What a Shocker!

When I first started reading Little Lord Fauntleroy, I thought that it was written by a man based on what Professor Irvin had told us. I too, was surprised but not really shocked to find out that it was written by a woman. It makes sense when you look at the word choices and emotion shown throughout the story. Knowing the gender of the author changes how you view the story and the meaning you make of the lessons.

Whenever I read a story, knowing the author to me is key for how you perceive their message. If a story is written from a male's point of view, I will try to think how a man thinks or understand that this is a male. The same goes for a female author and her story she is writing. For example, if a male wrote a story about his parent's divorce it would sound completely different than from a female's point of view. There would be less emotion shown, more feelings kept inside and probably more anger than sadness. When you can't tell the gender of the male, you put your own emotions into the story and take their point of view and add how you would feel. It makes the story your own when you don't quite know if the author is male or female.

When reading Little Lord Fauntleroy, I found it strange that a male author would use such girly terms or make Cedric so pretty. In the beginning, we have a description of little Cedric and he is described as having "quantity of soft, fine, gold-colored hair, which curled up at the ends, and went into loose rings by the time he was six months old". Thinking that Frances was a male, I was surprised at how much detail was put and how pretty he made the boy. Later he also added, "He had big brown eyes and long eyelashes and a darling little face". Now knowing that Frances is a woman, it will make the rest of the details more comprehensive. The rest of the story I can picture from a woman's point of view and make more sense of her story.