ENGL 255: Women's Literature

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Class Program

English

Credits

Weekly Contact Hours

Course ID

091077

Meets Degree Requirements For

Diversity,

Humanities

Description

Examines literature written by women of various cultural backgrounds to recognize and appreciate women's contribution to history, society, and the arts. Emphasis is on women's literary voice and women's unique cultural experience, including ideas central to feminism and femininity, through examination of poetry, fiction, nonfiction, and drama.

Grading Basis

Graded

Course Learning Outcomes

Examine and discuss women’s literature and how it has shaped and contributed to the wider culture, including understanding of feminism and femininity, how women’s identity varies according to different cultural norms, and how women’s contributions to culture have been understood over time.

Discuss works of literature (including essay, short story, poetry, and drama) using relevant terms. Recognizing the cultural information present in the literature related to women’s identity and/or specific cultural experience.

Form an opinion and provide evidence from literature as support for that opinion.

Recognize and interpret current patterns, elements, motifs, conventions, styles, themes, and forms.

Employ literary analysis to generalize from one work to another.

Draft and revise critical analyses of literature.

Core Topics

Exploring the wide variety of texts written by women and understanding women’s contributions to culture, society, and history; how those texts have identified or reflected gender norms and biases and also played a central role in critiquing those norms and biases; exploring the wide variety of women’s experience and how women have confronted discrimination through literature.
Building an understanding of feminism, the history of the feminist movement, and women’s identity through literature.
Reading and analyzing women’s literature from a variety of cultural groups to gain cultural awareness and sensitivity.
Examining literature as a reflection of expressions of power related to women’s experiences.
Responding personally to literature in regards to identity, biases, and discrimination.
Responding to literature in discussion and writing.

Evaluation:

Periodic evaluation through student in-class discussion, papers, and exams.
At least two papers.
At least two exams.