Hannah Barlow Ms. Gardner English 10 per 1 24 November 2013 A Word of Critique Snodgrass, Mary Ellen.

In the Time of the Butterflies. Blooms Literature. Facts on File, Inc. Web. 18 Nov. 2013 Using direct quotations and references, the article on In the Time of the Butterflies brief outlines the story and provides clarifying information about the symbolism that is displayed throughout the novel. It connects the theme of the story to each character and explains how the author, Julia Alvarez, subtly created a web of empowering actions for the characters to take. Furthermore, the article always refers back to the main thesis that the novel is about Las Mariposas and how the girls develop their rebellious characters throughout the story, also helping the readers develop a concrete understanding.

For anyone reading Julia Alvarezs story of rebellion, they are most likely caught up in the cloud of symbolism and imagery. This article brings light to new and complex thoughts that expand the readers mind and help to explicate the ideas of feminism and the price of freedom. Instead of a boring, difficult to understand review, this critique was easy to understand and insightfully exemplified the important parts in the story. Additionally, the author of the article artfully discussed the main relationship of tyranny and its victims to gain the readers interest in content.

Hannah Barlow Ms. Gardner English 10 per 1 24 November 2013 Analytical Words of Advice Mills, Fiona. "In the Time of the Butterflies." Bloom's Literature. Facts On File, Inc. Web. 25 Nov. 2013. The article written by Mills, is one that explains to the readers what the author was trying to achieve through different techniques, and how that affected the larger theme of the story. The article summarizes the characters lives, and separates the sisters into their own categories; it simplifies the girls into just their personalities and goals in the book. Additionally, Mills makes a connection between the feminism and transformation motifs in the novel. She writes about how Alvarez portrays those, using symbols and certain events to prove her point.

Although the critique was insightful, and clarifying, I would not recommend it to a student who needed a direct review of the story. It was not helpful in gaining a new perspective, since most of the article was summary and analysis. Some parts of the critique were enlightening, however, and a younger scholar could refer to it for a more analytical point of view regarding the characters and themes of the book. The insight Mills provided was impeccably written, and made the article stronger, making up for the lack of opinion and voice.

Hannah Barlow Ms. Gardner English 10 per 1 24 November 2013 A Feminine Fighter Werlock, Abby H. P., ed. "Alvarez, Julia." Bloom's Literature. Facts On File, Inc. Web. 26 Nov. 2013. Werlocks biography on author Julia Alvarez is educational, and interesting to read. It gives background on Alvarezs life in the Dominican Republic and her immigration to New York. The information in the biography enhances what we, as an audience, already know about the inspirational writer; it talks about the awards her books have received, her family life and origins, and how she became an author. Along with background information on Alvarezs life, Werlock provides additional information about her books and how they connect to Alvarezs life. Werlock uses the cultural connections of the Dominican Republic to clarify the historical aspects of Julia Alvarezs life and the details that she includes in her books. Werlocks precise and to the point diction helps the readers to get an inside look at Alvarezs life; it helps the readers to understand the relationship between the author and her writing. The connections were insightful, the information was reliable, and overall the bibliographic article was a significant help in learning more about Julia Alvarezs background.

Hannah Barlow Ms. Gardner English 10 per 1 27 November 2013 An Author of Culture Teekell, Anna. "Alvarez, Julia." Bloom's Literature. Facts On File, Inc. Web. 28 Nov. 2013. Teekells biography is a compact, detailed amount of information that gives the most important that pertains to Alvarezs background, and her life as an author. It begins with a quote that shows a piece of what Julia Alvarez believes in, and a glimpse of her personal character. Leading in to the biography Teekell provides background information that exemplifies what kind of author Alvarez is, and has become. The biography touches lightly on the history of her stories; it connects the history to explanations of why Alvarez wrote her books.

This bibliographical article would be considerably helpful for a student or teacher to gain brief knowledge about the author of the books that theyve been reading in class. The short length, and carefully selected facts give a clear representation of Alvarezs life, and the importance of her books. Furthermore, the article provides textual evidence, accompanying it with insight to demonstrate Alvarezs capabilities of writing.

Hannah Barlow Ms. Gardner English 10 per 1 29 November 2013 A Womens Rights Snodgrass, Mary Ellen. "Womens rights and feminist literature." Bloom's Literature. Facts On File, Inc. Web. 1 Dec. 2013. The lengthy, detailed, and thorough article written by Snodgrass begins with the topic of how literature has assisted womens rights, and portrayed the lack of womens rights. The article gives examples of authors such as Louisa May Alcott, who wrote in the search for a solution to the predicament that women were in. Continuing on, Snodgrass referenced other writers: poets, journalists, and novelists. The overview of the article would stand to say that womens rights should be a required function of nationalism, and sexual equality should be attained.

Using advanced diction, and abundant syntactical variety, Snodgrasss article was extremely academic and formal. A variety of reading sources and quotes proved to be helpful in learning more about womens rights, and equality. However, the information was difficult to pick out from the numerous quotations that were embedded in the article; therefore, it lacked in clarity and direction. This piece would be relevant to older age levels, who were searching for reliable pieces to use for research.

Hannah Barlow Ms. Gardner English 10 per 1 1 December 2013 Fight for what is Right Wayne, Tiffany K. "women's rights and transcendentalism." Bloom's Literature. Facts On File, Inc. Web. 1 Dec. 2013.

Waynes article on womens rights focuses on who was initiating the changes and what was being done to change the patterns. The main topic of the article was transcendentalists: discussing their goals of changing how the woman sees the world, and how the world sees the woman. Margaret Fuller, and her literary accomplishments were also applauded in the work, along with information about the first womens rights convention.

Wayne used an effective technique of adding a few evidential pieces of support to what the article was talking about, allowing the readers to stay interested without losing track of what they were reading. It gave clear and clarifying information, by which readers could gain substantial knowledge on the womens rights reforms. The diction and vocabulary was easy to understand, and overall the article was extremely helpful in discovering the history of how women came by new rights and privileges.