The Beginning of an Extensive Outline

This is the beginning of my extensive outline for the research paper. I have a lot done but there is still plenty to do. This is probably not even a third of the paper but it is getting there and I hope to flush out the rest over Thanksgiving!

Anger and Wollstonecraft

Outline

1.     Etymology

a.     Anger hails from Old Norse Terminology.

                                               i.     Used in Middle English in 1325.

1.     Rooted from angyr, angir and angre.

a.     “Na man may to heven ga, Bot-if he thole here anger and wa,” is a quote from Richard Rolle in The Pricke of Concious.

                                                                                                     i.     I think that this is the simplest term of anger. Rooted within anger is fear and that ultimate fear is hell. If an individual is shrouded in anger, then they will not be able to attain heaven after death.

b.     Anger as a Noun

                                               i.     “That which pains or afflicts; the passive feeling which it produces; trouble, affliction, vexation, sorrow.” (OED)

1.     This idea of a passive feeling which it produces is interesting. Prompts the idea that anger is fueled by frustration and the passivity that controls it.

a.     Once the passivity is gone, the aggression is revealed and that frustration turns into anger.

2.     “Deliuer me from this anger þat I dwelle in,” is a quote from the Gesta Romanorum.

a.     It describes that anger really is an affliction. It lingers and consumes an individual’s conscious.

                                             ii.     “The active feeling provoked against the agent; passion, rage, ire, wrath, hot displeasure.” (OED)

1.     This reflects the idea that there has to be an issue or dilemma that provokes the anger.

a.     In turn, this would obviously be something that an individual was passionate about. If there was an issue with their desires.

b.     The idea of anger stems from something uncomfortable and frustrating as well.

2.     “Anger is a vehement heat of the minde, which brings palenesse to the countenance, burning to the eyes, and trembling to the parts of the body.” A quote from J. Smith’s Myst. Rhetorique.

a.     The descriptors within this sentence paint a picture for what the body language of anger is.

b.     Burning eyes gives off the illusion of anger and the fury that resonates behind anger.

                                                                                                     i.     Adds to the idea of passion being compromised.

c.     Anger as a Verb

                                               i.     “To distress, trouble, vex, hurt, wound.” (OED)

1.     Distress into wounding is an interesting correspondence between the feelings of anger. Distress seems that there is just some unrest, but not anger. A wound seems as if there is a deep gash in the skin and that is causing severe anger.

                                             ii.     “Hence through the idea of irritate: to excite to wrath, make angry, enrage.” (OED)

1.     To excite to wrath is an interesting idea. Excite seems like something is happy and fun but it seems that this excite is to stimulate. Wrath seems to be a loaded word that is fueled by previous angry encounters and demeanors.

2.     “A person free from passion, whom none could anger out of his ordinary temper.” From T. Fuller’s Worthies.

a.     This quote reflects the opposite demeanor of anger, but shows the function of what could force anger.

b.     Reveals that if an individual isn’t passionate about something then they will have nothing to become angry or excited about. There is nothing that can be taken away or threatened within their life.

2.     Wollstonecraft

a.     “It is time to effect a revolution in female manners—time to restore to them their lost dignity—and make them, as part of the human species, labor by reforming themselves, to reform a world.” (Wollstonecraft 255)

                                               i.     Mary Wollstonecraft dedicated her world to feminism and change the roles of women within the world.

1.     This clearly dictated her passion and where anger can stem from.

2.     Although she is angry, she still manages to remain composed throughout her piece, A Vindication of the Rights of Women.

a.     This piece effectively represents the stages of anger: discomfort, frustration, anger and fury.

b.     “It is in this context that A Vindication of the Rights of Woman presents the first fully elaborated feminist criticism of misogynist images of women in literature as well as the first sustained argument for female political, economic, and legal equality.” (Wollstonecraft 255)

                                                                                                     i.     This quote is from the Introduction of the piece. It shows that Wollstonecraft is educated and passionate about this subject, therefore verifying that her anger is truly stemming from passion and not just from unjustified revenge.

b.     I want to explore the evolution of her anger and how it spins into varying pieces of the anger chain.

                                               i.     Wollstonecraft begins her argument calm and composed.

1.     She achieves this by simply stating facts and casually including her beliefs as well.

a.     “Yet, because I am a woman, I would not lead my readers to suppose that I mean violently to agitate the contested question respecting the equality or inferiority of the sex;” (Wollstonecraft 259)