Kerri Shaw LIT 151

Lit 151 -Syllabus Women Writers: The Twentieth Century

Kerri Shaw				E-mail: Kshaw@ednet.rvc.cc.il.us
Office CL 1 G46				Mail Box: CL1 G03
Voice Mail 921-3309

Course Description:
	This course considers ways in which women have presented themselves and been presented in texts from the mid-to-late nineteenth century to the present. Works will be primarily by women, from various communities and traditions. Lit 151 will focus on ways in which women have not only questioned the limits of traditional roles, but also have created new ways to perceive, reflect, and transform their experience.

Required Materials:

	Books:
	Gilbert, Sandra M. and Susan Gubar. The Norton Anthology of Literature by Women:
		TheTradition in English. 2nd ed. New York: W.W. Norton & Co., 1985.

	Rhys, Jean. Wide Sargasso Sea. New York: W.W. Norton & Co., 1966.

	Rhys, Jean. Wide Sargasso Sea. New York: W.W. Norton & Co., 1966.

	Gilman, Charlotte Perkins. Herland. Mineola: Dover, 1998.

	Russ, Joanna. The Female Man. Boston: Beacon Press, 1975.

	Supplies:
	Material for note taking in class
	Computer discs
	Folders for collecting handouts and journal entries

	Additional:
	A working knowledge of RVC's EdNet system. The Library offers free training sessions on the EdNet systems and students will need to know how to both send and receive messages via EdNet.

Policies:

	Attendance:
	You are expected to attend every class meeting, failure to do so can and will negatively affect your performance in class and your grade. Missing 3 class meetings will constitute grounds for lowering your final grade by one letter; missing 6 class meetings will constitute ground for failing the course. If you must be absent, you are responsible for checking for any handouts, updates, announcements, or assignments distributed in your absence. Students who arrive more than ten minutes late to class will be counted as absent.

	Late Work:
	Late work of any kind is not acceptable in this course, without prior arrangement with the instructor. If you must miss a class during which an assignment is due, please turn your work in ahead of time. Students will receive a zero for any work not turned in on time.

	Format:
	All assignments completed outside class must be presented on good quality white paper, in laser quality black print, double-spaced throughout, and documented according to MLA style. In class assignments must be completed in ink, on white paper, in a clear and readable style.

	Special Needs:
	If you have special educational and/or physical needs that require class accommodation, please feel free to discuss them with me. The Office of Student Services is responsible for evaluating and registering academic disabilities, and students seeking special accommodations should contact them.

Assignments:

	Papers:
	There will be three papers due over the course of the semester, each following an important cluster of texts. Each paper will ask you to compare/contrast important elements of two or more texts we have covered in class. Topic and text options for individual papers will be discussed in class. Specific instructions for the production of each paper will be provided.

	Journals:
	Students will be asked to produce ten journal entries over the course of the semester, in which they respond to various aspects of the texts being read in class. Specific instructions for the production of journal entries will be provided.

	Final Exam:
	In lieu of a final exam, students will write two letters (or informal essays), the first a self evaluation, the second a course evaluation. The first will ask you to assess your work in our course, and the second will ask students to offer suggestions for improving future sections of this course. Specific instructions will be provided prior to our final exam meeting time.

	Quizzes:
	The instructor reserves the right to administer unannounced quizzes over assigned readings as necessary over the course of the semester.

Grades:

There are roughly 800 points possible in the course. The point values are distributed as follows:
	Assignment One Assignment Two Assignment Three Reading Journal Quizzes		200 points 200 points 200 points 100 points 100 points
Grades will be assigned on the basis of the following general criteria: presentation of an effective thesis; use of correct punctuation and grammar; use of correct MLA documentation; adherence to assignment guidelines; development of logical, coherent, and well supported arguments. They will be determined according to the following point scale:
	90 - 100 =A 80 - 89 =B 70 - 79 =C 60 - 69 =D under 60 =F