Term 2, 2010-11; Thurs 9:30-11:20, CNH 332
Office Hours: Thurs 11:30-12:30
Or by Appointment
Peter Walmsley x23728, CNH 321
walmsley@mcmaster.ca
English 4WW3
Women Writers of the Eighteenth Century
The chief aim of this course is to explore the poetry and prose created by women between 1660
and 1814. We will read widely, attending to aristocratic and working-class writers as well as
established professionals, and to early feminist thinkers as well as novelists and poets. The
course is designed to develop a broad historical understanding of women’s writing in the period
– how these writers participated in the British publishing industry and how they adapted genres
and conventions to their own purposes. At the same time, members are encouraged to bring their
own particular theoretical approaches and social concerns to this material. The course will also
provide ample opportunity to engage in original research with McMaster’s rich collections of
books and periodicals from the period. We will also make use of new electronic resources,
including ECCO (Eighteenth Century Collections Online) and the Orlando Project.
Texts (available at Titles):
Eighteenth-Century Women Poets, ed. Roger Lonsdale (Oxford)
Jane Austen, Sense and Sensibility (Penguin)
Mary Hays, Victim of Prejudice (Broadview)
Eliza Haywood, Love in Excess (Broadview)
Mary Wollstonecraft, Vindication of the Rights of Woman (Penguin)
(Elizabeth Rowe’s Friendship in Death may be accessed in Research Collections or
through ECCO)
Evaluation:
One 20-minute seminar presentation
25%
Essay proposal and bibliography
15%
12-page essay
40%
Participation*
20%
*Members will be responsible for leading discussion following their seminars, for responding in
an informed and reflective way to their colleagues’ seminars, and for participating in group
discussion. In particular, for those meeting hours in which there is no seminar scheduled,
members should be prepared to bring to the group problems or passages from the text for
consideration.
General Reference:
Roy Porter, English Society in the Eighteenth Century
Susan Staves, A Literary History of Women’s Writing in Britain 1660-1789
Paula Backscheider, Eighteenth-Century Women Poets
Term 2, 2010-11
Peter Walmsley
walmsley@mcmaster.ca
English 4WW3: Schedule of Readings
Schedule of Readings and Seminars
Jan. 6:
organizational; rare books at Mills Connection Centre L113
Jan. 13:
A) Finch, poems
B) Thomas, poems
Jan. 20:
A) Haywood, Love in Excess: love
B) Haywood, Love in Excess: romance form
Jan. 27:
A) Haywood, Love in Excess: Alovisa
B) Haywood, Love in Excess: Delmont
Feb. 3:
A) M. Montagu, reflective verse (ECWP Nos. 40, 42, 44, 47, 48)
B) M. Montagu, satire (ECWP Nos. 38, 39, 43, 45, 46)
Feb. 10:
A) Rowe, poems
B) Rowe, Friendship in Death (available in Research Collections and ECCO)
Feb. 17:
A) Hays, Victim of Prejudice: bodies
B) Hays, Victim of Prejudice: patriarchy
Reading Week
Mar. 3:
A) Barbauld, poems
B) Smith, poems
C) More, poems
Mar. 10:
A) Wollstonecraft, Vindication: nature and reason
B) Wollstonecraft, Vindication: politics and class
Mar. 17:
Essay proposal workshop
Mar. 24:
A) Austen, Sense and Sensibility: strong women
B) Austen, Sense and Sensibility: dithering men
Mar. 31:
A) Austen, Sense and Sensibility: money
B) Austen, Sense and Sensibility: conversation
NB: In this schedule, “poems” indicates the selection in Roger Lonsdale’s Eighteenth-Century
Women Poets.
Seminar: Each member will present one 20-minute seminar in the course of the term and must
be prepared to participate in informal discussion. Please submit to me on Avenue by JAN. 10 a
list of four choices in order of preference. On the Tuesday before your seminar, please post three
or four questions or a brief outline on Avenue to help guide fellow class members as they
prepare for class.
Essay Proposal: A 2-page (500-word) proposal for the term essay is due on Avenue on Mar 11.
It should be accompanied by an annotated bibliography (1-2 pages) including: 1) the edition of
the primary text you are using, and 2) four or five critical or theoretical articles or chapters from
books, with a brief description (2 or 3 sentences) of the argument of each and its relevance to
your proposed essay. Your essay should be on a subject other than that of your seminar. We will
workshop the proposals together the following week (Mar. 17).
Essay: The term essay itself (12 pages) is due on Avenue on Apr. 4. Please follow MLA
guidelines for the presentation and documentation of research, and be aware of University Policy
regarding academic dishonesty.
Note 1: In the event of class cancellations, students will be notified on Avenue and the English Department Website.
It is your responsibility to check these sites regularly for any such announcements.
Link: http://www.humanities.mcmaster.ca/~english/ (Department)
Link: http://avenue.mcmaster.ca/ (avenue to learn)
Note 2: It is the policy of the Faculty of Humanities that all email communication sent from students to instructors
(including TAs), and from students to staff, must originate from the student's own McMaster University email
account. This policy protects confidentiality and confirms the identity of the student. Instructors will delete emails
that do not originate from a McMaster email account.
Note 3: Students will be requested to complete an online course evaluation at the end of the course.
Late Assignment Policy: Assignments are due on Avenue before midnight on the due date. Late assignments will
have one grade point deducted for each day late.
Academic Dishonesty: Academic dishonesty consists of misrepresentation by deception or by other fraudulent
means and can result in serious consequences, e.g. the grade of zero on an assignment, loss of credit with a notation
on the transcript (notation reads: “Grade of F assigned for academic dishonesty”), and/or suspension or expulsion
from the university.
It is your responsibility to understand what constitutes academic dishonesty. For information on the various kinds of
academic dishonesty please refer to the Academic Integrity Policy, specifically Appendix 3, located at
http://www.mcmaster.ca/senate/academic/ac_integrity.htm
The following illustrates only three forms of academic dishonesty:
1. Plagiarism, e.g. the submission of work that is not one’s own or for which other credit has been obtained.
2. Improper collaboration in group work. (Receiving a group grade for a presentation without having done an equal
amount of work on the project.)
3. Copying or using unauthorized aids in tests and examinations.
Students will be required to submit their work electronically and in hard copy so that it can be checked for academic
dishonesty.
Since September 1982, the grading scale has been:
Grade
Equivalent Grade Point
Equivalent Percentages
A+
12
90-100
A
11
85-89
A-
10
80-84
B+
9
77-79
B
8
73-76
B-
7
70-72
C+
6
67-69
C
5
63-66
C-
4
60-62
D+
3
57-59
D
2
53-56
D-
1
50-52
F
0
0-49 -- Failure