The author I chose to research  for our final presentation is Sarah Orne Jewett.  I read two articles about her life: one from LitFinder Contemporary Collection, published in 2007 and another called “Feminist Writers”, published in 1996.

-She was born and died in a small town along the rugged coast of Maine called South Berwick.  This is relevant because her rural upbringing had a lot of influence in her love of nature and a lot of her work was set in Coastal Maine.  It’s also important to note where she was born because she was considered a “regional” writer, meaning her writing portrayed a  specific geographic region’s people, scenery and customs authentically.

-In a letter to a friend, Jewett wrote: “I determined to teach the world that country people were not the awkward, ignorant set those people seemed to think. I wanted the world to know their grand, simple lives; and, so far as I had a mission, when I first began to write, I think that was it.”  I think “A White Heron” definitely embodies that statement.  She uses her story to show what a wonderful life young Sylvia has in the countryside, with her birds and trees.  Although it’s a simple life, Sylvia is happiest there.

–The short story we read for class, “A White Heron,” was first rejected by the Atlantic Monthly for being “too sentimental” but it was later published in a whole collection of short stories.

-She had a “Boston marriage” with her lifelong friend, Annie Fields(after the death of Annie Field’s husband, James).  I only mention this because it was probably quite unusual in the late 1800’s.  It is also relevant because one of Jewett’s books(The Country Doctor) is about a woman who wants to pursue a career in medicine and refuses to marry, even though she is in love.  The character in the story wants to focus on her goals and sees marriage as incompatible with that, much like Jewett herself.

ARTICLES 
Sarah Orne Jewett.” LitFinder Contemporary Collection, Gale, 2007. Gale Literature: LitFinder, https://link-gale-com.proxy.wexler.hunter.cuny.edu/apps/doc/LTF0000035391BI/GLS?u=cuny_hunter&sid=GLS&xid=82929a23. Accessed 12 Aug. 2020.

“Sarah Orne Jewett.” Feminist Writers, edited by Pamela Kester-Shelton, St. James Press, 1996. Gale Literature Resource Center, https://link-gale-com.proxy.wexler.hunter.cuny.edu/apps/doc/K2410000142/GLS?u=cuny_hunter&sid=GLS&xid=d554e333. Accessed 12 Aug. 2020.