Heartland Community College
Master Course Syllabus
Division name: Liberal Arts and Social Sciences
COURSE PREFIX & NUMBER: LITR 117
COURSE TITLE: Gender and Literature: Romantic Love
DATE PREPARED: April 2, 2015
DATE REVIEWED:
DATE REVISED:
PCS/CIP/ID NO: 11-239996
IAI NO. (if available):
EFFECTIVE DATE OF FIRST CLASS: January 2016
CREDIT HOURS: 3
CONTACT HOURS: 3
LECTURE HOURS: 3
LABORATORY HOURS: 0
CATALOG DESCRIPTION (Include specific prerequisites):
Prerequisite:
-
Placement at college level English OR
Concurrent enrollment in ENGL 99/101
AND
Placement at college level reading
This course is an introduction to texts that focus on perspectives of gender, romantic love, and
courtship. In this course, students will examine various texts to gain an understanding of the
literary and artistic elements involved in exploration of this topic. Students also will read and
discuss a number of texts (plays, romances, novels, poems, films, etc.) situating each in its
historical, social and cultural context, as we work to gain a deeper understanding of the topic and
its place within literature as a whole.
TEXTBOOKS:
Text selection is up to the instructor, but the texts should reflect an honest representation of the
topic of love and romance through various time periods and themes.
Some suggested texts for this class are (I have these broken down into two possible “themes”):
“The Marriage Plot” theme
“Love is a Battlefield” Theme
Austen, Jane. Sense and Sensibility, Pride and
Prejudice, Mansfield Park, Emma,
Northanger Abbey, or Persuasion
Bronte, Anne. The Tenant of Wildfell Hall
Bronte, Charlotte. Jane Eyre
Browne, Hester. Runaway Princess
Carter, Angela. The Bloody Chamber and
Other Stories
Centrelivre, Susan, A Bold Stroke for a Wife
Chadra, Gurinder and Paul Mayeda Berges,
Bride and Prejudice
Crabbe, George. “A Frank Courtship”
Curtis, Richard. Notting Hill
Dickens, Charles. Our Mutual Friend
Fielding, Helen. Bridget Jones Diary
Forster, E.F. A Room With a View
Goldsmith, Oliver. She Stoops to Conquer
Opie, Iona and Peter Opie, Oxford Book of
Fairy Tales/Classic Fairy Tales
Shakespeare, William. Twelfth Night, Much
Ado about Nothing, As You Like it, or
Love’s Labour’s Lost
Sheridan, Richard Brinsley, The Rivals
Wharton, Edith. The Buccaneers
Wilde, Oscar. The Importance of Being
Earnest or An Ideal Husband
Austen, Jane. Pride and Prejudice.
Centlivre, Susanna. A Bold Stroke for a Wife.
Donne, John. Selected poems
Franco, Veronica. Poems and Selected Letters.
Goethe, Johann Wolfgang. The Sorrows of
Young Werther and Selected Writings.
Hawks, Howard et al. His Girl Friday (or any
other screwball comedy)
Ovid. The Erotic Poems. Peter Green, trans.
(make sure you get/use this translation)
Sappho, Selected poems.
Shakespeare, William. The Merry Wives of
Windsor.
Woolf, Virginia and Sally Potter, Orlando
RELATIONSHIP TO ACADEMIC DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS AND
TRANSFERABILITY:
LIT 117 fulfills 3 of the semester hours of credit in Humanities/Fine Arts required for the A.A.
or A.S. degree. This course should transfer as part of the General Education Core Curriculum
described in the Illinois Articulation Initiative to other Illinois colleges and universities
participating in the IAI. However, students should consult an academic advisor for transfer
information regarding particular institutions. Refer to www.iTransfer.org for information..
LEARNING OUTCOMES
Course Outcomes
Essential
Competencies
1. Identify gender
CO3
differences among
fiction, poetry, and drama
Program
Outcomes (POS)
Range of
Assessment Methods
Exams, Quizzes,
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
related to love and
Papers, Homework
romance
Exams, Quizzes,
Identify and define key
PO2
literary terms
Homework
Analyze and evaluate
DI1, CT2
PO4
Term Paper, Class
some of the ways that
Presentation
different authors and
readers approach texts
about love and romance
Identify significant
DI2, CT2
PO3
questions and ideas about
gender, love and romance
by literary authors, and
describe how literature
goes about trying to
answer them
Identify and describe
PO1
significant historical
events providing context
for course readings
Write various types of
CT4
PO5 & PO6
Essays
coherent, focused, and
well developed literary
discussions
CO 3- Students listen in order to comprehend information, critique and evaluate a message,
show empathy for the feelings expressed by others, and/or appreciate a performance
CT2- Students determine the value of multiple sources or strategies and select those most
appropriate in a given context
CT 4- Students actively reflect on their answer, approach, or solution and act upon those
reflections to improve the final result
DI1- Students are receptive to beliefs and values different from their own
DI 2- Students consider the views of others in light of those persons’ experiences and
particular understandings
PO1- Identify and describe course-relevant events in literary history
PO2- Analyze and evaluate course-relevant literary elements
PO3- Demonstrate receptivity to perspectives of others by questioning and responding to
those perspectives respectfully and productively
PO4- Describe and discuss how author and reader identities affect the writing & reading
of texts
PO5- Write about texts for multiple purposes including (but not limited to) interpretation,
synthesis, response, summary, critique, & analysis
PO6- Contribute, through writing, their own ideas & opinions about a topic to an ongoing
conversation in ways that are appropriate to the context
COURSE/LAB OUTLINE:
The course may be organized based on time periods or themes.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
“The Marriage Plot” theme
The Role of Comedy
“Romance” vs. “Novel”
The “Classic” Texts
Second Chances
The Big Screen Rom-Com
The Modern (or Post-Modern) Version
Non-Western Spins on Romantic Love
“Love is a Battlefield” Theme
1. The Ancient World (Sappho and Ovid)
2. The 17th Century (Franco and Donne)
3. The Renaissance—sort of--Orlando
4. The Play’s the Thing (Shakespeare and
Centrilivre)
5. The 18th Century--Novel Engagements
(Austen and Goethe)
6. The 20th Century and the Real Battle of
Words: Screwball Comedy (His Girl
Friday)
METHOD OF EVALUATION (Tests/Exams, Grading System):
Final Grades will be assigned according to the following scale:
A = 90-100 %
B = 80-89 %
C = 70-79 %
D = 60-69 %
F = Below 60%
Your final grade will be determined using the following criteria.
Participation and Preparation
(includes logs, misc. assignments, etc.)
Midterm Exam:
Final Exam:
Research paper
“Conversation” paper
Presentation
REQUIRED WRITING AND READING:
20%
20%
20%
15%
15%
10%
This course requires a minimum of 3000 word (10 pages) final writing (formal and informal
structure and layout) assignment with the inclusion of secondary research.
Minimum required readings of approximately 20 pages per week include literary criticism,
scholarly journal articles and novels.*
*All estimates based on a 16 week course schedule. Please note if your class is not a 16 week class your
weekly reading assignment will be increased.