writing sample 1

this sample is one that i liked and really put some work into. the sample is from a pieces that i read about and got an idea about the authors . i named this work "a womans voice in a mans world"


“This is a man’s world” those words have been echoed throughout time. The individuals words before were lyrics from the late great James Brown and although he wasn’t the first to say them society has taken that rule to serious effect. You can see it in the music, media, and even home life that men have a silent but strong dominance in the world. Society is designed so that the man is the bread winner of the house and he gets the last say so about what happens, but what about the woman behind the man. We sometimes forget that some of the main figures in time and history could have been Average Joes if it had not been for their female counterparts.
During the Victorian era there was a small spot for any female anything to be heard. This new age brought forth technology due to the industrial revolution, but child labor and prostitution as well. You were either a wife or being prepped to be a wife, due to women taking the role of the “idiot”. Women were raised to be the simpleton type that waited on their husband hand and foot. Yes this seemed like a dark time, but there is a always a silver lining. Due to a few courageous women the thoughts and feelings of women all over were heard. Special women such as Elizabeth Browning and Christina Rossetti made a way for others to have a voice as well.
Both writers had different lives, but due to them both being women had similar hardships and trials. Each woman took her life and gifts and shared them with the world the best way they thought possible. For Rossetti her work took a more spiritual approach speaking up more about the holy connection as well as life. Browning however had a more upbeat loving approach making sonnets and poems about her life and secret love. They both were different but were the same in society’s eyes for reasons unheard of. Both women produced works that went for the heart and made you think, but were stern and had a strong message hidden.


Christina Rossetti was a woman with a remarkably strong character. Being born into the Victorian era (5 December 1830 – 29 December 1894) she was one of four children born and raised in London. Due to her father being a poet and political refugee Rossetti was influenced into the arts. However her father also played another role in the young girl’s life being the cause of her depression and illness when he himself declined in mental and physical health. At the age of 14 Rossetti left school and along with mother and sister got involved with the Anglo-Catholic movement. Due to Rossetti learning more about the Church of England she chose to live her life a different way as well, denying several suitors her hand in marriage due to religious reasons.
Looking over her work two poems stood out to me the most based off the fact that they reminded me of her character and ability to put the things she loved into her works. In the poem “dead before death” Rossetti takes the aspect of aging and makes it known that if you are that hurt by the fact that you are aging you already have died inside. She attacks the whole idea that ageing is a bad thing something that women of that time considered as natural law. In the other poem “An Apple Gathering” it depicts a young girl simply admiring her own beauty from plucking a flower out of an apple tree. At first it seems harmless but as the poem goes on as he goes to that same tree for apples it produces none, while all the other town folk enjoy the bounty of their trees. The young lady goes to see another girl from the town with her former lover and curses him in a way. The poem in my opinion represents how young girls shouldn’t flaunt their beauty because in the end their vanity will lead to their own sadness and demise.
Rossetti’s works gave a moral view that a lot of people didn’t see womanly, thus trying to downplay her talent. Her thinking stood out to a society that was male dominated, but it didn’t slow her down or stop her. Her dedication to the church and her work gave her an edge over other writers of her time.
Artist like Rossetti were few but the ones that were in demand were top quality. One other poet had the same feeling from a young age and let her talents take her to higher heights. That woman is Elizabeth Barrette Browning. Born March 6, 1806, in Country Durham, England Browning was the oldest out of twelve children. She took the initiative and was taught at home as well as with her brother’s tutor. This gave Browning the edge over most girls at the time having read novels such as paradise lost and other great epics. Her thirst for knowledge grew and she became well read as well as a somewhat spiritual woman. Keeping close ties to her family she continued to write and caught the ear of Robert browning, a fellow writer as well. Both poets fell for each other and went to Italy to be married in 1846. Browning work got better due to the influence of her husband and her success grew.
The two pieces that spoke to me were ones that gave browning the voice to say who she was while showing that she was still a woman. The first work “To George Sand” was a work that showed how articulate she was based off the simple fact that she recognized that she had knowledge of both sides of the fence and could put it into her works. We see it in the beginning of a recognition“true genius, but true woman!” The other poem was one that was in a way a direct product from her husband’s love. “From sonnets from the Portuguese” is in a way all the doubts and hopes of love that Elizabeth was facing in her courtship with Robert. It showed the human natural side to love and what it can really do to you.
Browning works reflected her heart to the letter in my opinion. Her way of thinking spilled off into her writing and she made it clear that a woman’s mind could be just as sharp as a man’s if not sharper. Her works paved the way for other women people to speak their minds through poetry and sonnets. Due to her influence in literature she broke down the wall where voice is dominated by male ego and superiority, and gave it a new spin in the light of day.

In conclusion both women paid a monumental debt to the literature world. Their works gave ideas to many other poets that we still read today. Artist like Edgar Allen Poe and Emily Dickinson were greatly influenced by browning works. For Rossetti her words are put into movies and modern pop culture shows such as American idol. Both browning and Rossetti are still remembered for their will to not settle for normality, but to stand out in individuality and for that we salute them by reading and keeping their works relevant. Their works not only give women inspiration now but all people to stand up and speak for what you believe in.