INFORMATION ABOUT ENGLISH 2710
English 2710 is an introductory course in literature by women, often about women, with a writing component. We will read examples of the three important genres of imaginative literature: drama/film, fiction, and poetry, plus non-fiction that will give us a grasp of the scope of women's writings. You will learn specific strategies to analyze and interpret texts, and will be encouraged to bring your ideas and experiences to the readings and class discussions. This is not a class in which you will sit passively and take a lot of notes. I will give you tools for interpreting and important background, but the bulk I am replacing some of the Norton fiction with Frankenstein since that is this year's choice for the Weber Read's projects and you can find lots of events connected to it.You may attend some of these for extra credit.

Required Text: Literature by Women: The Traditions in English Norton Anthology Vol. 2 (Third Edition).
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley 1818 edition; Online; You can find cheap copies in used bookstores or at Amazon, if you want a hard copy, but be sure to get the 1818 edition since the 1831 is longer.

OTHER SUPPLIES A dictionary
Folders with loose leaf for your notes, drafts, papers.
A small stapler

READING REQUIREMENT: Class discussion will make sense only if you have prepared the readings by the day they are due on the syllabus. Hence you are responsible for responding in writing to each reading.(See below)


WRITING REQUIREMENT: You will submit journal entries on each reading at the beginning of each class for which the reading is due. These will be informal (handwritten on looseleaf). These may be submitted by email before the class for which they are due, but not after. They count as 30% of the grade. Your grade for journaling begins as an A. You can only lower it by a) failing to hand entries in on the day they are due or b) by inappropriate responses (summary rather than interpreting or critiquing). Sample Journal. You will take an in-class midterm and a final exam and write a one-two page poetry explication and a response paper.


DISCUSSION REQUIREMENT (An easy "A"!) Not only does your attendance contribute to the community we make in this class, your contribution to class discussion is crucial to helping others understand the texts in different ways and to clarifying your own position--ideas that will show up in your papers. I grade your participation according to the number of times you attend class during the semester, working on the basis that you can't participate if you don't attend. Here's how it will work:
0-2 absences = A; 3 absences = A-; 4 absences = B+ and so on.

There are 43 class sessions this semester, and you have two "freebies" (~5% of the work). Three tardies will be counted as an absence. Your freebies are intended to cover such emergencies as the day you were sick, the day the baby sitter didn't make it, or the day you were out of town playing the basketball finals. After your four freebies, every absence counts against your attendance/ participation grade. You are expected to come to the next class prepared. Also, check with classmates to assure you haven't missed a handout on the days you've missed because you

PAPER SIZE AND GRADE DISTRIBUTION

NOTES

1) To pass this course, you must TURN IN every assigned paper. If you are absent, it is your responsibility to contact me or a classmate to find out about additional assignments or handouts. Journal entries and in-class work may not be made up, but since you have 2 excused absences, you also have 2 excused journal entries.
2) Journal entries willl be graded randomly, so you will not always get feedback on them. The first paper, if submitted on the due date, may be rewritten one week after it is handed back. Consultation with the instructor is mandatory before a rewrite. LATE PAPERS will be reduced 1/2 grade for each day of lateness including weekends.
3) The syllabus is tentative, depending on how much time is needed to discuss the various works and to understand how women's issues affect these works.

Disclaimer: This is a contract between us for the work needed to pass this class. Unavoidable circumstances may necessitate adjustment of the syllabus, but I will try to adhere to it as given.

Students with Disabilities: Any student requiring accommodations or services due to a disability must contact Services for Students with disabilities (SSD) in room 181 of the Student Service Center. SSD can also arrange to provide course materials (including this syllabus) in alternative formats if necessary.

Ethics: Academic dishonesty includes, but is not limited to, cheating, plagiarism, collusion, falsification, accessing unauthorized course or test information, using unauthorized resources, or breaching copyright law. The penalty for such dishonesty will be an E in this course, and it may result in charges issued, hearings held, and/or sanctions imposed.

When specific titles of a reading are not given, you are responsible for all the writings (ordinarily there is only one in your book, except for the poetry) by that author. Also some of the material connected to the links applies to readings not connected to the works you are responsible for. In that case ignore them. Some links are to the same texts you have seen

Week 1
Monday Introduction, Women’s issues, outline; READING GUIDE: the short story and The Other Two ; Wednesday Edith Wharton, “The Other Two” 43-56 ; "Angel at the Grave" 29-43.Reading guide; Divorce (first several paragraphs).Friday Cather, “Coming, Aphrodite!” 91-121 thought questions; extra info;

Week 2
Monday Gertrue Stein, 141 ff, critical art;Early Twentieth C. Lit pp1-29; Influences on Turn of the Century Literature Wednesday Sample Journal. Hall pp 187ff; Dinesen, "The Blank Page" 274 ff; Reading Guide; Friday Porter 339ff; Rhys, 498ff; O'Brien 509ff; Reading guide and bullfight link

Week 3
Wednesday Frankenstein Volume I Reading Guide Ch 1-17; Friday Frankenstein Volume II.

Week 4
Monday Frankenstein Volume III. Wednesday Bowen 528ff; Later 20th C and Contemporary Lit. 553-579. Friday; Nin 588ff. Welty 597ff; McCarthy 630ff. feminist issues outline

Week 5
Monday Olsen, 659: critical reading; Margaret Atwood “Rape Fantasies,” 1210; guide questions; WednesdayIntroduction to writing about literature; freewriting, drafting, editing a paragraph response to one of the pieces read, aids ; Tiptree, 686ff Friday Spark 790, "Black Madonna," Image, Reflections on story ; Lessing 809 ff
Week 6
Monday;O'Connor 892ff;Critical notes; LeGuin 940; guide questions Wednesday Morrison; 994ff FridayOates, 1191ff; Muckherjee, 1238; Anzaldua, 1254; Reading Guide

Week 7
Wednesday, Butler, 1306ffFriday Silko, 1332; Cisneros, 1399; Jen 1436, Reading Guide
Week 8
Monday How to read poetry, hints H. D. 280 ff; Sitwell, 300 ffWednesday practice sheet for midterm; Prepare for Midterm; Midterm in testing center Thursday or Friday.

Week 9
Monday, ; What it means to explicate, description of assignment; Amy Lowell pp 128 ff; Mina Loy 250 ff Wednesday; Moore, 307ff Friday Millay 444ff; Dorothy Parker 487ff

Week 10 Monday Bogan; Bishop, 604ffWednesday Sarton, 637; Rukeyser 644ff; Brooks, 780ff; Friday Levertov, 859ff; Practice explication; Sample explication

Week 11
Monday Plath 1044ff, questionsWednesday; Rich, 962ff Vocab Expli; Friday Kumin, 912ff; Sexton 918ff; Lorde, 1069ff Electric slide Boogoie

Week 12
Monday; Explication draft workshop; ;Wednesday: Clifton, 1119ff; Atwood, 1203-1210; Olds, 1278ff; Gluck 1283ff; Explication due; Friday Boland, 1288ff; Harjo, 1377ff; Dove 1384ff Essay assignment
Week 13
Monday Essays: Woolf pp. 212-250, Web links Wednesday Zora Neal Hurston 347-360 web page; Barnes 458-463 Friday Paley 852ff; Angelou 926ff


Week 14
Monday Draft Workshop Wednesday Essay due; Kincaid 1339ff; web page,;FridayKingston 1228ff; Walker, 1296ff, Thought questions

Week 15
Monday Introduction to Drama, Drama guide, characters; Glaspell, “Trifles,” 177-187; Web pageWednesday; finals prep; practice exam with answer; Friday: Finals Prep

FINAL EXAM 4/28, 9:30-11:30 am.