“Reply to Sor Filotea de la Cruz” Sor Juana Inez de la Cruz 1648-1695 ENH 202 Module for World Literature Linda Knoblock Paradise Valley Community College Phoenix, Arizona

Purpose of the Module

Rationale Though relatively unknown to English speaking readers, modern students will find this letter by a seventeenth-century nun fascinating to read and provocative to discuss. Sor Juana Inez de la Cruz uses her intellect and skill as a poet to mount one of the best defenses ever written for women’s intellectual rights. When, without her permission, the Bishop of Puebla published a commentary Sor Juana had made on a sermon written forty years earlier by the Portugese Jesuit Antonio de Vieyra, he also added his own criticism of her, saying she should confine her attentions to religious matters. In writing his critism, the bishop used the pseudonym Sor Filotea de la Cruz, thus the title for Sor Juana’s reply. While appearing to accept the bishop’s rebuke, Sor Juana’s humble reply shows great intellect and skill in defending women’s rights to use their abilities and minds. She uses autobiography as a form of defense, something unfamiliar to most modern readers. Sor Juana also demonstrates her talents and her knowledge in this spirited reply. Not only does she promote education for women, Sor Juana’s reply makes a powerful case for learning itself. Objectives Students will be expected to demonstrate a knowledge of the following:

	1. Background information 2. Life of Sor Juana 3. Use of autobiography for argument 4. Attitude, tone, and stule 5. Use of allusions as support

How the Module Relates to World Literature Sor Juana Inez de la Cruz lived from 1648-1695. Though she was born into an upper class family and served as a lady-in-waiting in the Viceregal Court, she became a nun. She did not forgo intellectual pursuits, however, and spent much of her time studying, learning, and writing. She became known in Mexico as “The Tenth Muse.” Sor Juana’s defense of her intellectual pursuits fits particularly well into the study of the Age of enlightenment, the period from roughly 1660 to 1770, when thinking, reason, and the power of the mind prevailed. Use of the Module in Related Courses This module would be appropriate to use in courses such as the following:

	History Women’s Studies Latin American Literature Seventeenth-Century Literature

Other Names for this Literary Piece Used in References The Spanish name for this piece is “Respuesta a Sor Filotea.” In addition to being translated as “Response to Sor Filotea,” the title is sometimes translated as “Response to Sor Filotea.”

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Lesson Plan

1. Background

	World events New world events Mexico Role of the church

2. Sor Juana

	Life Education Writing

3. “Reply to Sor Filotea de la Cruz"

	Background of letter

		Publication of commentary on sermon Commentary of bishop

	Attitude – tone of letter

		Appearance Reality

	Style of writing

		Apology Obsequiousness

	References and allusions

		Historical Literary Biblical

	Support from other areas of study Women’s roles

		Education Interests

	Implications for everyone

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Study Questions

1. Why does Sor Juana apologize? 2. What does she say is her reason for writing? 3. Who is her audience? 4. Is she writing for anyone else? 5. What does her attitude appear to be? 6. Why does she want to learn to read? 7. How does she manage to do this? 8. What does this enable her to do? 9. Why does she choose life in the convent? 10. Why does she need to know about each field of study? 11. What does she do when she forgoes reading? 12. What does Sor Juana’s attitude toward learning really seem to be?

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Discussion Questions and Topics

1. What kind of child was Sor Juana? 2. Discuss irony as used by Sor Juana. 3. Discuss the implications for learning. 4. Discuss the role of education for women. 5. How does Sor Juana present her arguments? 6. What is the significance of many of the references to women being unknown today? 7. What characteristics does Sor Juana admire? 8. Discuss the use of examples to support the argument. 9. Discuss the attitude of Sor Juana as it appears. Is it really so? 10. Compare reading and other learning. 11. What are the implications for education? 12. Does any of this apply today?

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Sample Evaluation “Reply to Sor Dilotea de la Cruz Sor Juana Inez de la Cruz

ESSAY QUESTIONS:

	1. Discuss the role of education for women. 2. Discuss the implications of learning in general. 3. Discuss the use of tone and style in argument. 4. Discuss the power of language and its importance in this reply. 5. Discuss the dominant emotion of the piece.

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Bibliography

Flynn, Gerald. Sor Juana Inez de la Cruz. Twayne Series, 1971. Franco, Jean. An Introduction to Spanish-American Literature. Cambridge: Cambridge

	University Press, 1975.

Magill, Frank, ed. Masterpices of Latino Literature. New York: Harper Collins, 1984. Paz, Octavio. Sor Juana: Or, The Traps of Faith. Trans. Margaret Sayers Peden. Cambridge:

	Harward University Press, 1988.*

Peden, Margaret Sayers. Poems, A Bilingual Anthology. Tempe, AZ: Bilingual Press, 1985.* *Available at Paradise Valley Community College Library.