Littérature Américaine

In the 19th and early 20th centuries, women writers were often writing on the domestic sphere and on sentimental matters. Things began to change in the middle of the century when women started looking at other spheres, discovering what they could do outside the home place. Discussing the place of women in the canon, this class will focus on several writers whose work helped change the face of women for the centuries to come. By revisiting stereotypes to better condemn them, some women writers paved the way for emancipation long before they were given the right to vote.

The seminar will be based on close-readings of texts by women writers. Students are expected to have purchased and read Willa Cather’s novel, My Ántonia (1918) for week 6 of class.

A selection of extracts and stories will be handed out in the form of a reader. They include:

• Mary Rowlandson, a passage from A Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson: “The First Remove” (1682).


• Harriet Jacobs, a passage from Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl , “A Loophole of Retreat” (1861).


• Sarah Orne Jewett, “A White Heron” (1886).


• Charlotte Perkins Gilman, “The Yellow Wall-Paper” (1892).


• Kate Chopin, “The Story of an Hour” (1894) and “Désirée's Baby“ (1894).


• Edith Wharton, “The Eyes” (1910).

Set book:

Willa Cather, My Ántonia (1918). Barnes & Noble Classics.

Assessment:

Students will take a mid-term test and a written final exam.