Writing Women
ENG 279/
WOM 279: Women in Literature
Dr. Nancy Chick, Spring
2005
|
Contact
Information Email:
nchick@uwc.edu Phone: 234-8176, ext. 5425 Office: 121 Meggers
Hall |
Meeting Time & Place
11-12:15 TTh, Ritz
708 Off hrs: 2-3 MW;
1-:45 TTh or by appt |
Required Materials
·
Sandra
M. Gilbert & Susan Gubar The Norton Anthology of Literature by Women
(2nd edition; rental)
·
Gerd
Brantenberg Egalia’s Daughters (rental)
·
A
good dictionary (for sale in Business Office, if you don't have or can't borrow
one for the semester)
·
A
large, three-ring notebook & plenty of paper (Keep all notes,
assignments, and handouts in this notebook, and bring it to every class.)
·
"Open-mindedness,
self-discipline (autonomy), tolerance for ambiguity, and reflectiveness"[1]
J
Course Description
According to the UW Colleges
catalog, ENG 279 is “a study of women characters and/or authors in their cultural
contexts through an examination of representative literary works by significant
authors.” We will specifically explore literature
by and about American women to understand what it’s like to be a woman writer, how
women have been represented in literature, and how these writers reconstruct
womanhood (what has it meant to be a “woman”?) by challenging us to re-examine
our understanding of sex, gender, race, and culture.
Learning Objectives
By the end of the course, you will be expected
to demonstrate the following learning objectives, which will be assessed
through all writing and discussion activities in this course.
|
* Interpret and appreciate works of literature written by
and about women *
Apply key concepts from feminist and literary analysis to our
literature and to the world outside of the classroom * Read and listen with comprehension, critical perception, and complexity
(See "Assessment" below.) |
* Write clearly,
precisely, and in a well-organized manner * Analyze, synthesize, evaluate, and
interpret information and ideas * Employ and expand the
imagination * Respond to creative
expression with knowledge and sensitivity |
Classroom
Environment
Classes will be conducted
seminar-style, with much small group discussion and active participation in
larger group discussion expected of each student. Be prepared to work together
often and to participate in class activities beyond simple note-taking. I do not merely want bodies in attendance; I
expect to see prepared and thinking students.
This means that you should bring the required materials and complete any
assignments due for that particular day, as well as read the assignments listed
on the syllabus before class. We will
work together to create an effective learning environment by constantly
challenging each other and supporting each other’s learning. See "Class
Participation" handout for more details.
Reading
Expect to do plenty of reading. Since you signed up for this course, I expect
you to fulfill the very least of your responsibilities: complete the readings
listed on the syllabus before you come to class. You should schedule
appropriate times for reading every day to make sure you have completed all
assignments, not just by skimming the material but by actively and carefully
reading each assignment. Further, to
help you enter into class discussions, read the selections carefully, take
notes in the margins or in a reading journal, and look up unfamiliar words in
the dictionary. If class discussions lag
too much and it appears that too many of you are skimming and not taking good
reading notes (or not reading at all), I will give reading quizzes that will
weigh heavily on your grades. I do not
wish to institute such a procedure, though, so be good and active readers!
Absence Policy
You must be present to
participate in class. I expect you to attend class every day and to be on time,
prepared, and attentive. Except under the extraordinary circumstances
for which I excuse the absence, missing the equivalent of 1˝ weeks of class
will lower your course grade by one grade, 2˝ weeks by two grades, and 3 weeks
will result in a failing grade for the course. You are responsible for all
assignments whether you attend class or not. If you do miss a class or part of
a class, get missed assignments, notes, announcements, and handouts from your
study partner before you return to class, rather than asking me my least
favorite question, "Did I miss anything important in class yesterday?”
(Every class is important.) If, because
of a medical or family emergency, you must miss class, you should email or
telephone me as soon as possible, leaving a message if I am not at my
desk. If you miss a due date on any
assignment for any reason, you should turn in that assignment the very next day (not the next
class period) and expect your work to be lowered by a single grade per day–unless
it has an oral, in-class component, in which case late work is not accepted.
Conferences & Tutoring
I will be available to see you (121 Meggers Hall) during my
office hours to discuss your progress in the course. (Be aware, though, that
when I’m in my office, I’m working, so while I enjoy social or
"extracurricular" visits, please keep them brief. J Otherwise, I will fall into a pattern of
waking up at 3am, just to get my work done.
I would prefer not to do that!) To assure that I will be able to see
you, you should try to set up an appointment with me. If you want extra help with
your writing, UW-BC has writing tutors in the Learning Lab (Meggers 124), and
the UW Colleges English Department has an Online Writing Center, both of which
are free. You can find information about
both on the door of the Learning Lab or at
http://www.uwc.edu/uwc/depts/english/UW-BC/engdept.htm, where you will also
find other helpful information related to this class ("Tutoring Services”
and "Online Writing Resources”).
Study Partners
Early in the semester, we will set
up study partnerships. Your partner will
be responsible for providing notes and handouts for you if you are absent, for
reviewing your paper critically when needed, and for general
support. List the name, phone number,
and e-mail address for your partner here: name
___________________________________________ phone number
___________________________ email address ____________________________. Just in case you and your partner are absent
on the same day, you should get a second partner as a backup. Name __________________________ ___________________
phone number _____________________________ email address ___________________________
_________________.
Computers
You must submit all out-of-class,
written assignments in a typed or computer-printed form. Using computers or word processors is the
preferred mode for class writings because it makes composing and
revising easier for you and reading easier for me. There is ample computer lab
space on campus if you do not have a computer at home, so familiarize
yourself with this equipment and hours of availability as soon as possible.
If you are not familiar with word processing on a computer, see me and
we'll arrange for instruction. You also need to become familiar with your share
folder on the campus server, so you can save your documents there, in addition
to wherever else you save these documents.
(You will be grateful for this folder if you lose your disk or your home
computer ever crashes.)
Plagiarism &
Scholastic Conduct
As a student in the University of
Wisconsin system, you are part of an academic community and
therefore expected to behave in a manner that is respectful of
that community, in part by not engaging in academic misconduct. According
to the Student Rights and Regulations Handbook, academic misconduct is
an act in which a student, among other acts not relevant to this class, “seeks
to claim credit for the work or efforts of another without authorization or
citation.” Examples of academic misconduct
include but are not limited to “submitting a paper or assignment as one's own
work when a part or all of the paper or assignment is the work of another,” and
“submitting a paper or assignment that contains ideas or research of other
without appropriately identifying the sources of
those ideas” (emphasis added). The
consequences for such misconduct are serious.
Refer to the Handbook for details by going to www.uwc.edu/student_se/student_R&R.pdf
(“Student Academic Disciplinary Procedures,” section UWS 14). I take
this offense very seriously, as should you.
Assessment
The UW Colleges-wide assessment program was
established to enhance the quality and effectiveness of the curriculum,
programs, and services of the institution. This year, the English
Department’s assessment activities are focusing on what students learn in
literature courses, specifically the skills of reading with complexity and for
multiple meanings. One of the goals of a
literature course is to encourage students to see nuances, texture, and
multiple perspectives in the texts they read. Subsequently, we are interested
in finding out how students learn to read a text with the complex and ambiguous
meaning-making process that will ideally happen in a literature course. The
rubric below assesses the two prongs of the learning outcome: identifying
passages that contribute to tensions and nuances in a piece, and acknowledging
the ambiguities in a text as a source of richness rather than frustration. It
will also continue to help us look at the ways students identify multiple
meanings in a text, as we did in the Fall when we focused on close reading and
interpretation.
|
Students will do the following: |
Exceeds Expectations |
Meets Expectations |
Fails to Meet Expectations |
|
Identify multiple
meanings |
Thoughtfully
summarize the basic meaning and recognize the multi-layered meanings
of the text and its specific language |
Accurately
summarize the basic meaning of the text as a whole and its specific language |
Do
not recognize the literal meanings of the text or demonstrate confusion about
its basic meanings |
|
Identify passages that
contribute to a text’s complexity or ambiguity |
Identify
important passages of complexity or ambiguity in the text |
Recognize
important passages of complexity or ambiguity in the text when identified by
others |
Do
not recognize or identify important passages of complexity or ambiguity in
the text |
|
Acknowledge ambiguities
|
Identify
ambiguities in the text |
Recognize
ambiguities in the text |
Resist
ambiguities in the text |
These
results of our assessment will not affect your grades in the course
except insofar as these skills are a part of your assignments.
Grading
All assignments for this class must
be completed to receive a passing grade for the course.
15% Class
participation (see handout with rubric)
10% Daily
in-class and writing activities (completed and submitted only during assigned
class period, no exceptions)
5% Presentation
of one of our works of literature
10% Fishbowl
20% The Vagina Monologues project
o
attend
the performance with class at UW-Marathon County on Sat, Feb 12 OR read the
play & view the HBO version, and
o
research
and present goals and impacts of the play, and
o
take
exam
5% Essay
draft in-class workshop (bring complete draft to class and be prepared for
workshop)
20% Paper
(see explanation and rubric)
15% Final
exam
Extra Credit Suggestions
There are two ways to earn extra credit in this course: to attend a book
group at the Rice Lake Public Library and/or to submit something for The Red Cedar Review, our campus
literary magazine. The book groups at the library meet on the 3rd
Tuesday of the month at
7:00pm downstairs in the Friendship Room.
Specifically, two of this semester’s meetings are most relevant to this course: Feb 15’s discussion of Stephen Crane’s
novella Maggie: A Girl of the Streets and
March 15’s discussion of Willa Cather’s novel My Antonia. The goals of
this option are to encourage you to feel comfortable and curious in a public
library and to introduce you to the phenomenon of book groups in which
community members gather to read and discuss literature. I lead
these discussions, which means I introduce the book and then merely facilitate
the discussion and offer my expertise when appropriate. Participants ideally
contribute the most to the discussion by offering their interpretations,
impressions, questions, thoughts, etc. Notice also that it is a book discussion
group: no one person
should dominate the discussion, and it should be a conversation between
participants. Keep these thoughts in
mind as you prepare for the discussion with people from the community—not necessarily
from our class.
As for The
Red Cedar Review option, I
want to encourage you not only to read critically and interpret insightfully
but also to tap into your creative side.
For more information, check www.uwc.edu/uwc/depts/english/UW-BC/redcedar/. The deadline is April 1, and I’d really like to see some submissions from
this class!
Transfer Equivalencies for ENG
279/WOM 279: Women in Literature
|
UW-EC |
ENGL 290 (Women in Cont Lit) |
UW-PLV |
ENG EL (English Elective) |
|
UW-GB |
ENG 206 (Women in Lit) |
UW-RF |
ENG 214 (Women in Lit) |
|
UW-LC |
ENG EL (English Elective) |
UW-SP |
ENG 285 (Women in Lit) |
|
UW-MAD |
ENG 250 (Women in Lit) |
UW-ST |
ENG 272 (Women Writers) |
|
UW-MIL |
ENG 243 (Intro to Lit by Women) |
UW-SUP |
ENG 229 (Lit by Women) |
|
UW-OSH |
ENG 224 (Women in Lit) (HU) |
UW-WW |
ENG 264 (Women’s Lit: Feminist Re-Eval) |
|
UW-PRK |
ENG 269 (Intro to Women Writers) |
|
|
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Syllabus
“America is now wholly given over to
a damned mob of scribbling women, “One
is not born a woman, One becomes one.”
and I should have no chance of
success while the public taste is occupied --Simone de Beauvoir
with
their trash -- and should be ashamed of myself if I did succeed.” --Nathaniel
Hawthorne
Introduction to
Literary Studies
Week One (Jan 25, 27)
·
Introductions
to the course, your professor, and your classmates; Anne Bradstreet “The Author
to Her Book”
·
Introduction
to Literary Studies
Voice, Authorship, & Finding a
Way
Week Two (Feb 1, 3)
·
Virginia
Woolf from A Room of One’s Own (1314-18, 1338+), Quiz on initial course
handouts
·
Charlotte
Perkins Gilman “The Yellow Wallpaper” (1130-31, 1133+)
Week Three (Feb 8, 10)
·
Maxine
Hong Kingston “No Name Woman” (2239+)
·
Alice
Walker “In Search of Our Mother’s Gardens” (2314+), Paule Marshall “Poets in
the Kitchen” (1945+); Fishbowl
Writing the Taboos of Sexuality
Sat, Feb 12:
Attend The Vagina Monologues at UW-Marathon County in Wausau
(Alternative, if you cannot attend
the play: read the play, watch HBO version, & take a separate exam on the
two)
Week Four (Feb 15, 17)
·
Elizabeth
Bishop “In the Waiting Room” (1647-8, 1656+), Eve Ensler The Vagina
Monologues (exam, presentations,
discussion)
·
The Vagina Monologues continued
Week Five (Feb 22, 24)
·
Anne
Sexton “In Celebration of My Uterus” (1908-10, 1915+); Audre Lorde “Uses
of the Erotic: The Erotic as Power” & “Now That I Am Forever with Child” [2]
(h, 2127+, 2129)
·
Audre
Lorde “On a Night of the Full Moon” (2128+), “A Litany for Survival” (2129), other
poems TBA, Rose Weitz “What Price Independence?: Social Reactions to Lesbians,
Spinsters, Widows, and Nuns” (h)
Week Six (Mar 1, 3)
·
Judith
Ortiz Cofer “More Room” (h), Kate Chopin “Story of an Hour” (1011-13, h)
·
Kate
Chopin “The Storm” (1011-12, h), Naomi Wolf “Radical Heterosexuality” (h);
Fishbowl
Roles and Expectations
Week Seven (Mar 8, 10)
·
Gerd
Brantenberg Egalia’s Daughters (to
page ____)
·
Egalia’s Daughters (to page ____), Paulette Jiles “Paper Matches,” Marge Piercy “What’s That Smell
in the Kitchen?” (hs)
Week Eight (Mar 15)
·
Egalia’s Daughters (to page ____), Sandra Gilbert “Sonnet: The Ladies’ Home Journal” (h); Fishbowl
Spring Break (Mar 22, 24) – no classes
Week Nine (Mar 29, 31)
·
Egalia’s Daughters (to page ____), Betty Friedan “The
Happy Housewife Heroine,” Judy Syfers “I Want a Wife” (hs)
·
Egalia’s Daughters (to end); Fishbowl
Week Ten (Apr 5, 7)
·
Sylvia
Plath “Mirror” (2079-81, 2084), Sharon Olds “The Death of Marilyn Monroe”
(2287, h), Edmund Spenser “Sonnet 64" of Amoretti and
Epithalamion, Robert Herrick’s “To the Water Nymphs,” (hs)
·
poems
continued, Naomi Wolf “Preface” & “Intro” from The Beauty Myth (h)
Week Eleven (Apr 12, 14)
·
Sojourner
Truth “Ain’t I a Woman?” (369-70), Toni Morrison “The Coming of Maureen Peal,”
Gwendolyn B. Bennett “To a Dark Girl,” Nellie Wong “When I Was Growing Up,”
Carrie Mae Weems “Mirror, Mirror,” Lucille Clifton “Homage to My Hips” (hs),
Maya Angelou “Phenomenal Woman” (1916-17, h)
·
Continued;
Fishbowl
Contextualizing the Literature & Re-considering the
F-Word
Week Twelve (Apr 19, 21)
·
Gwyn
Kirk & Margo Okazawa-Rey “Feminist Theories,” Alice Walker “The Definition
of Womanist,” Mary Kay Blakely “He’s a Feminist, But...,” Suzanne L. Cataldi
“Reflections on ‘Male Bashing’“ (hs)
·
Susan
Faludi from Backlash “Introduction: Blame It on Feminism,” Andrea
Dworkin “Antifeminism” (hs)
So Now What? Some Literary Projections
Week Thirteen (Apr 26, 28)
·
Anonymous
“The Ballad of Mulan,” Maxine Hong Kingston “White Tigers” (hs)
·
Judith
Ortiz Cofer “Taking the Macho,” “Cenisosa: A Puerto Rican Cinderella,” and
“Marina” (hs)
Week Fourteen (May 3, 5)
·
Essay drafts due for in-class workshop
·
Alice
Walker “Am I Blue?," "Why Did the Balinese Chicken Cross the Road?,”
& excerpt from Now Is the Time to
Open Your Heart (hs); Fishbowl
Week Fifteen (May 10)
·
Essay due, Gloria
Anzaldúa “The New Mestiza: Toward a New Consciousness” (2271-72, h)
Final Exam Period: Monday, May 16,
11am – 1pm
·
Carolyn
Shrewsbury "What is Feminist Pedagogy?," excerpts from Jane Tompkins A Life in School: What the Teacher Learned
(hs), Final exam