Women's Writing Worldwide

 Word Count: 224 Parker Greene From Times and Places by Emily Hahn " This was because I was an addict. I admitted it now, and was pleased that I could feel detached. We opium smokers, I reflected, are detached, and that is one of our advantages. We aren't troubled with unpleasant emotions. The alcoholic indulges in great bouts of weeping sentiment, but the smoker doesn't. " (pg. 351) Emily Hahn was a traveler and said that she dreamed of being an opium addict one day. When Emily had first tried opium she was not ever told of any side effects or just how tough the drug was. Yet she still decided to just try it at the first offer without hesitation without thinking of the repercussions. Emily was never told much even after starting to smoke, but yet she has learned the hard way after becoming an addict. Emily talks about how being an addict of opium is actually a good thing, and most people would say otherwise. As seen in the quote above she talks about how being detach...

 Word Count: 236 Parker Greene From Blackberry Winter by Margaret Mead " My decision to become and anthropologist was based in part on my belief that a scientist, even one who had no great and special gift such as a great artist must have, could make a useful contribution to knowledge. … Even in remote parts of the world ways of life about which nothing was known were vanishing before the onslaught of modern civilization. " (pg. 555) In Blackberry Winter Margaret Mead talks about how she became an anthropologist to help contribute something great to the world. In this endeavor Margaret Mead chose to go into field work as quickly as possible, so she did all of the necessary requirements, and then also chose to try to uncover more about Samoan's specifically but would search for others as well. It is quite fascinating how anthropologists are able to learn so much about civilizations that were once lost with excavations and learning the language. However what also struck me ...

 Word Count: 246 Parker Greene From Journey into the whirlwind by Eugenia Semyonova Ginzburg " Greta was describing to her friend the ravishing dress which she had worn to the last First of May party at the Bolshoy Theater, and Klara's eyes were sparkling with curiosity. She too was talking about a special dress, drawing its shape in the air, tracing it with her blue fingers with their crushed nails. " (pg. 308) When reading other narratives about people being in prison we have mostly seen them talking about how terrible treatment was while living in prison. While Eugenia Semyonova Ginzburg's narrative talks more about the connections and interactions with other inmates, she definitely still talks about the negatives of prison. The quote above shows more of the personal life in prison, compared to the other narratives we have read. I think that it is a more interesting approach to writing a narrative about being in prison and talking more about your personal life insi...

 Word Count: 203 Parker Greene From The War / Marguerite Duras " The fight with death started very soon. …but there was still life in him, scarcely more than a splinter, but a splinter just the same. Death unleashed its attack. …his heart vibrated like a violin string. …Death deals cruel knocks, but the heart is deaf. …" (pg. 241) I really like this quote because it has such a strong emotional weight attached to the words. While also being able to carry so much imagery allowing the reader to paint their own picture. I can not imagine the pain that she endured during her time in prison waiting to find her husband. Marguerite Duras was looking for her husband at every waking moment, going to ask around for any information on new convicts. This must have been very tiring for Marguerite, worrying about her husband and then once finding him having to see him so close to death. Marguerite Duras shows so much emotion throughout this entire quote being very vivid with her choice of w...

 Word Count: 252 Parker Greene When Heaven and Earth came together / Le Ly Hayslip " … Shortly after sundown, the villagers crept out of their houses and went into the swamp where the cadre leaders were already waiting by a roaring fire. When everyone had gathered, the woman with the shoulder pole testified that I had risked my life by walking right through the enemy column to find a place to give my signal. …" (pg. 364) This just shows how willing Le Ly Hayslip was to helping save others over herself. This act of bravery that we saw very early on of her making the difficult choice to walk towards the soldiers, got a song about her. The cadre wanted to teach everyone about Sister Ly, which was her nickname after the original, and even wanted her to teach how to survive this cruel world. I wonder how empowering that must feel for Sister Ly, because all she wanted to do was give a message to save people, and then is tasked with being this new figure. As we see she takes to this...

 Word Count: 258 Parker Greene Gifts of Passage / Santha Rama Rau " Premila said, 'We had our test today, and She made me and the other Indians sit at the back of the room, with a desk between each one.' Mother said, 'Why was that, darling?' 'She said it was because Indians cheat,' Premila added. 'So I don't think we should go back to that school.' " (pg. 676) Santha Rama Rau first talks about her childhood some in her narrative and she talks about her struggles she had to face. The quote above is of an encounter with Santha Rama Rau, her sister Premila, and her Mother where we see that they are being treated a certain way just based off of their race. Santha Rama Rau has to understand that this it the kind of world that she is living in from a very young age. She saw this even at school before this incident had happened. " The enormous black eyes of the little Indian girl from my class looked at my food longingly, so I offered her som...

 Word Count: 245 Parker Greene The Prince of my Soul / Bernadette Devlin " I went to a very militantly Republican grammar school and, under its influence, began to revolt against the Establishment, on the simple rule of thumb, highly satisfying to a ten-year-old, that Irish equals good, English equals bad. At the age of twelve I made my first political protest. " (pg. 187) Bernadette Devlin was very influential in her time, but in an almost extreme manor with how she spoke to people causing incitement almost. The way she starts her book with the quote above is a real statement to make so early on and especially during her time period. There are hardly any women in parliament during this time due to the social class structure and still to this day there is less women in parliament than men. I know that when writing a story the writer wants a great hook, but I think that this was meant to be more than just a great hook for a book. I think that what Bernadette Devlin was trying ...

 Word Count: 246 Parker Greene The Road from Coorain / Jill Ker Conway " Once we were alone again, I was more than usually worried about my mother, because she ate next to nothing, fell to weeping unexpectedly, and seemed much of the time in a trance. The effort expended in getting up and carrying on each day exhausted her. " (pg. 170) The life that Jill Ker Conway had to live as a child is something that no child should have to ever deal with. Jill never really had a good relationship with her mother since she was not treated very well as a child, and then not much later in life Jill had to start to take care of her mother. Being put through tough treatment from her mother and all of the responsibilities she had to take on must have taken a huge toll on her both mentally and physically. Jill's mother got into a very depressive state after the passing of her dad, which made Jill have to take care of herself and her mother which must have taken a huge toll on Jill forcing ...