Reminder from syllabus about Discussions: After viewing the week’s film and reading the week’s articles, write two full and thoughtful paragraphs (about 200 words) responding to the “prompt” below. This should be formal academic writing as for an essay, so please use full sentences and proof-read for clarity, spelling, grammar and punctuation before you post. Your discussions will usually be due on Thursdays but because this is our first week + there’s a holiday in the middle, this week your discussion is due by FRIDAY at 11:59).
WEEK 1 DISCUSSION PROMPT: This week we learned about the situation of women in the 19th century, the role of women in social reform movements including the suffrage movement, and read about some of the psychological difficulties women encountered at that time. In the film Dreams of Equality and in the reading “Courtship”, the main female characters had to live according to the gendered rules of the way but they also had some freedoms that many women did not have, to take part in outside events and make some decisions for themselves. Describe the ways the situations of the characters in both the reading and the film reflected the role of and rules for married women at the time, and also the ways their situations were unusual for married women of the time.
