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Honors students share research papers
Modernist women writers like Virginia Woolf, Zora Neale Hurston, Nella Larsen, Jean Rhys and Gertrude Stein were brought alive with their marks on literary books when Honors students presented their research on these women’s writings Saturday.
A small audience gathered for the conference, which was organized by Maren Linett, professor of English. Linett teaches Modernist Women Writers to the Honors students who participated in the conference.
Presentations were divided into three panels that had three speakers each. The students touched on the themes, historical perspectives and personal issues of the books written by the modernist women writers. The panel touched on the deeper elements of race, love, sex and class, in the books written by modernist women writers.
Erica Dornfeld read her paper about the book “Their Eyes Were Watching God” by Hurston. Dornfeld talked about women being treated as the possession of men and as an object.
Bethany Abraham discussed the contemplation of death in the book “Mrs. Dalloway” by Woolf. Abraham talked about women often resorting to death as a result of depression and socio-psychological effects.
The common themes discussed on the first panel were of women often in search of true love and happiness.
The panel also touched on issues prevalent during the African American literature movement that flourished during the Harlem renaissance. This renaissance produced black women writers like Larsen, Hurston and others that glorified the unique literary arts of African American writers.
Daniel Hyalland talked about the plagiarism case against Nella Larsen and its negative impact on her writing career later in her life.
Katherine Perkit, a freshman, discussed Woolf and the women’s movement. In her paper, Perkit highlighted social concepts of women’s writing. Male population dominated the works in all spheres. Women writers were discriminated and were disliked by the male writers.
Through these women writers, a fight for the battle of sexual equality was heightened and the women’s voices were heard. To a great extent, the writings of these women impacted the suffrage movement and later the women’s movements in the United States.
Perkit explained that the regular novels know exactly what the characters are thinking; the readers can follow the story, while modernist writers jump from what they are thinking.
Often heart-rendering stories of women in complex society engulfed by love, racial consciousness, sexuality and class distinction, these women writers vented their frustrations through their books.
“Throughout the history, women’s lives are battles against injustice and the works of these writers confirm it,” said Pat Samuel, women’s studies professor, who was one of the attendees. “The professor is to be congratulated for giving students the opportunity to present themselves.”
Both the audience and the panels were equally involved in the discussion as the audience threw questions to the students after each panel. Refreshments were provided in between.
“It was a good learning experience. I worked hard for the paper and I got to present it in a professional level,” Perkit said.
Steve Ludwig, interim vice president for administrative affairs, who was in the audience said, “It was very informative and refreshing to the literary criticism. I like literature and I really appreciate the insight of students.”
For participants like Ludwig, the presentation sparked interest in new areas of study. Ludwig showed his strong interest in reading the book, “Their Eyes Were Watching God” after attending the conference.
Sabrina Knutson discussed lesbianism and homosexuality in the book “Passing” by Larsen.
Nathan Exted, a math education major, read his paper on the same book but focused on the racial consciousness of the black people during the time when the book was written. Exted posed a question in the beginning of his paper whether race, being a primary issue, is used as pretext to explore the other issues. Exted explained the hidden agenda of the book as black people being almost nonhuman. The beauty of a woman was defined by the lightness of her complexion.
“If you are white, you are considered more beautiful,” Exted said.
Linett said the conference was a way for students to practice the kind of work they may have to do in future studies – something that is unique to a smaller university like SCSU.
“I am letting my students present on a professional level and giving individual attention to their works — you probably wouldn’t find that in U of M,” Linett said.
“I am very much impressed with the depth and originality of interpretation of the students’ articles,” Beverly Stadum, director of SCSU’s Honors Program, said. “I am pleased to see other faculties present to support and learn from the students’ presentations.”
Linett noticed a difference in the types of papers men and women in the class presented.
“Men focus on politics and war themes in their books. Women focus on domestic life,” she said. “Through their writings, women assert their points of importance and define what is good women’s literature different from the men’s.”
Tsewang Sangmo Lama can be reached at: [email protected]
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