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English 304, Women's Writing: Writing By and About Medieval Women

1. Description 4. Goals and Objectives 7. Grades 2. Process 5. Texts 8. Reading and Class Schedule 3. Key Questions 6. Requirements and Policies 9. Reserve List / Bibliography

Description

Eng. 304, Women's Writing: Writing by and about Medieval Women, is a cultural, chronological, and necessarily selective survey of medieval women's writing from across Europe, with some emphasis on women writing in Middle English. The course highlights writing by (and to a lesser degree about) women from four general historical periods:

1. Late Antiquity and the Early Medieval Period (Antiquity to the 10^th century), weeks 1-3
2. The European High Middle Ages (11^th - 13^th century), weeks 4-8
3. The European Later Middle Ages (14^th - 15^th century), weeks 9-12
4. Women’s Writing in Middle English (14^th - 15^th century), weeks 13-15

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Process

The process of the course is straightforward: We will read significant texts from across Europe, analyze their content, and discuss their potential meanings, both in the context of their historical culture and our own period. We will also identify and interpret significant thematic emphases of individual works and authors, distinguish the characteristics of each genre, period, and writer, and look for both significant continuities and crucial innovations within and between writers and periods. As a way of examining the complicated relationship between literature, culture, and authorship, we will frame our examination of each author or text according to its historical context and examine each text through a set of social practices or "discourses"--the "cultural codes"--characteristic of that writer's historical context.

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Key Questions

We will also find ourselves returning to key questions of literary interpretation throughout the course, including:

1. What is "women's writing"? What does it mean to read or write like or as a woman? How did medieval women writers create a discursive space for their own literary production within male-dominated cultures?
2. How does an author perceive the artistic process and justify his/her work; that is, what are the various "authorizing strategies" used in these texts? To what in the reader(s) does the author appeal to gain a hearing for the work? In a broader sense, what is an "author" and how do these women writers experiment with that construct?
3. What is the position and function of literature within culture? What is the relationship of art to society and to politics; that is, to systems of power, domination, and subordination?
4. How does art shape our view of nature, culture, and humanity? In a similar vein, what is the relationship of history and literature or "historical" to "literary" texts?
5. How does the writer see h/h text in context of h/h culture? What in the culture is the author, criticizing, justifying, exploring, analyzing, satirizing, and/or subverting?
6. What is reading, and what happens when we read? What do we attend to or ignore in our readings? What is the nature of the interaction between reader and text? What personal and social variables (gender, class, race, ethnicity, age) constrain or enable our readings?
7. Other related topics will include the place and role of women in society; the relationship of patriarchy and feminism; the construction and conventions of love, both spiritual and physical; the nature and exercise of power; the relationship of the individual to society; gender; and other such topics.

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Goals/Objectives

Our overall (and modest) goal for the course will be to achieve both an understanding and appreciation of approximately 1300 years of European literature by and about women. The general goal of the course will enable you, by the end of the semester, to be:

1. Well-versed in the major authors and genres, important texts, and main themes of women’s writing in Europe from Late Antiquity to the Reformation.
2. Conversant in the major theoretical concerns involved in the analysis of women's writing.
3. Familiar with the cultural and historical contexts of this literature.
4. Proficient in the basic vocabulary of literary criticism.
5. Able to explore and articulate the connections between this literature and our present historical, cultural, and personal situation(s).
6. Able to develop and write brief, well-developed, and tightly focused literary analyses using research.

Any student requiring individualized accommodation due to a documented ADA disability should see me during the first week of class. UAA is an equal opportunity institution.

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Texts

• The Book of Margery Kempe. Ed. Lynne Staley. Kalamazoo: Medieval Institute, 1996.
• The Lais of Marie de France. Trans. Robert Hanning and Joan Ferrante. Grand Rapids: Baker, 1978.
• The Letters of Abelard and Heloise. Trans. Betty Radice. London: Penguin, 1974.
• Medieval Women's Visionary Literature. Ed. Elizabeth Petroff. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1986.
• Medieval Women Writers. Ed. Katharina M. Wilson. Athens: U of Georgia P, 1984.
• Silence: A Thirteenth Century Romance. Trans. Sarah Roche-Mahdi. East Lansing: Colleagues, 1992.
• English 315 Course Packet. Available soon at the Copy Center.

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Requirements and Policies

Thorough reading, class participation, a group project, 1 test (a cumulative final), 4 brief response papers (2 pgs max), and one short literary analysis paper (5-8 pgs) are required in Eng. 315. I also expect you to come to class regularly and to keep up with the reading assignments.

1. Reading: The careful and thorough reading of all assignments is essential to your successful completion of the course. Although we will be reading most texts in translation, you may find the Middle English selections initially difficult, but you will persevere. In addition, you should also read the editor's notes to each text, author, or historical period for each assignment. The historical context is important to our reading.
2. Discussion: As part of your classroom work, you will serve as "primary" respondent during one week and the "secondary" respondent during another week. As the Primary Respondent, you will be responsible for a 2-3 (typed) page write-up which presents relevant historical, cultural, or textual information from the introductory material; summarizes the week’s selections; and offers 3-5 questions, concerns, or statements to initiate discussion. As the Secondary Respondent, you are responsible for a 1 page summary (1-2 paragraphs, typed) of key questions and issues for the text under discussion. In both cases, you will need to reproduce copies for the entire class, and we will compile these at the end of the term.
3. Group Project: You will participate in a mid-term group project to stage a play by Hrotsvit of Gandersheim. I’ll circulate more information a bit later in the term, but be assured that creativity is encouraged and that the project is designed to be both fun, educational, and possibly irreverent.
4. Movies: I also plan to schedule two movies (Breaking the Waves and Sorceress, perhaps?) outside of normal class time (possibly a Friday night about 1/3 and then 2/3 through the course). Your attendance is strongly encouraged—nay, it is essential.
5. Tests: You will have a cumulative final emphasizing your ability to think across the semester. The test, which may be either in-class or take home, may combine both objective questions over content (names, dates, identifying texts and key ideas) and essay responses over literary interpretation (meanings of particular texts, connections between authors, themes, symbols, etc.). We will decide the format together as a class. I don’t give make-ups for major tests and I sometimes give quizzes.
6. Response Papers: You will write a brief critical response (1-1/2 to 2 typed pages; no more than 2 pages) to a central question from each unit (4 of 5 papers total). These are to be very precise, focused, and clearly argued papers. I will present you with a question, issue, or problem (or a choice of several, including more creative options) to respond to in your paper; these in turn may reappear in some form on your midterm or final. See the unit schedule for due dates; late papers begin with a "C."
7. Format: All papers (response and analysis) are to be typed on standard 8 1/2 x 11 inch typing paper according to the MLA format (title block in upper left-hand corner, no title page or plastic covers).
8. Analysis Paper: Your analysis paper is essentially an extended personal response paper (4-5 pages), showing your ability to apply to specific text(s) the interpretive and literary critical skills we have developed in class and to think coherently across the entire semester. In essence, this paper will encapsulate your intellectual growth--its insights as well as its stops and starts--throughout the course. I am less interested in a heavily documented research paper, though research will be necessary, and more interested in your own critical thinking. I will circulate more specific instructions later in the term.
9. Attendance: I expect your regular attendance and participation in all aspects of the course. If you miss class, you are still responsible for the work due and should check with classmates for notes and assignments before the next class meeting. Excessive absences warrant grade penalties. A roll sheet will be circulated at the beginning of each class to record attendance.
10. Plagiarism: Using other people's ideas, phrases, or writing without proper documentation, including having others write your assignments or using undocumented library research, including WWW and Internet sources, will not be tolerated. Disciplinary action can range from failure of the assignment in question to failure in the course. See the Student Code of Conduct for details.

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Grades

The course is strictly graded from A to F (A = 93-100, B = 85-92, C = 77-84, D = 70-76, E = 69 or below) according to the UAA descriptions (A = "comprehensive mastery," B = "high level of performance," C = "satisfactory level of performance," D = "lowest passing grade," and F = "failure"). The grading emphasis in the course balances analysis and synthesis with objective testing, and I have weighted the grades accordingly:

Other grading concerns: You can withdraw at your discretion until midterm; after that point, my signature is required, but I will grant a "W" only in cases of grave personal emergency, and I generally do not give Incompletes ("I"). One final word: If your have a question at any point in the term, ask me or set up an appointment. If you have a problem that prevents your progress in the course, don't suffer in silence. Let me know before it gets unmanageable and we'll work something out.

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Revised Schedule

English 315/Kline, Fall 1997

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© 1998, Daniel T. Kline. All rights reserved. Page launched on 1.1.98. Last updated on 10.03.02.