ENGL 230 - Women Authors

3 Credits: (3 lecture)

Course Description
This course is a study of representative works written by women from numerous historical, social, and literary perspectives. The course is designed to work toward a shared understanding of historical and cultural developments in Women’s Literature from both England and the United States.  The course will also emphasize literary theory when applicable.

Prerequisite ENGL 101 or permission of instructor.

A. Make relevant contributions to in-class discussions.  

B. Define and classify significant terms: women’s literature, feminist literature, and literature about women.   

C. Apply feminist criticism/literary theory in critical papers.  

D. Report on one particular woman author by means of a presentation.  

Content
A. Historical, cultural, and philosophical foundations of Women’s Literature. 

B. Literature by women from England and the United States. 

C. Feminist literary theory. 

Student Evaluation
A. Active participation/attendance. 

B. Short essay questions/True-false quizzes. 

C. Critical Papers. 

D. Class presentation of one selected author. 

Bibliography
Alcott, Louisa May. Little Women. New York: Barnes & Noble, Inc. 1994. Print.  

Anzaldua, Gloria. “From Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza.” The Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism. Ed. Vincent B. Leitch. New York: Norton, 2001.  2208-2223. Print.  

Atwood, Margaret. The Handmaid’s Tale. Mineola, NY: Fawcett, 1985. Print. 

Austen, Jane. Emma. New York: Dover, 1999. Print.  

Bronte, Charlotte. Jane Eyre. New York: Barnes & Noble, Inc., 1993. Print.  

Bronte, Emily. Wuthering Heights. Mineola, NY: Dover, 1996. Print. 

Butler, Judith. “Gender Trouble.” The Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism. Ed. Vincent B. Leitch. New York: Norton, 2001. 2488-2501. Print.  

Cisneros, Sandra. The House on Mango Street. New York: Vintage Contemporaries,  1991. Print.  

Cixous, Helene. “The Laugh of the Medusa.” The Norton Anthology of Theory and  Criticism. Ed. Vincent B. Leitch. New York: Norton, 2001. 2035-2056. Print.  

Gilbert, Sandra M. and Susan Gubar. The Madwoman in the Attic: The Woman Writer and the Nineteenth Century Literary Imagination. New Haven: Yale UP, 2000.  Print.  

Hooks, bell. “Postmodern Blackness.” The Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism.  Ed. Vincent B. Leitch. New York: Norton, 2001. 2475-2484. Print. 

Kristeva, Julia. “From Revolution in Poetic Language/Part I: The Semiotic and the Symbolic.” The Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism. Ed. Vincent B.  Leitch. New York: Norton, 2001. 2165-2179. Print.  

Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2000. Print.  

Tan, Amy. The Joy Luck Club. New York: Ivy Books, 1989. Print.  

Walker, Alice. The Color Purple. New York: Jove Books, 1982. Print.  

Wollstonecraft, Mary. A Vindication of the Rights of Woman. Boston: Thomas &  Andrews, 1996. Print.