Liam O'Toole -- The Woman (did you mean Women?) of Flatland

  Your essay on Edwin Abbott Abbott's use of satire in his depiction
  of the women of Flatland is excellent, as usual.  As we heard from
  Tom Banchoff last week, Abbott's own views were diametrically opposed
  to those he puts into the mouth of A. Square. His satirical purpose
  should be obvious from the exaggerated ways A. Square denigrates
  women all through the novella.  

  Two other comments:  

  1)  It might be hard to appreciate for students today, but the kinds 
  of things A. Square says are also not all that far from things one
  used to hear all the time.  Look at the first seasons of the TV show 
  "Mad Men" (set in the 1960's) for an pretty realistic example of this. 
  Similarly, when I was growing up I remember hearing serious discussions 
  from "talking heads" about how women were too emotional and unstable to 
  be trusted with the sorts of decisions a President would have to make.  

  2) The other comment is that in your essay, the final paragraph does not 
  seem necessary this time.  You have made all of the points well, and 
  returning to sum them up again does not add very much.  
  At the end of the first sentence:  " ... of what he sees around"  seems
  to be missing something.  Did you mean "... of what he sees around him"?

  Content:  A

  Mechanics: A