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Home My WebLink AboutLIT-128 Bergen Community College Division of Humanities Department of English LIT 128: Women in Literature Course Syllabus Semester and year Section Number Meeting Times Location Instructor: Office Location: Phone: E-mail: Office Hours: Course Description Women in Literature is a study of works by women writers in a variety of forms. The course provides a literary, historical and sociological context for the study of women’s literature. Prerequisite: None. Credits: 3, lecture 3 General Education course Diversity course Student Learning Outcomes Means of Assessment 1. Analyze works of literature studied written by women from the late 18 th century through the 21 st century. Discussion, Writing, Multimodal Presentation 2. Examine various literary techniques that women writers use in constructing their texts, and demonstrate an understanding of these techniques. Discussion, Writing, Multimodal Presentation 2 3. Demonstrate, through discussion and writing, an understanding of the tradition of women’s literature as an integral part of literary history and society by examining history, culture, language and the woman’s experience as represented in literature. Discussion, Writing 4. Employ a variety of analytical techniques to respond to the works of the course through questioning, analyzing, interpreting and sharing responses during discussions and in writing. Discussion, Writing 5. Develop critical reading skills to gain a greater understanding of women’s literary tradition. Discussion, Writing, Multimodal Presentation. Essential Learning Outcomes SLOs: EL 1 EL 2 EL 3 EL 4 EL 5 EL 6 EL 7 EL 8 EL 9 EL 10 EL 11 1. x x x 2. x x x 3. x x x x 4. x x x 5. x x x x EL1-Effective Speaking EL2-Effective Writing EL3-Mathematical Reasoning EL4-Scientific Reasoning EL5-Technological Competency EL6-Information Literacy EL7-Social-Behavioral Analysis EL8-Historical Analysis EL9-Humanistic Analysis EL10-Intercultural Awareness EL11-Moral Literacy Signature Assignment Analysis: Students will write an analysis of a text introduced in the course. 3 Course Content This course requires you to do a great deal of reading, thinking, discussing and writing. This is a survey course, and we will broadly cover literature by women from the seventeenth century through the present. Therefore, we will examine a number of writers, issues, genres, styles, and themes. The literature is presented in an historical context as a way of better understanding it within the socio-political climate in which it was written. Sample Course Text DeShazer, Mary K. The Longman Anthology of Women’s Literature. New York: Longman, 2001. Course Requirements You will be required to do the following: 1. Write 10-15 pages or 2500-3750 words for the course. This includes a major paper as well as discussions and reading responses, quizzes, and in-class essays if appropriate. All formal papers must use MLA style and demonstrate Read, interpret, discuss, and analyze numerous literary works from the assigned texts. (Meets student learning objectives 1-5.) 2. Learn and apply various literary terms to texts. (Meets student learning objectives 1, 2, 4, and 5.) 3. Write at least one analytic 4-6 page paper, which demonstrates effective proofreading and editing using MLA style. ( Meets student learning objectives 1-6.) 4. Make an oral cultural presentation. (Meets student learning objectives 2 and 3.) 5. Participate in class discussions and individual or group activities and/or presentations. (Meets student learning objectives 1-5.) 6. Be on time for class and attend class regularly. (Meets student learning objectives 1-5.) 7. Participate in conferences to discuss your work, course progress, and any other concerns you may have. You must give me your e-mail address by the second week of class. (Meets student learning objectives 1-6.) Student Evaluation: Reading Journals (20 points) You are required to keep a reading response journal. For any ten readings, you will record your reaction to the reading. There may be occasional in-class journal 4 writing. In-class journals are reading responses written in class on the day a reading is due (usually before we discuss it). The journals are ungraded and are intended to help you process the material you read. Although they will not receive a number grade, they are evaluated-- excellent, good, fair, poor--based on depth of discussion. If you miss a class in which we have written a journal, you must complete that journal as homework within two weeks. Analytical Papers (20 points each) You are required to write two five-page papers on an approved topic connected to class readings. It may be related to an author, literary historical period or specific works. A handout provides additional information. (See page 9.) Presentations (20 points) As part of the cultural literary exchange, on a designated day, you will share a literary selection by a woman author that represents your cultural background. A handout provides further information. Class participation (20 points) Participation in class discussion and small group work is expected and counts towards your final grade. All work carries value, particularly constructive class participation and in-class writing. Read all the assigned material before coming to class. Unpreparedness affects your class participation and may affect your final grade. Final grades for the course are assigned based on the number of points you accumulate this semester. You can earn 100 points in this course. If you accumulate 90-100 points, your final course grade will be “A”; 85-89 points = “B+”; 80-84 points = “B”; 75-79 points = “C+”; 70-74 points = “C”; 60-69 points = “D”; and 0-59 points = “F”. Attendance Policy Your presence is vital to our classroom community, so regular attendance is required. You will be permitted four absences after which your grade will be negatively affected. You are expected to come to class every day prepared to discuss assigned texts and to produce written responses both in class and at home. BCC’s Writing Center is located in L125, and you are encouraged to work with our faculty and professional writing tutors. Please note that the center is indeed a tutoring center—you are not to drop off your paper for proofreading as this is not a function of the center. Academic Integrity A note on plagiarism: please give credit where credit is due! Honesty is expected of you. It is expected that the work you hand in will always be your own, and that you will never 5 copy sentences, phrases, paragraphs, or whole essays from any other person's work, for that is plagiarism. If you are ever unclear about how to cite another person or author's ideas, come see me or consult the staff in the writing center. In order to help you avoid plagiarism and preserve academic integrity, you are required to submit all papers to the Turnitin links embedded in the specific modules of our site. Turnitin alerts you to text that should be put in quotation marks and cited, and/or paraphrased in your own words. The use of Artificial Intelligence is also plagiarism; it is truly better to think for yourself than ask a computer to think for you. Papers are flagged for AI use by Turnitin. I will check the originality reports. No paper will be graded unless it has been turned in at the appropriate link. Note that any papers submitted for grading that are determined to be plagiarized will receive a failing grade. If this is the second incident of plagiarism, you may fail the course. Accessibility Statement Bergen Community College is committed to ensuring the full participation of all students in its programs. If you have a documented disability (or think you may have a disability) and, as a result, need a reasonable accommodation to participate in this class, complete course requirements, or benefit from the College’s programs or services, contact the Office of Special Services (OSS) as soon as possible at 201-612-5270 or www.bergen.edu/oss . To receive any academic accommodation, you must be appropriately registered with OSS. The OSS works with students confidentially and does not disclose any disability-related information without their permission. The OSS serves as a clearinghouse on disability issues and works in partnership with faculty and all other student service offices. Student Support Services Bergen Community College provides exemplary support to its students and offers a broad variety of opportunities and services. A comprehensive array of student support services including advising, tutoring, academic coaching, and more are available online at https://bergen.edu/currentstudents/ . Sidney Silverman Library Online Resources: Guides BY SUBJECT - LibGuides at Bergen Community College General Search and Databases: Library | Bergen Community College 6 Sample Course Schedule Week 1 Introductions WOMEN AND MOTHER EVE “The Descent of Inanna” (pdf in Canvas) The Bible, Genesis 1 and 2 (pdf in Canvas) RECOMMENDED: Hesiod, from Theogony (pdf in the course); Julian of Norwich, selections from The Revelation of Divine Love 23-28 Week 2 Margery Kempe, Chapter 11 and 46 from The Book of Margery Kempe 28-33 Aemilia Lanyer, “Eve’s Apology” 58-60 RECOMMENDED: Elizabeth C. Stanton, The Women’s Bible http://www.sacred texts.com/wmn/wb/index.htm CULTURAL COORDINATES: Scolds 79; Household Space 66-67; http://www.sacred texts.com/wmn/index.htm ; “The Cult of Domesticity & True Womanhood” (handout); “Wall-E ” Week 3 WOMEN AND LANGUAGE Mary Wollstonecraft, “A Vindication of the Rights of Women” 365-382 Margaret Fuller, “Woman in the Nineteenth Century” 685; 693-710 Virginia Woolf, “Shakespeare’s Sister,” from “A Room of One’s Own” 1342-1351 Gloria Anzaldua, “Linguistic Terrorism,” “Una Lucha de Fronteras/A Struggle of Borders,” “A Tolerance for Ambiguity,” “Cihuatlyotl, Woman Alone,” “To Live in the Borderlands Means You,” 1738-1744, from Borderlands/LaFrontera CULTURAL COORDINATES: Menstruation and Misogyny 215; The Corset, or Why the Heroines Faint So Often 543; “Male and Female Communication Patterns” (pdf in Canvas) Week 4 WOMEN AND MARRIAGE Charlotte Perkins Gilman, “The Yellow Wallpaper” 1158-1169 RECOMMENDED: Gertrude Stein, “Ada” (1922) 1275-1279 Essay 1 Due. 7 CULTURAL COORDINATES: Women’s Community in Childbirth Rooms 87; Breastfeeding and the Wet Nurse 383; Nervousness and the Rest Cure 1170; Kitchen Accidents http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bride_burning Week 5 Susan Glaspell, Trifles 1293-1303 Bharati Mukherjee, “A Wife’s Story” (1988) 1721-1732 Week 6 WOMEN AND SEXUALITY “Lilith and Eve in Later Tradition” (pdf in Canvas) Ann Sexton, “The Ballad” 1550 Sylvia Plath, “Three Women” 1627-1636 Adrienne Rich, “It Is the Lesbian in Us” 1581 Audre Lorde, “Love Poem” (pdf in Canvas) RECOMMENDED: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie “Zikora” (pdf in Canvas); Buchi Emechta, “This New Thing” 1780 CULTURAL COORDINATES: The Female Orgasm https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/322235; Cutting Women 1785; Miss America 1866; Prostitution 363; The Pill 1642 Week 7 RESISTANCE AND TRANSFORMATION Hannah More, “The Black Slave Trade” 287 Phillis Wheatley, “On Being Brought from Africa to America” 343 Sojourner Truth, “A’r ’n’t I a Woman?” 609-611 Harriet Jacobs, selections from Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl 792-813* RECOMMENDED: Harriet Martineau, a selection from “Morals of Slavery” 614-619 CULTURAL COORDINATES: Cartes de visites 612, The Realism of Stereotypes 779, Reward for The Capture of Harriet Jacobs 814 Week 8 Nina Simone, “Ain’t Got No” (YouTube link in Canvas) Pat Mora, “La Migra” (1995) 1762 8 Guest speaker. RECOMMENDED: Queen Latifah, Yo-Yo, TLC, MC Lyte, Nefertiti, Salt-N-Pepa, Patra, Meshell Ndegeocello, “Freedom Rap” (YouTube); Yolanda Yo Yo Whittaker, “Black Pearl” (handout) Week 9 RE/WRITING WOMEN Adrienne Rich, “Diving into the Wreck” 1560-1562 Maxine Hong Kingston, “No Name Woman” from The Woman Warrior 1713-1721* Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, “The Danger of a Single Story” TED Talk (link in Canvas) Week 10 Alice Walker, “Everyday Use” 1790-1796 Audre Lorde, “Black Mother Woman” 1645 and “How I Became a Poet,” 1646-1648 CULTURAL COORDINATES: Chinese American Women and Immigration 1236; Hip-hop Week 11 WOMEN AND HEALTH Nancy Mairs, “Body in Trouble” (1996) 1763-1770 Eavan Boland, “Anorexic,” 1776 Week 12 WOMEN, POSTCOLONIALISM AND THIRD WAVE FEMINISM Judith Ortiz Cofer, “Latin Women Pray” (pdf in Canvas) Edith Maud Eaton (Sui Sin Far) “In the Land of the Free” from Mrs. Spring Fragrance 1229-1235 Essay 2 Due Week 13 Zitkala Sa, “The Cutting of My Long Hair” from School Days of an Indian Girl 1305- 1308 Suzan Muaddi Daraj “It’s Not an Oxymoron” (pdf in Canvas) CULTURAL COORDINATES: Indian Boarding Schools 1309; Women March Against Apartheid 1845; Purdah 1325 9 Week 14 WOMEN AND TRANSNATIONALISM Mitsuye Yamada, “Another Model” and “Mirror, Mirror” 1509. Week 15 Marjane Satrapi, “Persepolis” (library film link in Canvas) Final Exam Review. Week 16 Final Exam