Herland: How it relates to something I've learned in class

Throughout history, there is constantly judgement on a certain race or gender. However, to prove these judgements wrong, the minorities create a movement. This movement shows that the group is better than depicted in modern society. One example of this is the Harlem Renaissance. African Americans, being a minority in America, create this cultural movement with their own art and way of life. In fact, some of the aspects of the Harlem Renaissance were replicated, like the jazz music. This movement showed that African American were independent and more important than what society claimed them to be. Granted, their were still judgments about them, but some were changed because of this movement.
This can be related to Herland. The society of which the men are used to shows that women were not as important and respected while belonging in the home. The men were shocked at how independent and strong the women were. They were especially shocked that women had their own island with no men while living all on their own. The island is the movement which proves the stereotypical judgements about women wrong. Terry still believed that men needed to take over this land and overpower the women, but for two thousand years, the women lived fine on the island with their own society and rules. In the end, Jeff and Van were inspired by this island and realized how important women are to society, shown through their respect of their partner in their specific relationship. Although there were still judgements from Terry, women were shown and seen differently through their movement, Herland.

Herland: How it relates to McTeague

In both McTeague and Herland, the idea of opposite sex relationships is a prominent theme. In McTeague, the relationship begins fine, but as the story continues, the two in the relationship begin to go crazy while their relationship falls apart. As the relationship dwindles, there is violence, abuse, and greed begin to play in. McTeague begins to want Trina's money while Trina wants it kept away and hidden. Because of this, McTeague starts a drinking habit and when he gets home, he beats his wife. An excuse used to back up this plan by McTeague is that she's his and, since he's the man, she needs to treat him kindly. Here, there is a dominance and superiority based on gender.
In Herland, Terry expresses this idea of superiority in the male gender, especially in a relationship. When the three men first arrive, Terry expresses how he couldn't wait to be with women. However, after a while, he realizes that he hates his imprisonment and inferiority with the women. He constantly complains about it that it drives him slightly crazy. When the three females begin to court the men, he tries to overpower Alima, his partner. They get in arguments, and after their marriage, he attempts to rape Alima. This violence led to the women kicking Terry out of Herland. He was content on leaving and being the "man" of a relationship again, showing his idea that the male gender is superior.

Herland: How it relates to Modernism

Herland was written in 1915, during the Modernism era. Throughout the book, there are elements of modernism which can be seen as well. Three specific elements can be seen. The first is the idea of making things new. The next is freedom and wanting to leave. The last is feminism in the book.

During the Modernism era, people wanted to create a new style of writing, riding the old writing. In Herland, there is a shift in society from the old normal society of the world to the utopian one of Herland. The new one seems better than the normal one because everyone is connected and loved with no problems like poverty and disease. There is a communal living and equality to the society. Shown through the main characters, they want their own society to change to the opposite one. Like Modernism, the characters want a change.

The next aspect of Modernism shown through Herland is freedom. During the era, freedom is a reoccurring theme in the books. In this particular book, constantly, there is an idea of being free. Terry, one of the men, wants to escape Herland since their arrival after his imprisonment with the women. Also, the women continue to question the men about their history and society, showing that they are interested in a different way of living. The three men also learn about Herland and begin to enjoy living there. Van and Jeff both become accustomed to the country and because of their liking of the country, there is a curiosity and enjoyment of the different world, which would be a change from their normal. The changes are all a freedom from the norm of before.

The last aspect to look at is the feminism throughout Modernism and also shown in this book. Throughout the Modernism era, women were beginning to take a more important role and voice in society. The fact that this book has an island full of women and showing that the all women society is a utopia shows that the book expresses how women are important. This utopia is almost perfect enough that men want to live within it and emulate it. This tries to show that women can be a better gender on their own, showing a feminist movement.

Herland: How it relates to my American Literature definition

Throughout Herland, a utopian society is described while the society of elsewhere around the world is compared. The utopia seems to be the better society out of the two, especially when the idea of competition, poverty, and disease is explained. The three girls, Alima, Celis, and Ellador, are shocked by this news. Their reactions are condescending to the three men and they notice the issues of their society. Except for Terry, the men prefer Herland. They like the communal living and the positive society. They enjoyed it so much that they enjoyed living there, although the main girls were also a factor. In the end, Jeff ended up staying in Herland with Celis.
Like the men, others who read this book may have also enjoyed the utopia of Herland. They would have looked at it as a perfect place to live and made their society look bad. Especially during the time of when the book came out, in 1915, most would have enjoyed a better society than the one they were living in. During that time, World War I was going on. Although America wasn't involved until 1918, there was still a war throughout the world. This book produces an idea of a perfect society which may have inspired the audience to want to live in such a society.
This exemplifies my definition nicely because I explain how literature produces emotions, especially during wars. If this book showed people a utopian society, causing them to want to live in one, then this book produced emotions, especially during the war.

Wanting to transform

America's independency not only can be traced through history, but also through literature. Since the Revolutionary War, America becomes it's own country, breaking away from England. However, literature progressed slower. It still fed off of other countries. It fed off of other countries until, as Eric Carl Link says in his article "Nationalism," "after the American victory in the War of 1812 [when] a host of America's leading intellectuals... collectively promoted the building of a native tradition in literature" (List 803). This shows that America wanted to become a literary superpower. It wanted to transform itself and become its own being.

In "The Snake," by Theodore Roethke, the audience sees that the narrator wants to transform into a snake. The poem shows the beauty of this creature. The lust for being a snake is shown through it's tempting descriptions. Then, near the end, the narrator states, "I longed to be that thing," expressing his curiosity and longing to be a snake.

These two ideas relate because both America and the narrator long to transform into another element. America wants independence while the poem suggests that the narrator years to be a snake. These two relate because of their determination that they will change. America, eventually, becomes independent through literature, whereas the audience of "The Snake" must wonder whether the narrator does become a snake. If the determination of the narrator matches that of America's "leading intellectuals" (List 803), they may assume that the narrator does, in fact, transform into a snake.

Catch-22: How it relates to The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail

The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail explains Thoreau's life from when he was a young adult until later in his life. Throughout the play, he is in a jail cell with Bailey, his cell mate. The setting takes place during the Mexican War. The audience sees his life and witnesses his experiences. The pantomiming actor is supposed act out different scenes in his life. Thoreau hates the war involving America and disagrees with the war effort. His stubbornness gets him into trouble, like getting into jail. The intelligent man believes he knows everything and the audience shows how he received all of this knowledge which was through different events in his life. The play explains transitions and how the setting should look with different nature like looks. This shows the Romanticism aspect of the play, even though it was written during the Modernism era, making this play written at a different time it was depicted.
Catch-22 can relate to each of these elements. The setting takes place during a war, WWII, and the main character, Yossarian, disapproves of the war around him. The audience reading the book experiences the different events in which Yossarian witness while getting his opinion on the matter. He's not particularly stubborn, however, he refuses to accept his involvement in the war and tries to leave as much as possible. Yossarian is not particularly intelligent however he learns things from his colleagues throughout the book. The book describes the setting, relating to Romanticism, and describes the nature. It was written during the Modernism era, but was used for Postmodernism. All of these aspects are similar.

Catch-22: How it relates to Romanticism

Romanticism, the literary movement, expresses a more romantic way to look at the world. Authors begin to commune with nature during this time period and express, through their literature works, the nature of the world. Some pieces show the beauty of nature and people, but some, however, show the darker side. Their pieces have fanatical aspects to them because of these expressions making most pieces fiction and we see the start of the fantasy genre in these unreal works. Characters as well begin to be described more in the books and we see development of them as well as how they feel and what they dream. There is a sense of individualism because many authors focus on one character and follows them throughout the story. They describe what the characters see through descriptive descriptions. These fanatical works show a bit of delusion and craziness. The characters used are sometimes set apart from society with different beliefs or experiences. Many of these fiction pieces have an underlying theme which the author is trying to portray. All of these themes can be seen in the novel Catch-22, written by Joseph Heller.
In Catch-22, the setting takes place during WWII with the main character as a bomber named Yossarian. In this novel, he despises the war and constantly expresses how he wants to leave. We see him develop and begin to learn different morals and information through his partners in war. Like the pieces in Romanticism, Yossarian has an individual idea about the war while others around him try not to bother about it and continue to fight. This makes Yossarian seems apart from his colleagues, who make up the society around him at this time, because of his different opinion than theirs. The setting is described very descriptively because Heller wants to show his audience exactly what is going on in the war in order to express his idea. His idea, an underlying theme throughout the piece, recalls the thought against war. He describes the craziness and stupidity of the war by showing the audience what takes place in war. This creates the setting to be fanatical and crazy as well as deeply described. This craziness can also be seen through the catch-22 which forces all bombers to continue their missions. All of these elements can be tied together with Romanticism.