not actually sweet...

 Word Count: 287 Parker Greene From Motherwit by Onnie Lee Logan " Back in the days when my mother was a midwife they didn't do anything about lacerations then. What could they do about it? " (pg. 487 ) The evolution of technology is a fascinating concept. Laptops, computers, cell phones, and the internet are all devices that we seemingly rely on to function. They have become essential for communicating with the rest of the world. This same logic may be applied to the medical field. The world of science has greatly evolved, as I am sure it will continue to do so during my lifetime and beyond. This reading brings light to the fact that medicine was not always how it is now. Logan's experiences as a midwife makes this very clear. She mentions how she has a small bag with a few items; an orange stick, scrub brush, a sterile cord, and silver nitrate. She also mentions her efforts to keep things sterile by cleaning materials and wearing her hair back. Her materials and ste...