George Eliot

My research paper was influenced by the author George Eliot, sounds like a pretty cool guy right? Well shes a female, her real name is Mary Ann Evans. She was born in England and one of the most respected writers of the Victorian age. As I started to read about her I asked myself "why did she use a males name and not her real name?"

Since she was a woman in the Victorian age, Eliot had to break harder barriers to achieve what she did. In the Victorian age, women were kept away from the public atmosphere, and their only job was to be married and have children. Victorian women were suppose to be fragile, weak, and restricted  to an opinion. This influenced her to use a males pen name, but also because she wanted respect as a writer and did not want to be compared to other women who were mocked for focusing on romance.

She used the last name Eliot because it was a good and easy word to pronounce. She chose her name George because of George Henry Lewes, a married man  whom she had a relationship with. Though he was separated from his wife, he was unable to get a divorce Mary Ann’s and George Lewes relationship was a scandal. What people thought or said about their relationship did not affect Mary Ann because she was a free thinker and did not feel the need to fall into social pressure. In her opinion, George and her were married.

If there was one thing that stood out to me was the fact that she defined who she was. she did not let society set her morals or standards. She went against what society said women had to do and what they could not do. Most importantly she had a lot of determination, which helped her achieve so much throughout her life.

Works cited

"George Eliot Biography - Life, Childhood, Children, Name, Story, Death, History, Wife, School, Young." Encyclopedia of World Biography. Web. 11 Mar. 2011.

Thomas, Pauline W. "A Woman's Place in Victorian Society - Social and Fashion   History." Fashion History Costume Trends and Eras, Trends Victorians - Haute Couture. Web. 12 Apr. 2011.

A little obsession

In the Lord of The Ring everyone was so obsessed with this one simple thing, a ring that represented power. I believe that everyone is a little obsessed with something weather it is a sport, an artist, reading etc., but what makes us so obsessed and attached to that one thing? well I would probably have to say that my obsession is between soccer and being a girlie girl. Im obsessed with soccer because stepping on that field clears my mind and its an amazing feeling because you focus on just that one thing. Im not sure why im obsessed with being girly i just think its fun :). I think we become obsessed simply because its like a comfort zone we have.

A Christmas Carol

A Christmas Carol was actually a pretty good story and the main theme was being selfish. Eventually Scrooge realizes that theres no point in being selfish because in the end that only leaves you lonely. Most of the time people do not realize how they treat others or how they act towards them, but we can take the time to reflect on how we treat others and change what needs to be changed.

I think this is the story for which we drew our own christmas trees, and our group drew a palm tree at the beach. I am not sure but I really enjoyed that activity and everyones trees were so different :)

Can we be forced to become a certain way?

In Mary Shelley's book Frankenstein, a creature was created from dead tissue, in one of our quizzes we were asked if we agreed with the creature when he stated he was forced to become evil. So the  question I ask myself is, can society or people in general force us to become a certain way? I do not think that society or people can force us to be someone we do not want to be.

We are all unique individuals and we decided what we do and what we do not do. Just because sometimes we do not think before we speak or do things, does not mean we were forced to say them or do them. Yes, I know that we can be influenced by those around us and our friends can have some influence on what we do simply because they are doing it. BUT influence someone and FORCING someone to do something are two different things. We are all responsible for our own actions.

Reading Reading Reading!

OK first of all I would like to say that I personally do not enjoy reading. I am not sure the last time I read a book for fun, if there was ever a time I read a book for fun, but this English class is definitely way different than any other English class I have been in. Never have I been in an English class where we read things that I actually was interested in. Even better I think this is the first English class where we are reading books that I have heard of. THANK YOU Mrs. Watson :)