AML 3930: Early American Women Writers Spring
2003
Dr. Lisa Logan MW
1-1:50 p.m.
Phone: (407) 823-2269; email: lmlogan@pegasus.cc.ucf.edu (F
online only)
Office: 201H Colbourn Hall; Hours: MW 2-4; and by appt.
Required Texts*
Kathryn Zabelle Derounian-Stodola, ed., Women’s Indian Captivity Narratives (Penguin)
Ann Taves, ed. Religion and Domestic Violence in Early New England Convent Tales (Indiana)
E.D.E.N. Southworth, The Hidden Hand; or, Capitola the Madcap (Rutgers)
Harriet Prescott Spofford, "The Amber Gods" and Other Stories (Rutgers)
*Additional selected readings available through UCF Library’s electronic reserves and the World Wide Web; URLs listed on schedule.
Course schedule: Specific reading assignments are explained under the “Course Schedule” button at “aml3930c” in WebCT. Instructions for posting to Discussion Forums and reading questions for individual texts are listed separately by author/text under the “Modules” button.
Helpful websites:
Society for the Study of American Women Writers (SSAWW): http://www.unl.edu/legacy/SSAWW1.html
UCF Women’s Studies Program: http://pegasus.cc.ucf.edu/~womenst/
Course Description
In 1630, the newly married Anne Bradstreet sailed with her husband aboard the Arbella and became one of the first settlers of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Bradstreet, who grew up in the Earl of Lincoln’s household, wrote of her experience in the wilderness, "I found here a new world and new manners, at which my heart rose." In 1650, never wavering from her duties as governor’s wife, mother of eight children, and devout Christian, Bradstreet became the first published poet in New England. Despite her prominence and reputation as a Puritan "goodwife," Bradstreet’s book, The Tenth Muse, Lately Sprung Up in America was prefaced by 12 pages of testimonials by men, who spoke to her intellectual and moral credibility.
The example of Anne Bradstreet suggests the complex position of early American women writers: while our first poet was a woman, women were necessarily wives and mothers first, readers and writers second; moreover, women wrote in a culture that was ambivalent toward and suspicious of their public speech. In 1645, Governor John Winthrop pointed out that women’s writing could lead to madness:
[Mrs. Hopkins], (a godly young woman and of special parts,)
. . .was fallen into a sad infirmity, the loss of her understanding and reason, which had been growing upon her diverse years,by occasion of her giving herself wholly to reading and writing, and had written many books.
But women continued to write—poems, letters, epitaphs, sampler verses, journals, diaries, household manuals, and, as time went on, travelogues, captivity and slave narratives, and even novels.
Not only did women write, but it might be said that women developed specific traditions of writing. More often than not, women—not men—composed popular narratives and fiction, and their works were consumed and even read to shreds by a public hungry for printed texts. Curiously, many early American women writers used themes, metaphors and even whole narratives of captivity. This semester we will consider the relationships among traditions of writing and gender roles in early American women’s words. Why do captivity, cross-dressing, and crime pervade these texts? In what ways did women--who were denied legal, political, and economic rights, and whose identities and destinies rested in their bodies’ reproductive capacities—use particular sets of literary and cultural forms and themes to enter public discourse? How did these forms enable women to negotiate the boundaries between authorship and public spectacle? To what extent did women from diverse socioeconomic and ethnic backgrounds negotiate these boundaries similarly or differently? And to what degree does the diversity of women’s words complicate claims of a unified women’s tradition?
To answer these questions, we will explore the often “lost” and “recovered” works of women writing in America from the 17th through the mid-19th centuries. During this time, captivity narratives and novels by women writers, many now long forgotten, enjoyed enormous popularity and success. We’ll examine a wide variety of literary genres in their historical contexts as we study the relationship between women’s cultural "place" and their written works in early America.
These ideas are, of course, just a start. Our conversations with these texts and each other, and the perspectives that each of you brings, will take the course in unanticipated yet welcome directions. In class, I expect all of us to voice our ideas, puzzles, and concerns, and I encourage you to discuss your responses with others (including me) both in and out of class. I remind you that the learning process demands that we all take responsibility and risks, and that each of us is an important part of the intellectual community we create. There will, of course, be times when you prefer silence to speech, and I expect us to examine these silences in the context of the issues we face. We will encounter texts and ideas that challenge us with their difficulty and difference, and I suggest that these challenges are opportunities for new conversations that will allow our thinking to change and grow. I ask that you think and respond--not just react--honestly and thoughtfully and with a critical awareness of your own biases. Of course, I expect that all of us will carefully read the assigned texts and be physically and mentally present for each class.
Required Tasks (Assignments)
The following assignments are required in order to pass this course. The instructor provides no substitutions or extra credit. Assignment guidelines and due dates can be accessed through the "Assignments" button at “aml3930c” in WebCT. Descriptions of assignments, sample graded papers, and helpful tips for writing and analyzing are located under the “Assignments” and “Student Tips” buttons at “aml3930c” in WebCT.
|
Two 5-7 pp. essays |
15% each = 30% |
|
Weekly discussion postings to forum |
30% |
|
Web-based study guide |
10% |
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Face-to-face class participation |
10% |
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In-class discussion-leading (5-10 min.) |
10% |
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Final project: Review of a supplementary text |
10% |
Paper Format and Submission
Papers are due by 5 p.m. on the due date. Papers should be typed or word-processed, double spaced, and should have reasonable margins (1") and fonts (10-12 pitch). Students may hand-deliver them to me during class or to my mailbox (Colbourn 301). E-mail and fax papers cannot be accepted, as your professor is not a printing press. Students should keep copies of essays, as lost or stolen papers are your responsibility.
Late papers: Late papers will be docked 1/3 grade for each day late and, after one week, will be returned unread and with no credit earned. Please see me in advance if you anticipate a problem with a deadline so that, if appropriate, we can negotiate alternative arrangements.
Plagiarism, submitting the work of someone else as your own,
will result in an "F" for the course. Please review the guidelines
for citing sources correctly and responsibly in the MLA Handbook.
Forum Participation and Postings
Forum participation is required and should follow the guidelines described in the "Protocols" at "Course Home." As with face-to-face interactions, your participation and postings should represent active and collegial engagement with the texts themselves and the ideas presented by your peers and me. Specific information on weekly posting assignments for each text can be found in individual "Modules" at :aml3930c.” Also, information about reading and writing critically is posted at "Student Tips." I will post samples of student writing anonymously from time to time to keep you on track and apprised of what your peers in other groups are doing.
Attendance Policy
Ideally, all of us will attend each class meeting. However, illness and other extenuating circumstances are part of life, and I consider three absences a reasonable allowance. After three absences, your credibility and commitment are called into question, and your role in and responsibility to the learning community are compromised. If, for reasons of work or other conflicts, students are habitually absent, they should drop the course. For each absence over three, students should expect one-third letter to be deducted from their final grades .
Class Participation
(Face-to-Face Meetings)
I define participation as your active engagement in the learning process during class meetings. This includes attending to lectures and discussions, having your books before you and in motion during class, asking thoughtful and relevant questions, offering honest, reflective answers that go beyond personal reaction, using texts to illustrate or contest ideas under discussion, and listening carefully and respectfully to others.
Course Grades
Grading guidelines for assignments are specified in the assignments themselves at the "Assignments" button at "aml3930c." You will receive a feedback sheet that reflects the instructor’s assessment of your fulfillment of these guidelines with each assignment. Final grades for this course will use the +/- system, i.e. minus grades = 92, 82, 72, etc., and plus grades = 88, 78, 68, etc.
Please, if you find yourself in difficulty with the course materials or in completing your assignments, let me know as soon as you’re able in case I can help. Many students find themselves in difficulty with a course but mistakenly believe that their professors will not care or be able to help them. Often, we can find some of solution by talking about it together.