Using novels and the short story fiction genre, students will learn about the evolution of American female writers from the 19th through the 21 st centuries by studying their literature and examining it against the backdrop of the historical periods in which they wrote. Students may explore such themes as women and marriage, women and madness, women and sexuality/ gender/race/ethnicity, motherhood, women and body, women and aging, women and work, or other themes pertinent to the female experience. Students will enrich their understanding of literature and the roles and experiences of women in shaping such literature. The course will explore the works of American female writers such as Kate Chopin, Charlotte Perkins Gilman Maya Angelou, Sandra Cisneros, Joyce Carol Oates, Elizabeth Bishop, Louisa May Alcott, Willa Cather, Sylvia Plath, Alice Walker, Ann Patchett, and/or others at the professor's discretion each semester. This is a reading and writing intensive course as it examines women's roles from multiple perspectives.
ENGL101N or ENGL110N