The Diary of a Shirtwaist Striker

I like how the text seems as if it's coming straight from the mouth of the author... I mean, literally, the way that it's written seems exactly how I would talk on day to day terms. I like the fact that it's a diary, which makes it far more personal and "in your face" than if it were prose or whatever you want to call it... It's just neat that it's in journal form. It certainly has an effect on the mood of the reader because you can hear the author fight within herself about whether she believes in the cause or not and see how she reaches her conclusions step by step. You feel more connected.

I guess the part so far that had the most significant impact on me was the conversation between the narrator and her father, and right afterwards with Jim, her boyfriend. I know that, at this point in time, women's rights and labor laws were really not on the political agenda; however, it's so strange to think that her father and her boyfriend would be so cruel and insensitive to 1) something her father has an active role in already, and 2) to the narrator when they are about to be married. Does Jim not care about the things the narrator does? Were men just "that way" back then when it came to the women they were around on a daily basis?

I liked the scene where she's talking with the Mayor, and she mentions how Rose is barely scraping by to take care of her family since her father died. Here's a pretty profound quote from the text:
" 'My child, there is no use of getting excited over it. We will look into the matter and try to punish the guilty.' Yes, I believe him -- we will be the guilty party and he'll surely punish us." (97)

It's just sad to think of how women were regarded during this time in history, and how the Mayor and so many others just turn a blind eye to how bad the situation is for some of the poorer class.