Reviewing Great American Writers Like Willa Cather Caroline Lockhart

American Literature -- Unit

do see the concept of the new woman and new man in our culture today?

Yes to some degree, the concept of the new woman and new man can be detected in modern (2016) society. Women are at the forefront of literary and social life. Women have come a long way in terms of their "autonomous selfhood, sexuality," and right to participate in the same social events as men. Women now are a big part of the American workforce; women were no longer locked into the domestic realm of the American household, and today a huge majority of women work (at least part time) outside the home.

The new man as reflected in the readings is also similar to today's male, but not to the same degree as the new woman. I agree with Carolyn Lockhart that men were not transitioning into mature, modern people like women were in the early 1900s.

Question TWO: why did working outside the home change how women were defined? For one thing, earning money allowed women to be more self-sufficient and it brought a stronger self-image. Wages went up and women could support themselves. Independence was very important to the launch of the feminist movement. Question THREE: What similarities between the new woman and new man? They both were emerging from a darker age just before the Industrial Revolution. They both adjusted to new approaches in society and though men did not show the substance of intellectual and social change as women did, they, too, were changing. Question FOUR: How do you see the definitions of the true woman and new woman still in effect in our culture? The country is witnessing a woman in a good position to become the first female president of the United States. That is the true and new woman personified. And yet women still push the envelope to be seen as near-equals to men in the boardroom, on the battlefield, and in the political life of the nation.

American Literature -- Unit 2

The development of major ideas and attitudes can be in part attributed to the great writers and poets that emerged in the early 1900s. Willa Cather broke through as a modern writer with powerful female characters. Edith Eaton, too, created short stories about women and others that were very identifiable as Americans. Edwin Arlington Robinson, James Weldon Johnson, Caroline Lockhart reflected radically changing times in society.

Paul's Case

Question ONE: What significance did the red carnation have -- from the beginning of the story and that is buried in the snow at the end? Paul in an unrealistic world, created by him, and he really liked flowers. But the cut flowers were dead, and only had a bit of beauty left; that too was his life, which was soon to be dead but only had a bit of time before the end.

The music and the theater took him away from the dreary world he lived in, and flowers gave him a little hope that he was something more than he really was. He wore the red carnation during the inquisition as to his poor school record, and he wore another one when he knew his demise was at hand; it was a bright natural image on a fellow who had dark thoughts.

Question TWO: Why does Paul find it necessary to lie? He has to create a better, richer life for himself because he dreads the awful life he lives, so the only way he can sustain his fantasy is to pretend he is something other than what he really is; lies give him air to breathe in a world that is suffocating for him.

Question THREE: Why do you think he commits suicide; did he regret the decision? He killed himself because that was a better future than going back to that hated Cornella Street. He glanced nervously sideways before jumping, so that might indicate he was having second thoughts.

But he couldn't abide the notion of his hated father fetching him from New York and bringing him back to the community where he was actually a failure, and would be harassed.