WONDER WOMAN

     In 1915, a Harvard psychologist named William Moulton Marston discovered the systolic blood-pressure test, which resulted in the invention of the polygraph lie detector. Based on his polygraph experiments, Marston concluded that women were more hardworking and more honest than men, and became a champion of women=s issues as the role of women in the workplace changed during World War II.

According to Ron Goulart in Over Fifty years of American Comic Books, when comic publisher Max Gaines hired Marston as an educational consultant, Marston Alooked at Graine=s comic book titles, with images of supermen like Flash and Green Lantern and wondered why he wasn=t publishing any comics with women as the hero.@. At Graine=s urging, Marston then undertook to create a female comic book hero, a wonder woman, Aunder the pen name of their combined middle names, Charles Moulton.@

According to his wife, AMarston wrote every strip with the idea of making Wonder Woman >a personal expression of the female character.= He wanted his creation, a comic book superheroine for children, to fill a void in a society whose mythology and culture were dominated by masculine images.@

In 1943 Marston wrote: ANot even girls want to be girls, so long as our feminine archetype lacks force, strength and power.... The obvious remedy is to create a feminine character with all the strength of a superman, plus all the allure of a good and beautiful woman.@ Wonder Woman was his answer.

 

QUESTIONS

1. Find expressions or words in the text that mean the same or similar to the following: (2 points)

Found out:

Empty place:

Power:

Personality:

Position:

 

2. Answer the following questions according to the text (1.5 points)

a. What did the polygraph experiments demonstrate?

b. Who suggested creating a book with a female character as a hero?

c. What was Marston=s intention when he created Wonder Woman?

 

3. Choose the correct modal verbs. (1.5 points)