T/Th 1:30-2:45; Heavilon Hall 102

Office Hours: T/Th 10:30-12:00 and 3:00-4:30

This course will consider what it means for women to be "in" literature, as characters and as authors. Over the course of the semester, we will survey the history of women's literature, from the medieval period to the present day. We will pay special attention to questions of literary tradition: is there a female tradition that is distinct from a male tradition? If so, what are its concerns? How do female writers approach questions of authorship and authorial legitimacy? How do women writers draw upon the works of their literary "mothers"? While we focus on commonalities among women and women writers, we will also concern ourselves with the differences that exist among our authors. How, we will ask, do women writers revise and contest each other's works? How can we get beyond the label "woman writer" to an appreciation of individuality and diversity?

Students in the course will be expected to attend lecture, to finish required readings by the assigned date, and to complete three assignments (a midterm, a 2,000 word paper, and final exam). Assignments will be weighted as follows: midterm exam, 20%; paper, 30%; final examination, 40%; class participation, 10%.

Required Texts:

Gilbert and Gubar, Norton Anthology of Literature by Women

Kinkaid, The Autobiography of My Mother

Rhys, The Wide Sargasso Sea

Shields, The Stone Diaries

Week 1

T

• Introductions
• Virginia Woolf, "Shakespeare's Sister" (in-class reading)

Th

• Julian of Norwich, from A Book of Showings
• Margery Kempe, from The Book of Margery Kempe

Week 2

T

• Aemilia Lanyer, from Salve Deus Rex Judaeorum
• Ahra Behn, all poetry selections in Norton

Th

• Mary Astell, "A Serious Proposal to the Ladies"
• Mary Wollestonecraft, from A Vindication of the Rights of Woman
• Anna Letitia Barbauld, "The Rights of Woman"

   

Week 3

T

• Charlotte Bronte, Jane Eyre

Th

• Charlotte Bronte, Jane Eyre

Week 4

T

• Charlotte Bronte, Jane Eyre

Th

• Charlotte Bronte, Jane Eyre

   

Week 5

T

• Charlotte Bronte, Jane Eyre

Th

• Charlotte Bronte, Jane Eyre

Week 6

T

• Emily Dickinson, see syllabus for selections

Th

• Christina Rossetti, all selections from Norton

Week 7

T

• Alice James, from The Diary of Alice James

Th

• Charlotte Perkins Gilman, "The Yellow Wallpaper"

Week 8

T

• OCTOBER BREAK: NO CLASS

Th

• MIDTERM EXAM (click here for the midterm format and example questions)

Week 9

T

• Kate Chopin, The Awakening

Th

• Kate Chopin, The Awakening

Week 10

T

• H. D. "Orchard," "Oread," "Sea Poppies," "Eurydice," "Helen"
• Gertrude Stein, "Picasso," "Ada"

Th

• Jean Rhys, The Wide Sargasso Sea

Week 11

T

• Jean Rhys, The Wide Sargasso Sea

Th

• Jean Rhys, The Wide Sargasso Sea

Week 12

T

• Anne Sexton, "Her Kind," "On Sylvia's Death"
• Sylvia Plath, "The Bee Meeting," "The Arrival of the Bee Box," "Stings," "The Swarm," "Wintering," "Daddy," "Lady Lazurus"

Th

• Adrienne Rich, "Diving into the Wreck," "Aunt Jennifer's Tigers," "When We Dead Awaken"
• PAPERS DUE AT BEGINNING OF CLASS

   

Week 13

T

• Jamaica Kinkaid, The Autobiography of My Mother

Th

• Jamaica Kinkaid, The Autobiography of My Mother

Week 14

T

• Jamaica Kinkaid, The Autobiography of My Mother

Th

• THANKSGIVING VACATION

Week 15

T

• Carol Shields, The Stone Diaries

Th

• Carol Shields, The Stone Diaries

Week 16

T

• Carol Shields, The Stone Diaries

Th

• COURSE WRAP-UP

LINKS TO SITES OF INTEREST

• Victorian Women Writer's Project (P. Willett, Indiana U)
• Charlotte Bronte Page (The Poetry Archives)
• The Voice of the Shuttle--Main Page (Alan Liu, UCSB)
• The Voice of the Shuttle--Feminist and Gender Page (UCSB)
• Undergraduate Guide to Literary Theory (Dino Felluga, Purdue U)

revised 25 April, 1997

elallen@is.dal.ca