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LITR 4328: American Renaissance  |
Final Exam Essays 2015 Sample answers
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Hilda
Cruz
Not Alone
The
American Renaissance course has taught me that I am not alone in my feelings of
displacement within society. Yet, as a
full time mother and housewife, I still felt unfulfilled and to a degree
unsatisfied with my work. I yearned
for “something else.” In voicing my
restlessness, I quite often received the disbelief gestures (shaking of the head
side to side,) and the often, “You should be grateful”, “You have it all,”
“You’ll get used to it (domesticity),” etc... These comments of course coming
from my close friends and family that were also in the domestic sphere.
It is not that it’s bad to be in that sphere, I just didn’t feel
satisfied. I thought there was more
to life than cleaning and cooking for everyone in the house for free. This
course has added to my knowledge bank about women’s lives and struggles and
insecurities of the Rennaissance.
One
distinction that this course gave to me was the literary terms of
sentiment/sentimentality. While in
class discussion, the clarification was made that sentimentality involved
emotions without logical reasoning.
“Es muy sentida” is a common phrase in the Hispanic culture to describe “A woman
that is too emotionally fragile” without a logical reason.
I must confess, that this classroom conversation started a personal
evaluation of my own thinking and reflection on my actions.
Where is my reasoning behind my emotional upsets and even happy moments?
Do I react with sentimentality or sentiment?
In
researching the literature on woman’s role during the eighteenth century and its
effects on the nineteenth century, I realized society caters to women’s
sentimentality. It’s used to entertain and keep her in the emotional states when
making vital, life changing decisions.
As women entered the higher education fields, they were better prepared
to confront the social labels and to rebut the accusations of her ‘natural’
inability to acquire intelligence. Women
such as Stanton and Anthony were able to confront the political arena, while
Dickinson, Fuller and Peabody demonstrated their abilities in the literature
arena.
The
Renaissance period was a time of transformation for all American citizens.
The political changes demonstrated the growing populations’ frustration
with traditional laws and the need to reform them. Incorporating a broader group
of men and women, both black and white into the political field allowed for
wider examination of the laws and deeper meaning to the ruling document of the
Declaration of Independence. The social values of early Americans was also
changed during this time, with the expansion of the industrial revolution.
The new technologies of the day expanded the individual income,
employment opportunities, and access to education.
In summary, Americans of the time were experiencing a surplus of
opportunities for advancement in all areas of life.
Another observation that I made was the female writers and African American
writers of the time were all described as avid readers.
Frederick Douglass, Harriet Jacobs, Emily Dickinson.
Even if their education was limited due to established laws, they all
voiced a deep desire to read everything that was available to them once they
learned to read. Undoubtedly, this
is foundation for self-improvement.
As society has relegated certain subjects to men and others to women, these
authors prove that reading a wide variety of material enhances their writing
abilities and comprehension of their surroundings.
1865 flag of the USA