1a. According to the first paragraph, what reason was given by Wollstonecraft's contemporaries to support the belief that women cannot acquire virtue?
2a. According to the beginning of paragraph 2, in what state were women in Wollstonecraft's time generally kept? What reason was given for keeping them in that state?
3a. According to paragraph 4, in what state were women kept?
4a. Analyze the two passages from Milton to which Wollstonecraft refers. What contradictions are there between the two?
5a. Evaluate Mary Wollstonecraft's argument. What does she want for women? What reasons does she give? Is her argument effective? Why, or why not?
1b. How does Wollstonecraft feel about the contention that women are incapable of attaining virtue? How do you know?
2b. According to paragraph 2, why did women in Wollstonecraft's day often exhibit follies, caprices, headstrong passions, and groveling vices?
3b. According to Wollstonecraft, what must women be allowed if they are indeed to be virtuous?
4b. With which argument does Wollstonecraft agree? Why would some agree with the other argument, according to Wollstonecraft?
5b. Think over what you have learned about the treatment of slaves, servants, and oppressed people by those in control through history. What similarities do you note about the arguments against educating women and the arguments against educating African slaves, Native Americans, and others? Why do you think these arguments were used?
Didactic Criticism. What criticism does Wollstonecraft level at Milton in this piece? What does she dislike about Milton's portrayal of Eve? What contradiction does she point out in Milton's thought? Do you agree with Wollstonecraft? Why, or why not?
Metaphor. In this selection, Wollstonecraft uses two vivid metaphors. Identify the tenor and vehicle of each and analyze the point the author is making with each metaphor.
1. If Mary Wollstonecraft published her treatise today, some enterprising person probably would have printed bumper stickers to sell to her fans. Write a bumper sticker that might appeal to those who agree with Mary Wollstonecraft.
2. Imagine that a debate were held between Wollstonecraft and Milton. The proposition to be debated is: Women should be granted full and equal rights to own property, obtain an education and to vote, and participate in the government of the land. Write the copy for a poster advertising this event, designed to attract as large an audience as possible.
3. Suppose you could travel back in time to Wollstonecraft's day and draft a Bill of Women's Rights to protect women against the abuses that they suffered then. What rights would you grant to women? Write a bill of rights for women to be included in a constitution for England in the late 1700s.
Split Infinitives. Rewrite the sentences below, correcting the split infinitives that you find.
1. Mary Wollstonecraft was moved to eloquently and persuasively write about the importance of equal access to education.
2. She considered education to obviously be key to improving the status of women because only by that means could they rise above the artificial "state of childhood" in which they were kept.
3. It is too facile to today anachronistically conclude that Wollstonecraft was too hard on other women of her time.
4. She often pauses to passionately rail against the silliness, coquetishness, follies, caprices, and overriding passions of many of her female contemporaries.
5. Reading her book, it is important for us to always remember that she is speaking about a time in which women were expected to behave in these ways.
Survey of the History of Writing about Women's Rights. Research a major work on women's rights. See page 741 in your text for a list of possible works. Study the work and report about the social conditions of the time in which the work was produced, as well as about the work's major ideas.
1. Research Findings:
2. Sources Used:
