ENGL265

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ENGL265

Domesticity and Gender in Mid-19th-Century American Literature and Culture ENGL265 FA

Crosslistings: WMST257, AMST273

Fall 96 Availability (Last Updated on Sat Mar 8 05:00:40 EST 1997 )

Section  Limit  Enrollment  Available
  01       18      18         0

The course will explore literary and cultural questions about the representation of domesticity and gender in works by Hawthorne, Poe, Melville, Sarah Grimke, Catherine Sedgwick, Margaret Fuller, Fanny Fern, Louisa May Alcott, Kate Chopin, and Susan Glaspell. We will also read selections from women's rights periodicals, Fourierist critiques of the family, "ladies" fashion magazines, phrenological advice books and contemporary medical texts. Secondary readings include historical research on mid-19th-century family life, sexuality and sex roles. Our study of historical context will include a field trip to Sturbridge Village. Students will be taught how to use bibliographic resources for independent research. The course will conclude with some texts written in the late 19th century and early 20th century.

MAJOR READINGS

N. Hawthorne, selected tales, letters,
journal entries: THE HOUSE OF THE SEVEN GABLES; THE
BLITHEDALE ROMANCE.
E.A. Poe, "Berenice," "The Black Cat," "The Oval Portrait,"
"The Fall of the House of Usher," "Ligeia"
H. Melville, "The Bell Tower," "The Paradise of Bachelors
and the Tartarus of Maids"
A. DeTocqueville, "That the Principle of Equality Naturally
Divides the Americans Into a Number of Small Private
Circles," "The Young Woman in the Character of a Wife"
M. Fuller, WOMAN IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY, letters,
reviews, stories
Sarah Grimke, LETTERS ON THE EQUALITY OF THE SEXES AND THE
CONDITION OF WOMEN
Harriet Jacobs, INCIDENTS IN THE LIFE OF A SLAVE GIRL
Fanny Fern, short essays and reviews,
L.M. Alcott, LITTLE WOMEN: OR MEG, JO, BETH, AND AMY
Mary P. Ryan, "Femininity and Capitalism in Antebellum
America"
Barbara Welter, "Female Complaints: Medical Views of Women
(1790-1865)"
Carroll Smith-Rosenberg, "Sex as Symbol in Victorian Purity:
An Ethnohistorical Analysis of Jacksonian America"
Nancy Cott, THE BONDS OF WOMANHOOD: "WOMAN'S SPHERE" IN NEW
ENGLAND, 1780-1835
Kate Chopin, THE AWAKENING
Susan Glaspell, THE VERGE

EXAMINATIONS AND ASSIGNMENTS

Two papers (5 pages, 12-18 pages)

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS and/or COMMENTS

Each student will take a turn at initiating class discussion. This course counts toward the English Department's Historicity requirement. Unless preregistered students attend the first class meeting or communicate directly with the instructor prior to the first class, they will be dropped from the class list. NOTE: Students must still submit a completed Drop/Add form to the Registrar's Office.

COURSE FORMAT: Seminar

REGISTRATION INFORMATION

Level: UG Credit: 1.00 Gen Ed Area & Dept: HA ENGL

Prerequisites: None

Section 01: Pfister, J; Times: ..W.... 7:00PM;; Grading Mode: A/F; Registration Preference (1 high to 6 low, 0=Excluded) Sr: 1, Jr: 1, So: 0, Fr: 0; Major Preference Given

Last Updated on MAR-10-1997

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