What does Alexandrova say about the word “dialectic?” Do we have any words in English that operate similarly: words that justify things without being totally comprehensible?
Why does Alexandrova say Soviet women want to get married?
What are the three most helpful suggestions, from your perspective, offered by Anne Lamont in “Shitty First Drafts”?
“Dialectic” means a logical argument. In her text, Alexandrova uses this word in reference to what the Soviets say that, “in order to build communism and a communist family, the traditional family must be strengthened for the time being.” According to Alexandrova, the word “dialectic” is “a good word” because “it serves to explain both what is useful and how it is useful.” I suppose we do have other words in English that justify things without being totally comprehensible but I do not know of any such words.
Alexandrova gives us many reasons why Soviet women want to get married. The first is that in the Soviet society, marriage is treated as a “big step for a woman-perhaps the most important achievement in a woman’s life, no matter how educated or independent she is and no matter how successful she has been in her profession.” The traditional view in the Soviet society of a woman being the keeper of the house and only finding happiness in a marriage and family of her own make Soviet women want to get married to give them a “psychological sense of well-being and self-affirmation.”
Also, Alexandrova makes it clear that the Soviet government puts pressure on their women to get married. The Soviet government “instituted an official ideology that the only possible way to be morally stable is to be married. If a person is not listed as married then that person’s life is bad, abnormal and either immoral or incomplete.” The government furthers this propaganda by using official papers such as passports, records, applications and forms with a marriage portion that needs to be filled to make Soviet women aware that their “status as unmarried is bad, shameful and degrading.” Another way the Soviet government has encouraged women to be married is by making marriage laws unrestrictive. They have made marriage “secularized” and given “freedom and ease of divorce.” Thus, this liberty in marriage laws entice Soviet women to get married.
To me, the first helpful suggestion Lamont gives about writing a great piece is to begin by just writing anything “the childlike part” of me wants, devoid of any restrictions. Lamont says that “all good writing begins with terrible first efforts-the child’s draft where the writer lets it all pour out and romp all over the place knowing that no one is going to see it and that it can be shaped later because there may be something great that could not have been gotten to by more rational, grown-up means.”
Another useful suggestion made by Lamont is to isolate and shut down all the criticizing voices in my head and just focus on “writing anything down on paper and starting from somewhere.”
The third useful advice Lamont gives is to not put too much pressure on myself when writing the first draft. It is with the second and third draft that I should begin to scrutinize. She says it is alright for the first draft to be “shitty” because it is the “down draft.” On the second draft, which is the “up draft,” I should begin to “fix it up” then on the third draft, thoroughly edit it.
Dialetic basically means an intelligible argument. She used the word in her text to refer to what the Soviet’s said. Alexandrova thinks the word is positive because it helps better one’s understanding. I think the word “reasoning” could be used in subsitution of this from the American diction.
They want to get married because in Russia, getting married is essentially the next step in maturing. The women want to grow into adults without dissappointing their parents and peers.
One of the most important ones she suggests that I apply daily is letting things flow without restriction. I practically never revise my grammar while I am writing so I can get my thoughts out smoothly without any discord. She also uses a lot of drafts before creating her final, which means she can keep working on her version and evolving it on a fresh page so as it gets better and better. And finally, the most useful tool she mentions is the one I find prime to writing. Experience is key. She mentions that she does not always have the experience to write about it. I find that very true, therefore I try to think of similar scenarios so I can relate and feel what the audience should feel through my writing.
Dialectic’s defenition is the art of investigating or discussing the truth of opinions. The author uses this word in her essay to explain how the societs enforcered and put communism into place. The way she uses it though is more like the meaning of a logical argument. She basically explains the philosophical side to how Soviet woman and others adapted the idea that marriage was a nececity and without it, they were 2nd class citizens. I’m not aware of any words that justify and are not comprehensible.
She explains it as them not really know themselves why they want it themselves. It’s something that is embedded within them because of its normalcy in society. How I viewed her description of Soviet woman wanting to be in a “horrendous” relationahip, was the woman simply being brain washed to think simply being married somehow made you better.
The most popular answer I’m assuming will be Lamont’s idea of thinking about the first draft as a “child’s draft”. With this mindset you can let your ideas simply run down the page and let it “romp” all over in no particular order. My second favorite would be the one the friend said which was the down draft. “Just get it down” no matter how bad or rough it is. I believe you need to get something on the paper to get your brain running and if you don’t get something down how can you build any ideas? My third favorite idea was to “close your eyes” and let your brain chatter and isolate one idea and run with it.
Dialectic oftens refers to the means of which we investigate or discuss the truth of an opinion. Specifically, in “Why Soviet Women Want To Get Married,” Alexandrova the main character, uses the word from time to time. Most notably, she uses it when she refers to the soviet ideals, which happen to be communism. Alexandrova also further notes in the text how she likens the word because of its ability to strengthen the ability of explaining and deciphering what is useful and how it is useful.
Clearly as the title states, Marriage is a very important facet of “Why Soviet Women Want To Get Married.” Throughout the text, many reasons and stances are formed as to why marriage. In Russian society, a woman is still degraded and seen as less than compared to men. In order to climb up the Russian societal class, a woman must be married. It is almost as if it is looked down upon to be otherwise. It is tradition, as it was in the United States, that the woman is the keeper of the house and that is it. It is engrained so deeply into russian society that the Russian government has established incentives to practically force women into marriage or if not, to require them to heavily think about it. Specific examples include, official government documents that require a section that is dedicated solely to marriage, and the restriction free nature of marriage.
Throughout the text, “Shitty First Drafts,” many fruitful suggestions and tips were given that could be very well learned from. Three of which specifically resonated with me the most me. First, I thought the suggestion by Lamont to free yourself from your own criticizing nature was profound. Sometimes, our greatest critic is ourselves and that can hold us back from achieving unprecedented creativity. I also took strong notice of how he downplays the pressure of the first draft. Since there will be more drafts to come, I could understand how just getting your ideas on the page is more important than stressing out over every syllable. Lastly, and the most resonating, was just in general how Lamont was able to frame something that is oftenly feared by many people into a benign topic that can be broken down extremely easily throughout the entire text.
The word dialectic in the english language means “the art of investigating the truth of opinions.” The author uses this word after the quote “In order to build communism and a communist family, we must strengthen the traditional family for the time being.” she uses the word to explain the fact that the quote serves to show what is useful and how it is useful. so in this term we are investigating how to build a communist family from a traditional one.
Soviet women want to get married for carious reasons, few being; that in the ussr formal civil marriage is supported officially by the government. Marriage is treated like a critical achievment even with the opportunities that these women have at their feet. it makes them feel fulfilled. The fact that “women were respectes accordingly to the place tgeir husbands held in society”. With the amount of pressure put on marriage its no wonder women want to so it faster.
I think the most helpful suggestion was to clear your head. Personally speaking i overthink alot when it comes to writing. I’m constantly changing ideas and writing ways all the way to the last minute. So clearing my head before writing down anything would help alot.
Alexandrova states that a dialectic is a good thing, “At will it serves to explain both what is useful and how it is useful.” I am not quite sure if it is correct but in English putting certain words in a sentence of argument such as legitimate makes a person believe that the argument or statement is valid. Saying that something is just does not mean that it necessarily is but reading or hearing words that have positive connotations make a person believe that the argument is logical. To my peers, If anybody can elaborate on dialectic or find a different word to use in context to help me better understand, please do.
Alexandrova says that Soviet women want to get married for many reasons. Despite being a financially and personally stable Soviet female, you were not viewed as “complete” until you got married. The most prominent reason for why a Soviet woman wanted to get married was due to government intervention or rather the lack of it. Women were easily able to get away with whatever they pleased as long as they had a husband. Women were able to get away with anything that would typically be viewed as immoral, as women who exemplified the same actions but did not have a husband would have the government intervene in their lives, along with the judgement of others. On a broader spectrum, having a husband at the time meant that you were more “controlled” opposed to an unmarried woman. Another major reason for Soviet women getting married was to avoid judgement and humiliation in society. Back then people had to carry official government paperwork with them everywhere, in that paperwork the status of one’s marriage was stated. Carrying around this paperwork as an unmarried woman was viewed as humiliating. Ultimately, Soviet women want to avoid this humiliation that the government has pressed upon them.
Anne offered multiple helpful suggestions in terms of writing drafts. One of them that deemed helpful to me was to allow yourself to essentially throw a tantrum onto a piece of paper, as Anne said “The first draft is the child’s draft, where you let it all pour out and then let it romp all over the place.” I believe that when writing words and thoughts are better expressed when they are the only thing being focused on. When I focus on grammar and my vocabulary as I write my thoughts come to a halt. This leads to the second piece of advice I attained from Anne, revision. When writing with a tantrum grammar and vocabulary is widely avoided, at least in my case. Revision allows me to make these changes and gather all my scattered thoughts into one piece of work. The third piece of advice I got from this reading was to find a quiet place when writing. This piece of advice has caused me to realize that I write better when I’m in a loud and crowded area. I hear and see what happens around me which influences and affects my thoughts, promoting my writing further.
Prompt #1:
Alexandrova says that the word “dialectic” is used to “explain both what is useful and how it is useful” (45). Dialect functions in the Soviet society to show how the Soviet Unions desire to control the lives on individuals in both direct and indirect ways works to their advantage by implementing the structure of society they wish to obtain and implement in order through propaganda and laws that require certain ways of life. They influence people to seek marriage and families in order to be viewed as moral and stable in their country. This, to them, is what is useful and the benefits of it (increased birth rates and marriages and introduction to a “superpatriarchy” is how it is useful).
Prompt #2:
Alexandrova says that Soviet want to get married because as the article states is that “the desire for marriage is actively inculcated in society by the authorities” (34). The Soviet Union, over the years has managed to implement laws, propaganda to “effectively control and regulate the behavior of soviet citizens” (35). People living in the Soviet have their lives so closely watched and tracked, that it is nearly impossible for them to make decisions without being influenced by the government. On top of that, being married is also considered a “moral” thing in society and is the only way somebody can be valued in the Soviet Union because married or having a family symbolizes stability. Even being divorced (even if it is multiple times) is more acceptable than never being married at one point. Marriage and family is the way that the government can obtain control over people’s personalize lives because it is a form of society that is so traditional and typically already implemented in people’s everyday lives so it is far easier for the government to control and influence because they structure is already existing and can easily be manipulated by different forms of propaganda.
Prompt #3:
The three most helpful suggestions from my perspective that is offered by Anne Lamont in “shitty First Drafts” is that the “only way to write anything at all, is to write really, really shitty first draft” (22). Trying to hard to make the first attempt perfect can take away from the ability to even write anything because you prevent your ideas or thoughts from flowing out if they are not expressed perfectly. Just writing anything in your first draft gives you some sort of substance to work with and can encourage emphasis on your original ideas that were first introduced in your first draft. The Nike slogan, “Just Do it”, can be used as an example in this situation because sometimes you just need to do it without overthinking the outcome or else you might end up not doing it at all. Another suggestion is “quieting the voices in your head” (36). This comes of as really helpful to me also because sometimes you are thinking about to many things at once and you need to give yourself to just calm down and think straight without flooding your draft with things that don’t connect at all. This isn’t an idea I have ever put into effect myself but I can understand how it can be beneficial because you focus on what you are trying to express in your writing instead of just rambling on about nothing. Lastly, writing “twice as long as it should be” (25) because now you have more to work with. When going onto the second and third draft, you can focus on editing things out an shortening it a more structured piece of writing.
Diaclectic is a discourse between two or more people holding different points of view about a subject but wishing to establish the truth through reasoned arguments. Alexandrov says that it serves to explain both what is useful and how it is useful. In this article, dialectic is a word that describes two things in one. There are no words that come to my mind that justify things without being totally comprehensible.
Alexandrov explains that Soviet woman gain many benefits by getting married. She also says that they need this for their own psychological well being; their self-affirmation. At times, things in the Soviet Union can become imperceptible and create a psychological atmosphere. That marriage stamp makes them feel complete. She describes it as a new but ugly process.
One of Lamonts writing tips that helps me is write anything the child in me would write. You can start by writing freely. Second, I need a quiet place to write and let me brain just think in peace. Many times when I write, if I’m in a loud place, I cannot concentrate. When I’m in peace and quiet is where I can get my best writing and thoughts to come out. The last piece of advice that helps is just write something down, even if you don’t know how to explain it, write what you can. Then revise and try to break it down.
Alexandrova has a positive attitude towards dialect and the way it is being used by the soviet union, not saying that she supports their ideals. She says that the way the soviet union uses dialect is witty and almost makes you feel as if its truthful. They use dialect to control their citizens in a way, to act accordingly without actually telling them what to do. its somewhat like propaganda, which has the ability to sway your opinions and actions without really being direct. This somewhat reminds me of the phrase we talked about in class “time is money”. This phrase alone isn’t comprehensible to anyone yet we tend to associate it with the harder you work or the quicker you work or even the longer you work, the more money you’ll earn. This phrase justifies being a workaholic which at times may not be as beneficial health wise(mentally and physically) by “convincing” you it earns you more money.
The reason alexandrova gives as to why soviet women want to get married is because formal marriage is strongly supported by the USSR government. She states that the government does this through judicial mechanisms, which is by passing laws that enforce these ideals. Ideological mechanisms, which is the use of propaganda and what not. Lastly, Administrative, which is by regulating the behavior of soviet citizens(soviet women)
One suggestion Lamott offers that really stuck with me is to quiet the voice in your head. She suggests that she herself gets a voice that tells her that her topic is not interesting enough. This resonated with me because i go through the same problem. I would pick a topic, start writing and then half way through it i would consider re-thinking my topic just because its not interesting enough but in all reality theres not normally a need for a new topic, its just paranoia. Another idea that resonated with me that’s not really a suggestion is when she says that the first draft is where you let everything out. This is certainly something i don’t do, i treat my first draft as a final copy meaning i hold back a lot.
Alexandrova in the text wrote that the word “dialectic” is a way to explain what is useful and way to explain how useful that something is. In the dictionary the word dialectic is the art of investigating or discussing the truth of opinions. So basically a debate which is exactly how Alexandrova is describing the word she says the word is used to debate on usefulness.
Alexandrova says that Soviet women want to get married because in Russia the government basically made people think that women who are not married are not “complete”. Women who were not marries were looked as not mature and basically viewed as children compared to women of the same age who were married. The main goal in life for women in Russia at that time was to marry so they can continue their “growth” in life and essentially become a real women. If you were women in Russia during the Soviet era you would be made fun and looked down on if you weren’t married and people knew because women had to carry a marriage identification card which stated if you were or weren’t.
I think one of the biggest tips that stood out to me in the text is when she said to just write freely. This actually stood out to me because I do that and someone earlier in my life told me to do that and it allowed me to be more creative an actually start the writing assignment that needs to be done. When I get an assignment and I have start writing a great amount I usually get start thinking way too much on the specifics. But if I just start writing whatever comes to mind I learned that sooner or later everything comes together and I will have talked about the specifics one way or another.
Why Soviet Women Want To Get Married:
This article describes how marriage is treated in the Soviet culture. In the Soviet culture you are considered “moral” if you are married. Being a single women you were described as a third class citizen and were looked down at. Because of this social problem, women would then marry just to have the title “married” on their reference card. If a women had the description of “divorced” on her reference card she was considered to be on a higher social level then a single women. Alexandrova writes “In order to build communism and a communist family, we must strengthen the traditional family for the time being”. She uses the word dialectic that is meant to explain what is useful and how it is useful. The way marriage is felt and viewed by the Soviet is fundamentally different then in the United States. Typically, marriage is viewed as one of the biggest and happiest times of peoples lives. The Soviet’s view marriage as just an action to get by in life. It is described in the article that a mother’s biggest concern is that their daughter doesn’t get married.
Shitty First Drafts:
The author helps describe ways to help writers on their first drafts. She clarifies that successful authors don’t magically write perfect books on their first draft. The most important tip that I believe can be very helpful is to just pour out everything on the page knowing that no one is going to see it. One of the other suggestions that the author describes is to zone out all the voices in your head while you write. She says that the first draft should be the down draft-to just get stuff down on paper. The second draft is to fix it up. The third draft she describes as the dental draft, where you check every tooth to see if its healthy. I believe that some of these points can be very helpful for writing first drafts.
1. Dialectic means the art of investigating or discussing the truth of an opinion. In the article, Alexandrova elaborates on ” dialectic” to mean, what is useful and how it is useful. We see this word as a ” good word” in the article. An example of dialectic used in the text is seen when it says, ” how the soviet power arrived at such a dialectic is, once again, a special subject that cannot be examined in a few words”. I think the closest english word that can operate similarly to ” dialectic” is conclusion.
2. Alexandovra gives multiple examples of why Russian women want to get married. She explains that Russian women although supposedly have same income jobs, hold same government offices and everything men have in Russia are just not complete in the sense of fulfilling there duty as a women. This duty includes getting married and being in charge of the house hold. In Russia a women is not the best she can be till she is married with children. As seen in the text Russia’s government was more than encouraging marriage, they looked down on any women that was not married. Furthermore, getting married just to get married had become a normal occurrence in Russia.
3. In my opinion, one of the most helpful suggestions offered by Anna Lamont in ” Shitty First Drafts” is to write completely free for the first draft. To me, this means to write any ideas or thoughts that come to mind, and list them on a paper without much organization. This technique is very useful because it can quickly get a lot of ideas out, whether they are good or bad. Even though the first draft is not organized this technique is still productive because of the ability to organize and create a well written essay in the following drafts.
Dialect is simply the way in which we go about investigating or generally speaking an opinion and the justification for it. Dialect is basically a synonym for reasoning or justification.
The reason that Soviet women are seeking marriage is because of the culture that the regime pushed for all of the years that it had power. They backed the classic, a woman is fulfilled when she is pursuing her obvious most prominent calling, and that of course, is the calling of motherhood and and of a subservient wife. A woman who wasn’t married was not fulfilled and was definitely privately and probably publicly shamed.
The best suggestions in the shitty first draft were definitely to think of your greatest idols and realize that at one point they were also sitting a desk with their head in their hands, the part where she says write everything you think of, and the analogy about the mice in the mason jars, because personally when I’m trying to focus on something creatively, it feels as if there are 10 drill sergeants in my head yelling different orders.
Alexandrova actually thinks “dialetic” is a good thing. Alexandrova uses the word to explan how useful it is. Dialetic means the art of investigating or discussing the truth. She specifically uses this in “Why Soviet Women Want To Get Married”. When she begins to talk about how to build communism and how they must strengthen the traditional family first.
There many reason why many Soviet women. As i read in the passage they want to get married because in that society it is looked upon as huge thing for them. It became so normal that everyone wants to do it. In the passage it actually stated “the desire for marriage is actively inculcated in society by the authorities”.
I feel that the most helpful suggestions from Anne Lamont is to cleae your head. Usually when im writing im thinking about too luch things goin on and this can affect how I write. When your head is clear you think of all types of things you wouldnt thought because you were overthink.
1) The word dialectic is defined as the art of investigating or discussing the truth of opinions. In the article, Alexandrova refers to this word as a “good word”. The word is used to figure out what is useful as well as how it is useful. The phrase “number one” works similarly in that it makes a statement stronger but it could just mean nothing.
2) Alexandrova says that there are multiple reasons why soviet women are eager to get married. She says that in Russia, a women is seen as inferior to other women if she is not yet married. Society in Russia thinks that it is part of a woman’s duty to get married and if she does not, she isn’t completing her tasks as a woman.
3) In my opinion, there were multiple helpful suggestions offered by Anne Lamont in “Shitty First Drafts”. One of these tips which stood out to me and is something i find myself doing often is to just to write the draft freely without feeling the need to make it perfect. She says that on the first draft, one should just let the ideas flow onto the paper and if one is too worried about it being perfect, it will be counter productive to the whole idea of a first draft. Another amazing suggestion that I find myself now using is to just write as if you were a child version of yourself. This is extremely helpful because it allows one to write whatever they want free of restrictions which is necessary for creating a good rough draft.