Thursday, April 15, 2010

House of Mirth: Paper Issues, Edith Wharton, and Stephanie

I am still kind of conflicted about what to write about for my second term paper. I really want to write about House of Mirth because I really enjoyed reading that book and I felt that I could write about that passionately. I have been researching a lot about a topic to chose and I think I have narrowed it down to writing about how Edith Wharton and Lily Bart are similar. I'm not sure however if that would suffice for a lengthy paper.
After doing some research, I stumbled upon Hermione Lee's new biography Edith Wharton. The copy at Holland/Terrell library was taken but I looked it up online and read a few passages and it really interested me. Edith Wharton was a very interesting person. I learned that she was always a very talented writer and at 15 wrote her first novel. While reading, I kept thinking about my little sister, Stephanie. Stephanie is 17 and is pretty much what you would call a genius. She has been reading since I can remember and has been writing since kindergarten. She recently finished her first novel entitled "Cole Black" and I have read this work of fiction. It is fantastic. Stephanie and Edith are very similar. They both are smart and they are driven to make their own ways through this life. If we lived back when Edith Wharton did, Stephanie would have been right there with Edith Wharton: writing, critiqing, learning from everyone else. She would have been able to make something of herself and she would have been able to forge a new path for women. I wish I wish i was more like my sister and Edith Wharton in this respect...they are both fiercely independent women and they seem to know what they want out of life. They both will not stop until they get what they want and are extremely passionate about writing their dreams on paper.
Overall, I really am not sure what I will write about but I am really not that worried. Edith Wharton, because of this class, is one of my mentors and inspirational people in my life. I greatly look up to her and I know that I will figure out what to write about. Inspiration will hit me and I will continue to be in awe of strong women like my sister and Edith Wharton...women who I aspire to be like.

1 comment:

  1. I am glad that you responded so positively to Edith Wharton, Sarah. She is a great writer and, in what she accomplished, a good role model, too.

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