Fall 2011
English 332-01: English Women Writers before 1800 (WGS)
Early Modern Women’s Writing
Dr. Michelle Dowd
TR 9:30-10:45
School of Education Building, Room 102
Office: 3123 MHRA
Office Hours: T 11:00-1:00, and by appt.
Office Phone: 334-5384
mmdowd@uncg.edu
Course Description and Objectives:
This course will offer students a broad overview of the writings of early modern Englishwomen.
Readings will include a range of texts written in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, including
polemic, love poetry, drama, and religious writings. Our emphasis will be on close reading of these texts
within their literary, cultural, and historical contexts. To that end, we will consider how these texts
engage with such issues as economic status and patronage relationships; marriage and domesticity;
sexuality; religious belief and identity; and political theory. We will also investigate how the choice of
genre and the use of rhetorical techniques affect women writers’ self-construction as authors and their
literary authority.
Student Learning Outcomes:
Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:
 Identify and discuss important characteristics of early English literature by women.
 Apply the techniques of literary analysis to these texts.
 Develop and hone critical writing skills, close reading practices, and group discussion.
 Analyze the various social, historical, and literary contexts in which these texts were written.
 Explain how gender is produced within early modern social, historical, and literary institutions.
 Analyze the mutual constitution of gender, class, sexuality, nationality, and religion.
Required Texts:
 Bowerbank, Sylvia and Sarah Mendelson, eds. Paper Bodies: A Margaret Cavendish Reader.
Broadview, 2000. [SB]
 Hodgson-Wright, Stephanie, ed. The Tragedy of Mariam. By Elizabeth Cary. Broadview, 2000.
[HW]
 Additional readings on Blackboard [BB] —most under “Course Documents” and others under
“E-Reserves”
 Blue books for both exams
Schedule of Readings and Assignments: (Note: this schedule is subject to change)
Unit 1: Introduction: Early Modern Women and Writing
Week 1:
Tues. Aug. 23:
Thurs. Aug. 25:
Introduction Part I
Introduction Part II: Clarke, “Women, Language and Rhetoric” [BB]
ENG 332-01 Syllabus- 2
Unit 2: Poetry: Gender, Authority, and Form
Week 2:
Tues. Aug. 30:
Thurs. Sept. 1:
Week 3:
Tues. Sept. 6:
Thurs. Sept. 8:
Moulsworth, “Memorandum”; Sidney, “To the Angel Spirit”; Whitney, “Will
and Testament” [BB]
Jonson, “To Penshurst”; Lanyer, “Cooke-ham” [BB]; In-class writing
Sidney, sonnet 1; Wroth, sonnets 1, 16, 25, 26, 45, 77, 100, 103 [BB]
Donne, “The Sun Rising”; Philips, “A Married State,” “Upon the Double
Murder,” “Friendship’s Mystery,” “To Mrs. M.A.,” “To my Excellent Lucasia”
[BB]
Unit 3: Drama: Staging Marriage, Gender, and Social Conflict
Week 4:
Tues. Sept. 13:
Thurs. Sept. 15:
Straznicky, “Closet Drama” [BB]; Discussion of Writing Assignment 1
Cary, Tragedy of Mariam [HW]; Hodgson-Wright intro pp. 11-37
Week 5:
Tues. Sept. 20:
Thurs. Sept. 22:
Tragedy of Mariam; Quiz
Tragedy of Mariam; Writing Assignment 1 Due
Week 6:
Tues. Sept. 27:
Thurs. Sept. 29:
Cavendish, The Convent of Pleasure [SB]; Bowerbank intro pp. 9-10 and 16-23
The Convent of Pleasure; Quiz
Week 7:
Tues. Oct. 4:
Thurs. Oct. 6:
Review for Exam 1
Exam 1
Unit 4: Religion, Politics and Polemics: Debates about Women
Week 8:
Tues. Oct. 11:
Thurs. Oct. 13:
Week 9:
Tues. Oct. 18:
Thurs. Oct. 20:
Week 10:
Tues. Oct 25:
Thurs. Oct. 27:
Week 11:
Tues. Nov. 1:
Thurs. Nov. 3:
Fall Break. No Class
Clarke, “The Renaissance Debate about Women”; Dowd and Festa, “Adam’s
Rib, Eve’s Voice” [BB]
Swetnam, “The Arraignment” [BB]; In-class writing
Sowernam Ester hath hang’d Haman; Speght, A Muzzle for Melastomus [BB]
Lanyer, “Eve’s Apology”; Milton, Paradise Lost (9.643-792 and 990-1016);
Hutchinson, Order and Disorder (4.139-388) [BB]; In-class writing
No class
Southwell, “All Married Men”; Roper, “The Creation of Man” and “Man’s
Shameful Fall”; Calthorpe, “A Description of the Garden of Eden” [BB]
Editing Workshop for Writing Assignment 2
ENG 332-01 Syllabus- 3
Unit 5: The Possibilities of Prose: Women’s Rule and Imagined Communities
Week 12:
Tues. Nov. 8:
Thurs. Nov. 10:
Queen Elizabeth, “First Speech before Parliament,” “Speech to the Troops at
Tilbury,” “The Golden Speech”; John Knox, The First Blast of the Trumpet [BB]
Cavendish, The Blazing World [SB]; Bowerbank intro pp. 23-34; Writing
Assignment 2 Due
Week 13:
Tues. Nov. 15:
Thurs. Nov. 17:
The Blazing World
The Blazing World; Quiz
Week 14:
Tues. Nov. 22:
Thurs. Nov. 24:
Astell, A Serious Proposal to the Ladies [BB]
Thanksgiving Break. No class.
Week 15:
Tues. Nov. 29:
Thurs. Dec. 1:
Review for Exam 2 and Course Evaluations
Exam 2
Grading:
Quizzes, In-class writing, and Participation:
20%
Exam 1:
20%
Exam 2:
20%
Writing Assignment 1:
20%
Writing Assignment 2:
20%
Note: Completion of all assignments is required to pass the course.
Grading Scale: A=100-93, A-=92-90, B+=89-87, B=86-83, B-=82-80, C+=79-77, C=76-73, C-=72-70,
D+=69-67, D=66-63, D-=62-60, F=<60
NOTE: The grade of A+ will be given in exceptional circumstances when a student’s average for the
course is a 99 or above and when the student has performed in an exemplary manner in all aspects of the
course, including participation.
Attendance: I expect you to attend every class meeting, arrive on time, and remain for 75 minutes.
Please read and note carefully these specific policies regarding attendance:
Tardiness: Being late to class is disruptive and disrespectful to your peers. Your first two tardies will be
excused; after that, arriving late to class or leaving early will count as 1/3 an absence. If I have begun
class, you must remind me to mark you present at the end of that class session or your tardiness will count
as a full absence. If you miss 30 minutes or more of any class, it will count as a full absence.
Absences: Because this class is largely discussion-based, your consistent attendance is crucial to the
success of the course. Over the course of the semester, you may have four absences without any penalty
or excuses required. You do not need to contact me about these absences. Ideally, you will not need to
use these absences, but you should reserve them for the following kinds of situations: religious
observances, car trouble, work conflicts, routine illness, childcare concerns, minor emergencies, etc.
Your final grade will be lowered 2% for each additional absence. Exceptions to this policy may be made
for serious, prolonged personal or medical problems with proper documentation, at the discretion of the
ENG 332-01 Syllabus- 4
professor. If you miss the first two class meetings OR if you miss six or more classes before October 14
(the last day to drop without academic penalty), I will drop you from the course (this will result in the
grade of “W” for the course). Keeping track of your absences and keeping up with readings and
assignments is your responsibility. I will not contact you about your absences, but they will be reflected
in your final grade. In cases of adverse weather, classes will meet unless the Chancellor closes the
University.
Participation: Reading assignments should be completed before the beginning of class on the date
indicated. Please take notes as your read these texts, mark significant or tricky passages, use a dictionary
to look up any words that you do not know, and think about how each work relates to others we have
read. Be sure to bring your book(s) or printed text with you to each class meeting; failure to do so will
negatively impact your participation grade.
For the majority of class meetings, I will ask you to consider specific prompts or answer particular
questions in advance of our class discussion. You will not hand these in, but they are still a required part
of your participation in the course; I will occasionally call on students to make sure that everyone is
engaging with the texts and that all voices in the class are heard. As this is a discussion-oriented course,
you should be prepared to share your responses to these texts with your classmates. I will be looking for
enthusiastic and thoughtful discussion of these texts, and you will be evaluated on the frequency, quality,
and originality of your comments in class. Remember that class participation is an assignment like any
other: you are free to choose whether (and how) you fulfill this assignment, but be aware that your grade
will reflect your choice.
Finally, please note that as a policy, I do not offer extra credit. Attending class regularly and participating
actively in class discussion is the best way to improve your course grade. Remember: your quizzes, inclass writing, and class participation are worth as much as each exam and formal writing assignment!
Quizzes and In-class Writing: Reading quizzes and brief in-class writing assignments will be given
periodically throughout the semester, as scheduled on the syllabus. These assignments are designed to
see if you have been reading carefully and to generate discussion about the texts. Each assignment is
worth a total of 10 points. Your lowest quiz or in-class writing assignment will be dropped; there are no
make-up quizzes or assignments. If a quiz or in-class writing assignment falls on a day that you will be
absent for a religious observance, please contact me in advance.
Exams: There will be two exams—one at midterm (October 6) and one on the last day of class
(December 1). The first exam will cover our reading during the first half of the semester (through The
Convent of Pleasure) and the second exam will cover our reading during the second half of the semester.
Exams will consist of identification questions as well as essays questions. Dates and times of both exams
are firm; there are no make-up exams, except in cases of documented medical or personal emergencies or
religious observance (with advance notice). You must bring your own blue books to class to use for both
exams.
Writing Assignments: Papers are due at the beginning of class on the due date. I will not accept late
papers, except in cases of documented medical or personal emergencies. In the case of religious
observance, papers will need to be turned in prior to the day of your absence. I will post a document on
Blackboard with more details about both writing assignments.
Academic Integrity: Violations of academic integrity are serious academic offenses that will not be
tolerated in this class. I expect every student to review the guidelines and list of violations at
http://academicintegrity.uncg.edu and to abide by the UNCG Academic Integrity Policy. Students will
ENG 332-01 Syllabus- 5
need to sign the Academic Integrity Pledge on all major work. As you will see in reading the policy,
violations include but are not limited to plagiarism.
In writing your papers and exams, you will need to take particular care to avoid plagiarizing the words or
ideas of others. When you use sources such as books, web pages, articles, or primary documents in your
writing, you must identify them to your reader. If you quote a source directly, you must put the borrowed
material in quotation marks and include a proper citation. If you take an idea from another source but put
it in your own words (i.e. paraphrase it), you must still give proper credit to the source. Please use MLA
style documentation to document any sources used in written work.
All suspected violations of the academic integrity policy will be reported to the Dean of Students, and
proven violations will result in serious repercussions. In my classes, a single violation of academic
integrity is grounds for failure of the entire course. Repeated offenses can cause you to be expelled
from the University. It is your responsibility to understand what plagiarism is and how to avoid it. If you
are unsure about how to give credit to your sources or have any questions about what constitutes an act of
plagiarism, please ask me!
Technology:
E-mail: Email is the fastest way to contact me, and I will occasionally use e-mail to contact you. All
messages will be sent to UNCG email accounts, so you need to check your UNCG account regularly. I
will do my best to respond to your email within 24 hours on weekdays; please do not expect email
responses in the evenings or on weekends. You are required to hand in paper copies of all written work; I
will not accept assignments handed in via email.
Because email communication related to the classroom is a professional mode of exchange, you should
use proper etiquette when sending email. That means including a clear subject line as well as a proper
greeting and signature, using complete, grammatical sentences in the body of your message, and running
the Spell Check feature before sending your email.
Blackboard: I have set up a Blackboard website for the course where you can find copies of the
syllabus, assignments, announcements, and useful links. Please note that it is your responsibility to print
out copies of all handouts and assignment sheets and bring them to class as needed.
Laptops and Cellphones: This is an interactive discussion class, and I expect your engaged attention
and participation. You may not use laptops in this class, except in documented cases of medical need.
Cellphones and other electronic equipment must be turned off at all times.
Listserv: To enhance communication with majors, the English Department maintains a listserv. Please
join the listserv by sending the following message from your e-mail account (whether on campus or at
home) that you use most regularly to listproc@uncg.edu: subscribe English-l firstname lastname (giving,
of course, your own first and last names). For example: subscribe English-l Jane Doe. Note that the letter l
(L) follows "English," not the number 1 (one).