Dr. Elizabeth Howells English 5340: Fall 2008 MW 3-4:15pm Office Hours: M and W 2-3, and by appt. Email: Beth.Howells@armstrong.edu www.llp.armstrong.edu/howells Office: 109C Solms Hall, 344.2523

ENGLISH 5340: LITERATURE BY WOMEN

Women have been left out of history not because of the evil conspiracies of men in general or male historians in particular, but because we have considered history only in male-centered terms. We have missed women and their activities, because we have asked questions of history which are inappropriate to women. To rectify this, and to light up areas of historical darkness we must, for a time, focus on a woman-centered inquiry, considering the possibility of the existence of a female culture within the general culture shared by men and women. History must include an account of the female experience over time and should include the development of feminist consciousness as an essential aspect of women's past. This is the primary task of women's history. The central question it raises is: What would history be like if it were seen through the eyes of women and ordered by values they define?
-Gerda Lerner, "The Challenge of Women's History"
The Majority Finds Its Past: Placing Women in History

This course will offer a brief historical and cultural overview of literature by women and will examine how contemporary literature by women takes up some of the issues of nineteenth-century British and American writers like Austen and Bronte, Dickinson and Chopin. It will examine a diverse range of writers and genres to identify the thematic concerns and stylistic patterns that characterize this relatively recent and currently evolving canon. Finally, we will not only survey this literature, but also establish a theoretical framework with which to understand it.

Required Texts:
various handouts

Reading list:
AUTHOR TITLE & EDITION PUBLISHER
Coursepack from Longman w/ the following texts:
DeShazer Longman Anthology of Women's Literature Longman
Austen Northanger Abbey Longman
Bronte Jane Eyre Longman
Morrison The Bluest Eye Longman

Rhys Wide Sargasso Sea Norton
Atwood Handmaid's Tale Anchor
Emecheta Joys of Motherhood Norton

REQUIREMENTS
You will receive specific assignment sheets describing requirements 2 through 5 in greater detail.

1. Daily In-Class Responses. These Focused Free-Writes (FFWs) are tools I use to help us transition into class time. You should come to class prepared to write about your reading with something compelling you want to say about the text you have read. Furthermore, in order to encourage you to keep up with the reading and to ensure your preparedness to participate in class discussions, you should expect to be asked to respond to your reading in class every day. These in-class reading responses will sometimes take the form of quizzes, sometimes they will be a written response to a particular prompt, and sometimes they may be more creative or experimental. They will require that you read the assigned texts in order to be successful. This grade will be 20% of your final grade.

2. Paper #1. Earlier in the term, you will be required to write an argument paper on a topic of your choosing relating to one of our class texts. This five-page essay needs to be an argument using textual analysis to prove your thesis to be true. This essay will be 20% of your final grade.

3. Paper #2: The Seminar Paper. The second 10-page paper can be thought of as an elaboration of the first if you wish. You are to construct an argument using textual analysis along with secondary sources to prove your thesis to be true. This will necessitate outside research. We will turn to the library to understand strategies for research and will perfect our understanding of correct documentation. This essay will be worth 30% of your final grade.

4. Presentations and Participation. Because this is a seminar course, you are expected to discuss your reading and your classmates' comments daily. Furthermore, you will be required to develop two presentations. The first presentation will "recover" a woman writer and introduce her to the class arguing for her stylistic and cultural value. The second presentation will present the argument of your seminar paper. This presentation and participation grade will be 15% of your final grade.

5. Final Exam. On exam day, you will be required to demonstrate your understanding of the course material in an exam made up of objective and essay components. This exam will be worth 15% of your final grade.

GRADUATE STUDENTS
Graduate students will also be asked to deliver an additional ten-minute oral presentation on a critical analysis of one of the works we are reading. All papers should represent graduate-level work. They should be at least two pages longer in the required length and more involved and substantial in content.

GRADE SCALE
A=90-100
B=80-89
C=70-79
D=60-69
F=GRADES BELOW 59

ATTENDANCE
This is a class that depends on your being there. Your participation and daily writings cannot be made up. Therefore, you must be in class. After 4 absences, your grade will drop a letter until you have failed the course. You can be removed by me at that point with W or WF.

WRITING CENTER
The Writing Center, located in 109 Gamble Hall, can be a good resource for revising your essays. It is a free service. Consider taking advantage of it.
PLAGIARISM
Be aware that plagiarism can result in dismissal from the university, failure of the course, or failure of an assignment. Cite any sources you use at any time in this class whether you are quoting directly or paraphrasing. See me or consult the Armstrong Atlantic State University Handbook if you are ever uncertain about the issue. Plagiarism will not be tolerated. I recommend you submit AASU's plagiarism tutorial to be certain you understand the issue and how to avoid it: www.library.armstrong.edu/plagiarismtutorial.html

SCHEDULE
Syllabus:

I. Engendering Language, Silence, and Voice

M 8.18 Introduction
W 8.20 Woolf, A Room of One's Own, Parts 1-4, 16-54 (38)

M 8.25 Woolf, A Room of One's Own, Parts 5-6, 54-72; hooks, "Talking Back" 72-76; Anzaldua, "Speaking in Tongues" 316-323; Walker, "In Search of Our Mothers' Gardens" 324-331 (36)
W 8.27 Austen, Northanger Abbey 1-102/114-171-vol. 1 (102/57)

M.9.1 LABOR DAY-HOLIDAY
W.9.3 Austen, Northanger Abbey 102-198/171-231-vol. 2 (96/60)

M 9.8 Bronte, Jane Eyre (preface-chapter x) (110)
W 9.10 Bronte, Jane Eyre (chapter xi-chapter xviii) (116)

M.9.15 Bronte, Jane Eyre (chapters xix-xxvii) (143)
W.9.17 Bronte, Jane Eyre (chapters xxviii-end) (150)

II. Writing Bodies/ Bodies Writing

M.9.22 Rhys, Wide Sargasso Sea, Part I, 9-37; Cixous, "The Laugh of the Medusa," 391-405 (42)
W 9.24 Rhys, Wide Sargasso Sea; Parts II and III, 38-112 (74)

M 9.29 Chopin, The Awakening 696-778 (82)
W 10.1 Poetry: A. Bradstreet, poems 669-672; D. Wordsworth, from The Grasmere Journal, 952-955; E. Dickinson, poems 968-972; C. Rossetti, Monna Innominata, 513-519 (16)

IV. Identity and Difference/ V. Resistance and Transformation

M 10.6 P. Wheatley, 950-951; Sojourner Truth, "Ain't I a Woman?" 1146; H. Jacobs, from Incidents, 507-512; F. Harper, 1164-1167; Zitkala-Sa, "The Tree-Bound," 976-979 (14)
W. 10.8 PAPER 1 DUE; Glaspell, Trifles, 981-990; CP Gilman, "The Yellow Wallpaper," 264-274 (19)

M 10.13 FALL BREAK
W 10.15 Recovery Presentations-Part I, reading determined by presenters

M 10.20 Atwood, The Handmaid's Tale, Chapter I Night-Chapter IX Night, 3-147 (144)
W 10.22 Atwood, The Handmaid's Tale, Chapter X Soul Scrolls-Chapter XV Night, 147-295 (148)

M 10.27 Poetry: G. Stein from Patriarchal Poetry, 284-287; M. Moore, 991-996; G. Brooks, 808- 812; A. Sexton, 532-535; A. Rich, 1106-1111 (20)
W. 10.29 Recovery Presentations-Part II, reading determined by presenters

M. 11.3 S. Plath, 814-818; A. Lorde, 536-542; L. Clifton, poems 819-820; Olds, poems 559-562 (15)
W. 11.5 K. Mansfield, "The Doll's House," 997-1002; E. Welty, "Why I Live at the P.O.," 1003-1010; D. Lessing, "An Old Woman and Her Cat," 1012-1021; H. Yamamato, "Seventeen Syllables," 299-307; A. Carter, "Wolf Alice," 1032-1038; J. Kincaid, "Xuela," 1044-1058 (49)

III. Rethinking the Maternal

M. 11.10 Recovery Presentations-Part III, reading determined by presenters
W 11.12 Morrison, The Bluest Eye, first 100 pages

M 11.17 Morrison, The Bluest Eye, second 100 pages
W 11.19 Emecheta, Joys of Motherhood, first 100 pages

M 11.24 Recovery Presentations-Part IV, reading determined by presenters
W 11.26 THANKSGIVING HOLIDAY

M.12.1 Emecheta, Joys of Motherhood, second 100 pages; Patricia Hill Collins, "Shifting the Center," 638-652 (114)
W.12.3 Research Presentations

M.12.18 Research Presentations; PAPER #2 DUE
M.12.15 FINAL EXAM SESSION, Solms 222, 3pm