EN 223
North American Women Writers
Dr Cathia Jenainati
Information for 2012-2013
The module’s webpage has detailed information about the various
aspect of this module. Please consult it fo r more detail.
The aim of this module is to study a selection of North American Women Writers in
depth, within the wider context of North American literary and cultural
preoccupations, and with reference to a selection of critical debates. The module’s
teaching and learning strategy invites and encourages students’ individual
interpretations and responses within the frameworks provided by the prescribed
reading. The assessment pattern allows students to engage with different types of
writing, including critical analysis, creative writing and website contributions.
Themes to be discussed in 2012 include: race and ethnicity, gender, individual
autonomy and self-reliance, regionalism and the specificities of American geography,
communal memory and storytelling, cultural spaces, history / herstory, representation
of the body, representations of the city, sexual / textual politics, and cultural spaces.
Particular attention will be paid to questions of form, genre, narrative strategies, and
performativity.
Syllabus
The selection of texts for this module is updated on a yearly basis. I choose novels for
their intellectual contributions to current debates as well as for the "good story" they
tell.
Primary Texts
1. Charlotte Perkins Gilman, “The Yellow Wallpaper” (1892)
2. Kate Chopin, The Awakening (1899)
3. Sarah Orne Jewett, The Country of the Pointed Firs (1896)
4. Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Herland (1915)
5. Willa Cather, My Antonià (1918)
6. Zora Neale Hurston, Their Eyes Were Watching God (1937)
7. Eudora Welty, The Robber Bridegroom (1942)
8. Maxine Hong Kingston, The Woman Warrior (1976)
9. Alice Walker, The Color Purple (1982)
10. Sandra Cisneros, The House on Mango Street (1983)
11. Bharati Mukherjee, Jasmine (1989)
12. Amy Tan, The Joy Luck Club (1989)
13. Alice Walker, Possessing the Secret of Joy (1992)
14. Toni Morrison, Jazz (1992)
15. Jamaica Kincaid, Annie John (1997)
Theoretical / Cultural Readings
1. E-album of women’s lives 1800-2000
2. The Seneca Falls Conventions, “Manifesto”
3. Sojourner Truth, “Ain’t I a woman?” (1851)
4. Lucy Stone, “Marriage under Protest” (1855)
5. Alice Duer Miller, “why we don’t want men to vote” (1915)
6. Amendments to the US constitution relating to women’s lives [excerpts]
7. Women’s suffrage during and after WWI [excerpts]
8. The National Organisation for Women and Feminist Activism
9. Betty Friedan, The Feminine Mystique (1963) [excerpts]
10. Adrienne Rich, Of Woman Born (1976) [excerpts]
11. Feminism vs the Religious Right: A Case study of Roe vs. Wade (1973)
12. Nancy Friday, My Mother My Self (1977) [excerpts]
13. Rebecca Walker and “third wave feminism” [excerpts]
14. Case study of Casey vs Planned Parenthood (2004)
Teaching Methodology
Weekly seminars of 90 minutes focus on approaching the set reading through cultural
signifiers and theoretical stances. Seminars include a half-hour lecture which is
followed by a workshop or a group presentation and conclude with a plenary. In
addition, there is a strong element of e-learning embedded in this module which
requires all participants to create an individual book of commonplace. The "Book of
Commonplace" is due at the end of term 2; this will be a compilation of weekly econtributions to your individual module’s blog.
Assessment
D (80:20)
Book of Commonplace
Mid-year test
End of year exam
OR
C (50:50)
Book of Commonplace
Mid-year test
Assessed Essay
(weekly contributions up to 2,000 words)
(term 1 week10)
(term 3)
(20%)
(30%)
(50%)
(weekly contributions up to 2,000 words)
(term 1 week10)
(due in term 3)
(20%)
(30%)
(50%)
This assessment pattern benefits you in the following ways
You receive continuing feedback on your progress
You are able to demonstrate your learning in three different areas:
o The mid-year test will consist of short answer questions on the
contexts of the texts we have read. You will be asked to comment on
some of the problems / issues we discussed in the seminars.
o The Book of Commonplace allows you to compile a reflective log on the
texts we have studied and to offer a personal reflection on them
o the final exam will be comprehensive and will consist of 2 sections: the
first asking specific questions about the novels, the second will invite you
to write about the broader contexts.