I haven't got time for much of a post tonight. One of the classes I teach is History 18, U.S. History since the Civil War. They turned in essays last Wednesday and have another set due this Wednesday upcoming. I want to get the first ones back to them tomorrow so my students will have some feedback to go on before they hand in their second one. I had about 150 of these to grade and have about 25 left, so I'm hopeful I can get the last class finished before they meet at 12:10 tomorrow.
The topic was women's issues. They had five sources to read. One was "Two Speeches" by Sojourner Truth, a former slave woman who spoke out for women's rights and abolition before the Civil War. Another is Elizabeth Cady Stanton's "Demand for the Vote," a speech she delivered to Congress. Then there is a short story called "A New England Nun" by Mary Wilkins Freeman. It's not actually about a nun, but a nineteenth century woman who decides she would rather live her own life on her own terms than get married to a man she doesn't love. She is other wise a conventional woman, but that alone singles her out as a strong feminist for the late 1800s.
The fourth reading is a poem by Gwendolyn Brooks called "The Mother." In it she explores the feelings unleashed in a woman who has an abortion. Finally is "Interview With Alice Paul" by Robert Gallagher. Paul was a leader during the end stages of the suffrage movement who lived to see women get the vote with the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment.
As one might expect, these 2-page essays range from very good to disappointing. One thing they have in common is that these community college students are having to grapple with ideas like equality, rights, tradition, and gender expectations in a systematic way that many have not had to consider before.
Well, time's a-wasting. Got to get back to work. I'll check back in tomorrow night.
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