Andrew Sullivan: The Daily Dish
This site features the more spontaneous writing of Andrew Sullivan, whose essay “If Love Were All” is included in this section of The Conscious Reader. The site will help you learn not only more about the author, but also about the kinds of informal writing in which writers engage.
Victorian Women: Social History
This page from the Victorian Web provides useful cultural and historical contexts for the work of women writers Mary Wollstonecraft, Kate Chopin, and Virginia Woolf, whose writing is included in this section of The Conscious Reader.
Why Societies Collapse: Jared Diamond at Princeton University
This discussion with Jared Diamond provides an introduction to his anthropological method, the approach that informs the excerpt from Diamond’s Why is Sex Fun? included in this section of The Conscious Reader
Robert Bly, American Poet
This site provides background information on Robert Bly’s life and work. It is especially useful in understanding Bly’s interest in male friendship, which informs his poem “After Drinking All Night with a Friend, ” and Andrew Sullivan’s essay “If Love Were All. ”
Kate Chopin: In Search of Freedom
This site discusses the biography and work of Kate Chopin in relation to the pressures of marriage and gender. It raises many possible issues for discussion around “A Respectable Woman” as well as other works that address women’s roles.
“ Some Reflections Upon Marriage” by Mary Astell
This essay from 1700 is one of the earliest British feminist statements on the effects of marriage upon women, so providing a context for the views of Wollstonecraft, Lawrence, Chopin, and Porter, whose work is included in this section of The Conscious Reader.
The William Blake Archive
This site provides access to both Blake’s visual and literary art. As such, it can supply a useful interdisciplinary perspective on the author of “ The Clod and the Pebble” and “ The Garden of Love.” It also provides useful links to other sites about the author.
Shakespeare Online: The Sonnets
This site provides the texts of Shakespeare’s sonnets. Reading more of the sonnets can supplement your understanding of Shakespeare’s Sonnets 29 and 116, which are included in this section, and broaden your understanding of Shakespeare’s views on male/male and male/female relationships.
KQED Forum: Leo Braudy
This link provides access to an audio interview with Leo Braudy, author of “ Arms and the Man.” The interview will help you learn more about the author’s research into the male gender.
The Carson McCullers Project
This site provides background, texts, and links for the further study of Carson McCullers, author of “ The Sojourner.”
