American Ways: Plotting Women
ENGL 339, Spring 2012
TR 01:00-02:15 p.m., Newton 206
Dr. Caroline Woidat
Welles 228A
woidat@geneseo.edu
245-5271 (office); 473-8583 (home)
Office hours: Tues. 4:00-5:00 p.m., Thurs. 8:30-9:30 a.m. & by appointment
COURSE TEXTS
Hannah Webster Foster, The Coquette
Tabitha Tenney, Female Quixotism
Catharine Maria Sedgwick, Hope Leslie
Harriet Beecher Stowe, Uncle Tom’s Cabin
Harriet Wilson, Our Nig
Fanny Fern, Ruth Hall and Other Writings
E.D.E.N. Southworth, The Hidden Hand
Materials on myCourses at https://mycourses.geneseo.edu
COURSE DESCRIPTION AND LEARNING OUTCOMES
This course examines American women's fiction from the late 1700s to the turn of the twentieth century,
focusing upon the development of sensational plots and subversive female characters with attention to the
cultural, social, and political concerns of the early republic and expanding nation. We will concentrate
mainly upon novels, with readings that include narratives of seduction, madcap adventures, captivity,
economic reversals, ghosts, violence, and revenge. The course will foreground gender issues as we examine
thematic and formal elements of the texts, situating them in relation to various genres and traditions—
romantic, sentimental, gothic, etc.
Students taking this course will: 1) be able to interpret and analyze works of literature in accordance with
the major conventions of literary criticism; 2) be able to produce essays in literary criticism that adhere to
the conventions of critical writing; 3) be able to situate literary works by American women writers in larger
traditions, movements, historical, and cultural contexts; 4) be able to demonstrate an understanding of the
theoretical and critical debates surrounding the interpretation of literature by American women writers; 5)
be able to orally communicate, discuss, and debate ideas about the literary texts in ways that are effective
and respect the diversity of the community.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS AND EVALUATION
Students are expected to follow the reading schedule on the syllabus, with assignments averaging
approximately 200 pages each week. I ask that you actively engage with the texts and with class members
in various ways: you will be responsible for writing a short analytical response to each novel, contributing
to in-class discussions of the texts, and preparing a group oral presentation. The work for the course also
includes a midterm exam, a final exam, and an 8-10 page critical essay requiring original research on the
topic of your choice. All work must be completed in order to earn a passing grade for the course, and the
components of the course grade will be weighted as follows:
Midterm exam 15%
Short papers 25%
Final essay 20%
Final exam 20%
Participation and oral presentation 20%
Reading assignments appear next to the date when they should be completed. You are expected to read the
assigned texts carefully before coming to class and to bring both your reading notes and a copy of the
text(s) with you. Look at the syllabus carefully, as there are sometimes a number of assignments from
different sources, including online course materials, listed for the same date.
Participation is critical to our work in this course and thus a significant component of your final grade.
Your participation will be monitored for its consistency and quality. Good preparation and constructive,
ongoing contributions to discussions are necessary to earn a grade of B or higher. Frequent absences, lack
of preparation, lack of involvement, inattention, and/or distracting behavior (e.g. texting or checking cell
phones, using laptops to surf or chat, etc.) will negatively affect the participation grade. I expect every
student to join in class discussions; students who are having trouble meeting this expectation should discuss
this requirement with me early in the semester.
An oral presentation is one component of the larger participation grade. Students will sign up for topics and
groups at the beginning of the semester. We will be using the model of an academic conference for our
presentation format, with each group creating a mini session that is a much shorter version of the type of
panel presented on G.R.E.A.T. Day. Your group will develop a panel topic and title, presenting individual
short papers (also with titles) followed by a question-and-answer period. These are indeed mini
“conference” papers—1-2 pages in length like the other short papers you’ll be writing and no more than 5
minutes long (one double-spaced page = approximately 2 minutes). The class and professor will be relying
solely on your oral communication to understand the main ideas in your paper, so you should tailor the
writing accordingly and practice delivering the paper in advance. Your delivery of the paper will be
evaluated for organization, expression, and presentation using the English department’s rubric for oral
reports posted on myCourses. Presenters will co-chair the panel together by preparing questions in advance
for one another (and for the class) to generate discussion during the question-and-answer session. The
length of the presentation should be 5 minutes per paper (strict time limit) and approximately 10-15
minutes for discussion (less strict time limit). Please note that the presentation paper is a requirement in
addition to the assigned short paper for the text and cannot be used for both assignments.
The final essay (8-10 pages) is due in class on the due date; it will not be accepted by email. Before writing
the essay, students will submit a paper proposal (1-2 pages) with a tentative topic and preliminary research
that will be graded with the other short papers even though it uses a different format. The final essay should
be double-spaced, with standard margins and font size (1 inch on all sides, 12 pt.). Be sure to include page
numbers and a title. You should use quotations and cite sources using the MLA style of documentation.
The essay will be evaluated for the sophistication and presentation of your argument. A late essay will
accrue a penalty for each day beyond the deadline and will not be accepted over seven days late without a
certified excuse from the Dean of Students. Guidelines for the paper proposal and final essay will be
discussed in class and posted on myCourses. Students are encouraged to refer to Geneseo’s online writing
guide for advice on writing about literature (at http://writingguide.geneseo.edu/) and to Purdue OWL’s
online guide to MLA style and formatting (at http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01/).
Exams are essay format and will be discussed further in class so that you know what to expect and how to
prepare for them. No make-up exams will be scheduled unless there are documented extenuating
circumstances (e.g. severe illness or family crisis). It is the student’s responsibility to contact the professor
as soon as possible to request alternative arrangements to a scheduled exam time.
Short papers are 1-2 page analytical responses to reading assignments that will be graded on a scale of 12.5
points based upon the sophistication and presentation of your ideas (7 short papers + 1 paper proposal x
12.5 points each = 100 possible points). Each paper should develop a succinct argument, beginning with an
analytical claim about the text—that is, with an arguable thesis statement—and then supporting it with
textual evidence that includes some direct quotations. When you are reading the assignments, be alert to
questions and ideas that you have and to passages that pique your interest, as these can be good starting
points for your short papers.
Your paper should focus on the assigned reading for the day you submit the paper, as we will share
ideas from these papers in class and use them as points of departure for further discussion. You might also
draw upon your response papers when developing a topic for your final essay. You will need to make sure
that you turn in one paper for each novel below, submitting each paper in class (not by email or later in
the day) and no later than the final date listed for each paper. Although no late papers will be accepted,
you will have the opportunity to make up one grade with an optional short paper assignment at the end of
the semester. Use the following checklist carefully to keep track of your short papers.
Checklist for short papers (and proposal):
1. The Coquette (1/19 or 1/24)
2. Female Quixotism (1/26, 1/31, 2/2 or 2/7)
3. Hope Leslie (2/9, 2/14, 2/16, or 2/21)
4. Uncle Tom’s Cabin (2/28, 3/1, 3/6, or 3/8)
5. Our Nig (3/20 or 3/22)
6. Ruth Hall (3/27 or 3/29)
7. Paper proposal for final essay (4/3)
8. The Hidden Hand (4/5, 4/10, 4/12, or 4/19)
Optional paper (to replace lowest grade for above):
9. one of the short stories (4/24, 4/26, or 5/1)
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COLLEGE POLICIES OF NOTE
 SUNY Geneseo will make reasonable accommodations for persons with documented physical,
emotional or learning disabilities. Students should consult with the Director in the Office of Disability
Services (Tabitha Buggie-Hunt, 106 Erwin, tbuggieh@geneseo.edu) and their individual faculty
regarding any needed accommodations as early as possible in the semester. Information on services
and campus policies can be found at <http://www.geneseo.edu/dean_office/disability_services>.

It is essential to give credit to sources of any ideas that are not your own, as plagiarism is a serious
offense with severe consequences. Each student is responsible for knowing what constitutes plagiarism
and understanding the college’s policy and procedures for academic dishonesty, defined in detail the
Undergraduate Bulletin. For more explanation of plagiarism and how to avoid it, students should refer
to this website: < http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/589/1>.
SCHEDULE
1/17 Introduction to course
1/19 Foster, The Coquette (Letters I – XXXVIII)
1/24 Foster, The Coquette (Letters XXXIX – LXXIV)
1/26 Tenney, Female Quixotism (p. 3; Book I: Ch. I - X)
1/31 Female Quixotism (Book I: Ch. XI – XVIII)
2/2 Female Quixotism (Book II: Ch. I – IX)
2/7 Female Quixotism (Book II: Ch. X – XVIII)
2/9 Sedgwick, Hope Leslie (Preface, Vol. I: Ch. I – V)
2/14 Hope Leslie (Vol. I: Ch. VI – XII)
2/16 Hope Leslie (Vol. II: Ch. I – VI)
2/21 Hope Leslie (Vol. II: Ch. VII – XV)
2/23 Midterm exam
2/28 Stowe, Uncle Tom’s Cabin (Preface – Ch. XIII)
3/1 Uncle Tom’s Cabin (Ch. XIV – XIX)
3/6 Uncle Tom’s Cabin (Ch. XX – XXXII); Tompkins, “Sentimental Power: Uncle Tom's Cabin and the
Politics of Literary History” (on myCourses)
3/8 Uncle Tom’s Cabin (Ch. XXXIII – XLV)
Spring break
3/20 Wilson, Our Nig (Preface, Ch. I-VII); Pilgrim and Middleton, “Nigger and Caricatures” (on
myCourses); White, “‘Our Nig’ and the ‘She-Devil’: New Information about Harriet Wilson and
the ‘Bellmont’ Family” (on myCourses)
3/22 Our Nig (VIII-XII, Appendix); Breau, “Identifying Satire: Our Nig” (on myCourses); Stern,
“Excavating Genre in Our Nig” (on myCourses)
3/27 Fern, Ruth Hall (Ch. I – LVI)
3/29 Ruth Hall (Ch. LVII – XC)
4/3 Fern, Newspaper Articles (pp. 215-320); paper proposal due
4/5 Southworth, The Hidden Hand (Ch. I – XIV)
4/10 The Hidden Hand (Ch. XV – XXXI)
4/12 The Hidden Hand XXXII – XLIV)
4/17 G.R.E.A.T. Day—no class
4/19 The Hidden Hand (Ch. XLV – LXI)
4/24 Child, “Hilda Silfverling: A Fantasy”; Wynne, “The Little Room”; Freeman, “The Lost Ghost” (all on
myCourses
4/26 Phelps, “Since I Died” (on myCourses); final essay due
5/1 Cooke, “My Visitation”; Woolson, “The South Devil” (both on myCourses)
5/7 Final exam (12:00-3:00 p.m.)