After watching the video and reading The Lamplighter, I have come to the decision that young girls in the nineteenth century share much of the same needs and desires as contemporary girls, and contrast each other in only a few ways. I think that some of the contrasts are rather obvious, so I plan to discuss the similarity and miniscule contrast that I have discovered.
In the video, eight year old Anna is struggling to find balance in her life, while in The Lamplighter, Gerty is also fighting to find a sense of stability. Anna resorts to yoga to bring her the peace and serenity she strives for. Gerty, on the other hand, goes to other people to find support to figure out how to balance out her life. She has deep conversations with Emily Graham about faith and her need to change from being bad to being good. On page 141, Gerty is trying to sort out who she wants to be by letting go of her “bad” ways to become a good little girl (or at least find a happy medium). Miss Graham tells her that she “can be good,” which affirms to Gerty that she has the power to settle down her anger and calm herself in stressful situations. Therefore the way each girl went about finding balance is different. Anna finds stress-relief by herself, through stretching and breathing. Gerty leans on others to give her the push she needs to seek balance. Both, though they took different approaches, are trying to find a way to deal with the stresses of their lives.
Anna and Gerty are much in the same. Both of these little girls are looking for balance in their life, even if their stresses are very different. The way the contemporary girl, Anna, approaches her stress-relief is unlike the way Gerty deals with hers, but their ultimate goal remains the same – seek out balance and stability in their changing lives.
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I also went along with the theme of girls needing to find balance. I believe that is a very important aspect of girl's lifes in the nineteenth century as well as today. I thought it was awesome how you used Gerty's way of finding balance as her conversations with her elders about faith. Great Job!
ReplyDeleteI love how you compared Anna's yoga to Gerty turning towards people to help push her in the right direction of balance. I had never thought of Gerty's dependence on others as a way of her seeking balance before! Good thinking!
ReplyDeleteMandy, I like how you realized that both Gerty and Anna are going through the same kind of pressures in society, but they both go about them different ways. Anna learns to deal with it herself, through yoga, and Gerty learns from others who influence her. Good job on finding a clear comparison and contrast in both of them!
ReplyDeleteI agree with what you said about both of the girls finding balance, but I think Anna does a better job of it. Gerty never really seems to find balance and never knows how to stay calm and gather her thoughts. She seems to act compulsively, where Anna just stays calm and figures out the best way to stay balanced. All Gerty can ever do is lash out or cry to release emotions, rather than not losing control. I think Gerty strives for balance, but does not ever achieve it.
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