The purpose of this paper was to define and discuss the early Mormon women's newspaper, Woman's Exponent, and its editors in developing a literary culture among Mormon women. Woman's Exponent served as the primary source of research to show through its literature that the women of Utah were encouraged to express themselves freely, and present their way of life to a world that held a grossly distorted view of them. The Exponent provided the forum for skilled writers to polish their craft, and new writers to develop their talents. The literary influence of the Exponent encouraged the women writers to publish individual volumes of poetry, biography, and histories. The writers acknowledged the Woman's Exponent as their platform for expression, their window-on-the-world. It faithfully recorded their history and served as the cradle for literary culture among the mormon women.

This thesis will examine the surprising and delightful similarities between Mark Twain's The Innocents Abroad (1869) and Eliza R. Snow's letters to the Woman's Exponent published in a book titled Correspondence of Palestine Tourists (1875). Snow traveled abroad from 1872-1873, five years after Twain went abroad in 1867 and three years after The Innocents Abroad was published. She clearly states in her early letters that she was reading Twain and his influence is apparent in her letters. A careful look at her letters will also show that they are not merely an imitation of Twain. Snow takes on a Twainian style to write for her audience, the Latter-day Saint women readers of the Woman's Exponent in Salt Lake City.Reading Snow's letters alongside Twain's The Innocents Abroad is beneficial in understanding the power and influence a popular text can have not only on other texts, but also on how writers describe their personal experiences. Marielle Maco states: 'Works take their place in ordinary life, leaving their marks and exerting a lasting power' 'Ways of Reading, Modes of Being,' 213). The lasting power of Twain's work is clearly shown here in Snow's letters.

In 1872, Mormon plural wife, educator, and suffragist Lucinda Lee Dalton began writing fiery political essays and insightful poetry for the Woman's Exponent from her small community in southern Utah. Through her writings Dalton endeavors to shape the opinions of Exponent readers by working within public discourse toward the goal of equality for women. At times both optimistic and troubled, she uses the rhetorical strategies of humor, irony, reason, identification, and persuasion to educate men and women on disparities and to encourage women to participate actively in their own emancipation. She often engages in a dialogical process with other writers by crafting both polemic and poetic responses to specific writings in order to work toward greater insight on critical issues. As an essayist Dalton defends her religion, calls for the expansion of women's political and economic opportunities, and asserts that the elevation of women is crucial to achieving the potential of both sexes. As a poet she is a compelling writer who reveals in her poems her apprehensions and aspirations, her faith and feminism. Much of her poetry reflects the same commitment to reform that is clear in her essays, and she uses both genres do effective political work. This thesis uses a pluralist approach to recover Lu Dalton as an important early Mormon writer. It articulates her merit as a representative voice by evaluating the historical context and rhetorical function of her published writings in which she actively calls for broad societal reform, writing on women's roles, political rights, and relationship with God and men.