Girlhood and marriage. In today’s world we would not commonly put these two words together, however unfortunately for Charlotte Temple within the novel Charlotte Temple by Susanna Rowson, this is a life changing choice that Charlotte must make. This novel follows the life of Charlotte Temple that is forever changed when she follows a love … Continue reading Charlotte Temple: Guilt and Control throughout Adolescence →

Ella Kornacki Dr. Kirsten Paine Representing Adolescents in Literature 20 September 2019 Truth and Control             Susanna Rowson’s, “Charlotte Temple”, depicts the tragic life and death of a misguided girl to serve as a warning to those who attempt to control the youth by withholding valuable information.             Charlotte Temple’s parents strive to protect her by sheltering … Continue reading Truth and Control in Charlotte Temple →

Charlotte Temple’s poverty, or lack of wealth is one of the main catalysts for Charlotte’s loss of innocence and ultimate demise. Charlotte Temple serves as almost a warning or moral guide for young women in this time period as they approach adulthood and search for a husband. In Charlotte Temple, Rowson criticizes the social trend … Continue reading Happiness over Wealth →

The main topic I noticed while reading The Lowell Offering was the lack of control the girls had in their lives. We discussed in class that these girls probably had more control over their lives than they would have normally if they did not work at the factory due to the leisure time they were offered … Continue reading Control in The Lowell Offering →

In the 18th century, a girl’s future was built upon being the ideal woman – a beautiful housewife who looked after her children. As a result, girls were brought up in an ideology where marriage is the utmost important aspect to life. It was as if their end goal is to get married to a respectable … Continue reading Her Husband →

The easily recognized disparity that exists between poverty and wealth extends beyond that of life experiences. The way the rich versus the poor live has changed very little over the last 200 years. The general themes still exist: uneducated versus educated, large, extravagant homes compared to shared apartments, job titles, and so on. While our … Continue reading The Disparity Between Poverty and Wealth →

Charlotte Temple, dependent on nearly everyone around her, is easily cast as an adolescent with no power. This is especially true within her own family or her relationships with other people, including her so-called lover, Montraville. Susanna Rowson’s groundbreaking, first of its kind novel Charlotte Temple is a reflective work about adolescence, placing its protagonist … Continue reading Charlotte Temple and Her Lack of Agency →

In the novel of her namesake, Charlotte Temple takes on a world of bad experiences as a result of her quest for autonomy.  As was discussed in class, Charlotte is a teenager in the eighteenth century struggling through the consequences of her own choices.  We qualified autonomy as something more than one’s own ability to … Continue reading Charlotte Temple and The Adolescent Quest for Autonomy →

Erick Patterson Throughout the semester in class, we have discussed many different aspects of the adolescent experience from sexuality, to gender, to race. However, one that stands out to me, and that I would like to talk about, is how teenagers learn how to cultivate friendships with each other. We have seen this topic arise … Continue reading Teenage Communication with Social Media →

Growing up with a single, working mother was never something I resented as a child—well, until adolescence. I vividly remember my first sleepover at my friend Hannah’s house, walking in, and seeing not one parent, but two. I had been exposed to the typical American nuclear family before—at classroom Halloween parties, my neighbor’s home during … Continue reading The Nuclear American Family: The Family I Never Knew →