Herland Post #4

          Considering the fact that the author of Herland is also the author of "The Yellow Wallpaper," I was able to pick up on some general similarities between the two pieces, but not too much. One similarity that I noted was that both the characters and the situation of the story as a whole were much different in the end from what they were in the beginning. In "The Yellow Wallpaper," the woman started out as pretty normal, but by the end of the novel, she had gone totally insane, believing there was a woman inside of the walls of her room. This change is also seen in Herland, where one of the women of Herland decide to go out and see the outside world, while in the same way, one of the men stay behind in Herland.

          This aspect of the book could also play along with Realism. Since Realism entails portrayal of true life, the changing of opinions could be support of this because people go through all sorts of changes in life. The fact that one of the women left Herland and one of the men did not return home shows this idea of change in thoughts and opinions throughout life. What one thinks they may never like they may end up loving.

Herland Post #3

          Although this book is fairly unrealistic in regards to the land full of women who bear children without men, there are aspects of Realism that I have picked up through reading this book. One of the aspects of Realism is the realization of the tough truth that life is not all great and happy. I found this theme in Herland when the boys are talking to the inhabitants of Herland about the outside world that they live in. Through talking about this, the men realize that the world that they live in and wanted to get back to isn't so great after all compared to where they are in Herland. Herland, they find, is great compared to their original home.
          If i were to categorize this book, I would call it a mix between Realism and Romanticism. The reason why I see some Realism is because of the unrealistic aspects of the book, such as the woman who became pregnant with no men. Rip Van Winkle was a piece of Romanticism that also had unrealistic elements in that Rip fell asleep for many years and woke up to find so many changes. In this aspect, Herland can fit into Realism.

Herland Post #2

          An obvious theme and topic of Herland is gender. The foundation of the book involves gender as the three friends are intrigued by the possibility of a civilization made up only of women. At one point, the three friends make an observation that the civilization that they saw contained roads that were apparently made by men. They made this assumption because they were skillfully built. This assumption shows an theme of American literature that we have been seeing lately: men's superiority to women.

          We have seen this theme in a few of the pieces that we have looked at this year. One of these pieces includes the play A Raisin in the Sun. We can see this theme in this play when Walter Lee is criticizing and blaming his sister Beneatha of being condescending and thinking she is better than everyone else just because she is going to college. Walter, as a man and father, feels that he should be the one who is the most qualified, intelligent, educated, and simply superior to the women of the family. He wants to be the one who takes care of business and the one who is looked up to the most.

Herland Post #1

          Through my reading of Herland so far, I can tell that it is a book of Realism. The storyline so far, containing a group of men who are setting out on an adventure, portrays the characters and setting as common of the time period. The main characters are all apparently middle-class, which is another common aspect of the characters of Realism. They all seem to be a fairly average group of buddies who are going out on an excursion.
          Charlotte Perkins Gilman seems to take a fairly simple approach to the telling of her story. She has so far told it in an orderly fashion with no real focus on small detail. She is basically simply telling readers what they need to know to understand and grasp the story that she intends to tell.
          The fact that the author of this book, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, also wrote "The Yellow Wallpaper"may be a sign that these characters will not be the same in the beginning of the book as they will be in the end. They have already stumbled upon an unusual place through their excursion. I think that these characters may end up being somehow changed by this place that they have found and that it will have an effect on the rest of their lives.

"The Snake" Response

            This poem reminded me of Romanticism in American literature. A snake and the nature surrounding it were described in detail. It also described the snake's actions and how that made the person who encountered the snake feel. The author seemed to be trying to describe how humans see the nature around them and how one part of nature affects another.