English 385: Literature by Women

A Woman’s “Place” in Literature
Professor Carrie Johnston

Course Description

In this seminar on women’s writing, we will think about the specific “places” of women’s writing—from the physical places where women choose to write, to the place of women’s writing in the literary canon. Our primary interest will be how women’s places—real and imagined—respond to and inform the changing material conditions and ideological constructs of the 19^th century to the present day. Adopting an interdisciplinary approach, this course examines literature, blogs, domestic manuals, comics, and etiquette books to consider the rhetorical strategies by which women challenge notions such as republican motherhood and the doctrine of separate spheres. While our class discussions will center on women’s places in the American context, the course is organized around British author Virginia Woolf’s A Room of One’s Own to help us think both concretely and theoretically about the ways women are represented within public and private spheres. Ultimately, our goal is to analyze women’s dynamic places in social, economic, and cultural contexts and the ways that “place” has been historically constructed or resisted.

Required Texts

• Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid’s Tale
• Alison Bechdel, Fun Home
• Kate Chopin, The Awakening
• Harriet Jacobs, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl
• Freedman, et al, The Essential Feminist Reader
• Leslie Marmon Silko, Ceremony
• Brian K. Vaughn, et al, Y the Last Man
• Jane Wagner, Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe
• Virginia Woolf, A Room of One’s Own

Presentations: Participation is expected of every student during every class period. In addition to regular participation, you (along with a small group) will be assigned one class period to lead the discussion by presenting talking points, discussion questions, and potential debates related to the day’s reading. You will also present (individually) a blog of your choice that speaks to the issues of women’s identity and how that identity is constructed through various modes of writing. You will receive detailed guidelines for each presentation.

Schedule of Work