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ENG290-xxx: Introduction to Women’s Literature
Instructor: Amanda Konkle
Preferred contact: Email
Office: xxxx Patterson Office Tower
Phone: 257-xxxx
MWF 9:00-9:50 Funkhouser B9
Email: amanda.konkle@uky.edu
Mailbox: 1243 Patterson Office Tower
Office hours: M: 10:00-1:00 and by appointment
English Department Phone: 257-7008
Course Overview:
This course will introduce you to a sampling of the rich body of women’s writing, focusing on some
important issues and representative examples. We will also focus on writing, particularly on
devising a thesis, crafting an argument, and learning how to use supporting evidence. Additional
coursework will include an in-class presentation. This specific section will consider the following
questions: What do women writers have in common and how do they differ from one another?
What issues do women writers consider? What do women writers have to say about developing
from girls into women, about mental health, and about bodies and sexuality?
Course Goals:
English 290 will:
1) Introduce you to issues specific to the study of literature by women;
2) Strengthen your ability to read literary works closely and analytically;
3) Equip you with basic vocabulary for discussing literature;
4) Improve your essay-writing and analytical skills.
Student Learning Outcomes:
To satisfy these goals, upon completion of this course, you should be able to:
1) Demonstrate your mastery of vocabulary and interpretive strategies through analytical
essays, examinations, and short writing assignments.
2) Analyze literature both in discussion and in well-developed writing.
3) Demonstrate your writing ability by drafting, composing, and revising three formal essays,
for a total of at least fifteen pages of writing, with specific emphasis on the skills needed to
devise theses, craft arguments, and use supporting evidence.
Required texts:
- Major Women Writers bound course reader (available at the bookstores)
- Lee Smith, Fair and Tender Ladies, Berkley Trade (first published 1988)
- Toni Morrison, The Bluest Eye, Vintage, (first published 1970)
- Kate Chopin, The Awakening, Bedford St. Martin’s (first published 1899)
- Zora Neale Hurston, Their Eyes Were Watching God, Harper Perennial (first published 1937)
- Charlotte Bronte, Jane Eyre, Norton Critical (first published 1847)
- Sylvia Plath, The Bell Jar, Harper Perennial (first published 1963)
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- Additional readings will be made available on Blackboard (under Readings). Please print out all
Blackboard readings.
- Computer access. We submit final drafts of major essays electronically. All students must
therefore be capable of receiving and sending Word documents.
ASSIGNMENTS MUST BE SAVED AS .DOC OR .DOCX FILES COMPATIBLE WITH MICROSOFT OFFICE.
Evaluation and Assessment:
Assignments are due and weighted as outlined below.
Essay 1: 15%, due Friday, xx, 11:59 PM.
Essay 2: 20%, due Friday, xx, 11:59 PM.
Mid-term Exam: 10%, online - available on Blackboard from 10:00 AM Wednesday, xx until 11:59
PM Sunday, xx.
Essay 3: 25%, due Tuesday, xx, by noon.
Final Exam: 10%, Thursday, xx, 10:30 AM.
Presentation: 5%; sign up for date.
Attendance and Active Participation: 10%, distributed daily.
Quizzes and Short Writing Assignments: 5%, distributed throughout the semester.
Any changes to due dates will be made to benefit you and will be provided in writing well in
advance of the revised due date.
Please note that your grade is calculated according to the above weights. Your Blackboard
gradebook shows you your weighted total in a column marked “weighted total.”
Essays are assigned letter grades, which are entered as letters. The letter grades correspond to the
following percentages:
A=95, A-=93, B+=87, B=85, B-=83, C+=77, C=75, C-=73, D+=67, D=65, D-=63, E=55.
The course grade will be figured according to the University grading scale:
A=90-100, B=80-89, C=70-79, D=60-69, E=below 60.
Brief Description of Essay Assignments:
For Essay 1, you will write a three-page essay that analyzes the meaning of a “key word” you have
noticed reappearing frequently in a text. For Essay 2, you will write a five-page essay that makes
an argument about one of the course texts. You may base your argument on key words,
surface/depth, and/or cultural context. For Essay 3, you will write a seven-page essay that makes
an argument about one of the course texts and cites at least one piece of criticism regarding that
text. You may base your argument on key words, surface/depth, and/or cultural context.
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Course Policies:
Attendance and Participation:
1) Attendance will be recorded for every class meeting. You are allowed two absences
without penalty to your attendance and participation grade. After that, each absence will
result in a 10% reduction in the attendance grade.
2) Come to class ready to participate in our discussion of the texts by asking questions and
suggesting insights. To help you with this, I will give you 14 active participation cards to
record your contributions to discussion. See the separate handout for an explanation of
how to use these cards. You also must contribute questions for 2 discussion question
opportunities listed on the schedule.
3) I will use quizzes and in-class writing prompts to evaluate that you are in fact completing
the assigned reading.
4) Excused absences will be given at my discretion only with documentation as defined by S.R.
5.2.4.2: http://www.uky.edu/Ombud/policies.php. If you miss class for any reason, it is
your responsibility to contact me to find out what you missed.
5) I will strictly adhere to the “one-fifth” attendance policy: if you miss 20% or more of our
class sessions, you will not be able to get credit for this course. Refer to S.R. 5.1.8.3 and
5.2.4.2. Make sure to read this policy carefully as it dictates the number of allowed
absences (8 for this class) before you can no longer pass the course. You will have to
withdraw from the class or fail at 9 absences.
6) Students arriving more than ten minutes late or leaving ten or more minutes early will be
considered absent. Students arriving between five and ten minutes late will be
considered tardy. You are allowed one free “T;” every tardy above 2 will result in a 2%
reduction to your participation grade.
Submission of Assignments:
1) Essays are due by the time on the assignment sheet via Blackboard SafeAssign.
2) Each of you has 3 available extension days that you can use for any major essay, but you
must tell me how many days you wish to take and request the extension 1 class period
before the assignment due date. You may not use these extensions for homework.
3) All late essays will be marked down one letter grade per calendar day, not class day. Essays
will be considered late if they are not submitted by five minutes after the due time.
4) Daily homework assignments—reading responses, take-home writing assignments, peer
review assignments, etc.—are due at the beginning of class. You may not complete your
assignments during class discussion. I do not accept late homework.
5) You must complete all 3 essays, the presentation, and both examinations in order to pass
this class.
Communicating with me:
1) You can always stop by my office hours to discuss anything. If you can’t make my office
hours but want to talk to me, let me know, and we’ll set up an appointment.
2) Because I believe discussing your writing is the best way for you to learn, I will not respond
to drafts via email. I will be happy to meet with you one-on-one to discuss drafts; just let
me know!
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3) Please practice rhetorical awareness when emailing me—your emails to professors and
instructors are professional documents.
Academic Integrity:
Plagiarism is a serious academic offense and will not be tolerated. All assignments, projects, and
exercises for this class should be the product of the personal efforts of the individual whose name
appears on the corresponding assignment. Misrepresenting others’ work as one’s own in the form
of cheating or plagiarism is unethical and will lead to those penalties outlined in the University
Senate Rules (6.3.1 & 6.3.2) at the following website:
http://www.uky.edu/USC/New/rules_regulations/index.htm. The Ombud site also has information
on plagiarism: http://www.uky.edu/Ombud.
Academic Citizenship:
The university environment should be a safe place for an open, honest discussion of ideas. I expect
each of you to be tolerant of ideas discussed from a variety of perspectives. I respect the dignity
of every person and will not allow discrimination based on religion, age, disability, race, gender,
marital status, sexual orientation, or other irrelevant factors.
Disability Services:
If you have a documented disability that requires assistance from the Disability Resource Center,
please discuss this with me as soon as possible. We will work together to make any necessary
accommodations. Bring me a letter of accommodations from the Disability Resource Center (Room
2, Alumni Gym, 257-2754, jkarnes@email.uky.edu) within the first two weeks of the semester.
Tentative Course Schedule:
Reading and writing assignments should be completed prior to class on the date they are listed on
the schedule.
Unit One: Women and Writing
W: Introduction to syllabus.
F: Intro to study of women’s literature; in-class close-reading training.
M: No class – Labor Day
W: Demonstration of Author/Context Presentation. Woolf, excerpts from A Room of One’s Own
(on BB). Wollstonecraft, “A Vindication,” MWW 1-13. Write: Response to reading questions
posted on BB.
F: Dineson, “The Blank Page” and Carter, “The Tiger’s Bride” (on BB). Write: Choose a passage and
(write out, to be turned in) a question for the class about that passage.
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M: Author/Context Presentation on Smith: ___________.
Smith, Fair and Tender Ladies “Part 1: Letters from Sugar Fork,” 3-50.
W: Smith, F a TL “Part 1: Letters from Sugar Fork,” 50-87.
F: Smith, F a TL “Part II: Letters from Majestic,” 91-145. Discussion Question Opportunity 1.
M: Smith, F a TL “Part III: Letters from Diamond,” 149-202.
W: Smith, F a TL “Part IV: Letters from Sugar Fork,” 205-54.
F: Smith, F a TL “Part IV: Letters from Sugar Fork,” 255-76, “Part V: Letters from Sugar Fork,” 279302. Discussion Question Opportunity 2.
M: Smith, F a TL “Part V: Letters from Sugar Fork,” 303-367. Gardner, “The Writing Process,”
MWW 14-22, 29-40. In-class prep for Essay One.
Unit Two: Identity and Difference
W: Author/Context Presentation on Cisneros: ___________.
Excerpts from Cisneros, The House on Mango Street (on BB), “How to Tame a Wild Tongue,” MWW
41-51. Write: Response to Reading Questions.
F: Author/Context Presentation on Morrison: ___________.
Morrison, The Bluest Eye through “Autumn,” 3-58.
M: Morrison, BE 62-109.
W: Morrison, BE 110-153. Discussion Question Opportunity 3.
F: Morrison, BE “Spring,” 153-206. Write: Essay 1 due via BB SafeAssign by 11:59 PM.
Unit Three: Sexuality and the Body
M: Author/Context Presentation on Kingston and Tan: ___________.
Kingston, “No Name Woman,” MWW 52-62 and Tan, “Two Kinds,” MWW 63-72.
W: Author/Context Presentation on Chopin: ___________.
Chopin, The Awakening 29- 75 (ch 1-15).
F: No class. Online midterm – available on Blackboard from 10:00 AM Wednesday, until 11:59
PM Sunday. Books and notes allowed, but the exam is timed, so prepare notes!
M: Chopin, The Awakening, 75-113 (ch 16-26).
W: Chopin, The Awakening, 113-47 (ch 27-39). Discussion Question Opportunity 4. In-class prep
for Essay 2.
F: Author/Context Presentation on Hurston: ___________.
Hurston, Their Eyes were Watching God 1-75 (ch 1-6)
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M: (midterm) Hurston, TEwWG, 76-115 (ch 7-12).
W: Hurston, TEwWG 116-153 (ch 13-17).
F: Hurston, TEwWG 154-93 (ch 18-20). Discussion Question Opportunity 5.
M: Author/Context Presentation on Walker and/or poet: ___________.
Walker, “In Search of our Mothers’ Gardens,” MWW 73-81. Poem packet 1.
W: Poem packet 2. “The Writing Process,” MWW 23-30.
F: Peer Review of Essay 2. You must bring either 2 printed copies or your computer.
M: Author/Context Presentation on Bronte: ___________.
Bronte, Jane Eyre 1-57 (Preface and ch 1-7).
W: Bronte, JE 57-109 (ch 8-14). Discussion Question Opportunity 6.
F: Bronte, JE 109-166 (ch 15-18). Write: Essay 2 due via Blackboard SafeAssign by 11:59 PM.
M: Bronte, JE 167-219 (ch 19-23).
W: Bronte, JE 219-74 (ch 24-27). Discussion Question Opportunity 7.
F: Bronte, JE 275-331 (ch 28-33).
M: Bronte, JE 331-385 (ch 34-38); Criticism in the back: Gilbert, 483-91. Write: Underline or note
key points in Gilbert. In-class prep for Essay 3 – working with sources.
W: Films of Jane Eyre comparison day.
Unit Four: Writing and Madness
F: Gilbert and Gubar, “The Madwoman in the Attic” (on BB) and Gilman, “The Yellow Wallpaper,”
MWW 82-95. Write: Response to reading questions on Gilbert and Gubar.
M: Author/Context Presentation on Plath: ___________.
Plath, The Bell Jar 1-62 (ch 1-5).
W, F: No class – Thanksgiving Holiday
M: Plath, The Bell Jar 63-111 (ch 6-9).
W: Plath, The Bell Jar 112-169 (ch 10-13). Discussion Question Opportunity 8.
F: Plath, The Bell Jar 170-214 (ch 14-17).
M: Plath, The Bell Jar 215-244 (ch 18-20).
W: Author/Context Presentation on Didion: ___________.
Didion, “The White Album” (on BB).
F: Last day of class. Peer review of Essay 3. Optional essay conferences available on Monday of
Finals Week. Essay 3 (7 pages) due by noon Tuesday of Finals Week.
Brief Final Exam-Time and Place TBD.