The Measure of My Days - Florida Scott-Maxwell

"The woman who has a gift for old age is the woman who delights in comfort" (705).

The Measure of My Days by Florida Scott-Maxwell

Florida Scott-Maxwell

From The Norton's Book of Woman's Lives by Phyllis Ross 

    Maxwell displays a sense of fulfillment towards the end of her life as she writes in her narrative The Measure of My Days. Talking about death is very common among her age group as it many are losing friends and loved ones. Maxwell discusses this sorrow ness but brings in a sort of comforting idea that aging can bring us "a new supply of life that amazes us" (706), which is a beautiful perspective to have. Her message to the readers is that though being old and aging is scary and unbearable, take the little things in life and change how you perceive the world. You only have one life, so be happy and build great relationships, and experience all that you can, but don't regret anything you have done. Be proud of your life. I sincerely admire her way of thinking about death and am inspired to live my life to the fullest.

Zami: A New Spelling of My Name - Audre Lorde

"Both of my parents gave us to believe that they had the whole world in the palms of their hands for the most part, and if we three girls acted correctly- meaning working hard and doing as we were told- we could have the whole world in the palms of our hands also" (498).

Zami: A New Spelling of My Name by Audre Lorde 

From The Norton Book of Woman's Lives by Phyllis Ross 

Audre Lorde 

    Reading about Audre Lorde was very inspiring and empowering. Being a black, lesbian feminist, Audre was very unique to what the societal standard was in the late 1900s. Being a black woman was difficult enough due to the cruel racism and unequal gender roles, and adding different sexuality to the mix was also not accepted as it is today, making it seem even more difficult to be heard. Audre proved to the people of her community that gender, sexuality, and race does NOT matter. She spoke up and raised her voice for the people that dealt with injustice on a daily basis and spoke to normalize these differences. She highlighted the beauty in this world. I am so glad Audre's parents encouraged her and her sisters to get the education they needed and raised them to that "working hard and doing as [they were] told' (498) will get you anywhere you wanted to go because that was true for Audre. 

Lost in translation - Eva Hoffman

"Nostalgia- that most lyrical of feelings- crystallizes around these images like amber. Arrested within it, the house, the past, is clear, vivid, made more beautiful by the medium in which it is held and by its stillness" (394).

Eva Hoffman

Lost in Translation by Eva Hoffman

From The Norton Book of Woman's Lives by Phyllis Ross

    Lost in Translation, by Eva Hoffman, dives into the challenges she dealt with when she was faced with differences in language and culture. After leaving Poland, Eva was only around English people from this point on, which in turn meant she had to grow accustomed to the English language and slang. Eva, having such a strong passion for the Polish culture and language, feels as though her "native tongue" (387) is gone and feels as if she doesn't "really exist" (389). With such a culture shift, Eva needed to adapt on the outside as well. She seems to be more on the high-maintenance side when it comes to her looks, which brings her to give herself a makeover and make sure she keeps a smile on her face so she would blend in more. As Eva spends more and more time in Vancouver, she begins to transform herself into an independent and confident woman and learns to articulate her words in a new and mature way.