Modern Society

Julia Ward HoweProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.0

Word count: 117K words
Chapters: 12

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Modern Society by Julia Ward HoweAuthor: Howe, Julia Ward, 1819-1910,Language: English, Class: HN: Social sciences: Social history and conditions, Social problems, Release Date: Jun 21, 2011

Editor's review

Modern Society is a work of social commentary by Julia Ward Howe, falling under the social sciences category of social history and conditions, and social problems. The author was a poet, abolitionist, and suffragist, and her observations carry the practical concerns and moral fervor of a nineteenth-century American intellectual woman. The book is not a systematic sociological treatise but rather social criticism in essay form, exploring the tension between social mores, public responsibility, and personal cultivation. For today's readers, its value lies mainly at the level of historical source material and intellectual history: it offers a window into how educated reformers of the time understood the problems of "modern society," and the concepts and rhetoric they employed. The free electronic edition from Project Gutenberg is convenient for searching and excerpting, making it suitable as supplementary material for researching nineteenth-century American social thought, gender, and reform discourse. It is best read as a period document rather than a directly applicable framework of social analysis; its judgments bear the distinct imprint of their era and the author's standpoint, and require historical contextualization.

Who it's for

A good fit for

University faculty and students studying nineteenth-century American social thought and reform discourse
Readers interested in social history, gender, and public morality
Those needing free English primary sources for coursework or citations
Readers who enjoy essay-style social criticism and can accommodate older English prose

Not a good fit for

Readers seeking systematic sociological theory or contemporary frameworks of social analysis
General readers who rely on modern Chinese translations and are unaccustomed to reading English originals
Those expecting plot-driven narrative or light entertainment reading

Reading tips

Begin with the table of contents and opening pages to identify the core issues the author addresses, then read by topic rather than page by page
Prepare a set of notes on the historical background, recording the threads of nineteenth-century American social reform for easy cross-reference
When encountering long period sentences, grasp the argument first, then revisit the rhetoric, to avoid losing momentum due to style
Read alongside other social commentary of the same period, noting differences in the author's standpoint and argumentative approach

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Is this book a systematic sociological work?

No. It is closer to social commentary and essays, centering on social mores, public responsibility, and personal cultivation, without the theoretical framework or research methods of modern sociology. It should be read as a nineteenth-century document of social thought, not a textbook of social analysis.

How difficult is the English, and what background is needed?

The original is nineteenth-century English with long sentences and considerable rhetorical flourish, more difficult than most modern nonfiction. It suits readers with university-level English reading ability who can patiently handle long sentences; those seeking only a general understanding can use a dictionary and read in sections without insisting on word-by-word comprehension.

Is the electronic edition suitable for academic citation?

The Project Gutenberg edition can be used for reading and general citation, but academic writing should verify version information and page numbers and follow the citation conventions of one's institution. For authoritative versions, consult library holdings or critical editions as well.

What should readers be most wary of?

The author's social judgments carry distinct period standpoints and moral presuppositions, some of which conflict with contemporary values. Readers should distinguish "the author's views at the time" from "verifiable historical facts," contextualize historically, and avoid directly applying her conclusions.

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About the author

Julia Ward Howe Author · American · 1819–1910

Julia Ward Howe (Howe, Julia Ward, 1819–1910) was an American writer, abolitionist, and women's rights activist, best known for "The Battle Hymn of the Republic," which was widely sung by Union forces during the Civil War. Her writing spans poetry, travel accounts, biography, and political essays, in a clear style animated by moral conviction. Six of her works are held here, including Margaret Fuller, Reminiscences, 1819–1899, A Trip to Cuba, Is Polite Society Polite? and Other Essays, Modern Society, and From the Oak to the Olive: A Plain Record of a Pleasant Journey, commonly classified under inspirational growth. She helped found the American Woman Suffrage Association and in 1908 became the first woman elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters.