Literature of Witness

I think that the purpose of a literature of witness is to share thoughts and feelings of what one knows. It is a chance to share with the world what you have learned, how you learned it, and what you got out of a certain experience. Zandy sums this all up in the beginning of the section by saying, "attentice listeners and speakers for those who have not had a chance top tell their own stories. These writers are not private crusaders, romanticizing the past, but rather witness bearers who use their historical memories and skills as narrators, poets, reporters, scholars, and songwriters to make visible the diverse culture and history of working people." (Zandy, 89). These women just want their thoughts and ideas to be heard. They don't want to sit by quietly and watch others pass. They want to be involved and they want people to know the work that they do. Not because they want people to feel guilty that they are working so hard for so little, but just to make themselves known. Zandy states, "Their purpose is not to evoke useless guilt but to make visible what is too often conveniently invisible." This is shown throughout the various passages in the section. For example, in "I Want You Women Up North to Know" (Olsen, 91), Olsen speaks much about sweat and blood and such that is put into their work. She is not telling the "women up north" that they should be doing the same. It seems to me that she is just asking them to recognize that she is visible, that she is human, and most importantly she is a woman as they are, but she leads a different life. Her pain and frustration is almost downplayed in the title, like she is saying, "just so you know, this is what I go through everyday", but her words are so powerful that you almost feel what she is feeling, and that certainly makes her visible to all of her readers.

Zandy, Janet. Bearing Witness. Calling Home: working class women's writings: an anthology edited and with an introduction by Janet Zandy. 89-90.

Olsen, Tillie. I Want You Women Up North to Know. Calling Home: working class women's writings: an anthology edited and with an introduction by Janet Zandy. 91-94.

Doan Ket

I enjoyed reading Doan Ket the most. I feel that it is very empowering. The way that she speaks of "coming toward each other, with praise and hear, without reservations of space. All shining and alight in solidarity. Transforming the wound into bread and children. In a new abundance, a global summer. " And my favorite part, "Tall and crying out in song we arise in mass meadows." (Sueur, 339). These few lines say a lot to me. They are saying that we [working women] will not be quite any longer. We will come together and show you that we are great. She uses the word solidarity very often and I think that is saying that although they may seem to be alone and have things "worse" than those who are of a higher social class, but they are going to raise up in one voice and show the world that they are something and that they can be more.

Sueur, Meridel Le. Doan Ket. Calling Home: working class women's writings: an anthology edited and with an introduction by Janet Zandy. 336-340.

Clara Sullivan's "Dear Editor"

I enjoyed reading Clara Sullivan's "Dear Editor". I think the main reason is while she is writing asking for a copy of a magazine, I think she has an alterior motive. She is clearly aware that she is writing to the Progressive Labor News. I think that she wants to make her story known. I don't believe that she JUST wants a copy of that magazine. She wants her voice to be heard, and if by writing to the editor of the Progressive Labor News will do that, then I say more power to her. I think that she is an intelligent woman and this clearly shows that she knows how to make herself heard. "The truth will out someday." (Sullivan, 126).

Sullivan, Clara. Dear Editor. Calling Home: working class women's writings: an anthology edited and with an introduction by Janet Zandy. 124-126.

Zandy's Introduction

There are two main ideas from Zandy's introduction that I found to be the most memorable. The line that stood out first was, "And their writing is not read in literature classes" (Zandy, 5). This sentence struck me the most because it is something that is valid to my life. I never really stopped to think about it, but when I read this sentence, I realized that the books that are assigned for the class have never previously been introduced to me. And for that matter, the only female that I have ever been introduced to in a literature class was, Erica Jong. Even in highschool, we were only assigned male authors, with the exception of Alice Walker. On my own, I have read a few female authors, but I have never stopped to think about whether the woman was a member of the working class or not.
The second idea that was of interest to me was that "class identity is easier to obscure and deny than gender and race identity" (Zandy, 2). There are things that one can do to mask their social class identity, for example, by changing the way one dresses, or how one uses words when speaking to members of a class higher than their own. But, it is not just the words that one says, or the specific topic in which they choose to speak, but it is also in the way that one says things. For example, different classes tend to have different accents. In my home town, for instance, there is the "farmer" , or poor, part of town, and the "rich" part of town, and language is completely different between the two. So I found it interesting that Zandy chose to compare the masking of class identity with that of race or gender masking. Which I guess in some cases can be done (i.e Michael Jackson, or G.I. Jane) but it is much more difficult than class masking.

Zandy, Janet. Calling Home: Working Class Women's Writings: an anthology edited and with an introduction by Janet Zandy. 1990 by Rutgers, The State University.