3. Lorainne Sim asks why it is that, within the field of everyday life studies, women writers and voices have such a marginal presence when it comes to the question of the everyday, even while the concept of the everyday is so often tied to femininity. How does Woolf help us begin an answer to this question? Give specific examples.
By taking readers step by step through the myriad of hurdles that interrupt her train of thought, Woolf intimately and tangibly voices her everyday doubts about the way society works, especially for women. As Woolf proves, women writers were physically unable to have a voice due to the social structures of her time period. In regards to the space that Woolf says is necessary, women literally could not become writers without a space to expand their thoughts. At the time, men dominated every space, especially educational ones, prohibiting women from learning/becoming educated.
Everyday life studies are only recently starting to see women in the field because that is how it has been for every field of study. Women were not allowed a proper education for a very long time, so it makes perfect sense that they would not be present in the educational realm; even more to be significant and notable in it. Everyday life is even more of a struggle for women to converse about because their position in society was completely defined for them.
She uses the example of the meals they received at lunchtime to show how money was significantly more sufficient for men rather than women. Compared to the men's college, the women's college was sub-par. Along with the noticeably pitiful meal, the women at the college were not offered wine; furthermore, they did not converse with one another, co-create ideas, or learn from each other.
Everyday life changes, especially for women and minorities, when the rules of society change. It is baffling that we are still fighting for women's rights with our modern wave of feminism; however, we have come a long way from the times of Virginia Woolf.
Thursday, December 3, 2015
A Room of One's Own
Question #2
Woolf shows the importance of money through her own personal experience and through talking about resources. Woolf's father didn't want to spend the money to put her through school to get her an education, so she understands the important of wealth when it comes to being a writer or an artist. On page 29, Woolf says that "in the first place, to have a room of her own, let alone a quiet room or a sound-proof room, was out of the question, unless her parents were exceptionally rich or very noble", and Woolf is showing the importance of money here by stating that without money, women wouldn't have the resources (like a quiet room of their own) to work in. Woolf, in my opinion, is saying that poverty has deprived women of being able to be writers, and if they are given wealth then they will be able to write. One's own room is where they think and where they can explore their own mind, where they can create what they are trying to create. Without money, women won't have this privilege.
Woolf shows the importance of money through her own personal experience and through talking about resources. Woolf's father didn't want to spend the money to put her through school to get her an education, so she understands the important of wealth when it comes to being a writer or an artist. On page 29, Woolf says that "in the first place, to have a room of her own, let alone a quiet room or a sound-proof room, was out of the question, unless her parents were exceptionally rich or very noble", and Woolf is showing the importance of money here by stating that without money, women wouldn't have the resources (like a quiet room of their own) to work in. Woolf, in my opinion, is saying that poverty has deprived women of being able to be writers, and if they are given wealth then they will be able to write. One's own room is where they think and where they can explore their own mind, where they can create what they are trying to create. Without money, women won't have this privilege.
Wednesday, December 2, 2015
A Room of One's Own
This piece felt similar to everything else we've read this semester, yet somehow completely different. It had the observations about everyday life, yet they weren't laid out perfectly clear like they are in the more scholarly articles. The evidence is there, but it is less obvious and feels more real than previous works. The audience arrives at the intended conclusion, but it takes more thought on their part.
I think that this style of writing about the everyday is easier to read because it is easier to understand as a human being. The conclusions reached from this type of writing are more rewarding, in my mind, because it requires some effort from the reader and not just a theory being shoved down their throat.
I think that this style of writing about the everyday is easier to read because it is easier to understand as a human being. The conclusions reached from this type of writing are more rewarding, in my mind, because it requires some effort from the reader and not just a theory being shoved down their throat.
A Room of One's Own
(Responding to Question #4)
I find it interesting the ways in which "A Room of One's Own" really speaks to everything we have discussed thus far in class about the everyday and what it means to live in the realm of the everyday. I think that Virginia Woolf is able to access the everyday in ways which other scholars which we have read leading up to now cannot. I think, first and foremost, she is able to do this because she talks about the everyday experience by literally narrating an everyday experience of her own. In class discussion we often come back to this idea that the everyday is the thing which escapes, that thing which cannot be qualified or classified, or else it becomes something of significance, an event, which then can no longer exist in the realm of the everyday. By discussing her experiences in this type of stream of consciousness, it is almost as if we are transported into Woolf's everyday realm without distinguishing it as such, therefore keeping its status as an everyday escaping event. With scholarship such as the works of Lefebvre, De Certeau, etc., the goal is to define or classify our everyday experiences in order to better understand them, but how can we understand them at all without first disregarding them as significant, memorable experiences in the first place?
Woolf is careful in her writing to display her experiences as this rambling stream of consciousness in order to draw attention to the fact that this is how they would present in real life. When we are in the midst of an everyday experience we are unaware, just as Woolf shows in her description of the tail-less cat for example. The experience is memorable to her because it leads to thoughts about life and truth but the actual event of spotting the cat is presented almost as an aside rather than a plot point.
It's refreshing, especially in a class which is centered around the everyday, to read scholarship which presents itself as a narration or story, as if inviting you to dive into the everyday experience rather than classify or categorize it.
I find it interesting the ways in which "A Room of One's Own" really speaks to everything we have discussed thus far in class about the everyday and what it means to live in the realm of the everyday. I think that Virginia Woolf is able to access the everyday in ways which other scholars which we have read leading up to now cannot. I think, first and foremost, she is able to do this because she talks about the everyday experience by literally narrating an everyday experience of her own. In class discussion we often come back to this idea that the everyday is the thing which escapes, that thing which cannot be qualified or classified, or else it becomes something of significance, an event, which then can no longer exist in the realm of the everyday. By discussing her experiences in this type of stream of consciousness, it is almost as if we are transported into Woolf's everyday realm without distinguishing it as such, therefore keeping its status as an everyday escaping event. With scholarship such as the works of Lefebvre, De Certeau, etc., the goal is to define or classify our everyday experiences in order to better understand them, but how can we understand them at all without first disregarding them as significant, memorable experiences in the first place?
Woolf is careful in her writing to display her experiences as this rambling stream of consciousness in order to draw attention to the fact that this is how they would present in real life. When we are in the midst of an everyday experience we are unaware, just as Woolf shows in her description of the tail-less cat for example. The experience is memorable to her because it leads to thoughts about life and truth but the actual event of spotting the cat is presented almost as an aside rather than a plot point.
It's refreshing, especially in a class which is centered around the everyday, to read scholarship which presents itself as a narration or story, as if inviting you to dive into the everyday experience rather than classify or categorize it.
Viginia Woolf Reaction
I think that Woolf's look into the everyday is fascinating because it is so different that the other people and works we have read. Woolf does not use an authoritative tone when talking about the issues of feminism and the everyday. She shies away from that tone as if she is trying to say that she is not the best person to speak about the issue. Instead, she writes in a way that is more personal and down-to-earth. It is a fictional narrative that she is telling while combining it with real issues. In doing this, she distorts the criticism of only showing her point of view because technically, she isn't. With talking about a fictional character, she is able to talk about the issues facing women more intently by talking herself out of the conversation.
We talked about the saying "fiction can show more of the truth than the facts." This is absolutely true. Fiction writers have always been using fictional worlds to comments about the issues facing our own. The book "If Beale Street Could Talk" is a perfect example. All of the characters are made up and the situations they go through did not technically happen, but the book gives fascinating insight into what African Americans had to go through during the 1950s. This is exactly what Woolf is saying. Fiction helps the reader understand the issue, at least in the author's perspective, by not having to deal with facts that could distort the truth.
We talked about the saying "fiction can show more of the truth than the facts." This is absolutely true. Fiction writers have always been using fictional worlds to comments about the issues facing our own. The book "If Beale Street Could Talk" is a perfect example. All of the characters are made up and the situations they go through did not technically happen, but the book gives fascinating insight into what African Americans had to go through during the 1950s. This is exactly what Woolf is saying. Fiction helps the reader understand the issue, at least in the author's perspective, by not having to deal with facts that could distort the truth.
Fictional Writing At Its Best--Virginia Woolf
“A Room of One’s Own” by Virginia Woolf
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| "A Room of One's Own" by Anais Woolf http://www.artpistol.co.uk/art-gallery/room-ones-own |
How is the everyday an important concern in
Woolf’s work? How does she provide
access to the everyday in ways that differ or relate to works that we’ve read?
Virginia Woolf brilliantly explores the everyday life of women in the 1920s through a detailed and tedious
account of her thought processes of the everyday that combines fictional
storytelling with aspects of truth. By
approaching the topic of “women and fiction” in this manner, and I can only
assume that the everyday life of women was not a subject that was highly
accessible through the discourse of this time, Woolf manages to produce a
persuasive means of communicating the truth behind the everyday sexist
encounters and the oppression of women through a fictional character. She makes it clear that the identity of the
narrator is irrelevant, “call me Mary Beton, Mary Seton, Mary Carmichael or by any name you
please--it is not a matter of any importance”, because her story is true and
applicable to all women of her lifetime (Woolf 3).
Woolf’s poetic technique differs
from other works we have read thus far because she does not give us philosophical
writing, a literary analysis or a research study, but rather a stream of
consciousness. Fictional or not, the inequality
within the thoughts she has and personal encounters she describes rings true
for womankind in a way that many writers have not been
able to access through alternative styles of writing. Woolf writes with a certain directness and
honesty, while recognizing the limitations of her individual perspective
outright, that makes it incredibly difficult, nearly impossible, to refute or
disagree with her argument in any way.
She states very explicitly that her ideas are conveyed strictly through
opinion and personal sentiment and in no way is her writing developed from any
sort of factual perspective, because “one can only show how one came to hold
whatever opinion one does have” (Woolf 2).
An important connection is made regarding the relationship that women
have with two distinct concepts: instinct and reason. Although logic and reason would tell her that
she should have the same rights as men and be allowed to walk on the turf,
oppressive instincts overwhelm her thinking and send her walking on the gravel,
where women belong. How did it come to
be that women instinctually feel inferior to men? Is this still true today?
Tuesday, December 1, 2015
BLOG assignment for A Room of One's Own
Post by the morning of Thursday, December 3rd
Comment by the end of the day Frinday, December 4th
Please respond to one of the following questions about Woolf's A Room of One's Own. You may also write about any other aspect of the book, if you're so inclined.
Comment by the end of the day Frinday, December 4th
Please respond to one of the following questions about Woolf's A Room of One's Own. You may also write about any other aspect of the book, if you're so inclined.
1. Woolf
begins her lecture by calling out the conventions and expectations for scholarly lectures, while
simultaneously subverting them. How would you describe what Woolf is doing
here? What kind of writing is this? And how does it differ from traditional
academic discourse? Finally, what is the effect of the way she presents her
ideas?
2. The
central argument Woolf makes is that a writer, artist, or thinker needs a room
of one’s own and money. Why is this her answer to the prompt “Women and
Fiction?” How does Woolf defend this statement throughout her narrative? How
does she evidence the importance of space? How does she show the importance of
money?
3. Lorainne
Sim asks why it is that, within the field of everyday life studies, women
writers and voices have such a marginal presence when it comes to the question
of the everyday, even while the concept of the everyday is so often tied to
femininity. How does Woolf help us begin an answer to this question? Give
specific examples.
4. Given
your thoughts above, how is the everyday an important concern in Woolf’s work?
How does she provide access to the everyday in ways that differ from or relate
to works that we’ve read?
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