Paired Texts > Excerpt from “Susan B. Anthony, The Woman”

by Helen Dare

1905

We've identified these texts as great options for text pairings based on similar themes, literary devices, topic, or writing style. Supplement your lesson with one or more of these options and challenge students to compare and contrast the texts. To assign a paired text, click on the text to go to its page and click the "Assign Text" button there.

9th Grade Poem
An Obstacle
  • Charlotte Perkins Gilman
  • 1884

In Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s poem “An Obstacle,” she urges us to remain strong when facing everyday obstacles. Gilman was writing as a feminist during a time when it was not socially acceptable to identify as such.

Pair “An Obstacle” with “Excerpts from ‘Susan B. Anthony, The Woman’” and ask students to consider how Anthony might respond to Gilman’s poem in the light of what they learned about her from this interview. How would Anthony interpret the poem? What ideas about the world might Charlotte Perkins Gilman and Susan B. Anthony share? How do both of these texts inform students’ understanding of the status of women during the late 19th and early 20th centuries?

11th Grade Speech 1170L
Testimony Before the Senate Hearings on the Equal Rights Amendment
  • Gloria Steinem
  • 1970

Gloria Steinem (1934-present) is an American feminist, journalist, author, and social-political activist. She gained national recognition as a leader of the “Second Wave” feminist movement in the 1960s and 1970s. On May 6th, 1970, Gloria Steinem stood before the Senate and delivered this speech, advocating for the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) and seeking to dispel myths about women.

Pair “Testimony before the Senate Hearings on the Equal Rights Amendment” with “Excerpts from ‘Susan B. Anthony, The Woman’” and ask students to consider how Steinem and Anthony exhibit different perspectives in their fight for women’s rights. How does Steinem’s testimony represent progress from the time of Susan B. Anthony? What issues appear in both Steinem’s testimony and Anthony’s interview?

11th Grade Historical Document 1430L
Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions
  • Elizabeth Cady Stanton
  • 1848

“The Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions” is a document written by suffragette Elizabeth Cady Stanton and signed by 68 women and 32 men at the Seneca Falls Convention — the first women’s rights convention. This number represents 100 people who signed the following document, out of a total of 300 people who were in attendance at the convention, showing how “The Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions” was controversial in its time.

Pair “Declarations of Sentiments and Resolutions” with “Excerpt from ‘Susan B. Anthony, The Woman’”and ask students to discuss how this interview reveals how the public might have viewed the “Declaration.” What does the interviewer reveal about the public’s sentiment towards the women’s suffrage movement? How might the “Declaration” have contributed to controversy around women’s rights and suffrage? How are Susan B. Anthony’s views embodied by this document?

10th Grade Speech 1200L
First Lady Hillary Clinton’s Address to the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women
  • First Lady Hillary Clinton
  • 1995

In the speech “First Lady Hillary Clinton’s Address to the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women,” Clinton tells the United Nations why women’s rights are human rights and encourages the world to protect those rights.

Pair “First Lady Hillary Clinton’s Address to the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women” with “Excerpt from ‘Susan B. Anthony, The Woman’” and ask students to compare and contrast the goals of Clinton and Anthony. What do these texts reveal about how the status of women changed over time?