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steven bruhm, department of english, mount st. vincent university, halifax, nova scotia, canada, B3M 2J6 (Steven.Bruhm@msvu.ca))
English 1155 05
Introduction to Literature: Gender and Form
T/Th 12:05-1:20
SAC 507
This is a course in learning to read critically, in taking our immediate reactions to literary expressions and submitting them to the tools of a discipline. Throughout this course we will analyze the forms and conventions writers use in the distinct genres of the short story, poetry, the novel, and drama. As well, we will introduce ourselves to the major questions literary critics ask of a text. Central to these questions will be the representation of gender: how do writers, working within certain genres and at certain historical moments, represent men and women? Do women write differently from men? Can literature only reflect gender socialization or can it resist that socialization? This critical thinking will be enabled by class discussion, in which you are required to take part, and by critical writing. In this course you will learn the mechanics of writing an English essay, of lively and accurate expression, and of using writing to explore more fully your ideas about the text.
Required Texts (available at the MSVU Bookstore):
The Norton Introduction to Literature, Shorter Eighth Edition. Jerome Beaty et al, eds. (Norton)
The Canterbury Tales. Geoffrey Chaucer. Ed. V.A. Kolve and Glending Olson (Norton)
Memoirs of a Coxcomb. John Cleland (Broadview)
Dracula. Bram Stoker (Broadview)
The Shining. Stephen King (Signet)
Twelfth Night. William Shakespeare (Washington Square Press)The Rez Sisters. Tomson Highway (Fifth House)
Evaluation
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First Semester |
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Second Semester |
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3 Short Essays (750 words) 15% each |
45% |
2 Short Essays (750 words) 15% each |
30% |
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Midterm Examination |
15% |
1 Research Essay (1500 words) |
30% |
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Examination |
30% |
Examination |
30% |
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Class Participation |
10% |
Class Participation |
10% |
Important Regulations:
Please note that the Calendar states, "It is necessary that students achieve a grade of D in the work in the second semester and an average of D in both semesters in order to pass a full-unit course" (30). Students who fail the second term will fail the course, regardless of performance in the first term.
Also, please note page 28 of the Calendar on Class Attendance and the instructor’s prerogative to remove a student on the grounds of poor attendance.
As is always the case at this university, correct use of language is one of the criteria included in the evaluation of all written assignments.
"Students are reminded that the University regulations on Plagiarism and Cheating will be strictly enforced. These regulations are posted on departmental bulletin boards and information may also be available from your professor." (Senate, March 1986)
Syllabus
[Please note: underlining indicates days when essays are due. Please consult my policy on late essays.]
| Fall 2005 | |
| Sept. 8 | Introduction: On Reading |
13 |
The Short Story: Alice Munro, "Boys and Girls |
15 |
Ambrose Bierce, "An Occurence at Owl Creek Bridge" |
20 |
Ernest Hemingway, "Hills Like White Elephants" |
22 |
Writing an English Essay |
27 |
The Novel: John Cleland, Memoirs of a Coxcomb |
29 |
Memoirs of a Coxcomb |
| Oct. 4 | Memoirs of a Coxcomb |
6 |
Memoirs of a Coxcomb |
11 |
Edgar Allan Poe, "The Cask of Amontillado" |
13 |
Charlotte Perkins Gillman, "The Yellow Wallpaper" |
18 |
Flannery O'Connor, "Everything That Rises Must Converge" |
20 |
Flannery O'Connor, "A Good Man is Hard to Find" |
25 |
Midterm Examination |
27 |
Angela Carter, "A Souvenir of Japan" |
Nov.
1 |
Bram Stoker, Dracula |
3 |
Dracula |
8 |
Dracula |
| 10 |
Dracula |
| 15 |
Nathaniel Hawthorne, "Young Goodman Brown" |
| 17 |
William Faulkner, "Barn Burning" |
| 22 |
Stephen King, The Shining |
| 24 |
The Shining |
| 29 |
The Shining |
| Dec. 1 | The Shining, exam review |
| Winter 2006 | |
| Jan. 5 | On Drama |
10 |
William Shakespeare, Twelfth Night |
12 |
Twelfth Night |
17 |
Twelfth Night |
19 |
Twelfth Night |
24 |
Lillian Hellman, The Children's Hour |
26 |
The Children's Hour |
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31 |
Tennessee Williams, A Streetcar Named Desire |
Feb,
2 |
A Streetcar Named Desire |
7 |
A Streetcar Named Desire |
9 |
Tomson Highway, The Rez Sisters |
14 |
The Rez Sisters |
16 |
The Research Essay I: No Reading Assignment |
21 |
Reading Week: No Classes |
23 |
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28 |
Poetry: William Carlos Williams, "The Is Just to Say"; Helen Chasin, "The Word Plum" |
Mar.
2 |
The Lyric: William Wordsworth, "She Dwelt among the Untrodden Ways"; Walt Whitman, "[I celebrate myself, and sing myself]" |
7 |
Sylvia Plath, "Daddy" |
| 9 |
The Research Essay II: No Reading Assignment |
| 14 |
Emily Dickinson, "My life had stood--a Loaded Gun"; "Because I Could Not Stop for Death"; "She dealt her pretty words like Blades"; "I Heard a Fly Buzz--When I Died" (handout) |
| 16 |
Sonnets: William Shakespeare, "[Let me not to the marriage of true minds]"; "[Not marble, nor the gilded monuments]"; "[Th' expense of spirit in a waste of shame]" |
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21 23 |
Monologue: Geoffrey Chaucer, The Miller's Prologue and Tale Chaucer, The Miller's Tale |
28 |
Poetry as Argument: John Donne, "The Flea"; Andrew Marvell, "To His Coy Mistress"; Katherine Philips, "Against Love" |
| 30 |
Aphra Behn, "To the Fair Clarinda" (handout) |
Apr. 4 6 |
Gerard Manley Hopkins, "The Windhover" (Research Essay Due) Exam Review |
