NINETEENTH CENTURY AMERICAN WOMEN WRITERS AND AMERICAN CULTURE

概要

“Scribbling women” is how Nathaniel Hawthorne dismissively referred to the women writers of his day. Despite the popularity of their publications, women were not encouraged to write. American women were not granted the right to vote nationally until 1920 (Native American peoples did not receive this right until 1924). This course examines literature written by American women—fiction, narratives, and poetry—created before American women were fully enfranchised citizens. Today, many of the writers in our class are recognized as major authors. Organizations such as the Society for the Study of American Women Writers (SSAWW) and the peer-reviewed journal, Legacy, have helped revive the reputations of nineteenth-century American women writers and have changed our understanding of classic American literature. While this is technically a lecture class, there is structured participation including required in-class presentations. You will apply what you’ve learned throughout the course in quizzes, presentations, and a final exam. Course lectures will be dynamic and responsive; please interrupt, ask questions, offer comments. This course covers a broad historical time span (roughly 100 years), and include works in multiple genres (poetry, fiction, narratives, essays) by multiple authors.

目標

1. Demonstrate familiarity with the unique challenges faced by American women writers in the nineteenth century. 2. Interpret some prominent examples of nineteenth-century American women writers’ literary work through close reading, analysis, and/or in the context of some of the most pressing social issues of the era. 3. Effective presentations and participation as assigned.

授業外の学習

Learning by doing is a core teaching method; in-class activities, including discussion questions, total 20% of the grade. Each student is asked to submit 3 discussion questions one time during the semester (instructions provided). Please come to class with 3 written questions that are clearly linked to the assigned readings for the week. Please type out and print your questions using 12-point font and double spaces. Please be prepared to hand in your questions to the Professor. Questions may or may not be used in class depending on class size. Questions should not be able to be answered with yes/no or with reference to historical fact; rather, questions should be complex and open-ended. Quizzes reward effort given to the required readings throughout the semester. The final exam builds on the work you have completed throughout the semester.

所要時間: 200 minutes per lecture