Women's Work Experience Through Personal Narrative

To prepare for this Assignment:

• Think about how you would describe women’s work experience based on your own personal, family, and/or social experience.
• Review the Sojourner Truth and Ensler readings from this week’s  Learning Resources. What does Truth say directly about women’s work  experience? What can you infer about women’s work experience from  Ensler?
• Review Carpenter-Aeby’s article for an example of personal narrative.
• Truth’s and Ensler’s works are considered examples of personal  narrative. What makes these works memorable? How effective are the  authors in getting their point across to their respective audiences?  What literary techniques do the authors employ to engage the audience?
• Consider whether Truth’s or Ensler’s messages would be more or less  powerful if it were in another literary form, such as an essay or a  short story, instead of a personal narrative. Why or why not?
• Review postings from this week’s Discussion to identify examples of  personal narrative in song lyrics regarding women’s work experiences. 

The Assignment:

Compose 1–2 pages responding to the following:

• What meaning did Truth’s “Look At Me! Ain’t I A Woman?” and Ensler’s In the Body of the World add to your understanding of women’s work experience? Evaluate the effectiveness of the literary form of personal narrative.
• Relate the case in the Carpenter-Aeby article to your analysis.  What does this article reveal about the power of the personal narrative  that is also evident in the works of Ensler and Truth?