Shannon McGregor, Women Writers (LIT 190), Seventeenth/Eighteenth Centuries 1
Seventeenth (1600s) and Eighteenth (1700s) Centuries
Reading Assignments
narrative:
slave narrative:
archetype:
characternym:
narration:
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voice:
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reliable narrator:
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unreliable narrator:
point of view:
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limited:
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unlimited:
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omniscient:
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first-person narrator:
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second-person narrator:
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third-person narrator:
setting:
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time:
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location:
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environment:
Shannon McGregor, Women Writers (LIT 190), Seventeenth/Eighteenth Centuries 2
Historical Background Notes
“An Age of Change,” according to Gilbert and Gubar
Why would women go from being large portion of high society to being lower in status? Using
the diagram below, we should consider the changes women encountered during the Seventeenth
Century, and a student only needs to look at two major changes in thought during this period to
explain.
Educational Changes:
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How did education change, first, with Gutenberg's invention of the printing press and,
second, the invention of the novel? Compare to the beliefs of the use of the imagination
in the historical background.
Continue the idea of how education changed with the start of modern studies (law
science, etc.) which lead to the Age of Enlightenment
Consider the Age of Reason versus Tabula Rasa (“Blank Slate”) theories: Knowledge
Versus Experiential or Sensual
Where do women fit in these changes?
Industrial Changes
Shannon McGregor, Women Writers (LIT 190), Seventeenth/Eighteenth Centuries 3
Assignments
2/17: Read the history about Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries in Gilbert and Gubar, pages
123-44.
A. How are women defined during the seventeenth century?
B. What models are the most significant to define the nature and role of women?
C. What occupations did women have during this time period? How did their positions
change?
D. Gilbert and Gubar describe this time as “An Age of Change,” where women lost their
courtly favor and became second-class citizens. Why was this occurring? Why would
women go from being large portion of high society to being lower in status?
E. What is(are) the subject(s) of the writings of women of the seventeenth century?
2/19: Read Gilbert and Gubar 144-8 and 153-4 to learn more about Anne Bradstreet.
A. Explicate "The Prologue" to The Tenth Muse..., and in the summary at the end, describe
why the form and meter of the poem are appropriate.
B. Explicate "To My Dear and Loving Husband," and in the summary at the end, describe
why the form and meter of the poem are appropriate.
C. Explicate "A Letter to Her Husband, Absent upon Public Employment," and in the
summary at the end, describe why the form and meter of the poem are appropriate.
2/20: Literary Analysis Paper Due—Make sure that you have uploaded it into Turnitin. If you
need help, please make sure you see me this week to help you upload, as I will be off campus at
other meetings on the 20th. The campus will be closed, so you will not have access to the
computer lab on the 20th, so make sure that you either upload before this day or plan a visit to the
public library if you do not have the Internet at home.
2/24: Read Gilbert and Gubar 178-85 to learn more about Aphra Behn.
A. Examine the transitions through the stanzas in "The Willing Mistress." To complete this
task well, use the form of the poem to help define the transitions.
B. Investigate the rhyme scheme and form of "The Disappointment."
C. Research the characters in the "The Disappointment" and find other poems that use these
characters. Are they the same characters? What similarities and differences do they have?
Make sure that you cite the poem in a full Internet citation so that we can follow it and
read it.
D. Examine the transitions through the stanzas in "To the Fair Clarinda, Who Made Love to
Me, Imagined More than a Woman." To complete this task well, use the form of the
poem to help define the transitions.
2/24: Read Gilbert and Gubar 231-33 to learn more about Lady Mary Chudleigh.
A. Study the purpose of "To the Ladies" and the excerpt from The Ladies Defense: Or, a
Dialogue between Sir John Brute, Sir William Loveall, Melissa, and a Parson identifying
her perspectives on men and women and gender relations in the pieces.
Shannon McGregor, Women Writers (LIT 190), Seventeenth/Eighteenth Centuries 4
B. Study the imagery presented in "To the Ladies," identifying the literal and figurative
meanings of each.
Eighteenth Century
2/26: Read Gilbert and Gubar 276-95 to learn more about Eliza Haywood's theatre presence as
well as to read one of her funniest, richly theatrical stories, Fantomina: or Love in a Maze.
A. Research the use of letters in fiction, especially in relation to Haywood, and explain why
that medium is appropriate for this work.
B. Discuss deception and the genders in this story. A good novel of the Eighteenth Century
to contrast the female roles and how men violate innocence is Clarissa, a novel by
Samuel Richardson, and another good one to compare female and male sexual liberation
is Henry Fielding's History or Tom Jones. Entering either work's title, authors, and
feminism or gender into an advanced search in Literature Reference Center Plus will
yield novel summaries as well as critical reviews of the Eighteenth Century gender roles
debate.
C. Trace one symbol throughout the work, defining according to the symbol's literal and
figurative meaning. Show how the symbol transforms as the work progresses or remains
static.
2/26: Read Gilbert and Gubar 315-21 to learn more about Abigail Adams and the relationship
between Adams and her husband.
A. Study [Man is a Dangerous Creature] in depth and consider the grand message, how she
frames it, and what voice she uses throughout the message.
B. Study [Remember the Ladies] in depth and consider the grand message, how she frames
it, and what voice she uses throughout the message.
C. Study [Absolute Power over Wives] in depth and consider the grand message, how she
frames it, and what voice she uses throughout the message.
D. Look up works that were inspired by [Remember the Ladies]. What lines and language
seem to be the inspiration source?
3/3: Read Gilbert and Gubar 345-57 to learn more about Frances Burney and study the excerpts
from The Diary and Letters of Madame D'Arblay.
A. Study a social theme she discusses in the letters.
B. Study a feminist theme she discusses in the letters.
3/3: Read Gilbert and Gubar 358-63 to learn more about Phillis Wheatley.
A. Study her comment in lines 7-8 of "On Being Brought from Africa to America" regarding
"black as Cain" and how Africans became to be associated with Cain.
B. Locate some of Mr. Moorhead's works to see if you can find the merit in their verses as
Wheatley does in her poem honoring his work, "To S.M., A Young African Painter, on
Seeing His Works."
Shannon McGregor, Women Writers (LIT 190), Seventeenth/Eighteenth Centuries 5
C. Defining the literal and figurative meaning, trace a symbol through "To His Excellency,
General Washington" or "To the University of Cambridge, in New England".
3/5: Read Gilbert and Gubar 364-70 to learn more about Mary Robinson.
A. Defining the literal and figurative meaning, trace a symbol through "London's Summer
Morning."
B. Defining the literal and figurative meaning, trace a symbol "January, 1795".
3/3: Read Gilbert and Gubar 396-9 to learn more about Helen Maria Williams.
A. Read the excerpt from On the Bill Which Was Passed in England for Regulating Slave
Trade; a Short Time before Its Abolition and study gender choice/usage throughout the
piece.
3/10: Read Gilbert and Gubar 337-45 and selections below to learn more about Judith Sargent
Murray.
A. Describe how you see the attribute of the common man or woman from the definition of
the Romantic Movement are shown in each part of Murray's On the Equality of the Sexes.
B. Trace one symbol with its literal and figurative meaning from Part I and show how she
develops that concept through each of the remaining parts of the work.
C. What elements of Murray's On the Equality of the Sexes are still tied to the Neoclassical
period? Define those elements in relation to the definition of the Neoclassical Movement
and show how they transform to Romantic Movement notions or uphold Neoclassic
notions.
3/10: Read Gilbert and Gubar 370-90 to learn more about Mary Wollstonecraft.
A. Study the primary arguments on which Wollstonecraft bases her arguments--sex,
education, and social customs--in A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, focusing on one
of the three elements. Does she effectively argue for women's rights, or does she further
separate women from men in these arenas? Explain and find passages throughout the text
that illustrate your point.
B. Find an eighteenth- or nineteenth-century commentary on Wollstonecraft's most famous
work, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman. Do you agree or disagree with that writer's
perspective? Cite the passage in a complete Internet or library database citation so that we
can follow the link and locate the research.
C. Find a twentieth-century commentary on Wollstonecraft's most famous work. Do you
agree or disagree with that writer's perspective?
3/12: Midterm Exam—The exam will last the whole class period and consists mostly of
paragraph writing, so bring a couple of pencils or pens to the exam. Remember to bring your
journal: You will not be able to turn it in after the exam.