ENG 246: AMERICAN WOMEN’S LITERATURE
WGS 201: TOPICS IN WOMEN’S, GENDER, AND SEXUALITY STUDIES
Spring 2016
INSTRUCTOR
Leonore Hildebrandt
e-mail: Leonore_Hildebrandt@umit.maine.edu
office hours by appointment
COURSE DESCRIPTION
This survey of major writers and traditions in American women's literature spans from the
colonial era to the present day. We will read and discuss stories, poems, memoirs and
essays in the context of women’s changing social and economic conditions. We may ask
questions such as these: Are there common themes in the literary work of women? Has a
language or voice emerged that is specific to women, and if so, how could one describe
it? How do cultural ideas about femininity affect the woman writer's goals and methods?
What artistic choices did the authors make in crafting their works? What forces determine
women's access to the literary world? How do social expectations shape critical responses
to women's writing?
REQUIRED TEXTS
The Vintage Book of American Women Writers. Elaine Showalter, Ed.
Elizabeth Bishop, Poems
Emily Dickinson, The Poems of Emily Dickinson, Reading edition, R.W. Franklin ed.
(Note: Students who already own Final Harvest may use this text. None of the other
collections are acceptable, though.)
The Age of Innocence, a film by Martin Scorsese based on the novel by Edith Wharton.
(The film can be viewed on our conference.)
LEARNING OUTCOMES
Students will learn to approach major works by American women writers with close
attention to both social context and literary craft. They will be able to discuss the historical
conditions in which women wrote and the forces that determine literary fame. Students
will also develop an aesthetic vocabulary and an understanding of techniques in writing
that will be conducive to their future reading of literature and their own literary
production. By engaging literary texts in writing, students will sharpen their skills in
academic discourse, critical analysis, and argument. Further, it is my hope that students
will develop a life-long appreciation for the wonderful stories, poems, and essays by the
women who have shaped our literary history.
TECHNOLOGY
The course will be conducted on First Class, with our conference appearing as one of the
icons on your desktop. Students who don’t have a First Class account should contact
UMaine internet technologies. Consider linking your other email servers to this account.
Students will also need Quick Time Player to access archived movies. Please contact CED
Tech Help with any questions: 1-877-947-HELP (4357) or 581-4591.
REQUIREMENTS
It is crucial that you stay within schedule, both submitting your writing and participating in
the discussions. You are free to read ahead, but you are required to stay within schedule in
posting your writing, and lateness will be reflected in the grade.
• Reading
You are expected to read all of the assigned literary works, all of the instructor's lecture
notes and discussion posts, and at least four other students' one-page responses per week.
• One-page reading responses
Every week by Wednesday at midnight, you will post a one-page essay in our discussion
folder, pertaining to that week’s texts and my prompts. As exercises in close reading and
analysis, these pieces should include quotations and citations. They should have a
controlling purpose or a thesis expressing your main idea. However, in contrast to your
final essays, they need to have only a very short introduction and no conclusion. These
reading responses will expand your exploration of the literature, show your understanding
of the texts, and help prepare you for the mid-term and final essays.
• General discussion
While you are encouraged to bring up anything of interest to you in response to the
literature we read, you are required to respond to at least two other students’ one-page
essays. You choose which ones. Discussion postings can be written more informally, but
you should present your ideas clearly. Since your posts will be read out of context, please
quote the original post and be explicit on what and whom you are responding to.
Expand upon the discussion prompts and topic of conversation. I recommend that you
read more than four responses by your peers because you may need to defend your point
of view, or you may find that you are swayed by the argument of another. You are free to
respond to more discussion posts, and it is most interesting if you get a conversation
going. If your response to another student is basic ("I agree" or, "I liked that one too"), you
will receive no credit for the assignment. Concise and insightful comments are best.
• Midterm and final essays
You will have one week to write an essay in which you demonstrate your understanding of
the works and major concepts covered in the preceding section of the semester.
• MLA documentation
You are expected to follow the MLA style of documentation on all contributions and
essays. For more information, you may refer to Diana Hacker's Rules for Writers. General
guidelines for college writing are posted on our conference under “Info on Writing”.
WEEKLY STRUCTURE OF CLASS
Although this is an asynchronous course, it is important that you stay in step with the
class. For every week, you have readings as noted in the syllabus. Along with these go
lecture notes and/or discussion prompts, which you will find in the respective weekly
folder on the conference. Your one-page critical response has to be posted by Wednesday
at midnight. On Thursday we start focussing on our online discussion, and you will be
reading and responding to other students’ critical responses and discussion posts. All of
the week’s required work has to be completed by Friday at midnight, and then we move
on to next week’s texts.
TIME MANAGEMENT
Assigned readings of literature plus the instructor’s posts will average approximately 40
pages per week––less when we focus on poetry. In addition, expect to spend two hours
each week with writing a response paper. Thursdays and Fridays are important discussion
days, after all students have submitted their reading responses. However, please check into
the discussion every week day. You may find that other students want to talk to you!
FINDING YOUR INSTRUCTOR
Please post questions in the general discussion folder, or email me on FirstClass.
ASSESSMENT
The ability to write coherently about literature is a crucial gauge of your mastery of the
course objectives. Evaluation will be based on the quality of your critical writing (both
formal essays and weekly postings for online discussion), on your understanding of
important concepts, and on your overall contribution to the class.
Grades will be calculated as follows:
40% weekly one-page reading responses
30% quality of work and presence in online discussion
15% mid-term essay
15% final essay
Additional University of Maine Policy Statements
Course Schedule Disruption: In the event of an extended disruption of normal classroom activities,
the format for this course may be modified to enable its completion within its programmed time
frame. In that event, you will be provided an addendum to the syllabus that will supersede this
version.
Academic Honesty: Academic honesty is very important. It is dishonest to cheat on exams, to copy
term papers, to submit papers written by another person, to fake experimental results, or to copy or
reword parts of books or articles into your own papers without appropriately citing the source.
Students committing or aiding in any of these violations may be given failing grades for an
assignment or for an entire course, at the discretion of the instructor. In addition to any academic
action taken by an instructor, these violations are also subject to action under the University of
Maine Student Conduct Code. The maximum possible sanction under the student conduct code is
dismissal from the University.
Students with Disabilities: If you have a disability for which you may be requesting an
accommodation, please contact Disabilities Services, 121 East Annex, 581-2319, as early as
possible in the term. Nonsexist Language: The University of Maine, as an equal opportunity educational institution, is
committed to both academic freedom and the fair treatment of all individuals. It therefore
discourages the use of sexist language. Language that reinforces sexism can arise from imprecise
word choices that may be interpreted as biased, discriminatory, or demeaning, even if they are not
intended to be.
Sexual Discrimination Reporting:
The University of Maine is committed to making campus a safe place for students. Because of this
commitment, if you tell a teacher about an experience of sexual assault, sexual harassment,
stalking, relationship abuse (dating violence and domestic violence), sexual misconduct or any
form of gender discrimination involving members of the campus, your teacher is required to
report this information to the campus Office of Sexual Assault & Violence Prevention or the Office
of Equal Opportunity.
If you want to talk in confidence to someone about an experience of sexual
discrimination, please contact these resources:
For confidential resources on campus: Counseling Center: 207-581-1392 or Cutler Health
Center: at 207-581-4000.
For confidential resources off campus: Rape Response Services: 1-800-310-0000 or Spruce Run:
1-800-863-9909.
Other resources: The resources listed below can offer support but may have to report the
incident to others who can help:
For support services on campus: Office of Sexual Assault & Violence Prevention:
207-581-1406, Office of Community Standards: 207-581-1409, University of Maine
Police: 207-581-4040 or 911. Or see the OSAVP website for a complete list of services at
http://www.umaine.edu/osavp/
READING SCHEDULE
The following dates refer to the beginning of each week. Please refer to the section
WEEKLY STRUCTURE OF CLASS above for the due days of assignments. Page numbers
refer to our anthology (or to Poems by Elizabeth Bishop). For each author, include Elaine
Showalter’s short biographical sketch.
Week One, Jan. 19
Showalter’s Introduction “The Mothers of Us All,” p. xvii
Anne Bradstreet, “The Prologue,” “The Author to Her Book,” “In Reference to Her
Children,” “Here Follows Some Verse upon the Burning of Our House, July 10th,
1666,” and “To My Dear and Loving Husband,” p. 3–10
Mary Rowlandson, A Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary
Rowlandson, selections, p. 11–21
Phillis Wheatley, “On being Brought from Africa to America,” p. 57
June Jordan, from “The Difficult Miracle of Black Poetry in America or Something
Like a Sonnet for Phillis Wheatley” (1986). Posted by instructor.
Week Two, Jan. 25
Lydia Maria Child, “The Church in the Wilderness,” p. 88–103
Margaret Fuller, from “Autobiographical Sketch,” p. 104-108
Harriet Beecher Stowe, “The Village Do-Nothing,” p. 132–141
Frances E. W. Harper, “Aunt Chloe,” “Aunt Chloe’s Politics” and “Learning to Read,”
p. 176-180
Louisa May Alcott, “Transcendental Wild Oats,” p. 242–255
Week Three, Feb. 1 (Last day to drop classes)
Showalter’s introduction to Emily Dickinson p. 208
Cristanne Miller, excerpts from “The Consent of Language and the Woman Poet,”
(1987) Posted by instructor.
Emily Dickinson, selections: (Identified by Franklin’s numbers and first lines.)
122 “These are the days when Birds come back”
204 “I’ll tell you how the sun rose”
236 “Some keep the Sabbath going to Church”
269
276
279
291
314
319
320
340
359
372
373
383
439
444
446
466
479
“Wild nights – wild nights!”
“Civilization – spurns the Leopard”
“Of all the Souls that stand create”
“It sifts from Laden Sieves”
“Hope is the thing with feathers”
“Of Bronze – and Blaze”
“There’s a certain Slant of light”
“I felt a Funeral, in my brain”
“A Bird, came down the Walk”
“After great pain, a formal feeling comes”
“This World is not conclusion”
“I like to see it lap the Miles”
“I had been hungry, all the Years
“It would have starved a Gnat”
“This was a Poet”
“I dwell in Possibility”
“Because I could not stop for Death”
Week Four, Feb. 8
Emily Dickinson, selections:
519 “This is my letter to the World”
528 “Tis not that dying hurts us so”
533 “I reckon – When I count at all”
591 “I heard a Fly buzz – when I died”
675 “What Soft – Cherubic Creatures”
700 “The Way I read a Letter’s – this”
706 “I cannot live with You”
764 “My Life had stood – a Loaded Gun”
788 “Publication – is the Auction”
796 “The Wind begun to rock the Grass”
857 “She rose to His Requirement – dropt”
861 “They say that “Time assuages”
905 “Split the Lark – and you’ll find the Music”
926 “I stepped from Plank to Plank”
930 “The Poets light but Lamps”
935 “As imperceptibly as Grief”
983 “Bee! I’m expecting you!”
1096 “A narrow Fellow in the Grass”
1097 “Ashes denote that Fire was”
1100 “The last Night that She lived”
1163 “A Spider sewed at Night”
1263 “Tell all the truth but tell it slant”
1274 “Now I knew I lost her”
1279 “The things we thought that we should do”
1405 “Long Years apart – can make no”
1581 “Those – dying then”
1593
1668
1773
1779
“He ate and drank the precious Words”
“Apparently with no surprise”
“My life closed twice before its close”
“To make a prairie it takes a clover and one bee”
Week Five, Feb. 15 (Feb 18, 4:30 pm: classes dropped on or before this date will not
appear on transcript)
Rebecca Harding Davis, “Marcia,” p. 216–223
Emma Lazarus, “Echoes,” and “The New Colossus,” p. 343–344
Sarah Orne Jewett, “A White Heron,” p. 356–365
Mary E. Wilkins Freeman, “Old Woman Magoun,” p. 412-427
Week Six, Feb. 22
Kate Chopin, “The Story of an Hour,” “At the Cadian Ball,” “The Storm”
p. 385–400
Charlotte Perkins Gilman, “The Yellow Wallpaper” and “Why I wrote the Yellow
Wallpaper,” p. 446–462
Showalter’s biographical sketch on Edith Wharton, p. 463
Film by Martin Scorsese: The Age of Innocence, based on Edith Wharton’s novel.
Week Seven, Feb. 29
Midterm essay. Prompts will be posted on Monday. Your mid-term essays are due
Saturday, Mar. 5, by midnight.
Spring Break
Week Eight, Mar. 21
Willa Cather, “Paul’s Case: A Study in Temperament,” p. 494-512
Susan Glaspell, “A Jury of her Peers,” p. 539–555
Week Nine, Mar. 28
Mary Austin, “Frustrate,” p. 486-493
Zora Neale Hurston, “Sweat” p. 595-606
Marianne Moore, “Silence,” “Poetry,” p. 587–589
Edna St. Vincent Millay, “First Fig,” “Second Fig,” and “What Lips My Lips Have
Kissed,” p. 607– 608
Meridel le Sueur, “Annunciation,” p. 642-652
Week Ten, April 4
Hisaye Yamamoto, “Seventeen Syllables,” p. 715–726
Flannery O’Connor, “Revelation,” p. 727–746
Week Eleven, April 11 (Wednesday, April 8, 4:30 p.m. is last day to withdraw from a class
and receive ‘W’ grade.)
Elizabeth Bishop, Poems. Selections
“Chemin de Fer” 10
“The Man-Moth” 16
“A Miracle for Breakfast” 20
“Roosters” 36
“Little Exercise” 42
“The Fish”
43
“The Bight”
59
“View of the Capitol from the Library of Congress”
“Brazil, January 1, 1502”
89
“Questions of Travel”
91
“Squatter’s Children”
93
“Song for the Rainy Season” 99
“The Armadillo” 101
“The Burglar of Babylon” 110
“First Death in Nova Scotia” 123
“Sandpiper” 129
“House Guest” 170
“Under the Window: Ouro Preto” 175
“In the Waiting Room” 175
“The Moose” 189
“One Art” 198
“Pink Dog”
212
Week Twelve, April 18
Elizabeth Bishop, Poems, Selections
67
“We went to the dark cave of the street-corner...”
“It is marvellous to wake up together....” 283
“I had a bad dream....” 291
“Where are the dolls that loved me so” 295
“A Short, Slow Life” 297
“Dear, my compass...” 313
“Vague Poem (Vaguely love poem)” 323
“Breakfast Song”
327
265
Anne Sexton, “Her Kind,” and “Housewife,” p. 747– 748
Adrienne Rich, “When We Dead Awaken: Writing as Revision” (1972). Posted by
instructor.
Adrienne Rich, “Power,” p. 764
Sylvia Plath, “Stings,” and “Wintering,” p. 766–770
Week Thirteen, April 25
Gwendolyn Brooks, “The Bean Eaters,” and “We Real Cool,” p. 710–714
Alice Walker, “In Search of Our Mothers’ Gardens,” (1974). Posted by instructor.
Toni Morrison, “Recitatif,” (1983), p. 994–1009. Posted by instructor.
Week Fourteen, May 2
Final essay prompts will be posted on Monday morning. Your final essays are due
Saturday, May 7, by midnight.