Course Essentials
Library
Blackboard.com
Course
Description and Goals
This course seeks to understand better the traditions
and literary achievements of women writers in the south of the United States.
Though not always included in the literary canons, women writers have been
always been central to the distinguished literary traditions of this
region. By close readings and writing about their work in a variety of
genres, we will try to comprehend how writing as a southerner and as a
woman shapes the experiences and accomplishments of these very different
authors. We will also try to develop insight into some of the assumptions
that have shaped their personal and cultural experiences as southerners,
and women and writers. And in the process, we will try to learn something
about our own.
To those ends, we will read a number of short stories and novels, as well as some non-fiction, relying on careful reading and virtual discussion to clarify the texts and their contexts. The writing assignments will provide further opportunities to focus our understanding of this complex literary tradition.
The course will be conducted on-line, using email, the
resources Blackboard.com, and this web-site to reflect on our reading and
writing.
Top of page
Top of page.
Weekly Comments (35%) Writing Assignments (25-30%) Website Presentation of Research (15-20%) Final Examination (15-20%) Note on Class Participation Extra Credit Options
Weekly
Comments
The heart of this course (apart from reading the texts themselves) will be our electronic "discussions": asking and answering each other's questions and sharing our responses. These discussions will be conducted in one or two groups (depending on the size of the class), using the "Discussion Board" on Blackboard.com to facilitate our exchanges.
- Discussions will be organized as follows* (the
routine)
1. One week before the selected reading is due, I will post some brief introductory comments and a set of more-or-less standard questions to guide everyone's reading of the text or texts.
2. By the next Saturday midnight, everyone will have:
a.) read the texts and contexts (if assigned), and
b.) posted a comment on the Discussion Board, responding to at least one of questions I have posed and raising any other issues elicited by the readings.
The comment should be roughly 150-300 words--about two screenfuls on an email message.
The main thing will be to get to your point; try to avoid mere summary, though be sure you've provided enough context to be clear; and don't neglect to refer to specific places in the text when appropriate. You don't have to answer every question, but you do have to say something substantive and detailed.
3. By Tuesday midnight, everyone in the class will have commented on or reacted to the responses of least two other people. (About 75-125 words--or one screen).
4. By the end of the week (Friday), I will have posted new text questions and comments, and the next round of readings will begin.
* On some weeks when holidays occur, the posting days might sometimes be shifted. Check the syllabus for details.
Weekly comments willl be about 35% of your grade.
Note
on Class Participation
You are responsible for timely and regular contributions
to the discussion group every week. If you are for any reason unable to
meet the established deadlines or fulfill the assignments, please advise
me (and your group members) as soon as possible. If lateness or irregularity
persists, you will be asked to drop the course or receive a failing grade.
Southern
Women Writers Project
The formal writing in this course will be a series of
assignments based on one or more works by a southern woman writer among
those covered in the course or from a list I will provide. These
exercises will provide some of the basic content for a final webpage.
More details will be forthcoming. (25-30%)
Website
Presentation
One of the ways that we'll reflect and take advantage
of the 'online' nature of this course will be a final presentation on the
web of your research about a southern woman writer--ready for the world
to see. Some details and criteria will be established together, and we
can organize some special classes for learning the basics (or sharing techniques)
for creating webpages and presenting your work effectively. Collaboration
with other members of the class is strongly encouraged, but not required.
The websites will be presented at our final meeting on Friday evening,
May 9 and will represent 15-20% of your grade.
Final
Examination
Probably take-home, but otherwise, the usual: comprehensive,
some essays, some "objective." Scheduled for May 9; more details as the
course proceeds--15-20% of your grade.
Extra
Credit Options
Extra credit of up to 5% of your grade is available for
attending and writing a short report about a literary or other intellectual
event during the semester.
- Requirements:
1. Attend a lecture, reading, play or other literary event. [Check the Loyola or Newcomb Calendars for good possibilities; if you're not sure something is appropriate, ask me first.]
2. Write a brief (300-500 words) evaluative review of the event.
3. Submit the review to me (emailed or typewritten) within two weeks of your attendance.
Meeting
Dates and Times
There will be two on-campus meetings: an organizational
meeting on Friday, January 17 from 6:00-8:00 p.m. and a final meeting on
Friday, May 9, from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Class will meet in the WAC Lab
(Bobet 100), unless otherwise noted.
Required
Texts
The required texts for the course are available in the
University Bookstore and at Maple
Street Books.)
Required:
You'll need this one first--
Weeks, Mary Lou and Carolyn Perry. Southern Women's
Writing: Colonial to Contemporary. Gainesville: U P of Florida, 1995.
Allison, Dorothy Bastard Out of Carolina. New York:
Plume, 1994.
Chopin, Kate. The Awakening and Selected Stories.
New York: Penguin, 1989.
Dunbar-Nelson, Alice. Laughing to Stop Myself from
Crying New York: X-Press, 2001.
O'Connor, Flannery. A Good Man Is Hard to Find.and
Other Stories. New York: Harcourt 1983.
Tademy, Lalita. Cane River Warner Books, 2002.
Walker, Alice. Meridian. New York: Pocket Books,1986.
Welty, Eudora. One Writer's Beginnings.
1984; Cambridge, MA: Harvard U P, 1995.
Recommended
Hacker, Diana. A Pocket Style Manual (Third Edition)
Bedford St Martin, 2000.
Some on-line texts may also be required or available.