Tag Archives: #freedom

How To Write Literature 101

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In the final chapter of “A Room of One’s Own” Virginia Woolf closes by returning from her story to real life. She tells us what the purpose of her whole story was, what will give women the power of literature. She says that for anyone to write great literature they need to be unencumbered by outside motivations, emotions, and agendas. She says that women have to stop approaching literature as a “woman” meaning thinking that she is writing as someone with an agenda to fight societies notions of female writers, and even more than that an emotional agenda at all. For a writer to be successful they need to be unhindered by outside motivations, that’s why she believes that an androgynous mind would be the ideal for authors. And that’s why an author needs a room and money to be left alone without the reliance or hindering of others.

Woolf says that the ideal literature is an incandescent light — a light bright and unmolested. This goes beyond a feminist ideal it’s an essential for all literature. In her essay Woolf uses this as the platform for women to strive for because women don’t have it. They don’t have it because they are either writing with an agenda to fight the chains that they are out into or left without the space to develop their own thoughts and ideas. Instead of telling her audience that it’s terrible that women are held down and that we see a few that rode up and we have to emulate and learn from them, she shows us the core of the problem. With only two adjustments at the base of the issue all of the problems of women in literature would be fixed. Women — really anyone — needs to have their own save to develop ideas without any disturbance, and their own independence without having to rely on others or fight for freedom. She says at the end “What is your excuse?” (p. 112) Women have the opportunity to learn on their own today and to make money if they wishes why don’t they go and write.

One thing I found challenging about the author’s point of view is that so many great works have come from authors writing what they know; works based on personal experiences, from unique and individual viewpoints. I find it difficult to understand how Woolf idealizes a sterile mind and a sterile environment as the perfect background for powerful storytelling.

Poem 328 Emily Dickenson

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I grew most attracted to this poem out of all which I read. Emily speaks of death, love, faith and nature. Poem 328 has to do with nature She describes us a moment of a birds life so poetically.

In the beginning she tells us of this bird that “came down the Walk”. She tells us that the bird had no idea that she was there observing him. He came down to feed on a Angleworm.

In the second stanza the bird drinks the dew of the grass and hops aside to let beetles pass. She later follows up by saying she made her presence aware and offered the bird a crumb.

Now this was my favorite part the way she gives us the description of the bird flying away. She so beautifully compares the birds flight to using rowing and swimming she paints us a vivid picture of a bird delicately soaring through the air. As well as Butterflies, ” leap off the banks of Noon”. As if the bird was swimming splashlessly  through the see.

I love the details she portrayed in the poem. They helped me seamlessly paint a picture in my head. I feel like she was jealous of nature and the freedom the birds have. How they can be here one moment and move on in the next. Her entire life since she was 20 she hasn’t really left her home. The part where she makes her presence aware to the bird which lead me to believe resembles “freedom”. “Freedom” hence the bird flew away from. This can possibly be Emily’s way of telling us that no matter how much nature freedom is beautiful and attracts her, that she may never actually get to feel/experience it.