What Must Be DoneConsistent requirements over the semester.
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Attendance and Participation (15%)
Attendance and participation are absolutely vital for this course. Much of our work will take place in lecture and discussion, and the material therein will be necessary for the midterm and final exams.
Journal (15%)
You will be required to keep a reading journal of questions or interesting ideas you encounter. Plan on devoting 30 minutes per week to the journal (figure the equivalent of approximately 400-500 words, with variations for style). We will use them as prompts for classroom discussion and for in-class activities, so you should keep them with you every class period. You will submit the journal once prior to the midterm and once after the midterm.
The journal is to help you develop your thoughts relating to the course themes, and to ask questions and make remarks about what you encounter in the text. You are welcome to get creative in your journal, and in fact, should plan on it. While some entries should be straight-forward literary analyses of the text, other entries may take alternative forms, including mimicry, rewriting, personal connections, responses to political and social issues encountered, poetry, etc.
The journal should help you develop your understanding of the course problematics, issues in literature, and should provide a basis for studying for your midterm and final exams and projects.
Journals will receive grades based on depth of responses. A “C” journal will demonstrate that you did the reading, but may only summarize the material. A “B” journal will develop a line of questioning and an analytical relationship with the text at hand. An “A” journal demonstrates the qualities of a “B” journal along with creative engagement and outside research.
Research on Social Justice Issue and Presentation (15%)
At the beginning of the semester, you will be required to sign up for a research topic from which you will develop a presentation. Possible topics include (but are not limited to):
Your research should draw from at least three different fields. Literature and literary theory, of course, but you can also choose to review literature from psychology, sociology, biology, history, law, etc.
Your presentation should be 15 minutes, and should:
Midterm Project (20%)
Research one variety of writing women have done that has been excluded from the category of “literature,” collect examples of this from a variety of historical and national contexts, discuss why it was excluded, and make an argument for its inclusion alongside of traditional literary forms.
The purpose of this project is to think carefully about the ways that women have historically contributed to the written world, to analyze the ways in which their contributions have been marginalized, and to develop a sense of “literature” as a constructed category.
Possible topics include
Creative Project (15%)
The creative project has specific parameters, and must be approved by me no later than the week following Spring Break. However, the emphasis is on creativity, so it must be a project of your own design that will engage in a clear and significant way with the course topic and themes.
Remember that we all have areas of strength—try to rely on those as a guide to your project form. For example, if you draw as a hobby, you might consider doing a comic or a series of works of art for your final project. If you fancy yourself “not creative,” consider those things that you do for pleasure, and think about how to develop them into a project. For example, I have lots of friends who enjoy games—how could you create a game about women’s representation of place and identity?
Final Essay (20%)
Your final essay will be a traditional literary analysis. I will provide a selection of topics, and you will produce a 4000+ word paper analyzing a book or short story we examined in class, using skills we will develop in lecture, discussion, and the journals.
Attendance and participation are absolutely vital for this course. Much of our work will take place in lecture and discussion, and the material therein will be necessary for the midterm and final exams.
- You may miss up to 4 classes, but upon the 5th absence, you will lose 1/3 of a letter grade, and upon the 6th absence, you will start losing a full letter grade per absence. Two incidents of tardiness or sleeping in class count as an absence. Upon the 8th absence, you automatically fail.
- Your voice is essential to class. You will be required to keep a weekly journal, explained below, to help you prepare for discussion, and you will be expected to contribute meaningfully to discussion at least once per week.
- You will also be required to lead a discussion during the semester.
- Completion of all reading assignments on time. There will be at least five unannounced reading quizzes over the semester to confirm that you have done the reading. More quizzes may be applied if discussion flags.
- Some in-class writing, generally to build ideas from journals towards a formal assignment.
- You are required to meet with me at least once during the semester, but you are welcome in my office hours at any time.
Journal (15%)
You will be required to keep a reading journal of questions or interesting ideas you encounter. Plan on devoting 30 minutes per week to the journal (figure the equivalent of approximately 400-500 words, with variations for style). We will use them as prompts for classroom discussion and for in-class activities, so you should keep them with you every class period. You will submit the journal once prior to the midterm and once after the midterm.
The journal is to help you develop your thoughts relating to the course themes, and to ask questions and make remarks about what you encounter in the text. You are welcome to get creative in your journal, and in fact, should plan on it. While some entries should be straight-forward literary analyses of the text, other entries may take alternative forms, including mimicry, rewriting, personal connections, responses to political and social issues encountered, poetry, etc.
The journal should help you develop your understanding of the course problematics, issues in literature, and should provide a basis for studying for your midterm and final exams and projects.
Journals will receive grades based on depth of responses. A “C” journal will demonstrate that you did the reading, but may only summarize the material. A “B” journal will develop a line of questioning and an analytical relationship with the text at hand. An “A” journal demonstrates the qualities of a “B” journal along with creative engagement and outside research.
Research on Social Justice Issue and Presentation (15%)
At the beginning of the semester, you will be required to sign up for a research topic from which you will develop a presentation. Possible topics include (but are not limited to):
- Issues relating to intersectionality (women’s experiences of racism, homophobia, ableism, antisemitism, fatism, classism, xenophobia, ageism, etc.)
- Issues relating to healthcare and reproductive justice (birth control, maternity care, abortion, infant and/or maternal mortality, etc.)
- Issues relating to body policing and/or body dysmorphia (anorexia, bulimia, compulsive over-eating, media effects, etc.)
- Issues relating to romantic relationships (expectations regarding gender roles, the leisure gap, “lean in,” domestic violence, marriage law, etc.)
Your research should draw from at least three different fields. Literature and literary theory, of course, but you can also choose to review literature from psychology, sociology, biology, history, law, etc.
Your presentation should be 15 minutes, and should:
- Introduce the topic
- Discuss the history of this topic, tracing an intellectual genealogy of how people have approached it
- Discuss the contemporary stakeholders, providing an analysis of their opinions and motivations
- Discuss how one or more novels from our class can illuminate some aspect of this issue.
Midterm Project (20%)
Research one variety of writing women have done that has been excluded from the category of “literature,” collect examples of this from a variety of historical and national contexts, discuss why it was excluded, and make an argument for its inclusion alongside of traditional literary forms.
The purpose of this project is to think carefully about the ways that women have historically contributed to the written world, to analyze the ways in which their contributions have been marginalized, and to develop a sense of “literature” as a constructed category.
Possible topics include
- Recipes
- PTA meetings/book clubs/similar gatherings (that produce writing in some form)
- Letters
- Advice columns
- Diet fads
- Self-improvement groups
- Etiquette books
- Women’s magazines (fashion, housekeeping, etc.)
Creative Project (15%)
The creative project has specific parameters, and must be approved by me no later than the week following Spring Break. However, the emphasis is on creativity, so it must be a project of your own design that will engage in a clear and significant way with the course topic and themes.
Remember that we all have areas of strength—try to rely on those as a guide to your project form. For example, if you draw as a hobby, you might consider doing a comic or a series of works of art for your final project. If you fancy yourself “not creative,” consider those things that you do for pleasure, and think about how to develop them into a project. For example, I have lots of friends who enjoy games—how could you create a game about women’s representation of place and identity?
Final Essay (20%)
Your final essay will be a traditional literary analysis. I will provide a selection of topics, and you will produce a 4000+ word paper analyzing a book or short story we examined in class, using skills we will develop in lecture, discussion, and the journals.
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Creation of the Form
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