I Want a Wife and Why I Want a Husband Response Questions

1.       Do these essays have a traditional, explicitly stated thesis?  If so, what is it (for each)?  If you believe the thesis or purpose is implied for both essays, paraphrase each in your own words.

I think the thesis for both essays are implied.  For the essay “I Want a Wife” the thesis is based around the importance of a wife and her duties to her family.  For the essay “Why I Want a Husband” the thesis is based around the importance of a husband and his duties to his family.

2.       Throughout the essay, Brady repeats the words “I want a wife” and Fernsler repeats “I want a husband.”  What is the effect of this repetition?

In both essays they are restating the facts that they want either a wife or a husband to remind the reader of the topic.  I think by emphasizing these words it gives the reader an outline of the duties which the authors think the positions hold.

3.       Brady never uses the personal pronouns he or she to refer to the wife she defines.  Why do you think she makes this choice?  What about Fernsler’s pronoun usage?  Is he equally “genderless”?  How does his pronoun usage impact or affect the essay?

I think she uses this genderless approach because anyone could be a wife.  It doesn’t have to be a woman which can fulfill these duties it could also be her husband to help her out as well.  When adding the personal pronouns she limits the duties to just a female figure.  Fernsler’s approach is not genderless.  He uses personal pronouns, which implies he is talking about a male figure only.  He is stating that these particular duties cannot be fulfilled by a female but a male only.

4.       The first and last paragraphs of each essay are quite brief.  Why do you think Brady and Fernsler chose to write such short introductory and concluding paragraphs?  What effect does it have on the reader?

I think they wrote short introductory and concluding paragraphs because it keeps the essay short and sweet.  They do not reiterate the essay but simply bring it to a modest conclusion.  They state precisely what the essay will be about and a simple concluding idea at the end.  It has the effect of a simple read for the reader helping the reader understand exactly what the writer was trying to say.

5.       Do you think both authors really want the kind of wife and husband each describes—does this ideal spouse actually exist?  Explain why you think Brady wrote her essay in the early 1970s—and then what motivated Fernsler to respond in the late 1980s...what does each essay say about the time period in which they were written?

I think they are trying to say that wives and husbands have duties which are taken for granted.  I don’t think they want a wife or a husband exactly like they describe, but they are trying to say they do a lot of things which go unrecognized.  The times have definitely changed over the ten year period gap between the original writing and the response.  The “duties” of husbands and wives have been altered during that change leading to more responsibilities and stress placed on both parental figures.