Research and Critical Approaches

After reading "The Enduring Chill," I was pretty disgusted/intrigued by the relationship between Asbury and his sister and also their relationship with their mother. Then, the more I got to thinking about it, the more I realized that there are some strange (maybe that's too strong of a word) family relationships in these texts. I am trying to remain flexible with my paper topic, but I think the topic that I am most interested in is how families are represented and familial relations in O'Connor and Porter's works, so I have started researching families in their works. This is a brief overview of what I have thought about/done so far.

The stories I would like to especially look at with regards to the topic of families are "Revelation," "Good Country People," "Everything that Rises Must Converge," "The Enduring Chill," "The Geranium/Judgment Day," and "A Good Man is Hard to Find" by Flannery O'Connor. I think there are more interesting families in O'Connor's works, but there are also some stories with families in Katherine Anne Porter's stories that would be good to use to like "Old Mortality," "Holiday," and "He." I may need to narrow this list down a little.

I think the best critical approach to family representation/relations would be to use a new critical or objective stance. A structuralist reading may also be helpful for parts of the paper as well. I generally do not like to use psychoanalysis, but it may be applicable here. Also, possibly new historicism and deconstruction.

I think I could tie this idea of family into other areas as well (let me pull out my Venn diagram here), such as religion, geography, time period and/or gender (I just want to do it all). I see overlaps with these categories because I am starting to think about why O'Connor and Porter portray their characters (especially the "children") the way they do. I would like to look into how religion, geography, time period and gender influence the constructs of family in their stories.

I have not looked through the letters too much to know what they wrote on the subject of family.

As soon as I can get to the Norlin library Monday morning, I am also going to check out some books that I found that contain essays that sound like they may help me as I form ideas about family (don't worry, I won't wipe out the library, and if I do, I'll share). One book is Beyond and Alone!, focusing on the section about family and isolation. Another one is From Texas to the world and back : essays on the journeys of Katherine Anne Porter, I would be focusing on the essay titled, "Katherine Anne Porter and the family saga." Another book is called God's Grandeur and I would be focusing on an article titled "Flannery O'Connor and a Catholic theology of the family." I think these books might possibly help other people, so I'll share! :)

I may be revising this post by Monday as I find more...

KAP p282

I can't really seem to avoid talking about how KAP's tone depends on what gender she is addressing. This letter, to Barbara Wescott starts by stating, "Barbara darling." In comparison to the letter she writes to the male gender, her letters to women are very feminine. Moreover, KAP tends to boast about her success and she name drops frequently in her letters to women.

KAP p394

In the last KAP letter that I posted about, KAP is writing to a woman named Josephine. In that letter, she is "whiny" etc. We discussed this "whiny" tone in PHPR and again in the letter to Josephine. We have mentioned several times that KAP writes more like a woman whereas Flannery O'Connor writes more like a man. I found this letter to William Ross very interesting in that KAP, while still writing like a woman, works very hard to make her point of view sound intelligent. Her writing style between the letter she wrote to Josephine and William definitely contrast one another. Interesting.

KAP letter p530

This letter describes Katherine's perfectionist way of writing and her opinion of editors. Should we all aim to write like KAP faulted by the "desire, the pride of excellence?" I think it would be worth discussing her stories within that lens, within that mindset she believes in.

Letters Day 3

I'd like to discuss O'Connor's letter to John Hawkes, beginning on page 1106-1108. She discusses The Violent Bear it Away, and who she feels the readers should identify with, and who she identifies with in the story. I'd like to hear what the rest of the class felt when they read the story, specifically if they agree with O'Connor and her thoughts on identity.

To sister Mariella Gable

O'connor's letter to Sister Mariella Gable on page 1182 discusses her catholic beliefs, as well as her feelings towards protestants and the protestant characters she writes. In particular she talks about The Violent Bear it Away and the Tarwaters. Interesting stuff

Letters 3

The letter to Sally and Robert Fitzgerald that begins on p 911 has an interesting, ambiguous insight into "The River".

To Maryant Lee

I am interested in talking about the letters to Maryant Lee on pages 1208-1209. Mainly, because I'm confused. I can't remember if we brought anything up in the last class about these, but it's worth looking at.

History

For today's class, I would like to discuss O'Connor's essay, "Fiction is a Subject with a History--It Should be Taught That Way." I found this essay very interesting.

I was initially drawn in thinking that it would be about censorship and banned books, but was intrigued by O'Connor's thoughts on the "taste" of young students. As she concludes: "His taste should not be consulted; it is being formed."

She brings up a great point by comparing English to other courses, like Algebra and French. But even she admits that studying fiction is different from these, depending on "their teacher's knowledge, ability and taste."

I think most people would agree that it is worthwhile to study literature from the past--even if sometimes it feels like pulling teeth. For example, reading O'Connor's stories and essays has been fascinating to me in terms of the America she was writing about then and its evolution into the America we know now. (I'm reminded of reading Camus' "The Rebel," in which he is describing the growing tension between Arab culture and Western culture some fifty years or so ago.)

Ultimately, my preference is for modern fiction, but I can't disagree with O'Connor's about the importance of "preparing foundations" and learning from the past to understand the present.

One thought, though. I wonder if the evolution of fiction is more cyclical than linear. She seems to suggest it is a linear progression. I'm not so sure of that.

O'Connor - Fiction is a Subject with a History

This article (pgs. 849-852) is of interest as it sheds light on her views on education, something we have not really gone much into. She tends to be supporting the study of literature for its historical value, but as long as students begin at the earliest times continuing to more modern literature. This is the only way that one can appreciate and fully "get" modern novels, by understanding what came before. In this, is O'Connor favoring strictly a historicism type of literary criticism? Any ideas?

O'Connor Letter to Louise Abbot

In this letter, O'Connor talks about what she calls "local institutions", or retirement homes for the elderly in her area. This letter reminded me a lot of the institutions for the mentally retarded that we had discussed earlier. It provides insight into the time period and how little communities cared about those who were mentally disabled or old. It is on page 1091.

Letter Day 3

The letter from O'Connor to A. in the Collected Works book on page 978 caught my eye, because O'Connor briefly discusses Freud and she also writes about "the dragon by the side of the road," which we have also talked about in class. She also writes about femininity and religion in this letter.

Letter to Andrew Lytle

In Porter's Letters, the letter to Andrew Lytle on pg 340 caught my attention, this letter hits on many topics we have been discussing in class and bring them out in one of Lytle's books. Porter critics Lytle on his writing style and the themes he chooses to present within his book. Porter goes over her belief in religion, gender, and writer/artist. This letter is also very interesting because like we discussed Porter usually has a method when writing to her critics, but in this letter she is pretty straight forward about how she feels about Lytle's writing.

Why Porter Writes Letters

After skimming through the book of Porter’s letters I came across a very short letter written to James Powers on page 557. In this letter she tells Mr. Powers that she is keeping all of his letters and hopes that he will do that same because future generations will enjoy reading them. She tells him that reading private letters between people who are “safely dead of course” is her favorite type of reading (Porter 557). Even though Porter is “safely dead” she is still very much alive; she lives through these letters. Since letters are personal and private they illustrate Porter’s character and personality that cannot be determined when reading one of her short stories. These letters allow us access to the real Katherine Anne Porter.

E. Schwartz Letter

Porter’s letter to E. Schwartz on page 547 is an interesting insight into her views on gender. She is insulted by Schwartz’s claim that Miranda saw her illness as “her opportunity to assume the active role of the male” and she responds to his interpretation by attacking his assumption that all women desire to assume this masculine identity. What was really incredible to me though was the way that she subtly suggests that the “role of the male” is not as much a desirable role as it is a pitiable existence. The long sentence in the long paragraph on page 548 that ends, “O poor man, I for one woman, would not change places with him, nor swap my troubles for his,” reverses his ridiculous assumption that any person would swap their gender role because of the few problems inherent to both gender identities. Porter seems to be saying that no man wants to be a woman and no woman wants to be a man because it is a struggle to finds one’s proper place within these identities.

To Josephine

I thought that this letter related to a previous post that discussed Porter's more feminine writing style, specifically in Pale Horse, Pale Rider. In this letter, we see the same "whiny" narrative tones that we see in PHPR. In this letter, Porter relates how miserable she is at her new home stay because it is inadequately furnished etc. After she is fed a "hot, delicious" meal, Porter begins to like her new place of residence. After returning from shopping and purchasing a new pair of shoes, she finds that her room has been attended to and is now "well-furnished." Consequently, Porter likes her new place of residence. While O'Connor writes more like a man, which is demonstrated (as Austin mentions) in O'Connor's letter to Porter where O'Connor talks primarily about birds, Porter seems to have been co-opted into the societal structure of patriarchy and thus, adheres to a common, feminine role.
P.S. This letter is on pages 143-146.

Thomas Stritch

The letter that I'm interested in talking about today is the one to Stritch, on page 1168-1169. Went talked a little bit about the artist and insecurities and this letter talks about her insecurities with Emory.

Letter to E. Schwartz on dark woods and Freud

This letter (March 26, 1958 on p, 547) by Porter provides her idea of Miranda's vision of Adam's death in the dark woods. It also takes on Freud in a most interesting way, not to mention her take on men for those of you looking at gender in her writing.

Letters Day 2

I agree with Jennifer in her interests in Porter's letter on page 66. I like how Porter relates art to something necessary. She says, "Man eats his bread and looks about for something more, and the something more must be art (should be)" (pg. 66.). I'd be interested to see Porter's take on the idea of the aestheticization of violence and politics. In my English3060 class we have come across an immense amount of aestheticization of violence, which brings the two ideas (art and violence) together, rather than battling each other. In this letter, Porter discusses the idea of politics destroying art...I like how she expresses the idea that art will always be valued, whereas the current ideas in politics, will one day be old news.

ABCDEFG

The letter to elizabeth ames (from Porter) on July 1, 1942 is interesting when considered next to Pale Horse, as she is writing at a time when US troops are mobilizing for a war effort, much like 1917. In it, she talks about what happens to youth in war time, as well as just general emotions sparked by the thought of death and waste. Plus, she wrote it from CU boulder, so that's neat. (pgs 241-242)

Letters, Day 2

O'Connor's letter to John Hawkes on 1118-19 has an interesting discussion of grace in The Violent Bear It Away as well as "A Good Man Is Hard To Find".

It cleared up some things for me.

Letter to Paul Porter

The letter to her nephew, Paul Porter, on pages 213-216 is interesting if we are going to talk about her politics today...She discusses WWII and all the points at which it could have been prevented. But then--this surprised me--she claims that she "believes in our form of government, [that it is...] the best ever devised in human affairs, in spite of the abuses, in spite of the perversions that have deformed it in practice" (215). She also goes on to say that after the external war, there will be "a second war to be fought here afterward with the internal enemy."
I think this adds some interesting depth to the political concerns we've already mentioned, especially the fact that she actually believes in something to be salvaged: indeed, Pale Horse was published only a few years before this letter, as KAP was presumably watching the gathering storm of WWII. So does her belief in our form of government add a new element to our understanding of the total disillusionment written into Pale Horse Pale Rider?

Letter 2

The letter to Paul Higgins on Porter pg. 66 caught my eye because Porter describes her feeling on Art and the difference between how the artist sees art and how politics see art. Porter seems have very strong feeling about all art and how art is created and why it is created. She also goes into how she believes art will be in the future and why it is important to continue to place the same importance on the art we have today to the art we now preserve such as the Greeks and Egyptians.

Letter for Day 2: Porter, pg. 169

One letter that has caught my attention is from Porter to Glenway Wescott, from 1939 and on page 169.  I initially picked out the letter because I recognized the places she talks about, but I think it is very telling about how she viewed herself as a writer and how she viewed other writers.

First off, I was very surprised to see how she talks of Somerset Maugham, an author considered to be in the "canon" as much as she is.  Because he is "phony," he could be elected to an academic position?  What might she be saying about true artists and writers?

Also, there is the bit about her secretly reading the article Wescott wrote about her, dropping the magazine if anyone passed by her.  Did Porter feel any guilt about relishing in her success?  A very interesting letter.

The Grotesque

I would love to discuss O'Connor's "Some Aspects of the Grotesque in Southern Fiction" on page 813 .

The main reason I would like to discuss this is because I enjoy O'Connor's use of the grotesque in her writing. I like her description of it on page 816: "It's not necessary to point out that the look of this fiction is going to be wild, that it is almost of necessity going to be violent and comic, because of the discrepancies that it seeks to combine."

Another reason I would like to discuss this essay is because it seems to meander quite a bit, and ultimately, I didn't find it to be about the grotesque, really, so much as a vehement defense of Southern writers.

As she states on page 815: "I have found that anything that comes out of the South is going to be called grotesque by the Northern reader, unless it is grotesque, in which case it is going to be called realistic."

This seems to be a very defensive if not angry essay, and I'm curious about what sparked this essay.

Letter for Day 2

The letter that I would like to read is on page 358 of Letters of Katherine Anne Porter from October 5th, 1948 to Rev John F. Fahey.

I would like to read this one because it touches on some of the topics we were talking about on Monday, particularly why writers write. It is written in response to an article that was published by Harry Sylvester called, "Problems of the Catholic Writer." I can't find this online (somebody should really stop me from googling for this class), but Porter says that she hasn't read it either. I think this letter is interesting to consider when thinking about "the Catholic writer."

O'Conner letter to Maryat Lee

I found a great excerpt from one of O'Connor's letters that deals with writing about other people/cultures. In her letter to Maryat Lee (pg 1094-95), O'Connor talks about her friend who is attempting to write a novel about blacks in New York. This little portion reminded me of "The Enduring Chill". Porter refers to her friend searching for blacks to interview, and notes that maybe they can "scout up a few" if he comes back to New York.

Sentimentality

In response to Porter's definition of sentimentality, I would like to defend my critique of "Pale Horse, Pale Rider". I understand that people experience love and I think that writing about it can be well done. However, I do believe that Porter is portraying this love story as overly dramatic and unrealistic (and I am not solely referring to the scene in which Miranda asks for Adam to proclaim his love to her). I cannot help but feel like Porter is just trying to get the reader to cry, using some of the very same techniques that are used in popular “low” literature today. Yes, I know people tend to find relationships in times of desperation, and that these feelings can be emphasized because of the situation.

I do feel like Porter does not write about “new” love very often, so why in this story? Why in this way? To me, her description of love is 2-dimentional. Miranda finds Adam handsome (She makes several referrals to his blond hair and nice looking frame) and sweet, and besides having to experience the war together, there is no real substance there. And of course, the only hindrance to their relationship is the war/sickness. Why does Porter make everything about the relationship perfect besides the war? Why didn’t Porter go for something less sentimental, less ideal, and more realistic? I mean wouldn’t it be interesting if the reader were pushed to think about Adam in a more complicated light? Sorry if this makes anyone mad, but I feel like I have seen/read better portrayals of “new” love.

NPR O'Connor letter link

All Things Considered, May 12, 2007 ·

Emory University made public Saturday a previously sealed collection of letters from the Southern writer Flannery O'Connor.
The letters contained correspondence with a seemingly unremarkable file clerk named Betty Hester. She was, in fact, a passionate, private intellectual who enjoyed a deep friendship with O'Connor.
Steve Enniss of Emory University speaks with Jacki Lyden about the letters.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=10154699

The Fiction Writer and His Country

I'd like to look at O'Connor's Fiction Writer and His Country because O'Connor deals with how her work is viewed, how she wants it to be viewed, and the role of the religious writer with a primarily secular (or assumed secular) audience.

O'Connor's letter to A on pg 1205

I would like to talk about how O'Connor describes dealing with lupus as she does in this letter to A. It might also be interesting to A, Betty Hester. The two wrote over 300 letters to each other, and OC became BH's spiritual confirmation sponsor to Catholicism, but by 1958 (they met in 1955) BH left the church for agnosticism. I would like to see if evidence of tension in their friendship appears at the religious split or at the end of OC's life when she knows her lupus is killing her....

Letters- Role of the artist/politics

I'd like to discuss Porter's letter to Allen Tate on page 27 (Jan 27, 1931), wherein she talks about a writer (donald davidson) who has publicly declared he will not write during a political crisis (not sure if that refers to the great depression, the spread of communism, fascism, whatever) and that any artist who does continue producing art is a "treason to society." Miss Porter took issue. I think her views on the role (and definition) of an artist in society are fiery and very interesting, maybe we can talk about that?

Letters

I'd like to read Porter's letter to Lodwick Hartley on pg 176, I found this letter interesting because Porter describes some of the characters within "Pale Horse, Pale Rider" and "Flowering Judas". It just gives us some insight in how Porter wants the characters in her stories to be observed. Also she elaborates on the idea of her being Miranda in this letter as well.

Letters

I would like to discuss Porters letter to Glenway Wescott on page 153. Porter has just finished writing “Pale Horse, Pale Rider” and now she sits down to write this letter. In the letter she explains this wonderful feeling which she feels. Is this feeling a result of her newly finished story? or has the story reminded her of her own survival leaving her with a fresh and fantastic feeling? Towards the end of the letter she mentions her editor’s response to “Pale Horse, Pale Rider”, which is rather interesting as well.

I agree!

I also chose the Lytle letter on page 1121, because I feel like A Good Man is Hard to Find, and the Violent Bear it Away are the most creative works we have read, in the way of imagery, and character work. I am sure there will be questions of mine the letter cannot answer, but I am interested to see where her inspiration came from.

To Andrew Lytle

I would really be interested in discussing O'Connor's letter to Lytle on page 1121. She talks about grace in A Good Man is Hard to Find as well as Baptism, and the God-driven folk in The Violent Bear it Away. It is a very interesting letter, because she seems to be a little peeved.

Letters

On pg 1120 of O'Connor, we have a letter to Porter.

On 622-24 of Porter (letters), we have a letter or O'Connor.

I think it could be a fun exercise to take these two authors that we've been putting in conversation and examine their conversation?

It will probably be a letdown.

Adam's Suicide

Adam takes a fatalistic approach to his shipping off to war. Consider the conversation he has with Miranda. "'Do you know what the average expectation of a sapping party is after it hits the job?' 'Something speedy, I suppose.' 'Just nine minutes' (283) His casual discussion of his own mortality makes him seem resigned to the war, maybe even embracing it - he says "'the war is simply too good to be true'" (282).

It's a part of his training. He lets on to Miranda, "'I gouged the vitals out of more sandbags and sacks of hay than I could keep track of.'" (283) And the narrator describes Adam in terms of sand and hay - "He was wearing his new uniform and he was all olive and tan and tawny, hay colored and sand colored from hair to boots.'" (278) His basic training amounts to gouging effigies in his own image - he is being trained to kill himself.

In class Dr. Cook let us know that the flu epidemic was called the enemy within, and the flu is what kills Adam - not the war. As a character who can flippantly mention his approaching death, who can embrace the war (what he thinks will be the reason for his death), and who has been trained in destroying things like him, what do we make of his succumbing to the enemy within?

He seems to have been on the road to succumbing all along.

The Fiction Writer and His Country

I know this essay has come up in class already, but "The Fiction Writer and His Country" hits home on a topic very dear to me and I would love to discuss this essay in class.

I'm not sure what year this essay was published, but it's definitely something that rings true today. Artists of all media are often criticized by outsiders for being negative, that they should project what's right with the world or this country.

In particular, I'm thinking of documentary filmmakers and journalists who don't toe the government line and are criticized as anti-American. Though not the main argument of this essay, one thing O'Connor touches on is the notion that it the role of the artist to look at that which most would not look. Another way to put it is giving voice to the voiceless.

If the media only speak for those who are successful and have a voice, who speaks for the voiceless? If a country aspires to an ideal, how can it achieve that ideal than if someone is pointing out where its shortcomings so that they can be corrected?

It's not a denial of the happy things, but, as O'Connor says, discussing happy things is the business of advertising agencies. If people want to see happiness they can watch sit-coms.

I particularly love her one line, which seeks to justify the use of violence and the grotesque in art: "...you have to make your vision apparent by shock--to the hard of hearing you shout, and for the almost blind you draw large and startling figures."

Letters: Autobiography, Fiction, and the feud w/ Josie Herbst

Here is the info I have been talking w/you about re: autobiography and fiction. In short, Josie Herbst was writer and good friend of KAP. In an early letter to her (Aug 3, 1934 to Josephine Herbst--note: this is a fragment of a draft, p. 109 in Letters), Porter explains her own approach to using autobiography as a jumping off place for fiction. Ironically, in 1947, Herbst published Somewhere the Tempest Fell, which contains the scene from one of Porter's parties while living in Paris--only the names are changed to fictional ones. To compound Porter's fury with bad writing on the part of her friend, she (Porter) also felt endangered because Herbst had become pro-Stalin, pro-Communist, and was on the FBI watchlist. Porter refused to review the novel. And here is a link to a biography of Porter that discusses her unhappiness with Herbst's "fiction."

Letter: Flannery O'Connor to William Sessions (p. 1043)

I was very interested in Flannery O'Connor's letter to William Sessions dated 27 September, 1957 (p. 1043). In the letter she talks about the censorship of books that have been labeled obscene. She comes at the topic from a fairly objective point of view, which surprised me. I can imagine that some of her short stories might have been labeled obscene as well, and that she might be against such outlooks. She also mentions the moral code or conventions that determine what is classified as obscene: “There was a hearing and it turned out the gentlemen had read only the obscene parts; asked when something was obscene they said it was obscene when it couldn’t be read before a lady” (p. 1044). I found two things really interesting about this quote. Firstly, O’Connor emphasizes that a member of the counsel had not read the piece as a whole, and was solely condemning it on the basis of certain sections. This sort of piece-meal way of looking at a work is not as popular today, in which many works are judged by their overall message. Secondly, she notes the relation of the censorship code to social norms, in which, women are presumed to read only materials that are deemed “fit” for them.

Masculinity in Pale Horse Pale Rider

Porter constructs Adam to be the ideal form of masculinity. Starting with his name, Adam encompasses the feminine ideal of masculine perfection. Being the "first" man, implies he is above other men. God created the Biblical Adam in his image, without error, without defect, without sin. At one point, Miranda thinks "He really did look like a fine healthy apple this morning" (280) which immediately draws the readers back to the Garden of Eden and insinuates that Adam is the apple of her eye and the apple of God's eye. In a sense, Adam was the golden of all golden children. Porter describes the character Adam also as being golden. His appearance was"olive and tan and tawny, hay colored and sand colored from hair to boots" illuminating perfection (278). His eyes, the typical vessels of understanding and truth, were eyes were "pale tan with orange flecks in them and his hair was the color of a haystack"(280). Almost as if Adam had been kissed by the sun--golden hair, tan skin, orange eyes--Adam is a product of nature and of God's creation. He examples God's perfection in his appearance. He also examples a woman's idea of perfection in his appearance. Adam was "tall and heavily muscled in the shoulders, narrow in the waist" (279). I almost laughed when I read this as I was digging for evidence of implied masculinity within the text. Really, is this description not what even modern women desire when they create their perfect male? Commercials, the media, even our friends confirm the social desire for men who tower over the women and wear their inverted triangle physique proudly. Muscled and thick is--in a sense the David with the army build-- the ideal man. The perfect man, moreover, according to Porter, must be more than his brawn. He must be untainted, timeless, and connected with the stereotypical masculine concept of industrialization. Whether or not it's true, Adam's demeanor claimed him to be "clear and fresh and he never had a pain in his life" (282). Again, the perfect icon of creation would be sinless, spotless, uncorrupted within society and able to protect the females without damaging their innocence in the process. He must also be tied into industrialization. Adam's connection with his car represents the stereotype that masculinity must intertwine with industry. Industry evokes images of steel, hardness, production, and Adam felt as though he left part of himself behind when he could not take his car with him. "Miranda knew he was trying to tell her what kind of person he was when he had his machinery with him" (286). Adam is the ideal man in his purpose from God, appearance, untainted character and connection with the industrial. (On a side note, Porter's ideal must love to drive, be respectful to his mother, wait for women at all hours of the night, and be a good dancer). Porter, however, strips away Adam's perfect masculinity. First, Miranda does not give up her job for her man, a common complaint of feminism. Instead, he meets her to dance and eat and drink coffee at all hours of the night, essentially waiting for her to beckon him. He adjusts to her schedule and "late hours" and even attends the plays she must review to keep her company. When Miranda becomes sick, furthermore, Adam fulfills the role of nurse, getting her prescriptions and wiping the vomit from her face. In a delirious state, Miranda tells him "Adam, I think you're beautiful," verbally condemning him to a feminine adjective (301). Even at war, Adam does not die a soldier's death, a masculine death, but he is stricken with influenza. Miranda, furthermore, is the one who gives him the disease. She in a sense forces him to nurse her and then prevents him from dying an "honorable" war death. The question is then, why is Adam stripped of his manhood. By emasculating Adam, Porter issues a very feminist sentiment: men are not truly masculine and women have the ability to take away the qualities they think define their masculinity. Men, then, would be equal to women, pulled down a notch on the hierarchal ladder.

Initiating Phase Two

I am going to go ahead and post my letter for tomorrow, if you all don't mind.

Since we are wrapping up Pale Horse Pale Rider tomorrow with a discussion on the futility of war and also starting to read some letters, I found a couple letters that tie in with what we have been talking about in class and on the blog. I seriously can't choose which one I want to talk about more, so I might read both (I hate to get that started, but even eeny, meeny, miny mo isn't working), before we move on to other topics.

The first letter is in Letters of Katherine Anne Porter on page 177. It is written to Lodwick Hartley May 4, 1940. I want to read this one because it talks about Porter's motivation for writing Pale Horse Pale Rider, and she also writes about how she feels about being referred to as a woman writer.

The second letter is also in Letters of Katherine Anne Porter on page 389 (bottom). It is written to James Stern July 15, 1950. I want to read this letter because she writes about her feelings about war, which may be useful in class on Monday if we will be talking about war.

Also, when I was skimming through the book, I found a letter that Porter wrote just after she finished Pale Horse Pale Rider that is dated in December 1937, not 1939 like I thought (which is also a really interesting letter, but I need to seriously stop). Oops! Sorry about that!