Learning Goal: I’m working on a history writing question and need an explanation and answer to help me learn.
Using any source, choose a quote about women in general, quote by a specific woman, or about a specific woman. Words of Wisdom
Take into consideration the following questions
Who was this woman?
When and where did she (or they) live?
Does it tell us anything about the woman’s personality? What?
Does it tell us anything about the period she lived in? What?
Research the historic context of the quote. Example: Who was Boadaceia? What happened to cause her to rail against “Roman lust?”
Do some gender and class analysis.
For each quote, or selected quotes, ask: Could a man have said this? Why or why not? A slave? A peasant?
If only a female could have said this, give reasons why.
Select some quotes by men and analyze them in the same way.