Loyola University
New Orleans
Loyola University
New Orleans
|
|
| In this course, we will
examine the traditions and texts of women writers in the
southern region of the United States. By close readings and
writing about these authors from different historical
periods, from different economic and racial backgrounds,
writing in a variety of genres, we will try to understand
how writing as a southerner and as a woman shapes one's work
and achievement. We will also try to get some insight into
the assumptions that have shaped these individuals' personal
and cultural experience as southerners, as women, and as
writers. In the process, we will read works by some of the
most distinguished writers of the twentieth
century--including Zora Neale Hurston, Eudora Welty, Alice
Walker, and Ellen Douglas, as well as lesser known writers
like Julia Peterkin, Doris Betts, and Elizabeth Keckley,
along with several writers of the twenty-first century,
including Valerie Martin, Brenda Osbey or Natasha Tretheway.
And as we read--and write--we will try to learn something
about our own experiences of the South, of women, and of
writing.
Requirements will include reading and reflection on the
texts, participation in weekly discussion forums on
Blackboard.com, and the completion of a multi-part
research and writing project on a southern woman writer,
and a final collaborative electronic presentation of your
work. Women's Studies Minor * An
online
course is conducted through the internet
(Blackboard), though there will be an organizational
on-campus meeting on Friday evening, January 13 (5:30 p.m.--8:00
p.m.) in BOBET 100 (The WAC Lab) and a final
class meeting on Saturday morning, May 5. Please contact
me after January 1, if serious hardship or unavoidable
conflict will keep you from attending the required
organizational meeting. Students within driving distance
should plan to attend--and attendees will find that the
course goes much more smoothly. The following is a proposed list of texts and writers, but changes and substitutions will occur. *Starred texts may be alternates, and some texts may also be available as e-texts. Don't buy anything yet that you don't want to read. Weaks, Mary Lou and Carolyn Perry, eds. Southern Women's Writing: Colonial to Contemporary. Gainesville: U P of Florida, 1995. ISBN 13: 978-0-8130-1411-1 Allison, Dorothy. Bastard Out of Carolina. New York: Plume, 1993. ISBN: 0452269571 Chopin, Kate. The Awakening and Selected Stories. New York: Penguin, 1989. ISBN: 01403900227 Douglas, Ellen. Can’t Quit You, Baby. New York: Penguin Books, 1989. ISBN: 0140121021 Hurston, Zora Neale. Their Eyes Were Watching God. 1937. New York: Harper Perennial Modern Classics, 2006. ISBN-10: 0061120065 Martin, Valerie. Property. New York: Vintage, 2004. ISBN-13: 978-0375713309 Walker, Alice. Meridian. New York: Pocket Books, 1990. ISBN: 067172701X Welty, Eudora. One Writer’s Beginnings. Cambridge, MA: Belknap, 1995. ISBN: 0674639278 * Other texts to be selected in first class: Natasha Tretheway, Native Guard; Cristina Garcia, The Aguero Sisters; or Minrose Gwin, The Queen of Palmyra. Also recommended: Instant Access: The Pocket Reference for Writers. Michael L. Keene and Katherine H. Adams. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2003. ISBN: 0072819928 These books may also be available for purchase at Maple Street
Books (support your local bookstores!). If you're
trying to cut costs, many texts are also available
secondhand through other commercial booksellers. Some may
also be availble as rentals. Course Requirements Your
participation in these weekly discussions, including the
timely submission of comments and responses, will be
graded contractually (all assignments = A; fewer = B,
etc.) and will constitute your "class attendance." You will
be responsible for timely and regular contributions to the
discussion group every week. If any lateness or
irregularity persists in your submissions, you will be
asked to drop the course or receive a failing grade. Keeping up with these discussions is one of the
most challenging parts of an online course, and falling
behind is the chief reason for attrition--just remember
that "online" isn't the same as "self-paced."
Writing
Assignments
(25-30%) Wiki Presentation of
Research (15-20%) A comprehensive essay exam. Due on or about May 5.   |