Week 2 reading summary/reflection essay

Almost every week you have a reading/reflective essay due on Fridays. As a general set of guidelines, these informal essays have the following learning outcomes:

1. Prompt further thinking about the ideas/issues raised in the reading through the process of writing. This includes articulating, in your own words, some of the major ideas/issues included in the readings (you will not be able to cover them all, nor are you expected to).

2. Reflect on the social importance, or "stakes" of the ideas/issues raised.

3. Reflect upon the personal importance to you of the ideas/issues raised in the readings, and connect these to your life. 

4. Provide a tangible form of your reading comprehension for your instructor to assess your understanding of these ideas/issues.

Format: Your essays should be 2-3 pages, double-spaced, 12pt font. I am most concerned that you communicate clearly, so any style of writing (informal, academic, narrative, etc.) that accomplished this is acceptable to me. No citations are necessary unless your draw from sources outside of course readings. Upload your essays to Canvas (do not cut and paste into the dialogue box).

This week, I would like you to summarize the main characteristics of early or "first generation" feminists arts in the United States. What issues did these artists raise about patriarchy and its representation of "woman"? How did they seek to redefine and revalue the feminine? What did they critique, overtly or implicitly? I would like you to choose one work from two different artists as your main examples (2 art works total). Be sure to include some discussion of "essentialism" in your essay.