ENGLISH 180AW: American Women Writers

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In the area below, provide basic, standard course information ahead of registration period to help students make informed course choices. Click the EDIT button and input your responses by over-writing the field description below each bolded heading. Consult the IT Help knowledge base or reach out to FAS Academic Technology at atg@fas.harvard.edu for assistance.

Course goals:

By the end of this course, you should have:

 

• developed an understanding of different literary genres—the novel, the lyric poem, the play—and be able to discuss knowledgeably their history and conventions
• become familiar with some of the literary-historical, historical, and cultural backgrounds and contemporary issues relevant to the writers and works studied
• enhanced your close reading skills and your critical vocabulary through reading literary and a few theoretical texts, as well as through attentive listening during lecture
• improved your expository and analytical writing skills through the completion of writing assignments
• discussed literature and ideas with vigor and interest
• thought deeply about gender and other categories of identity and the role that literature plays in shaping them

 

Course format:

This is a lecture course that meets twice weekly, Tuesdays and Thursdays from 12-1:15. If enrollment requires sections, those will meet on Thursday afternoons and/or mornings. If sections are not required, then discussion will be incorporated into the lecture meetings. 

Typical enrollees:

This course is open to all students. It will count as a 1900-2000 guided elective for English concentrators. 

When is course typically offered?

This is the first time this course is being offered, and it is unlikely to be offered again. 

What can students expect from you as an instructor?

I aim to provide engaging, informative, and accessible lecturers, and I am always open to student feedback and questions on the course materials. 

Assignments and grading:

Course Assignments

 

Academic Essays

You will write two academic essays. They will be 5-7-page close analysis essays of one or more texts. Further guidelines about theses assignments will be posted to Canvas. 

Creative Writing

You will have two creative writing assignments; guidelines for both will be posted to Canvas

The first will be to write a brief “homage” (2-3 pages) to one of the authors we’ve read so far. This could mean imitating the author’s formal style, writing a brief piece based on an author’s favored themes, satirizing an author, or updating her work for the contemporary moment. (EX: for an homage to Edith Wharton, you might write about a first date, observing how manners reveal something about each participant’s class background.)

The second will be to write a book review (800-1000 words) of one of the texts we’ve read. A book review introduces the book and the author, summarizes the book, and offers some analysis and evaluation. I will post sample reviews to Canvas as well as guidelines. This is a good chance for you to justify why you think a book is enjoyable and interesting—or not!

Take Home Exam

Your final assignment for the course will be an open-book take-home exam. The exam will ask you to write two or three short essays linking the different readings in our course. You will have choice among the essay questions. Further details to come.

Grade Breakdown

Close Analysis Essay: 20% each

Homage: 10%

Book Review: 10%

Take Home exam: 25%

Participation (section): 15%

Sample reading list:

Please see the draft Syllabus in the files section. Please note that this is a draft and subject to change.

Enrollment cap, selection process, notification:

This course is open enrollment and does not have a cap. 

 

Absence and late work policies:

Attendance and participation

Attendance at lecture is mandatory.  You have two unexcused absences, but further absences may lower your grade. Three late arrivals (10+ minutes) will count as one absence.

 

Section attendance is also mandatory. You have one unexcused absence, but further absences will lower your grade. Three late arrivals (10+ minutes) will count as once absence.

 

Absences for reasons of illness, religious observance, and family emergency will be excused.

Please be in touch with me if any of these situations, or others, arise and we can think through how to keep you on track.

 

Extensions

 

You may have one 24-hour extension to use on any assignment with the exception of the take-home exam. Additional exceptions for reasons of illness, family emergency, or religious observance may be granted. Please be in touch.