Renee Pruente Response 1

The opportunity to explore All the Year Round and Household Words has allowed me to connect to the Victorians. At first I was a bit overwhelmed and not quite sure where to begin my search. I began to look at the index until something interesting caught my eye.  Each page I turned, I handled delicately. I was very nervous I was going to tear the pages. The books had a rough texture and smelled like musk.  Each book had its own persona and character. The binding of the book were very interesting. Whether the bindings were half-leather or not, I felt as if these books were made with great care.   

I really enjoyed reading in the Rare Book Room because I feel as if the importance of books has decreased over time. In today’s society it has become common to read books with the help of technology or audio books. In my opinion holding a book and psychically turning the pages of a book adds to the experience. The Rare Book Room was a very interesting place to read a book. All the room itself was small, it made the reading situation cozy. The togetherness made it feel as if we were a family within our house. I almost felt as if I were in the Jellyby’s house feeling cramp from all the people.  

            I began to explore topics of interest including monsters, Indian servants, and houses. As I began to read the context, I was noticed the language used was long and confusing. I found myself rereading sentences in order to try and understand the meaning. From what I noticed, many of the stories were very satirical. At first it took a while to understand the satire but once I had understood it the stories became very funny. As I was reading about monsters in Africa, I can up with the idea for the e-periodical. I plan on writing a piece on the monsters in Africa in perspective of Mrs. Jellyby. The article will address the situation and ask the readers to help the African fight the monsters. Winthin Household Words, I found an ad for a restaurant. It was very interesting to see the prices of each item. Most ideas happened to be one penny, while some were two.