D.H Lawrence vs Franklin

When Lawrence says that Franklin is the first "dummy American," he means that Franklin is disregarding God, creating his own deity for his own purposes. Which is funny, because Lawrence is doing the same with Franklin's words. Franklin wasn't telling people not to go to Church and to believe in God when he said they should be "master unto himself, and don't even let the Lord put His spoke in." What was obviously meant here was to not let oneself be bogged down by such things. The reason many people came to America was religious freedom and quite a few found more prosecution when they went to an area that wasn't pleased by their ideas. Franklin was obviously a forward thinker and far from a dummy.

A Room of One's Own: Women

What does Woolf say a woman needs in order to be a writer? What is the larger meaning of this?

In order to become a writer, Woolf feels a woman needs her own money and a room of her own. I feel this means that a woman writer must be sure she is in a position in which she can provide these things without either being hindered. This is a statement of independence, privacy, and revolution. As she, or Mary of her tale rather, was leaving to write something down after a fine thought had occurred to her, when her path was interrupted, she lost the inspiration. Then Mary heads to the library of Oxbridge while again differently inspired, and is turned away because she is a lone woman and needs either introduction or accompaniment to make use of the facility. As the story progresses on, Mary finds that woman have been and still are quite limited in rights. With this, I feel that Woolf wishes women of her time to pursue what rights they have above their past generations and to strive for more for the next. How can a woman be a writer of any repute to do for herself if she cannot do for herself?

A bit hurried/slightly incoherent on this, but isn't it because she uses stream of consciousness here, too?
Good on the title and the 500 pounds as representing independence, on her creating the character of Mary (Seton, Beaton, etc.) as her example, and on the limited access of women to higher ed at the time (might have included the women's college here, too). Good, too, that you extend this to women's rights in general, but isn't her focus mainly on women as writers?

What did you think of the tale of Shakespeare's imaginary sister? I felt she described the consequences of what would happen should one not have a room of their own quite well. It was also neat that she enveloped a tragedy out of a family that produced tragedies. Also, what did you think of her views on money? I felt that she made a valid point that without money one may be bitter. If you are treated as an unequal, you would be drawn to write about your inequalities. With money, you may be inspired to write more fictitiously.

Good on the money thing, too, but see how that relates most to women?

A Room of One's Own

Why does she include the meals at the two Colleges? What do they show about the status of women in her time?

The two meals show the great contrast in the two schools quickly and in a manner that can be easily related to. Everyone eats and it’s not difficult to see the difference in such things. Oxbridge has grand food and a fancy desert that she can’t even give a name to as “to call it pudding and so relate it to rice and tapioca would be an insult.” The whole dinner was leisurely, though the lose of something was evident when comparing the discussion to times before the war, that maybe people cannot relate to each other and artistry in general the same way as what was then new is not as flowing, but darker and with in more simple speech without flowery beautiful language. Then at the Fernham we see a different sort of dinner and discussion. There was no desert, the biscuits were dry, and the soup so thin that “one could have seen through the transparent liquid any pattern that there might have been on the plate itself. But there was no pattern.” I feel that properly describes the dinner. Then there was no talk of leisure, only leaving to allow the dining hall to be made ready for the morning meal. This makes me feel there was little discussion or relaxation, this was a meal to feed the stomach and not the mind. This seems very unfair when comparing the two meals. The inequality in the sexes is glaringly obvious here.

Good here on the contrast between the meals, and especially good on the lack of conversation at Fernham.
See my reply to Ash on this about the historical context, with regard to women and higher education.
I'd really like your reaction/response to her Judith Shakespeare story.