Longer Proposal and Tentative Works Cited

For my research paper I decided to connect Regionalism and Transcendentalism. When thinking about the paper I was trying to think of something that four different texts had in common and the one that stood out to me the most was women. So, I narrowed down four texts and thought about what could be a common theme. What I came up with was the fact that each of these texts demonstrates the importance of getting rid of the old idea that women have to conform to what society expects of them and accepting the change of the new idea that they don’t have to allow that. At this point in the 19th century American women want to move forward in life and be treated equally, but they face difficulties along the way because of the oppression of men.

In my essay I am going to use four texts. In Freeman’s short story “The Revolt of a Mother” I’m going to talk about how the wife wanted to have a new house and the husband wouldn’t listen to her. She decided to move into the barn to prove her point, and when the husband came home he realized what he had done was wrong and then yielded to her desires. In Jewett’s short story “A White Heron” the little girl first thinks that she wants to find this bird because not only did she want the money that the man had to offer her, but she wanted to do what he said and impress him. She later realizes that she doesn’t have to do it, and she figures out what is more important to her. Impressing the man and getting the money wasn’t the most important thing. In Dickinson’s poem “I Felt a Funeral in my Brain” she discusses how oppressive old ideas are, and she accepts the change of new ones. In Fuller’s text “The Great Debate” she talks about how it’s the Anti-Slave party that pleads for women. This demonstrates the idea of changing the old into something new. Fuller advocated for change to move forward and that is shown throughout the text.

Anderson, Douglas. “Presence and Place in Emily Dickinson’s Poetry.” The New England Quarterly 57.2 (1984): 205-224. JSTOR. Web. 15 Apr. 2010.

In this essay Douglas talks about Dickinson’s use of presence and place. He discusses several ideas about her uses of them, and how she meant for them to come across. He finds, however, that many lines are ambiguous and are then left for many different interpretations.

Cole, Phyllis. “Stanton, Fuller, and the Grammar of Romanticisim.” The New England Quarterly 73.4 (2000): 533-559. JSTOR. Web. 15 Apr. 2010.

Cole discusses in her text, the grammar of romanticism, which is defined to be an ideology and expressive mode affirming sensibility and self-awareness. She talks about the expectation of imminent change.

Gardner, Kate. “The Subversion of Genre in the Short Stories of Mary Wilkins Freeman.” The New England Quarterly 65.3 (1992): 447-468. JSTOR. Web. 15 Apr. 2010.

Gardner talks about the characters in which Freeman uses in her texts. She describes the typical females in the stories and talks about how the assertion of self against overwhelming odds gives us heroism.

Monteiro, George. “Traditional Ideas in Dickinson’s ‘I Felt a Funeral in My Brain’.” Modern Language Notes 75.8 (1960): 656-663. JSTOR. Web. 15 Apr. 2010.

Monteiro analyzes Dickinson’s poem “I felt a Funeral in My Brain”, and talks about how it is something more than merely a poem about a funeral. He says that the funeral is a metaphor, and involves more than Dickinson’s ability to identify her change in emotions.

Pratt, Anne. “Women and Nature in Modern Fiction.” Contemporary Literature 13.4 (1972): 476-490. JSTOR. Web. 15 Apr. 2010.

In Pratt’s text she talks about women, and the quest for self. She says that there is a large difference between the naturistic epiphanies of men and women. She discusses the girl’s view over the boy’s view.