Women in Literature I, Course Info

Women in Literature I

Course Information

Course Goals

During the semester, the student will:

Survey women writers in English from the Middle Ages to the twentieth century;

Acquire an understanding of these writers in historical and cultural perspective;

Gain an appreciation for a variety of literary forms by women, including poetry, prose, and drama;

Understand gender as one component of constructed identities along with race/ethnicity and social class;

Develop skills in reading texts critically and comprehending them within their cultural and historical contexts.

Textbook

Gilbert, Sandra M., and Susan Gubar, eds. The Norton Anthology of Literature by Women: The Traditions in English. 2^nd ed. New York: Norton, 1996. Other readings will be distributed during the course.

Methods of Instruction

Lectures, presentations, class discussion and small-group work will be employed.

Assigned readings for each class meeting.

Papers, tests, quizzes, projects, presentations and other documentation of student learning.

A minimum of 3,000 words of critical writing is required.

Instructor is available during regular office hours for conferring with students.

Students are responsible for assigned readings and writing assignments.

Projects

Students are encouraged to develop and propose their own projects suitable to their learning goals.

Project I: Student Initiated Project--a project proposed by the student and negotiated with the professor that will demonstrate research and reflection on women's culture and writing.

Project II: Non-Fiction Book Review-- three-page (typed double-spaced) summary and critique of a scholarly non-fiction book published after 1969 dealing with women’s culture, women’s writing, women’s literary criticism and theory, women’s history, or women authors.

Project III: Theater or Film Review--three-page (typed double-spaced) summary and critique of a stage play or film written by a woman or a film based on a novel by a woman author.

Project IV: Author Profile--biographical/bibliographical research to be posted on the World Wide Web site, the subject of which is a woman writer not assigned in this course (saved as Word or HTML file and submitted on disk or via email).

Read what students have written from previous semesters:

Project V: Resources in Women's Material Culture--collaborative project to be posted on the Web site, which members of the class will develop during the semester.

Click here to see Fall 1999 Students' collaborative project.

Grading

Students will receive a letter grade for each of the five projects, and an additional letter grade derived from their attendance and participation. These will be averaged to produce the final course grade. An "A" is awarded to exceptional or excellent work; a "B," to very good work; a "C," to average work.

Attendance

The instructor takes attendance and a portion of the student’s grade is derived from attendance and participation in the class meetings. Absences in excess of 20% of the scheduled class sessions will result in the student’s being administratively withdrawn from the course (receiving a "W" grade) or if after the withdrawal date, receiving an "F."

Deadlines

Because community college students live complex lives, they sometimes need to request an extension of a deadline. Students in this course may request in advance of a deadline an extension until the next class meeting. They should not do so habitually because it jeopardizes their other work and can delay the professor’s evaluation and return of the work to the student. The final project of the course will not be accepted after the deadline.

Incompletes

Under extraordinary circumstances a student may request an incomplete for a current semester, that is the deferral of work due for the course until the end of the following term. This work due cannot constitute more than 50% of the course work; the student must otherwise be passing the course; and the circumstances prompting the request for an incomplete must be serious and beyond the students’ control.

Withdrawal

Students may withdraw from a course on their own until the mid-term date designated in the academic calendar. The professor may also process an administrative withdrawal of the student whose absences are excessive. Only under the most serious mitigating circumstances (requiring the student’s providing written documentation) can a student be withdrawn without penalty after the withdrawal date.

Email Dr. Long: longt@tncc.cc.va.us | Return to Course Homepage