Hanrahan
ENGL 360
Spring 2012
English 360-01: Literature and the Sexes
Instructor: Dr. Heidi Hanrahan; hhanraha@shepherd.edu
Office Hours: MWF 3:00-5:00; and by appointment
Office Info: Knutti 201C; ph. 876-5250
Course Website: http://webpages.shepherd.edu/hhanraha/courses/eng360/eng360s12.htm
“‘Oh, Jake,’ Brett said, ‘we could have had such a damned good time together.’…‘Yes,’ I said. ‘Isn’t it pretty to think so?’”
Ernest Hemingway, The Sun Also Rises
“It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of good fortune, must be in want of a wife.”
Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice
“‘Well, women are used to worrying over trifles.’” Susan Glaspell, Trifles
“She felt as if a mist had been lifted from her eyes, enabling her to look upon and comprehend the significance of life, that monster made up of beauty and brutality.” Kate Chopin, The Awakening
Course Summary and Learning Goals:
English 360 takes as its subject “literature and the sexes,” a huge and complicated topic, especially given that the very definitions of “literature” and “sex” are problematic, contested, and fluid. As such, this course resists any notion of a comprehensive “survey” of literature about sex and gender. Instead, examining a variety of texts by writers from the eighteenth through the twenty-first century, we will discuss how conceptions of gender, sex, and sexuality shape and are shaped by literature. We will take on questions of individualism, art, family, romance, marriage, class, race, politics, and power, focusing not only on (important) discussions about oppression and suffering, but also resistance, strength, creativity, experimentation, and innovation by both male and female writers.
Essential skills and outcomes to be acquired through the course include:
1) an ability to render close textual analysis and close reading of works of literature;
2) an ability to synthesize information from multiple texts;
3) an ability to express clear, cogent ideas;
4) an ability to render thoughtful and well-written essays, with thesis, textual support, and analysis;
5) the cultivation of aesthetic and critical judgments about literature;
6) an understanding of the philosophic, critical, and cultural ideas surrounding literature about sex, sexuality, and gender.
Texts:
Austen, Jane. Pride and Prejudice.
Chopin, Kate. The Awakening.
Diaz, Junot. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao.
Hemingway, Ernest. The Sun Also Rises.
Other texts available as handouts or on Sakai under “Resources.” Please make sure you have access to a printer and/or money on your Rambler to print out pages in a computer lab. You must have copies of all texts and bring them to class.
Course Requirements:
1. Reading Assignments: We will do quite a bit of reading in this class, so it is important to keep up with class assignments and take the time to read carefully and thoroughly.

Hanrahan
ENGL 360
Spring 2012
2. Blog Posts: Each of your will be responsible for regular postings and comments on our class blog. We’ll talk more about the requirements for these posts and comments in class. You can find the blog here: http://engl360spring2012.blogspot.com/ .
3. Research Essay: You will write one 8-10 page critical analysis essay using at least five outside sources.
Specific information about this paper will be given at a later date.
4. Discussion Questions/Reading Quizzes: At the beginning of each class meeting, your preparation for class will be assessed either by (very simple) reading quizzes or handing in two typed discussion questions. You’ll know in advance which to prepare for.
5. Final Exam : You will complete a final exam designed to evaluate your ability to synthesize the materials and discuss them in an intelligent, coherent, and creative matter.
Other Items to Note:
Attendance: In this class, attendance is crucial and missed class time cannot be made up. Therefore, you are allowed THREE absences. Any more will reduce your grade by one third a letter grade. More than six absences and you will fail the class. Additionally, being late to class is rude and disruptive. Don’t do it. If you are more than 10 minutes late to class twice, that will count as one absence. Finally, if you miss class it is your responsibility to contact me or a classmate to find out what you have missed before the next class meeting . An absence is not an excuse for being unprepared for the next class.
Cell phones:
Put them away during class. If I see them on your desk, I’ll ask you to put them away. If I see you using them at all, I’ll ask you to leave and mark you absent for the day.
Email/Internet Access: Please activate your Shepherd email account as soon as possible and make sure you can get onto the internet. Email is usually the best way to get into contact with me—and I will use your Shepherd address. You will also find the course’s website and/or Sakai page helpful. If and when you do email me, please consider the way you present yourself in your messages. Be sure to proofread your messages and make sure you use both proper grammar and punctuation.
Conferences/Office Hours: Remember that I am available during my office hours (and alternative times, if necessary) if you have questions about the course or your status in it.
Academic Honor: Plagiarism (passing someone else’s work off as your own or failing to correctly cite someone else’s work) and cheating will not be tolerated. All violations of the Student Conduct Code will be reported.
Some simple advice: if you have any questions or are unsure about citing something, see me.
Turnitin: All students must upload their papers to turnitin.com before I will even begin to grade the hard copies and papers will not be considered “handed in” until copies have been uploaded to the site. Before Friday,
January 20, please set up a user profile at turnitin.com by visiting www.turnitin.com and clicking on the New
User link in the upper right-hand corner. After the new user profile has been created, you must enroll in this course using the following information: Course ID: 4668157, Password: austen.
The Academic Support Center: Please consider taking advantage of this great resource, located in the library.
You can (and should) schedule appointments with friendly and capable tutors in advance. Tutors can help you at any stage of an assignment, from planning early drafts to revising final copies.
Special Note: If you require academic accommodations because of a learning, processing, systemic/medical or cognition related disability, please visit Disability Support Services as soon as possible. I will work with you and any approved accommodations.

Hanrahan
ENGL 360
Spring 2012
Grading Breakdown:
30%: Blog Postings
30%: Research Essay
20%: Final Exam
20%: Discussion Questions and Quizzes
Course Schedule
M 1/9: Introduction to the course
W 1/11: Bradstreet, “The Author to Her Book;” Cavendish, “The Poetess’s Hasty Resolution,” “An Excuse for
So Much Writ upon My Verses” (handout)
F 1/13: Fern, “Mrs. Adolphus Smith Sporting the ‘Blue Stocking;’” King, “The Balcony” (handout)
M 1/16: No class—MLK Day
W 1/18: Glaspell, Trifles (Sakai)
F 1/20: Make sure you have enrolled at turnitin by today; Plath, “Metaphors;” Clifton, “Poem to My
Uterus,” “To My Last Period,” “homage to my hips,” “wishes for sons” (handout)
M 1/23: Hemingway, The Sun Also Rises , 1-71
W 1/25: The Sun Also Rises, 71-130
F 1/27: The Sun Also Rises , 131-191
M 1/30: The Sun Also Rises , 191-end
W 2/1: Austen, Pride and Prejudice , 1-51
F 2/3: Pride and Prejudice , 51-101
M 2/6: Pride and Prejudice , 101-205
W 2/8: Pride and Prejudice , 208-end
F 2/10: Pride and Prejudice , closing discussion
M 2/13: Fern, “Hints to Young Wives,” “Thanksgiving Story,” “Critics,” “A Law More Nice Than Just,”
“Independence” (Sakai)
W 2/15: Freeman, “A New England Nun” (Sakai)
F 2/17:
Freeman, “Two Friends” (Sakai)
M 2/20: Freeman, “Old Woman Magoun” (Sakai)
W 2/22: Jewett, “Martha’s Lady” (Sakai, divided into two files)
F 2/24: Far, “Mrs. Spring Fragrance” (Sakai)
M 2/27: Gilman, “The Yellow Wall-paper” (Sakai)
W 2/29: Gilman, “On the Reception of ‘The Yellow Wall-paper,” “Why I Wrote ‘The Yellow Wall-paper”
(Sakai)
F 3/2: Chopin, The Awakening , 1-45
M 3/5: The Awakening , 45-84
W 3/7: The Awakening , 84-end
F 3/9: The Awakening , closing discussion
M 3/12, W 3/14, & F 3/16: No class—Spring Break
M 3/19: Kingston, “No Name Woman” (Sakai)
M 3/21: Mason, “Shiloh” (Sakai)

W 3/23: Kenan, “The Foundations of the Earth” (Sakai, divided into two files)
M 3/26: Sedaris, “Go Carolina” (Sakai)
W 3/28: Lahiri, “A Temporary Matter” (Sakai)
F 3/30: Diaz, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, 1-75
M 4/2: The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, 77-165
W 4/4: The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, 168-210
F 4/6: The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, 211-261
M 4/9: The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, 263-end
W 4/11: The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, closing discussion
F 4/13: No class—Spring Holiday (possible snow day make-up)
M 4/16: Workshop Research Essays in class
W 4/18: Review for Final Exam
F 4/20: Review for Final Exam; Research Essays due in class and on turnitin.com
M 4/23: Final Exam (12:00-2:00)
Hanrahan
ENGL 360
Spring 2012