Times They Are Changing...

Yes, that's right. My final project changed dramatically between the proposal and the draft.

For those who've been nuts enough to read my drivel, I was originally going to write about the simultaneity of silence and voice exhibited by Avery. (I even had an awesome title: Explosive Silence!" Yeah, don't you just love it!) The intent was to offer an alternative reading to the only two scholarly works I could find that specifically addressed Williams' narrative. However, as I began to compile and read my sources, I found few that seemed to directly touch upon my selected idea. I was, frankly, extremely frustrated with this to the point that I was convinced I'd have to make something up; but then, fear got the better of me and I kept on pulling out source after source. I tried a variety of approaches: Law and Patriarchy vs. Women; Women against a Patriarchial Voice; Patriarchy's Voice and Violence against Women... None of these bore any fruit.

So, I backed up and went back to Caldwell and DeWaard late last week (after my presentation) and considered their sentimental take again. I juxtaposed this beside the Kasserman book, Fall River Outrage: Life, Murder, and Justice in Early Industrial New England, and noticed something: While there's very little on Avery, there's quite a bit on Cornell as a woman stuck within two faults: one that clings to traditional values and another in Fall River itself that is moving in a new direction. I went back and looked at Williams' text and realized that she herself was struggling with how to represent Fall River's status as an industrial town; in particular, to what degree was Fall River itself culpable in Cornell's death.

So, I went back and considered texts that evaluated conduct rhetoric, female chastity (or lack thereof) and found that if one anthropomorphized Fall River, Williams treats it on one hand as a wronged husband (similarly to how the male relations of female victims regarded rapists) and, on the other, as the seducer. Avery, then, becomes a shadow of his former self.

While I won't go as far as to say that I'm pleased with the results, I was pleased that I found enough material in the book and beyond it to write something that I actually got excited about writing. The current draft is far from polished and I know that I want to add more to it, but not the point that the overall effect will be lost.

Guess I'll find out when someone reviews it...