Contemporary Women Writers

English 331, Spring 2012
South Engineering 314, Wednesdays 12:30-1:45
(hybrid course, meets once per week)
3 Credits, #22115
Prerequisite: ENGL 120 or equivalent

"School is tiny vacation."  — Gwendolyn Brooks, "The Coora Flower"

 

One thing very important in life, says Theresa, is to know how to make yourself at home.

—Gish Jen

We must take the feeling of being at home into exile. We must be rooted in the absence of a place.

—Simone Weil

Welcome to English 331, "study of the language, images, themes, modes and genres in 20th century literature by women of various cultural, ethnic, and national backgrounds." 

This Spring's section will focus primarily (but not exclusively) on a cluster of general themes, including 1) Leaving, Going, Being at Home; 2) Self and Other; 3) Silences and Still Points.

One of our primary course tasks will be the ongoing generation and formulation of insightful ideas, adapted from what is known in Tibetan Buddhism as "lojong." These ideas will provide foundations for your essays, foci for discussion, critical frameworks for the texts, and practice in critical thinking.


Schedule

Coursework and Assignments

Housekeeping

Blackboard

Class Library


Debra S. Golden ©
Instructor: Cindy Nichols
Office Location:  SE #318F
Phone:  231-7024 
Hours: M-T-W-TR-2-3:00 and by appt.

Voices from the Gaps

Voice of the Shuttle's Women's
Studies and Feminist Theory Links


Required Course Texts

Elizabeth Bishop, Geography III
Lisa Lewis, The Unbeliever
Fanny Howe, One Crossed Out
Fanny Howe, The Wedding Dress
Annie Proulx, Wyoming Stories
Joy Williams, Breaking and Entering
Joyce Carol Oates, Foxfire

  Other Necessities

  • Frequent access to email and Blackboard.
  • A committment to regularly attend classes, participate in discussion, and keep up with reading assignments. This is CRUCIAL in a class that meets once a week.

Aims of this Course

  1. You will gain a good appreciation of 6 contemporary writers, responding both critically and creatively to their work.
  2. You will come to understand some historic as well as recent questions asked about literature generally and literature by women specifically.
  3. You will practice applying at least two distinct critical lenses to the works we encounter (generally Formalist, Feminist or Culturalist, Existentialist, and Myth).
  4. You will satisfactorily complete a critical essay and a comprehensive exam.

 


Primary Course Work

Weekly Cyber Class (check system)

You should think of this as a two-day per week course, except that, because it's a hybrid course, we will only meet once each week face-to-face. The second "meeting" each week will be online, what we'll call our "weekly cyber class." Occasionally this second meeting will be a small-group face-to-face.

Everyone will create their own thread in our Bb Multi-Use Board, and this is where all cyber class work will be posted. Instructions for each week's work will be available in the same Multi-Use Board Forum.

Each week's cyber work will earn a check-plus, check, check-minus, or minus in the record. Each week's work is the equivalent of a class session, so missing checks or minuses amount to absences. Your cyber work will be checked twice. At the end of the term I will factor your cyber class performance into your numerical total, and this may result in a higher or lower final grade. If your cyber performance is in danger of hurting your grade, I will try to alert you well in advance.

Book of Notions (30 pts. or 30% of semester score)

He buys me books, but begs me not to read them, because he fears they joggle the mind. I would like to learn. Could you tell me how to grow, or is it unconveyed, like melody or witchcraft?—Emily Dickinson

Everyone will maintain an "idea journal" for the course of the semester. This will be an ongoing record of critical assertions, insights, principles, philosophical "pith sayings," and arguable insights which will illuminate the readings, provide framework for essays, and act as catalyst to discussion. This "Book of Notions" plays on the stereotype of "women's thinking" as nonphilosophical, addled, and inconsequential. I.e., the very old view that women's ideas constitute mere "notions" rather than serious thinking. Our notion journals will draw on an ancient Eastern tradition of mind-training known as lojong.

You will hand in your book twice for an evaluation and point check. CLICK HERE for full instructions.

Comprehensive Exam (40 pts. or 40% of semester score)

Critical Essay (30 pts. or 30% of semester score)

Late in the term you will complete an essay on one of our assigned authors or readings. This will be an interpretive piece in which you develop your own thesis and then argue for that idea in about 5-6 pages. Part of your essay will involve putting your thesis in a critical context. I.e., you will research other critical work done on the author or work in question.

 

Final Grading Scale

88-100 pts. = A
75-87 pts. = B
62-74 pts. = C
49-61 pts. = D
below 49 = F

Housekeeping:
Ground Rules, Policies, & Deadlines


Ground Rules

Respect and curiosity are keywords for this class. It's important that you come with an open mind, a willingness to test your own views and the views of others, and to think and feel actively about the readings. It's a discussion and reading-intensive course, so it's vital that you stay up on reading assignments, attend regularly, and participate energetically. Other important tips: feel free at any time to argue with me or with your classmates, and be be ready for interesting, sometimes challenging group discussions, readings, and films.


Missed Class

  1. If you have to miss one of our Wed. face-to-face meetings, DO NOT come to me asking, “What did we do?” (Or, even worse, “Did we do anything?”) As soon as possible, contact 2 or more classmates for full class notes, instructions, handout titles, etc. If the classmates you contact did not take helpful notes or are otherwise uninformed, you should contact someone else. (You are responsible for knowing what transpires in each class session, whether you are present or not.) If you know in advance that you will miss a class meeting and/or class work, contact classmates well ahead of time for assistance.
  2. After contacting classmates for full information, you may then visit or email me if you have specific, informed questions. Always include your class and section number on the subject line of emails.


Late or Missed Course Work

Weekly Cyber Class and In-Class Work

Late work should be posted to Bb Multi-Use Board/Late Work Forum, and may be held to a higher standard than work turned in on time. No late work will be accepted after the 12th week.

Critical Essay and Comprehensive Exam

No late essays or exams are accepted without evidence of serious harship or illness, documented by an authoritative outside source.

 

A Note to English Majors

During their senior year, English majors generally enroll in the English Capstone course (Engl 467), during which they assemble a portfolio containing representative written work from NDSU English courses. The English Department evaluates these portfolios to assess its undergraduate programs, analyzing how student work meets departmental outcomes. In order to facilitate the preparation of senior portfolios, English majors are encouraged to save copies of their written work (in electronic and hard copy) each semester.

Departmental Outcomes

This course meets at least three English Dept. outcomes:

  • Outcome 1: English majors will be able to write and speak effectively for a variety of purposes and audiences in a variety of genres and media. Outcome 2: English majors will be able to read (analyze, interpret, critique, evaluate) written and visual texts.
  • Outcome 7: English majors will develop professionalism exhibited in such qualities as self-direction, cooperation, civility, reliability, and care in editing and presenting the final product.

University Statement on Academic Honesty

All work in this course must be completed in a manner consistent with NDSU University Senate Policy, Section 335: Code of Academic Responsibility and Conduct. http://www.ndsu.nodak.edu/policy/335.htm Note: any instances of deliberate plagiarism in English 331 will result in an F for the course.

Student Conduct

All interactions in this course including interactions by email, weblogs, discussion boards,or other online methods will be civil and students will demonstrate respect for one another. Student conduct at NDSU is governed by the Code of Student Behavior. See http://www.ndsu.edu/ndsu/vpsa/code/ for more information.

Americans with Disabilities Statement

Any students with disabilities or other special needs who need accommodations in this course are invited to share these concerns or requests with me as soon as possible.

 

 Disclaimer!  I believe in the creative as well as practical value of spontaneity. I also believe that disorder is always there, lurking in any plan or scheme no matter how carefully devised— especially my own! I therefore reserve the right, if the occasion warrants it, and with ample notice to you, of course, to alter some of the details on this page as the semester progresses. Fundamental requirements for and aims of the course will remain unchanged.

“I myself have never been able to find out precisely what feminism is: I only know that people call me a feminist whenever I express sentiments that differentiate me from a doormat.” —Rebecca West


 

Prepared by
Cindy Nichols

Last modified: 
April 18, 2012

NDSU Webmaster

Quotations near top of this page:

Gish Jen, Mona in the Promised Land, p. 247

Simone Weil qtd. by Fanny Howe in The Wedding Dress, p. 75.