Bell Hooks
The Significance of Feminist Movement
What does hooks see as the mistakes of the early feminists?
hook felt that women behind the feminist movement of the past put forth the idea that men were the enemy. “Fundamentally, they argued that all men are the enemies of all woman and proposed as a solution to this problem a utopian woman nation, separatist communities, and even the subjugation or extermination of all men”(hook 824-825). Through this it is easily understood why this idea was a mistake. Separating men and women would not solve the problem, it would only greaten the tension between the sexes. This idea has created the problem that many people have with feminist nowadays, even though they do not believe in the idea of the previous feminist movement. This idea gives feminist a bad name and people tend to think that women who are feminists hate men, when this is not the case. The ideas from the past favored women over men. “Militant white women were partially eager to make feminist movements privilege women over men”(hook 824). This idea is not correct because neither sex should be higher then the other, however woman of the past were very much degraded and were under the power of their husbands. This being the case, women of the past were probably so upset with how life was, that this might have given them hatred towards men. If every man had the opportunity to treat me this way, then I would have probably hated men in that time also. This idea is wrong, but when something like this happens anger tends to arise.


Works Cited
hook, bell. “The Significance of Feminist Movement.” A World of Ideas: Essential Reading for College Writers. Ed. Lee A Jacobus. 7th Ed. New York; Bedford St. Martins, 2006. Pp 824-831.

Carol Gilligan’s
Woman’s Place in Man’s life Cycle
What are the differences between men and women in terms of the way they regard relationships?
According to Gilligan, “ male gender identity is threatened by intimacy while female gender identity is threatened by separation. Thus males tend to have difficulty with relationships, while females tend to have problems with individualism”(Gilligan 804). Through this is can be understood that men from the beginning want to be separated from their mothers, while women like to hold on the their mothers and form a bond. This idea supports why men are threatened by a relationship with a woman because since they were young they used the idea of separation towards women. According to Erikson, identity is related to how someone deals with a relationship. Women hold their identity though the man they attract then through the man they marry, “while for men, identity precedes intimacy and generativity in the optimal cycle of human separation and attachment, for women these tasks seem infused” (Gilligan 807). Erikson’s idea is that women show their identity thought their relationship with others, while men show theirs through they individualism. “Chodorow argues that the existence of the sex differs in the early experiences of the individual and the relationship “does not mean that women have ‘weaker’ ego boundaries than men or are more prone to psychosis.” It means that instead “girls emerge from this period with a bias or ‘empathy’ built into their primary definition of self in a way that boys do not””(Gilligan 803). With this value of empathy women tend to become attached for people and items, where as men have an easier time breaking away and being an individual.

Works Cited
Gilligan, Carol. “Woman’s Place in Man’s life Cycle.” A World of Ideas: Essential Reading for College Writers. Ed. Lee A Jacobus.7th Ed. New York; Bedford St. Martins, 2006. Pp 801-817.

Simone De Beauvoir
Woman: myth and Reality

What is the myth of Eternal Feminine?
I feel that this myth means that women have always been considered to have feminine soft qualities, and that this should transcend though out the years not matter what; however this is not the case. As women gained freedoms they did not have to hold back are be a soft, quite, woman who let men stand in front of her. Also, it seems that women are looked upon and thought of as something different. Women are supposed to be feminine and demure, but in reality this is not always the case. For example when Beauvoir states,” This one, the myth of woman, sublimating an immutable aspect of the human condition-namely, the “division” of humanity into two classes of individuals- is a static myth” (Beauvoir 784). I am not sure if she is referring men and women or to idea of a woman and a woman in reality. For me it seemed that she was referring to the type of woman that come s up when you think of femininity and how in all actuality that is very different from the reality of a woman. This point came across in this said by Beauvoir, “If the definition provided for this concept is contradicting by the behavior of flesh-and-blood women, it is the latter who are wrong: we are told not that Femininity is false entity, but that women concerned are not feminine”(Beauvoir 785). Though this I understood that if this idea of eternal feminine is contradicted by real women that this idea is not un true, but that this idea is not a concern to all women of the time.


Works Cited
Beauvoir, Simone De. “Woman: Myth and Reality.” A World of Ideas: Essential Reading for College Writers. Ed. Lee A Jacobus. 7th Ed. New York; Bedford St. Martins, 2006. Pp 784-794.

Virginia Woolf’s Shakespeare’s Sister

The expected role of a woman in Shakespearian time was to be a man’s possession. By this I mean that women were nothing compared to men. They were just a part of life that was not given any credit, nor very much acknowledgment. “But what I find deplorable, I continued, looking about the bookshelves again, is that nothing is known about women before the eighteen century”(Woolf 768). Here Woolf states that there is no information about women in this period; this right here shows the presence of women in Shakespearian time. Women were not considered intelligent or something that would have thought, they were beings that men beat and possessed, that had no say in the matter. Another point of Woolf’s that made me understand the low credibility women has was when she said, “…I thought of that old gentleman, who is dead now, but was a bishop, I think, who declared that it was impossible for any woman, past, present, or to come, to have the genius of Shakespeare” (Woolf 768). This does not surprise me at all because traditionally from the past men have always been thought of as superior, however what shocked me was how the bishop also states that cats cannot go to heaven, even though they might have souls. This together kind of baffled me, but I feel like Woolf was trying to prove the point that this bishop tells someone that cat’s can not go to heaven, when this Bishop had not gone to heaven himself, so how can he say if cat s go to heaven or not, just like how can he state that a woman of the future or even the past could have been a genius like Shakespeare. Basically what I got out of it was that if you do not know is what to come or every little thing about the past then how can you make such a bias comment.


Works Cited
Woolf, Virginia. “Shakespeare’s Sister.” A World of Ideas: Essential Reading for College Writers. Ed. Lee A Jacobus. Trans. Stephen Mitchell. 7th ed. New York; Bedford St. Martins, 2006. Pp 764-776.

In part of Mary Wollstonecraft “Pernicious Effects Which Arise from the Unnatural Distinction Established in Society” she discusses women in the occupation of war and removing women for their domestic rolls. Wollstonecraft states, “for when they neglect domestic duties, they have it not in their own power to take the field and march and counter-march like soldiers,” (753). Through this quote it can be understood that Wollstonecraft is not saying that women need or should be on the front line, but if a women wanted or was allowed to do so, then this concept would in the end show movement towards equality. An example that Wollstonecraft uses is when Rousseau states, “How can they leave the nursery for the camp” (753). Meaning that how can women leave their family, along with their home duties to go out to war. Women in tradition are supposed to be at home with the children, while the men are the ones who go off to war. Another point Wollstonecraft makes is that, “the camp has by some moralist been termed the school of the most heroic virtues; though, I think it would puzzle a keen casuist” (753). Going to war is considered brave and is also considered a place of great learning, than why are women excluded from having these “heroic virtues” (Wollstonecraft 753). What I feel Wollstonecraft is trying to state it that women should have the opportunity to go to war and if allowed so, they should not be blamed for leaving their home life. Also along with this idea, women should have the chance to have the equality of men, so be if it means going to war.


Works cited
Wollstonecraft, Mary. “Pernicious Effects Which Arise from the Unnatural Distinction Established in Society.” A World of Ideas: Essential Reading for College Writers. Lee A. Jacobs. 7th Ed. New York; Bedford St. Martins, 2006. pp 748-758.

Robert B. Reich: Why the Rich Are Getting Richer and the Poor, Poorer

What are “routine producers”? What will be their fate in the future?
Robert B. Reich’s idea of routine producers is that they are the type of workers who work in factories and do work that can and will eventually be taken over by machinery. Reich’s routine producers “boat” is sinking; this is due to the idea that factory jobs can and will be done in other countries by people willing to work for less than what people in the United States will work for. “The consequence is clearest in older, heavy industries, where high-volume, standardized production continues its ineluctable move to where labor is cheapest and most accessible around the world” (Reich 421). As technology advances, so does industrialization. Companies will take there business to where every they can get the cheapest work and now that technology can support this, routine producers will be out of jobs. An example of how technology supports low cost production is how in 1990, an airline employed 1,000 data producers in 2 different countries, who entered flight information that was then sent to a data base in Dallas. Being able to hire data producers in other countries, who are willing to work for less, eliminates jobs in America for routine producers. As these jobs are lost to machinery and to outsourcing, the role for routine producers in American society will vanish. The only way for this not to happen is if other countries standards of living rise and even out with Americans, so that there is not much of a competition between workers and the wages they are getting paid, in order for a company to make the profit that they want. However, this has a very slim chance of happening.

Works cited
Reich, Robert B. “Why the Rich Are Getting Richer and the Poor, Poorer.” A World of Ideas: Essential Reading for College Writers. Lee A. Jacobs. 7th Ed. New York; Bedford St. Martins, 2006. Pp 420-433.

John Kenneth Galbraith’s “The Position of Poverty”

Insular poverty is when as group or area of people is poor, unlike case poverty where an individual is poor. The group of people is usually poor due to a problem in their environmental/ societal surroundings. “insular poverty—that which manifests itself as an “island” of poverty. In the island, everyone or nearly everyone is poor” (Galbraith 407). This idea of insular poverty as an island of poverty shows that the poor community is somewhat divided by the majority of the people in some way or form. This type of poverty explained by Galbraith can be something that one can be grown into and then is repeated through generations. “since it is the undoubted preference of many to remain in the vicinity of the place of their birth, a homing instinct that operates for people as well as pigeons, the people remained in the poverty which heaven had decreed for them” (Galbraith 407). This idea that Galbraith compares to the homing instincts of a person to a pigeon gives the thought of how he may feel about the poor. If he is comparing people to an animal that is looked upon as disgusting and as a rat with wings, then what does he actually think of the poor and their situation. Galbraith refers his “island” idea to his modern day in this quote “Most modern poverty is insular in character and the islands are the rural and urban slums” (Galbraith 408). This idea is still relevant today; most poverty is in certain areas or among groups of people whom are singled out.




Works cited
Galbraith, John Kenneth. “The Position of Poverty.” A World of Ideas: Essential Reading for College Writers. Lee A. Jacobs. 7th ed. New York; Bedford St. Martins, 2006. pp 406-413.

The Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx

The expanding world market affects the national identity due to nations idea of civilization affecting one another. “The bourgeoisie, by the rapid improvement of all instruments of production, by the immensely facilitated means of communication, draws all, even the most barbarian nations into civilization” (Marx 361). This quote by Marx’s is saying that the bourgeoisie way of living has affected how other countries run their business, which essentially affects how the world market is ran. The bourgeoisie idea uses massive production to the point where, “there is too much civilization, too much means of subsistence, too much industry, too much commerce” (Marx 362). This idea of over production eventually leads the countries, to whom which follow how the bourgeoisie run their trade, to become, “industries that no longer work up indigenous raw material, but raw material drawn from the remotest zones; industries whose products are consumed, not only at home, but in every quarter of the country” (Marx 360). The concept of overproducing and expanding to whom you trade with affects how the county is looked upon and identified with. The way the bourgeoisie runs business affects how other societies run theirs, in order for these other countries to keep up with, what the bourgeoisie, call civilization. “…so has it made barbarian and semi-barbarian countries dependent on civilized ones, nations of peasants on nations of bourgeois, the East on the West” (Karl 360). As the bourgeoisie build their trade and production it influences other countries to do the same, in order for them to keep their national identity.


Works cited
Marx, Karl. “The Communist Manifesto.” A World of Ideas: Essential Reading for College Writers. Lee A. Jacobs. 7th ed. New York; Bedford St. Martins, 2006. pp 357-377.

Nussbaum: The Central Human Functional Capabilities
What are the central life capabilities?
The central life capabilities are the actions and choices of functionality that humans by nature have.
The 10 are: 1.Life, 2.Bodily health and integrity, 3. Bodily integrity, 4.Senses, imagination, thought, 5.Emotions, 6.Practical reason, 7.Affiliation, 8.Other species, 9.Play, & 10.Control over one’s environment.
These capabilities are normal functions that occur in everyday life. These capabilities are the normal everyday functions that middle class people go through. These capabilities are not challenging to an average person, but to someone with a disability or someone who is poor, these are challenging. “The capabilities approach, as I conceived it, claims that a life that lacks any one of these capabilities, no matter what else it has, will fall short of being a good human life”(Nussbaum 216). This statement shows the need for uniformity in a government. Making these guide lines on how life capabilities should function gives the idea of equality, when in realization it is not. Nussbaum is arguing that capability, not function should be the goal of public policies. What I understand from this is that although most all of us are capable of these tasks; how we function actually represent what we are capable of. She is saying that although we have these capabilities, that we need to achieve, the only way someone can gage the purist of happiness of a nations population; is through the way that nation’s people act out and function to achieve the central life capabilities.


Nussbaum, Martha C. "The Central Human Functional Capabilities." A World of Ideas: Essential Reading for College Writers. Ed. Lee A. Jacobus. 7th ed. New York: Bedford/St. Martins. 2006. pp. 213-221.

John Rawls: A Theory of Justice
What is Rawls attitudes toward the least advantaged people in society?

This reading confused me a bit, but I think what Rawls is saying is that in order for life to function each sector or group needs to have established standard of living. The people at the bottom of this chart will in turn affect the higher people in society due to the fact that in any cycle one level affects the next. “Since each desires to protect his interests, his capacity to advance his conception of the good, no one has a reason to acquiesce in a enduring loss for himself in order to bring about a greater net balance of satisfaction” (Rawls 202). Through this quote, I feel that Rawls is trying to say that people in general are concerned for themselves, so why should a person go out of their way to better someone of a lower rank and in turn affect their standings. What need is there to balance a system that is already distinctly divided. I am not sure if this is what he means, but what I get from it is that Rawls feels the need for the division and rank of citizens and that if you are a disadvantaged person in society, then that is where you should stay, unless you can bring yourself out of it. Rawls feels that what is just then in turn is fair, each sector of ranks need to keep where they are in order for the system to be just which is supposable fair.

Rawls, John. “A Theory of Justice.” A World of Ideas: Essential Reading for College Writers. Ed. Lee A. Jacobus. New York; Bedford St. Martins, 2006. pp 195-206.

According to Elizabeth Cady Stanton, the power that men have over women had to do with every aspect of a woman’s life. No matter if a woman was married or not, she was controlled by a man. “He has made her, if married, in the eye of the law, civility dead” (Stanton 165). If a woman was married, nothing that she said or did was a reflection of her, but it was a reflection of what there husband wanted. The money that she made was given to their husband to spend any way he pleased. The way she stands up for these rights, of course make sense, but the way she puts it shows a massive amount of strength and bravery. If all of the things she is saying were true in her time, then standing up and making a statement like the one she did, proved what she was saying was right. If women never wanted to get out of the shadow of a man, then life would not be as it is today. Without people coming forth and going against struggles, change cannot occur and will not occur. Stanton uses the word he to show the power being forced down upon women. “He has endeavored in every way he could, to destroy her confidence in her own powers, to lesson her self-respect, and to make her willing to lead a dependent and abject life (Stanton 166). Stanton realizes that men have taken the control over women and made them feel as if nothing, in order for the women to not rebel and live as a slave to men. The way she puts this shows to these women that life is not just a mundane existence, but that women can get everything a man has. For the change that Stanton wanted to occur, all women needed to step forth and begin standing up for their rights as citizens.


Stanton, Elizabeth Cady. “Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions.” A World of Ideas: Essential Reading for College Writers. Ed. Lee A. Jacobus. New York; Bedford St. Martins, 2006. pp 164-168.

Letter from Birmingham Jail

“But more basically, I am in Birmingham because injustice is here” (King 174). Through this quote, you can understand why Martin Luther King Jr. feels that protesting in Birmingham was necessary. His comrades of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference invited him to this city “to engage in a non-violent direct-action program…” (King 174). The in-justice he suffered in this city is indicated by the fact his was sent to jail for a non-violent protest. Through this letter King is explaining how the police/government have not given the Negro there right to their freedom of speech and freedom in general. “We know through painful experiences that freedom is never voluntary given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed” (King 177). This quote shows why these non-violent protests and walks were needed. If someone is not freely giving you something that you deserve, then you need to put forth effort to achieve it. The way Dr. King shows that this in-justice has led to protests and not negotiation is through the way he explains how one gets to negotiation, “The purpose of out direct-action program is to create a situation so crisis-packed that it will inevitability open the door to negotiation” (King 176). King is saying that if someone will not negotiate with you, then there has to be ways for you to non violently make this happen. A person needs to stand up for what they believe is right; otherwise, what they believe amounts to nothing. “I suppose I should have realized that few members of the oppressor race can understand the deep groans and passionate yearnings of the oppressed race,” (King 185). Now matter what color you are if you do not show moral and just emotions towards what you feel is right, then there can never be a change. If you do not stand, up for your beliefs then they are lost and change will not occur until a martyr comes forth.




King Jr., Martin Luther. “Letter from Birmingham Jail.” A World of Ideas: Essential Reading for College Writers. Ed. Lee A. Jacobus. New York; Bedford St. Martins, 2006. pp 173-189.

Thoreau, Henry D. “Civil Disobedience.”A World of Ideas: Essential Reading for College Writers. Ed. Lee A. Jacobus. New York; Bedford St. Martins, 2006. pp 137-157.

-What kind of government does Thoreau feel would be the most just? In this reading, Civil Disobedience by Henry David Thoreau, I believe that the kind of government that Thoreau feels is most just is the type where the government has very little control. “…That government is best which governs least,” and “that government is best which governs not at all…” (Thoreau 137). Through this quote, you can see how Thoreau feels. He is saying that a government, in which he would like, has little control and that this government does not make it a point to use that control. This quote can be applied to the thinking of Lao-tzu and how he perceives government and believes that a government needs to give up some control in order for things to fall into place. I understand what Thoreau is trying to say with his two quotes and I agree with him about how government control should be to a minimum. However, when he states that a government should not be governed at all, I believe that, although he does not mean that there should be absolutely no law, but that the control the government has is not to be pushed in the faces of its citizens. The way Thoreau writes can be compared to the issues nowadays and his ideas are still relevant. “It is truly enough said that a corporation has not conscience; but a corporation of conscious men is a corporation with a conscience” (Thoreau 138-139) This quote can still be applied with business of today, and the cutthroat business in which they deal. Thoreau’s ideas show relevance today because he looked at the simple ideas of government and these ideas and issues have not changed over the years because our government is based on tradition. “The American government- what is but a tradition,” (Thoreau 138).






Thoreau, Henry D. “Civil Disobedience.” Ed. Lee A. Jacobus. New York; Bedford St. Martins, 2006. pp 137-157.

The Establishment Clause is regarding religion within the government. This clause basically examines where the line is drawn on religion in the government. It determines whether certain things are consider bias towards one religion or another.
From what I understand, the Establishment Clause helps decide whether something is too religious to be adopted by the state; like one of Carter’s examples about prayer in public classrooms. This clause sets the boundary for where religion needs to stop, before it interferes and forces other of different religions to abide by these religious laws.

One of Carter’s examples about the minister who could not get funding for his rehabilitation program, even through it had a higher success rate compared to other programs; interested me because this clause was like a roadblock for this program just because it was religiously based. This clause has to draw a line somewhere, but the fact that the government cannot fund something so beneficial, because it is based on religion is puzzling.

According to Carter, “the principal task of the separation of church and state is to secure religious liberty” (104). This makes sense to a point, in order to make sure that everyone has a choice to their own religion the government must not support any, in order for it to seem as if no religion in prevalent. However, as this clause works along with the freedom of religion, it almost limits religious expansion, because without financial support a group or program is less likely to succeed.


Works cited
Carter, Stephen L. “The Separation of Church and State.” A World of Ideas: Essential Reading for College Writers. Lee A. Jacobus.7th ed. New York; Bedford St. Martins, 2006. pp 102-110.

Humans in concentration camps were cut off from the world and were treated as if they were nothing. According to Arendt, “these camps are the true central institutions of totalitarian organizational power” (88). What Arendt is saying is that this government had the power to hold a large number of people in one area, while they represented these people to the world as if they never existed, thus proving total domination on the country. These camp were used for testing and minimal work, but were basically used as a way to remove un-wanted people from society and have them vanish from life as if they never were alive. Arendt says “even if they happen to keep alive (the campers), are more effectively cut off from the world of living than if they had died, because terror enforces oblivion” (94). The way she states this makes you understand that the people in these camps are no longer living, but are walking around like zombies. When a person witness death on a day to day basis, as if it is nonchalant, then that person may come to the realization that they are next or that life is no longer precious. When a person gets to this point, they lose hope and they begin to vanish emotionally and mentally, becoming oblivious to the world around them. “The concentration- camp inmate has no price, because he can always be replaced…,” (Arendt 95) this backs up the reasoning behind why these inmates are oblivious. If they know that they can be killed in a second and replaced one second later, then the hope and fear they had in the beginning disappears and most likely, they turn into emotionless creatures.


Arendt, Hannah. “Total Domination.” A World of Ideas; Essential Reading for College Writers. Lee A. Jacobus. 7th ed. New York; Bedford St. Martins, 2006. pp 88-96.

Machiavelli praises the skill of warfare in the opening of this piece because he feels that knowing how to wage war, as a prince, is their most important responsibility. Knowing how to wage war is the basis for how a prince runs his domain. According to Machiavelli, “A prince, therefore, must not have any other object nor any other thought, nor he take anything as his profession but war…” (Machiavelli 36).
Machiavelli feels that warfare is the force that guides a country. He believes that “in peacetime he (a prince) must train himself more than in time of war…” (Machiavelli 38). He is saying that when there is no present war, that we should still be preparing for a war like it is tomorrow, so that we are ready for when it does come. I feel there is sense behind this because knowing the solution to a problem before it arises is better that having to figure it out right as the problem is occurring. On the contrary, I disagree with Machiavelli on how he believes war should be a leader’s greatest concern. It should be a concern, but not a prevalent as what Machiavelli is saying. Skills of war should be studied, revised, and newly interpreted, in order for a leader/prince to keep his country ready for battle and safe. However, the leader should also think of more present day problems; in Machiavelli’s time, the concerns were different from today, nowadays we have issues such as healthcare, welfare, and environmental to worry about.
Knowing warfare skills helps a prince keep control over there own country and defend it from others. Besides that, to me, knowing warfare gets you not much more. It helps when you are in war, and some of the skills can aid in the way you debate, but wars skills are to be used in war times.


Works cited
Machiavelli, Niccolo. “The Qualities of the Prince.” A World of Ideas: Essential Reading for College Writers. Lee A. Jacobs. 7th ed. New York; Bedford St. Martins, 2006. pp 35-50.

The Master’s attitude towards action is very simple, “just stay at the center of the circle and let all things take their course” (Lao-tzu 23). Lao-tzu is in a way, saying that in order for life, in general, to work properly that there needs to be no interference. I believe that what he is saying makes sense in a way. When you have a problem in life, other try to step in and help you out when sometimes all you really need to do is to take control over the situation and lets things “take their course” (Lao-tzu 23). When you compare this to a government status such as Lao-tzu is doing, what comes to mind is the United States entering wars where it is not their place to be interfering with. In a way, this affects how we view our leader due to the way he handled these situations. If these situations had been handled in a way similar to what Lao-tzu is saying, there might have been more of a harmonious condition in the country, instead of anger and bitterness, which is what, comes to mind when the Iraq and Vietnamese Wars are brought up.
According to Lao-tzu, “She lets them go their own way, and resides at the center of the circle” (Lao-tzu 24). The Master’s action is to watch over what happens in a leader-like way but not to interfere with the outcome, but to try to guide the situation towards “harmony with the Tao” (Lao-tzu 26). I believe that the Master represents a force that takes action in a way that does not have an ultimate leadership presence, but is strong enough so that she is given the treatment and honor that an admirable leader should have.


Works Cited

Lao-tzu. “Thought from the Tao-te Ching.” A World of Ideas: Essential Reading for College Writers. Ed. Lee A Jacobus. Trans. Stephen Mitchell. 7th ed. New York; Bedford St. Martins, 2006. pp 22-31.