Words: 2268
The Life of Margaret Mitchell Margaret Mannerly Mitchell was a writer from Georgia. She wrote the book Gone With the Wind. I chose Margaret Mitchell for this assignment because I am also from Georgia and I wanted to know more about her and what inspired her to write this book. I have seen the movie based on this book more than any other movie. A biographical sketch provides information about a person’s life. The biographical sketch will explain who the person is by providing background information on the person’s upbringing, their work, personal life, accomplishments, and philosophy (Tips on writing).
Psychological conjecture is a person’s opinion or theory of why a person functions or is motivated in a certain way (psychological) (conjecture). Margaret was born in Atlanta, Georgia on November 8, 1900. Her father, Eugene, was a successful attorney. He came from a family of successful cotton brokers (Brenna, 2000). Margarita’s mother, Mary Isabel Stephens “May Belle”, came from an Irish family of immigrant farmers (Brenna, 2000). Her family had owned a plantation with thirty-five slaves (Brenna, 2000). May Belle was an avid supporter of the “Right to Vote” movement for women.
Margarita’s grandfather fought in the Civil War at the Battle of Intimate. Before Margaret could write she dictated stories to her mother. Margaret created books with covers made from cardboard. These books contained stories about adventures with her family, friends, and herself as characters. A few of the stories she wrote as she grew older contained themes of the Civil War (Thomas, 2011). Ata young age, Margarita’s clothing caught fire, while her mother was away from home. This event terrified her mother so much that from that time Margaret was allowed to wear boys clothing (Byron, 1991).
She was also allowed to play with her brother and his friends. The earliest influence on Margarita’s life came from her mother when she was six years old. At this point in her life, Margaret was questioning her mother about why she had to attend school. May Belle provided an example to Margaret by taking her on a ride by horse and buggy. On this ride, they passed several farms that were torched during the Civil War (Brenna, 2000). Later, Margaret attended a well-known private school for girls. She along with other girls founded the drama club. She was also the yearbook editor at the school.
Two stories she authored were featured in the yearbook (Thomas, 2011). In 1918, during the mummer, Margaret met and became engaged to a serviceman who was later killed in France during World War l. Margaret started to use the nickname “Peggy’ while attending Smith College in Massachusetts. She only was able to complete her freshman year because of her mother’s death from influenza (Thomas, 2011). In 1922, Margaret, had a brief marriage to Berries Pushup, which was later annulled. She also began a career as a writer for the Atlanta Journal Sunday Magazine in 1922. Margaret wrote under the pen name Peggy Mitchell.
She penned one hundred twenty-nine stories, was a proofreader, a substitute advice columnist, and book viewer. Margaret ended her Journalist career due to a broken ankle and the costless It presented (l mamas, 2 YOU, Margaret marled near second husband, John Robert Marsh. In 1926, she began writing her book Gone With the Wind. Margaret denied having a manuscript when questioned about it from a publisher. She later provided the numerous envelopes containing her manuscript to the publisher after a friend’s derogatory comment. After numerous changes to the manuscript, the book was published in 1936.
Margaret became an overnight success and celebrity. The film produced from the novel premiered in 1939. Margaret later began to decline requests to speak and for interviews to maintain her personal life with her husband (Thomas, 2011). Margaret never published other writings. Some believe that this was due to the work required and ambiguity of the copyright protection laws for her book internationally. Margaret also spent a lot of her time personally responding to letters received regarding Gone With the Wind. Margaret established scholarships for medical students.
In August 1949, while on her way to the theatre with her husband, Margaret was hit by a taxi cab. She died five days later (Thomas, 2011). Behaviorism theory is based on the assumption that people are influenced by their environment. More specific, the environment in which a person is raised determines the behavior of that person. Margaret Mitchell behavior appears to have been influenced by the environment in which she lived. Margaret as a young girl was allowed to wear boys clothing and spend time with gentlemen telling stories about the Civil War. This behavior was later displayed in Margarita’s work as a journalist.
Margaret exceeded her employer’s expectations by working long hours and writing from a man’s perspective (Byron, 1991). Margaret attracted men like honey attracts bees. She was not only physically attractive to them, but also intellectually. However, Margarita’s relationships with most of the men did not last long because she did not like the thought of sex. This was what most of them wanted from her. Margarita’s rowdy behavior was displayed throughout her dating years. Men and their affection are what kept Margaret going after her mother’s death. She had several offers of marriage and took none for a period of time.
Margaret displayed her assertiveness in obtaining a Job as a Journalist. The founder and editor f the Sunday feature magazine at the Journal did not hire women. She was able to convince him that she should be hired. She had no experience in Journalism. Margaret learned the assertive behavior from her mother and the work she did for the women’s right to vote movement. Margaret also displayed her independence by obtaining the Journalism Job against her father’s wishes. Margaret at this time was married to Berries Pushup, but he would not support her financially (Byron, 1991).
Margaret sought affection from those around her. She did not have parent’s that were nurturing. Her father was always at work. Her mother was occupied with her work for women’s rights or always sent Margaret and her brother to the family plantation. Although Margaret was shy, her mother would not accept this behavior. During Margarita’s adolescent years, her mother would beat her for not responding to an adult that had spoken to her. Learning to overcome her shyness helped Margaret in her career choice. Biological theory is based on the assumption that people inherit their behavior.
This theory includes the study of genes and their impact on behavior. Margarita’s mother was dominating, intelligent, charming, moral and displayed lifelessness. These same traits were passed on to Margaret. Margaret displayed her dominance In near Journalism career. Horst, seen got a JODI no toner woman was addle to get. Next, she found others to help her learn every step of the work she needed to complete. She was assigned to proofread and obtained assistance from a veteran. Margarita’s spelling and punctuation had not improved during her years of education.
This ability demonstrates one aspect of the charm she inherited from her mother. Margarita’s intelligence that was inherited from both of her parent’s was displayed at n early age in her ability to develop stories so easily. At first Margaret would dictate the stories to her mother. Later she would write them and form them into books. Margaret also displayed her charm and intelligence in attracting men. Her looks caught their eye. Her knowledge and ability to maintain a conversation kept their attention. The morality inherited from Margarita’s mother was displayed in her relationships with men.
Margaret was not one to give in to their sexual urges. This was a frustration area with most of the men she dated. Her morals were also displayed by turning down several offers of marriage. Margarita’s inherited selflessness was displayed through her philanthropy work. She established a medical scholarship for black students seeking to become doctors. She worked during World War II for the Red Cross. Her work with the Red Cross raised sixty-five million dollars for the ship Atlanta. Margaret also displayed some of the same political tendencies that her mother displayed.
At the time, she pursued work it was not something that debutantes did. This was not appealing to the genteel nature of most debutantes. Margarita’s need to write and provide for her needs is the reason she sought the work. Margaret also displayed courage through breaking the Job barrier in a man’s world. Journalism was not an easy role for women to get at this point. Courage was displayed when she visited the prison to do interviews for an article. Margaret Mitchell book, Gone With the Wind, and its popularity had a significant impact on her life.
However, it did not change the person that her parent’s raised. She still remained devoted to her husband and her charity work after becoming a celebrity. Margarita’s behavior would seem normal to me as a person that has grown up from an infant to an adult from the nineteen sixties to today. However, for someone living during Margarita’s lifetime from nineteen hundred through nineteen forty-nine her behavior must have appeared abnormal. During these times, most women stayed at home and cared for the home and children up until World War II timeshare. Margaret had a need to fulfill her love of writing.
She met that need by writing articles for the local paper. She also wrote a book to fulfill this need after she became injured and could not go out to report the news. Humanism is “the study of the whole person” (Mcleod, 2007). Margarita’s love of stories and telling them had an influence on her entire life. She realized what brought her pleasure and pursued a writing career. Margarita’s faith and family influenced her charity work and her decision to no longer be in the spotlight. The strength of humanism theory is a person will study the whole person.
An individual will look at everything about the subject’s life from beginning to end to determine what impacted their behavior. The weakness of humanism theory is that many details about a person may not be readily available to perform a complete study. Psychology offers many theories to use for analyzing people. The theories are behavior, psychodramas, humanism, genetics, environment and motivation to determine the reason a person lives their life in a certain manner. Unreasoning aspects AT sinology can De essential In teen work environment for dealing with conflict and deciding on which person to hire for an open Job.
A person may want to study psychology to help them understand the people they spend time with on a daily basis. If a person at work is overbearing or tends to overreact in certain situations, having some knowledge about psychology will help others understand how to deal with this person and their behavior. The knowledge gained from studying psychology is my Myers-Briggs Type Indicator@; the different theories that can be used to gain a better understanding of others; and background on Margaret Mitchell life.
Learning my Myers-Briggs Type Indicator@ and the characteristics has helped me to better understand why my co-workers will come to me for help. It has also provided a better understanding on areas that could be “blind spots”. The knowledge can be applied in my life at work, in relationships with my family and friends. By studying the life of Margaret Mitchell and psychology nee can see how genetic, environment, and behavior factors determine a way a person thinks and reacts. Margarita’s mother was a dominant figure in her life. Her mother’s dominance and charm had more influence on Margaret than her father.
My reflection on the mantra, Mimi can’t understand others unless you understand yourself”, is that until a person knows the reasons behind how they act and live their life they are not able to begin to understand others. A person needs to reflect on their life before they try to reflect on other’s lives. I think that this mantra can be combined with, Mimi must love yourself before you love another”. If you do not love yourself, how can you possibly know or understand how to love another person. Through the use of the many different theories, analysis can be done on any person to better understand them.
For example, to better understand why a person behaves or thinks one would use cognitive psychology. A couple of ways to cognitive psychology is through a person’s memory or the way a person perceives a thought or idea. Another theory that can be used is biological psychology to learn how a person’s genes influence their behavior. What in their families history was passed on to them when they were born and affects their behavior? An easier way to analyze a person is to use the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator test to determine how a person handles situations.
This can be particularly beneficial for a business to determine whether or not to hire new employees. This can also be useful to a business when grouping people together in the work environment. Personally, I spent nine months working in a conference room with several people. I believe that if our personalities had conflicted the time spent with each other would have been trying. It would have also made going to work during those nine months undesirable.