April 5, 1993
ENGLISH 2264
WRITING BY WOMEN
( ADP TITLE: WRITING BY WOMEN )
I. CATALOG DESCRIPTION:
2264 WRITING BY WOMEN
Examination of literary and cultural questions raised by thewriting of women writers. Special emphasis will be given to howarticulating the experience of women changes and contests existingliterary traditions and assumptions about language and form. Repeatable with a maximum of six credits.
Pre: Completion of the Freshman English Requirement (1105-1106, or H1204, or Advanced Placement). (3H, 3C) I, II.
II. COURSE STATUS:
a. New course.b.
(i) NA(ii) NA
(iii) NA
(iv) NA
(v) With approval of this course, drop the following courses from the catalog: English 2554, Women Writers Before 1900, and English 2564, Twentieth-Century Women Writers.
c. Effective date is Fall 1994.
d. Graduate credit is not requested.
III. PREREQUISITES & COREQUISITES:
Completion of Freshman English Requirement: English 1105-1106,or H1204, or Advanced Placement.
IV. JUSTIFICATION:
This course is designed to respond to the Area 2 goals of thenew core curriculum. It replaces two introductory courses on thewriting of women which had been organized historically--"WomenWriters Before 1900" and "Twentieth-Century Women Writers"--with asingle course--designed to be offered in a variety ofconfigurations.
Beginning with a set of essays designed to introduce and framea problem central to the tradition of women's writing, students ineach section of the course will examine a group of texts that engagethis problem from various points of view, from historical periods,and through different literary forms. Such a course, designed toshow the way different texts combine and compete in establishing thiscrucial cultural tradition, seems an excellent way to "develop andsustain the habits of mind" called for in the new core curriculum. These include the ability both to recognize formative ideas andtraditions, and to see that these ideas are in a constant process ofgive-and-take. This course will put texts into conversation witheach other and, by giving students the skill to draw thatconversation out, offer them a chance to join in that process. Writing will be a significant component of the course, since it isthrough writing that texts engage each other, and it is throughwriting that students enter these debates. Courses will typicallyrequire two short essays and some amount of in-class writing.
A course in writing by women will, in addition to developingthese skills, also focus on the Area 2 goals of "understanding someaspects of human achievement and experience that have beenpersistently overlooked in mainstream Western culture." Writing bywomen brings to the foreground such issues as the role of theliterary canon in shaping cultural attitudes; the way attempts toarticulate the experience of women have challenged existing literarytraditions and assumptions about language, form, and ways of reading;and the larger social and political implications of those challengesand questions.
The course will be offered at the 2000-level in order to allowit to serve as an undergraduate core course. The level of thiscourse signals that, while the material studied will require someability to deal with sophisticated texts, the course is specificallydesigned for non-majors.
V. EDUCATIONAL OBJECTIVES:
Having successfully completed this course, students will beable to discuss and write about the traditional and contemporaryissues in women's writing in a way which demonstrates anunderstanding of the diversity of interests, concerns and writingstyles among female authors. Through textual analysis and applicationof the theoretical material in the course, students comprehend themarginalization of women writers and recognize the value of writingsthat challenge traditional ways of thinking within a culture.
VI. INSTRUCTOR:
Traci Gardner 7728
VII. TEXTS AND SPECIAL TEACHING AIDS
A. Writing by Women: Women Writers and the Challenge ofTradition
REQUIRED TEXTS:
Gilbert, Sandra M. and Susan Gubar. THE NORTON ANTHOLOGY OFLITERATURE BY WOMEN: THE TRADITION IN ENGLISH. New York: W. W.Norton, 1985. xxxiv. 2457.
REQUIRED READINGS AVAILABLE IN PHOTOCOPY PACKET
Writing By Women: Women Writers and the Tradition of FeministCriticism
REQUIRED TEXTS:
Cisneros, Sandra. WOMAN HOLLERING CREEK AND OTHER STORIES. NewYork: Vintage, 1991. xii. 165.
Gilbert, Sandra M. and Susan Gubar. THE NORTON ANTHOLOGY OFLITERATURE BY WOMEN: THE TRADITION IN ENGLISH. New York: W. W.Norton, 1985. xxxiv. 2457.
Woolf, Virginia. A ROOM OF ONE'S OWN. San Diego: Harvest/HBJBooks, 1957. 118.
REQUIRED READINGS IN A PHOTOCOPIED PACKET:
Guerin, Wilfred L., Earle Labor, Lee Morgan, Jeanne C. Reesman,and John R. Willingham. "Feminist Approaches."
Perry, Donna. "Procne's Song: The Task of Feminist LiteraryCriticism."
Showalter, Elaine. "Toward a Feminist Poetics."
Smith, Barbara. "Toward a Black Feminist Criticism."
Zimmerman, Bonnie. "What Has Never Been: An Overview of LesbianFeminist Criticism."
C. Writing by Women: Folk and Fairy Tale Traditions andArchetypes
REQUIRED TEXTS:
Bronte, Charlotte. JANE EYRE. New York: Penguin, 1984. 489.
Hurston, Zora Neale. THEIR EYES WERE WATCHING GOD. Urbana:University of Illinois, 1978. xv. 286.
Kingston, Maxine Hong. THE WOMAN WARRIOR. New York: Vintage,1976. 243.
Tepper, Sheri S. BEAUTY. New York: Bantam, 1991. 463.
Zipes, Jack. DON'T BET ON THE PRINCE: CONTEMPORARY FEMINIST FAIRYTALES IN NORTH AMERICA AND ENGLAND. New York: Methuen, 1986. xiv, 270.
REQUIRED READINGS AVAILABLE IN PHOTOCOPY PACKET
Selected Indian, African, and Native American Folk Tales.
Carter, Angela. "In the Company of Wolves."
de France, Marie. Selected Lais.
Gilbert, Sandra M. and Susan Gubar. Selections from MADWOMAN INTHE ATTIC.
Rossetti, Christina. "Goblin Market" and other poems.
Sexton, Anne. Selections from TRANSFORMATIONS.
Silko, Leslie Marmon. "Lullabye."
VIII. SYLLABUS
A. Writing by Women: Women Writers and the Challenge ofTradition
Theory (Russ, Robinson, Showalter, Washington, Irigaray) 20%
Sappho 5%
Kempe, Margery 5%
Bradstreet, Anne 5%
Wheatley, Phillis 5%
Wollstonecraft, Mary 10%
Truth, Sojourner 5%
Brent, Linda 5%
Bronte, Charlotte (JANE EYRE) 15%
Rossetti, Christina 10%
Dickinson, Emily and Rich essay 15%
_____
100%
B. Writing By Women: Women Writer and the Tradition of FeministCriticism
Theory and Background 20%
(Guerin et al., Showalter, Smith, Zimmerman,
Perry, Woolf)
Gertrude Stein, "The Gentle Lena,"
"Picasso," "Ada" 5%
Susan Glaspell, TRIFLES 10%
Mourning Dove (Hum-Ishu-Ma),
"The Origin of Diseases," "Coyote Takes
His Daughter as a Wife," "Coyote Kills
Owl-Woman" 5%
Moore, Marianne, Selected Poems 5%
Hurston, Zora Neale, "Sweat,"
"How It Feels to Be Colored Me" 5%
Bishop, Elizabeth, Selected Poems
Brooks, Gwendolyn, Selected Poems
Rich, Adrienne, Selected Poems
Lorde, Audre, Selected Poems 10%
Morrison, Toni, THE BLUEST EYE 15%
Kingston, Maxine Hong, "No Name Woman" 5%
Cisneros, Sandra, WOMAN HOLLERING CREEK 10%
Silko, Leslie Marmon, "Lullaby" 5%
Walker, "In Search of Our Mothers' Gardens" 5%
____
100%
C. Writing by Women: Folk and Fairy Tale Traditions andArchetypes
Feminist Criticism in DON'T BET ON THE PRINCE. 10%
Gilbert & Gubar, "The Queen's Looking Glass"
Lieberman, "'Some Day My Prince Will Come': FemaleAcculturation through the Fairy Tale"
Rowe, "Feminism and Fairy Tales"
Zipes, Jack. "A Second Gaze at Little Red Riding Hood'sTrials and Tribulations"
Fairy Tales in DON'T BET ON THE PRINCE (unless noted) 10%
Selected Folk Tales in Packet
Atwood, Margaret, "Bluebeard's Egg"
Broumas, Olga, "Little Red Riding Hood"
Carter, Angela, "The Donkey Prince" (in DON'T) and "TheCompany of Wolves" (in Packet)
Collins, Meghan. "The Green Woman"
de France, Marie. Selected Lais (in Packet)
Lee, Tanith, "Prince Amilec" and "Wolfland"
Merseyside Collective, "Snow White"
Sexton, Anne. Selections from TRANSFORMATIONS (in Packet)
Viorst, Judith, "And Then the Prince Knelt..."
Yolen, Jane, "The Moon Ribbon"
Bronte, Charlotte, JANE EYRE
Gilbert & Gubar, Selections from MADWOMAN 15%
Rossetti, "Goblin Market" and other poems
Gilbert & Gubar, Selections from MADWOMAN 10%
Hurston, THEIR EYES WERE WATCHING GOD 15%
Kingston, THE WOMAN WARRIOR 15%
Silko, "Lullabye" 10%
Tepper, BEAUTY 15%
____
100%