Contextual Documents for Undergraduate Study Guide

(please forgive the formatting issues below...)
I've included in my contextual documents a frontispiece image of the 1801 edition of Tabitha Tenney’s Female Quixotism. This image provides an initial text for consideration of the novel and its possible rhetorical stance. And it’s simply interesting to see the original frontispiece. I will find out how to make it visible on this site.

“Biographical. Samuel Tenney, M.D. Original.”The Literary Gazette 1.8 (1834-1835) 14 Nov. 1834:            American Periodicals Series Online, ProQuest. Web. 5 Nov. 2010.

                This short article provides a historical biographical sketch of the husband of Tabitha Tenney and mentions her as “favorably known” while detailing the life and business of Samuel primarily. Although this text is short on explicit biographical detail of Tabitha Tenney, the reader may yet indirectly glean biographical information of her.

CLIO. “On Female Education.” The Royal American Magazine, or Universal Repository  of Instruction and Amusement (1774-1775) 1 Jan. 1774: American Periodicals Series Online, ProQuest.  Web.    5 Nov. 2010.

                This article written (by “CLIO.”) just before our nation’s independence speaks of the necessity to educate the minds of females which are “rich with native genius and noble sentiment.”  However, kind as that may sound, the article also goes on to emphasize the worth of educating “the fair sex” in order to bless those who “live under their care” and pass on learning to children. These are not necessarily bad ideas, but if this is all early American women were allowed to do with their education, then this article may easily be viewed as another revealer of the oppressive nature of early American female education. In short, this text briefly highlights the emphasis on the education of women in the earliest days of our budding nation, but it also reveals some of the possibly problematic motives behind that desire to educate.

Hayden, G. “The Choice of a Husband.” The North - Carolina Magazine; or, Universal Intelligencer 1.14 (1764-1765): 31 Aug. 1764: American Periodicals Series Online, ProQuest. Web. 5 Nov. 2010.

                This is a poem that addresses young females and warns them of the dangers of focusing too much attention on appearances, the latest fashions, youthful marriage, romantic notions, etc. Hayden also encourages young women in this poem to seek a more comprehensive education in order to avoid folly (advice that Tenney’s Dorcasina Sheldon would have done well to accept and apply).

Kelley, Mary. Learning to Stand and Speak: Women, Education, and Public Life in America’s Republic. Williamsburg, VA: University of North Carolina Press, 2006. Print.

                This text sheds light on the educational system of early America. The reader of Tenney’s Female Quixotism will gain from a reading of this text as it guides a consideration of early American education. Where/how/if Tenney’s heroin breaks from this system is beneficial to an analysis of Female Quixotism.

McMahon, Lucia. “‘Of the Utmost Importance to Our Country:’ Women, Education, and Society 1780-  1820.” Journal of the Early Republic 29 (2009): 475-506. Print.

                This article sheds much light on the subject of early American education of women and the stated purposes for it. This article also lends great insight into the historical emphasis on women’s education around the time of Tenney’s Female Quixotism.

Rush, Benjamin. “Thoughts Upon the Mode of Education Proper in a Republic.” 1786. School Choices. http://www.schoolchoices.org/roo/ruch.htm 1998. Web. 5 Nov. 2010.

                This abrasive text preaches a doctrine of strict uniformity in education that will produce proper submission to governing authorities and laws of the republic. This text is helpful for the Female Quixotism reader in its service of illuminating early American education goals as well as the glaring contrast between the potential product of such a system and Tenney’s Dorcasina Sheldon.