March Monthly Connection - Necessary Oppression?

One debate point brought up by A Room of One's Own is the idea that oppression is necessary to produce good writing. While I do not believe it is necessary for the author themselves to be oppressed, I believe the author must be aware that such oppression exists, in order to get the full picture of their topic of choice. If they do not know of oppression of a certain topic or group of people, they cannot possibly have a completely informed opinion. The oppression is now part of the topic.
I do believe that if the author is oppressed, this does affect their writing. Woolf made this point in her essay, wondering what certain women could have written if they hadn't been oppressed and disheartened. Jane Austen, Woolf mentions, had to hide her writing whenever someone came into the drawing room; Austen is now considered one of the most brilliant authors of all time. If she had been able to write more freely, she could have written many more books, or books on more free topics. Because of oppression, we will never know.
In our society today, there are many famous authors who were not oppressed, yet have very successful careers. J.K. Rowling, for example, was never discriminated against. She had to struggle in order to continue writing, but she was never oppressed. Adriana Trigiani, the author of Big Stone Gap was never oppressed; she is currently on a book tour. Eoin Colfer, the author of the hugely popular Artemis Fowl series is another example of an author who became famous without having to overcome oppression. Oppression can contribute to an author writing a very powerful story. But it is not essential.

February Monthly Connection - Girls vs. Guys

The very first question in The Awakening socratic seminar is "Discuss the influence of one's gender upon reading this novel." This question pretty much sums up all the discussions we have been having in class (and out of it). This book divided the males and females in our class like no other book has before, simply because the females of the class can relate more to Edna, while the males of the class can relate more to Leonce. These mindsets do not just apply to our class, but to every person who has read the book. Granted, there will always be exceptions, but usually gender influences your perspective of this book. For this reason, it is very difficult to discuss the book in mixed company. Girls will usually feel that Edna was simply trying to find her independence and trying to break away from an overbearing male society. Boys will usually feel that Edna was being stupid, and was overreacting when she really didn't have that many things tying her down; she didn't really have that many duties to fullfill. As a girl myself, I must point out that this is the opinions of boys that I have observed, and ask the males in our class not to attack me if I have overlooked an opinion. Girls will usually feel (even subconsciously) that their sex is being attacked, and boys will usually feel that the girls are being ridiculous for defending Edna. No matter how we try, these mindsets cannot be changed, and therefore the book should only be discussed among separate groups of males and females.
Generally, I think it would be better to mix the males and females in a discussion and hear both perspectives. But with this book, it is almost impossible to discuss any other subjects the book presents, because neither the males nor the females can stop defending their sex; we are both naturally programmed to do so. However, there are many other questions raised by Chopin's book that should be discussed. So for sanity and safety's sake, any discussion of this book in any part of the world should remain in all male or all female groups.
This opinion applies to no other book. A Doll's House is very interesting to talk to in mixed company, and can broaden the ideas of both males and females. Like Water for Chocolate is another book that should be discussed between males and females, in order to fully understand all viewpoints on the subjects presented in the book. But The Awakening is too gender-geared, and discussing in mixed company wastes time.

January Monthly Connection - Perspective

When thinking, reading, writing, or conversing, a person has to always remember to keep things in perspective, and consider other perspectives in order to fully understand any situation. This is especially important when discussing an idea as controversial as a hero. People can have very different ideas on what qualifies a person to be considered a hero, but whatever the situation, every person in the discussion must take into account the culture and lifestyle of the supposed hero. This can be difficult when someone is in the heat of discussion (especially in our english class) but it must be remembered in a Socratic seminar.
There was difficulty keeping things in perspective during the Wuthering Heights discussion in our class. Certain people continued to judge Heathcliff by today's standards and ideas. Heathcliff's location, emotions, past, and situation in life are completely different from anyone in the class, and yet some people had difficulty remembering that. It is important to remember that many of us would have acted in the same way he did if we were in his shoes. And "in his shoes" doesn't just mean in the same situation; it means in the same situation, with the same past, the same emotions, and the same desperate location. The idea of empathy is lacking in our class. Empathy is an important emotion in discussions and in life.