Jordan Miles

 Blog 10: From The road from Coorain / Jill Ker Conway      "The Road from Coorain" by Jill Ker Conway was very inspiring to read. I felt like I was able to get a lot out of learning about her life and the impact she was able to have on others' lives. Knowing how hard it was for women to first be able to attain an education and how much it was able to help women succeed in this world. Learning about how she was able to overcome these challenges and not only survive, but advance further than any other woman was able to before her. Something that I found especially interesting about this was how she had always had a love for education and she was able to take the love she had and turn it into something amazing. It was sad to learn about her rough patches but it made it even more inspiring that she was able to overcome them. I also thought it was interesting how when she had to move around, her relationship with her mother was also fragile. I wonder if this helped her w...

Blog 9:  A Daughter of Han / Ning Lao T'AI-T'AI This story A Daughter of Han is an autobiography of a Chinese Working Woman based on stories from Ning Lao told to Ida Pruitt.  She tells the stories of how she was known as a beggar, as she was extremely poor, trying to beg for anything just to get by. She said she went every day to get hot gruel for her one meal when she finds out from someone that her husband said that he wants to sell their child and that his wife had died. This was very alarming and shocking to read about because of the lengths people living in poverty had to go to in order to beg at this time and place. It was devastating that her husband sold her child without her knowing one day and she had to physically fight eventually, the neighbors came and they all began to search the city to get her child back. This part of the story was very sad to read about the desperation she was in and how she was put in distress because of her missing child. Not only does she ...

 Jordan Miles Blog 8-  From Life and death in Shanghai / Nien Cheng.  In Nein Cheng's story, Life and death in Shanghai, she shares her eventful life story where she overcomes being accused of being a spy for foreign countries and being held for almost seven years.  She overcame so much mistreatment and abuse during these times. Many quotations from the book were alarming about the pain she went through. One, in particular, was, "I was passed around from one guard to another like a ball in a game. Trying to maintain my balance, I became dizzy and breathless. Before I could gather my wrists together, A young male guard suddenly grabbed the lapels of my padded jacket.. then he bit his lower lip to show his determination and gave me a hard push..." She then slammed into the wall and collapsed onto the floor. The guard continued to slam her against the wall, while she was being screamed at by other guards. The imagery this describes is extremely gruesome and disturbing. ...

  Blog 7:  From A life of her own / Emilie Carles Emilie Carles's story, From a life of her own shares valuable lessons and had many significant life events. From the start she faces hardships and lots of adversity. Growing up as a peasant, and poor quality of life, Emilie's success and passion for teaching children is very impressive. She did not let having to work with her father just to get by stop her from wanting achieve more in life.  She loves reading stories about and from other women.  I think this is what empowered her to be able to find the words and inspiration to share her own story.  I love her mission for wanting to teach others lessons and for being a spark for people beginning to think for themselves. She is a feminist at a time when some of her views would be viewed as negative, which also shows her passion for wanting to change the views of others for the better and for a brighter future for young girls and women that she reaches.  S...

 Blog 6: From Testament of youth / Vera Brittain In Vera Brittain autobiography, From Testament of youth she writes her stories from serving as a nurse in world war 1. She experienced extreme hardships and devastating loss throughout. Something that stood out to me a lot From the Testament of Youth, by Vera Brittain was this quote on page 85. Vera says, "I knew no one in the world to whom I could speak spontaneously, or utter one sentence completely expressive of what I really thought I felt. I "stood alone" in very truth- and I hope profoundly that I may never repeat the experience." This quote she writes stood out to me because she was expressing the pain she felt while coping with Edward's death, and how she felt silenced. She felt as though she could not express her emotions, which made her feel very alone. It was interesting how she writes that she never wants to experience that again because of the pain that holding back your authentic thoughts and feeling...

Blog 5: The italics are mine by Nina Berberova Jordan Miles January 19, 2023 Nina Berberova's autobiography The italics are mine reveals a deeper unsterstanding of her story and obs tacles she went through.  She lived in Paris for twenty five years and then moved to the United States, and struggled getting by day to day. She wrote lots of stories and poems despite it being uncommon for women to do at the time, just like many authors we've learned about. Something I admired was a quote I read by  Berberova that reads, " "He fears the world. I do not. He fears the future. I rush towards it." I think that this quote resembles her outlook on life and the idea of freedom. She feels free to write openly and feels the freedom to choose whatever she wants to write and being attention to. Even as a women at her time, she didn't live her life in fear or doubtfulness. In fact she was the opposite, she embraced and accepted and overcame it.  I interpreted it as  Berberov...

 Blog 4 - The prime of life / Simone de Beauvoir Jordan Miles  January 13, 2023  In Simone de Beauvoir's coming-of-age story, The Prime of Life, she discusses what she has gone through in life and perspectives on freedom for women. I really enjoyed and agree with her views on freedom. She believes that our freedom can be found through pursuing our dreams and goals and should not be limited to our gender or certain social roles and standards that society tells us we are limited to. I like how she feels strongly that we all should have the moral freedom to make our own decisions and have a personal destiny. An interesting quote I read by Simone de Beauvoir is, "There is a good principle that created order, light, and man and a bad principle that created chaos, darkness, and women." I think the ideas behind this quote mean that men have always had an advantage over women for nothing other than the fact that they are men. They are naturally just viewed as right and orderly wh...

 Blog 3 - Daughters of de Beauvoir  Jordan Miles January 16, 2023 After watching Daughters of de Beauvoir, produced by Penny Foster, several parts stood out. At the start of the film, Simone explains her mother's first reactions to her daughter saying she plans to attend university.  She explains how her mothers' first concern and reaction to this was what about your family? And that her father was a vigorous anti-feminist. It was shocking to witness these reactions because now in present times, many female families are supportive and very happy for their daughters to get their education in college. Additionally, they want to see them learn and continue to find a profession or potential career that they have a passion for. Another similar part of the film that was interesting is when Anna Oakley, explained how she is writing about the role of the women in the house, in her book called House Wife. She says that she wanted to explore the housework side of women as a job, wh...

Jordan Miles  January 11, 2023  Blog 2: Maya Angelou I Know Why the Caged Birds Sing  In, I Know Why the Caged Birds Sing, Maya Angelou explores her autobiography. Maya Angelou has endured several traumatic events including experiencing assault and racism at a young age. She is brave and courageous to be able to speak the truth about her life story and the pain and hardships she has been able to overcome. It was empowering to learn about her past through this coming-of-age autobiography and to see what she has been able to get through during her lifetime. One interesting point to think about is the title itself and the "caged bird." I think that this seems like a metaphor for Maya herself, as a child, being the bird in the cage. As a trapped and scared girl from being assaulted and having to be an oppressed African American woman at the time. Due to this oppression and mistreatment, we see throughout the book that she appears envious of white people who don't have to face...

Jordan Miles  January 10, 2023 word count: 285   Blog 1: Introduction to the Anthology         In the introduction to the Anthology, the Norton book on women's lives discussed the richness of women's literature. It is interesting how she mentions female role models whose courage and life stories have altered history, for example, Helen Keller and Harriet Tubman. These are women that have faced major setbacks that they have had to work diligently to overcome and persevere. They were able to do so even at a time in history when the odds were against them and the world basically revolved around men and their power. Through the authors reading these other female autobiographies and learning their stories, she was enlightened and inspired to discover her similarities to them. For example, she explains how she wishes to be a cowgirl, which differs from many of the well-known women she reads about. It is fascinating how the author was comforted but was l...