Sorry and more

Hello there ! I know this blog has been slightly neglected by me, but there have been circumstances out of my control that have not allowed me to post as I would like. I am going post my proposal now that things have calmed down and I can do a proper job.

Stephanie Sabbath
Research Project Proposal

Reuben and Rachel: Rowson’s way of educating young American Women
Susanna Rowson’s novel Reuben and Rachel; Or Tales of Old Times, she uses history to legitimize her fictional novel. She approaches this fictional novel by creating a fictitious history to teach the young women of America, which happened to be her target audience. Rowson, as a writer and teacher, always felt that women were being taught less than men at the time of her writing this, which is why she not only wrote this novel but opened her own female boarding school. Since Rowson is not a commonly read author today, it is interesting to analyze her novels and see how they added fuel to her interest in women’s education. This novel should not only be read by literature students that hope to learn about the start of America as a country and about women in our country, but it could even be suggested to be read by students majoring in history and education. In addition to being assigned Charlotte, Rowson’s other women centered novel, Reuben and Rachel; Or Tales of Old Times should be included in the required reading.
Rowson had great intentions when she wrote this novel. As students and scholars of literature, research can be performed by looking into an array of background in subjects like: history, education in the 18th century, women’s education in the 18th century, Rowson’s idea about educating women, Rowson’s ideas about her novel, etc. to find out what her goals were for young women. Through different articles and documentation printed in scholarly databases and in Marion Rust’s Prodigal Daughters, readers and myself will discover the true meaning of Rowson’s Reuben and Rachel; Or Tales of Old Times. The text in her novel demonstrates how strongly Susanna Rowson felt about not only educating women in subjects such as math, science, history; but also in wanting to teach them proper conduct and behavior. This is exactly what she does throughout her novel.
This book is not just about history, and it is not just a novel to entertain women. This novel is Rowson’s way of teaching the women about their conduct and behavior with a twist of history added to it. It uses historical characters, mainly women, who through the different experiences and problems they go through Rowson displays the correct behavior for American young women. This is extremely important for us, as students in American Novel, to understand since, not only is it an early American novel, but it teaches young women about the republic and the behavior that was expected of them. In order to understand this, it needs to be inspected and that is exactly what my paper will do.