Tuesday, February 13, 2007
Midterm #2, Winnemucca and Dickinson III
Katja
ENGL 48 B
Journal # 19, Winnemucca & Dickinson III
13 February, 2007
"[...] the poor Indian ... who has lived for generations on the land which the good God has given to them [...] and you [...] drive us from our home." (Sarah Winnemucca 16)
"The Soul selects her own Society—then—shuts the Door— /to her divine Majority—present no more— / Unmoved—she notes the Chariots—pausing—at her low Gate— / Unmoved—an Emperor be kneeling upon her Mat /" (Emily Dickinson 177)
Sarah Winnemucca was driven from her home, first as a young girl wen she was sent to school by her grandfather and later as a victim of the forced government shifting of Native American tribes to make room for more settlers heading West. These events more or less forced Winnemucca to approach her activism socially on the lecture circuit, which eventually crystallized into her work Life among the Paiutes. The theme of permanent displacement was effectively used by Winnemucca to reach her audience.
Emily Dickinson’s approach to her audience was non-existent. Diametrically opposed to Sarah Winnemucca’s socially oriented activism, Dickinson preferred to stay at home. Whether such isolation was self-imposed, as it appears in the quote above from poem # 303, or not, this behavior certainly drew attention to her persona and life. Her life style offered little in terms of a traditional social life and friendships, at least in person, which makes Dickinson ever more fascinating. Her choice to remove herself from society may be seen as aloof or even arrogant by some, but the fact remains that Dickinson was able to maintain long-lasting and deep relationships vial mail over the years, while simultaneously maintaining a to her comfortable distance from society.
Both Winnemucca and Dickinson defied the social expectations of their era by refusing to fit the mold. Winnemucca proved that women, regardless of background, need not stay home, or even have a home to live a fulfilling and important life. She married five times, certainly not the order of the day for Victorian women. Dickinson showed just the opposite. Her life was full and productive even with the gaping void of social interactions and traditional life style. She was not married and had no children. Winnemucca’s and Dickinson’s ways of living decidedly went against the preconceived notions of their peers and they freely let their ideas show in their work.
ENGL 48 B
Journal # 19, Winnemucca & Dickinson III
13 February, 2007
"[...] the poor Indian ... who has lived for generations on the land which the good God has given to them [...] and you [...] drive us from our home." (Sarah Winnemucca 16)
"The Soul selects her own Society—then—shuts the Door— /to her divine Majority—present no more— / Unmoved—she notes the Chariots—pausing—at her low Gate— / Unmoved—an Emperor be kneeling upon her Mat /" (Emily Dickinson 177)
Sarah Winnemucca was driven from her home, first as a young girl wen she was sent to school by her grandfather and later as a victim of the forced government shifting of Native American tribes to make room for more settlers heading West. These events more or less forced Winnemucca to approach her activism socially on the lecture circuit, which eventually crystallized into her work Life among the Paiutes. The theme of permanent displacement was effectively used by Winnemucca to reach her audience.
Emily Dickinson’s approach to her audience was non-existent. Diametrically opposed to Sarah Winnemucca’s socially oriented activism, Dickinson preferred to stay at home. Whether such isolation was self-imposed, as it appears in the quote above from poem # 303, or not, this behavior certainly drew attention to her persona and life. Her life style offered little in terms of a traditional social life and friendships, at least in person, which makes Dickinson ever more fascinating. Her choice to remove herself from society may be seen as aloof or even arrogant by some, but the fact remains that Dickinson was able to maintain long-lasting and deep relationships vial mail over the years, while simultaneously maintaining a to her comfortable distance from society.
Both Winnemucca and Dickinson defied the social expectations of their era by refusing to fit the mold. Winnemucca proved that women, regardless of background, need not stay home, or even have a home to live a fulfilling and important life. She married five times, certainly not the order of the day for Victorian women. Dickinson showed just the opposite. Her life was full and productive even with the gaping void of social interactions and traditional life style. She was not married and had no children. Winnemucca’s and Dickinson’s ways of living decidedly went against the preconceived notions of their peers and they freely let their ideas show in their work.
# posted by Katja @ 10:02 PM 
