Introduction

Hi! My name is Emma Phillips and I'm a sophomore.  Im from a small town, Bergen, which is about ten minutes west of SUNY Brockport.  Im currently a Political Science major with a double concentration in American/International politics with a Leadership Studies Minor but I hope to add a Journalism or Communications major during this coming spring semester.  I hope to one day live in either Washington DC or Chicago and working in politics, as an aid for either a senator or governor. 

I am taking this class because it fills my Western Civ CCC and looked extremely interesting! I've always been interested in feminism and Women's Studies, so I thought this class would be a great opportunity to expand my knowledge in a fun/unique way.  Plus, I have always loved to read.  

One quote that really stood out to me in the reading was under the Thematic Organization section from the poet Adrienne Rich.  She stated that women's literature produces "a whole new psychic geography to be explored."  I absolutley agree with this quote.  I do believe that women writers do explore new and tap into emotions that some readers didn't even know they had until after they read a novel.  From personal experience, many women writers have made me think about very important characteristics that every individual (male or female) should possess.  Women do think differently from men in a variety of situations and when I read novels written by females I do feel a connection that I sometimes don't feel when reading a novel written by a male.  For example, can a male writer really know how a woman feels when her heart is broken or when her mother doesn't approve of her choices? I think women writers do and can explore a psychic geography that can be very hard for men to tap into and this makes me all the more excited to start reading and evaluating.