I chose the article Sentimental Power: Uncle
Tom's Cabin and the Politics of Literary History By Jane P. Tompkins (P.
539-561). Her article as an article is hard to understand. From what I got out
of this article, Tompkins argues against the point that some people think that
women writers were just a group of women that wrote sentimental novels that
were responsible for cultural evils that still affect life today. I think
Tompkins” overall point is that she thinks that the novels these women wrote
were a chance to highlight the American culture and to critique it, with in the
aspects, for example how Harriet Beecher Stowe used slavery to highlight the
cultural evils of that time.
If I’m right about the summary of
Tompkins’ main points, I believe she is absolutely without a doubt wrong. I
don’t think anyone really would take a true event in our nation’s history, to
highlight our culture, especially an event as horrific as slavery.
One point that I’m hoping one of my
readers of my blog might be able to explain to me is when Tompkins on page 560
says that “the new society will not be controlled by men but by women.” I don’t
understand why she brings this point into play. What was her purpose of this
statement?
I think Tompkins' point on 560 is that Stowe creates a world in which women and their values of love, faith, and domesticity are more important than masculine values related to capitalism, law, and government. In this way. Stowe rejects male power and suggest a new world in which women and the things they do and value become the guiding force in society.
ReplyDeleteI think Tompkins' point on 560 is that Stowe creates a world in which women and their values of love, faith, and domesticity are more important than masculine values related to capitalism, law, and government. In this way. Stowe rejects male power and suggest a new world in which women and the things they do and value become the guiding force in society.
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