ENG 270: Literary History: 19th c. U.S. Women Writers
Course Description
In this course we will read a variety of texts written by U.S. women writers in the 19th century, including classic novels as well as short stories, poetry, and some non-fiction writing. We will relate readings to topics in women’s history in the 19th century, and we will seek to understand a variety of women’s viewpoints based on differences in race, class, location, and sexuality. We will pay attention especially to the literary, discursive, and rhetorical strategies that women used to make their concerns heard and understood, and think about ways that women writers today grapple with similar challenges.
Key Texts
Fern, Fanny. Ruth Hall.
Jacobs, Harriet. Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl.
Chopin, Kate. The Awakening.
Selections from
Kilcup, Karen L., ed. Nineteenth-Century American Women Writers: An Anthology. Cambridge, MA: Blackwell, 1997. Print.
Class Requirements and Expectations
4 papers of 4-5 pages in length each, a final, attendance & participation, a presentation
Attendance: 3 free excused or unexcused absences, and after that -10 points for each absence.