Outline

Part 1 thesis: Pope says, "Most women have no character at all."
Part 1 question: What does "A Room of One's Own" seem to say about men?
Main idea 1: Men are always angry.
Main idea 2: Men control everything.
Main idea 3: Men are not concerned with woman's inferiority but with his own superiority.
Part 2 thesis: If men are always angry, control everything, and are more concerned with their own superiority; then they are the ones with no character at all.
Part 3 thesis: If one's attitude towards men is the same as the texts; then one's attitude towards common things, such as relationships, will greatly change.
Overarching thesis: While some believe women have no character at all; Woolf's "A Room of One's Own" suggests men are the ones with no character.

A discussion of the distinctions made b/w the rational mind, the feeling heart, & the desirous libido in A Room of One's Own

In A Room of One's Own Woolf seems to give different ideas on different aspects of women. One of those attitudes is that towards the rational mind. when Woolf speaks about the day-to-day life of 18th century women. We read about what she thinks their life would have been like; have their marriage arranged before they even leave the nursery and giving birth in their teens.
Woolf also talking about woman's heart. We see this when read what Woolf believed Judith's (Shakespeare's sister) life was like. Her heart told her to disobey custom and run away to be an actress; even though that was unthinkable in those days. We learn that all that would have led to was suicide; and Judith probably knew that but still made the choice to leave.
The last idea we will talk about is that of desirous libido. Woolf gives different ideas throughout the chapters. Most of what we read Woolf does not give much details about her own private life. However, when reading about Judith we learn that she was overcome with desire for Nick Greene that ultimately lead to her death. And this could be what Woolf was trying to get across about all women.

Outline

Topic: Human suffering in Narrative of the Life of a Slave.
Attitude towards theme: The attitude towards this theme is that Fredrick being rebellious is what has caused his human suffering.
3 Attitudes: ? I'm confused by what an attitude means. (Remember to ask about in class)
Alternative Attitude: Fredrick's suffering is not caused by rebellious action but, by his learning to read.
Question being posed: What does Narrative of the Life of Fredrick Douglass say about human suffering?
If...Then: If Fredrick was not being rebellious then he would not be hurt as much. (ask about in class. how much is he looking for here; 1 page or 1 paragraph?)
Overarching thesis: If Fredrick Douglass had not been so rebellious all the time he would not have suffered as much as he did.

What Notes from the Underground seems to say about human progress

The underground man seems to accept the idea of human perfection. He says that "previously man saw justice in bloodshed and exterminated whomever he wished with a clear conscience; whereas now, though we consider bloodshed to be abominable, we nevertheless engage in the abomination even more than before" (p 1319). The is telling us that he believes that human perfection is unrealistic. That no matter how much we, as humans try to better ourselves, we still fail. Even with scientific observation and reasoning, our free will will overtake us and we will act badly. The 18th century scientists believed they could devise a way to predict free will and in-turn the human race will act justly and be kind to all; however, the underground man knows this will never happen.

Mr. Covey's identity being the cause and effect

Mr. Covey let his identity, his job as a slave-breaker, become who he was. When a person lets their job dictate who they are as a person it can have horrible effects on their personal lives and the lives of the people around them. Mr. Covey may not have been an angry person in nature, but his job as a brutal slave-breaker, turned him into an infuriated, mean man. Thus causing him to believe that without his job title he would be nothing. Mr. Covey seems to honestly believe that without his job he would be degraded to the level of a slave and be shunned by the farming community. He runs his plantation so strickly because if he did not run it this way he would not be the man he is known for being. He even goes so far as to not send Fredrick to a public whipping for fear of people believing he can no longer break slaves like he used to. In doing this Mr. Covey loses who he claimed to be a religious man and becomes a tyrant.

In-Class paragraph on Narrative of the Life

The causes of human suffering in this passage (pages 949 and top of page 950) that we read was that Fredrick messed-up with his assigned task. He was sent out to the woods, on the coldest day of the year, to gather firewood. He was sent out with two unbroken oxen and, like unbroken oxen do, one ran away and tipped over his cart, almost killing him in the process. Later, after breaking the cart on the properties fence Fredrick tells his master what has happened and he is whipped severely for this. However, Fredrick should have have never been given two untamed oxen in the first place. It is rather obvious that his master gave him these particular oxen in an attempt to cause Fredrick to mess-up; which he did, causing him to mess-up his assignment.

What Narrative of the Life of a Slave seems to say about Human Suffering

Narrative of the Life of a Slave tells us, in a way never told before, that human suffering is never justifiable, even when it is inflicted on someone or something different than what is the norm of society. The human suffering the slaves endured just because of the color of their skin was horrendous. To read such sad stories of families being torn apart was so sad. To read about all the vicious acts imposed upon innocent people truly changes a person. I read this book many years ago in high school, but not with the same knowledge and insight I have gained over the years. This book touched me in ways I never expected. I couldn't help but picture myself at that time; have to decide weather to own slaves or what to do if i was born into slavery myself. I don't think that I have enough personal strength to persevere like the character's in this story did. And to know that it's a true story makes it all the more moving.

"She stands-she sits-she staggers-she falls-she groans-she dies-and there are none of her children or grandchildren present, to wipe from her wrinkled brow the cold sweat of death, or to place beneath the sod her fallen remains. Will not a righteous God visit for these things?" This quote perfectly describes what the narration is saying about human suffering. This old grandmother has lived her life as a slave, whose sole purpose was to raise children. She literally gave her life to her children, including raising her own master, and in the end it meant nothing; because she was a slave!