English 205: Women's Autobiography and Bildungsromane

Professor Kathryn Conrad
Fall 1997
T-Th 1-2:20 
4021 Wescoe

Office: 2035 Wescoe
Office Hours: T-Th 2:30-3:30 and by appointment

Portfolios are available for pickup outside my office door (2035 Wescoe).

Course Description 

In this course, we will examine two popular and powerful literary genres embraced and challenged by women writers over the years: the autobiography and the bildungsroman, or novel of development. We will read and discuss these works with attention to a number of questions: what is the self? what conditions effect the development of the self? what does gender have to do with selfhood and authorship? what is the subject of autobiography? what choices must be made when making a life into a narrative? what is the relationship between authorship and authority? We will also explore questions of voice, authority, genre, and purpose with attention to the writing students will produce for the course; students are encouraged to write at least one autobiographical essay.

Texts

• Bronte, Jane Eyre 
• Jacobs, Incidents in the life of a Slave Girl 
• Woolf, Mrs. Dalloway
• Frank, Diary of a Young Girl
• Hurston, Their Eyes Were Watching God
• Winterson, Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit
• Cisneros, The House on Mango Street
• Kingston, The Woman Warrior
• Lorde, Zami: A New Spelling of My Name. 

We may also discuss Madonna's "tell-all," Truth or Dare , as well as other filmic autobiographies.

Requirements

This is a discussion- as well as a writing-based class. You will be evaluated based on classroom participation (15%), four 3-4 page papers (70%), and a take-home final exam (15%).

I will take attendance. If you are unable to attend class because of illness or emergency, please contact me (a note in my departmental mailbox or, better yet, via e-mail), or send a message via one of your classmates. Sniffles, away-games, or heavy work in other classes do not constitute excusable absences: if you are having schedule difficulties, however, do speak to me before you have to miss class.

You are encouraged to discuss your paper topics and drafts with me well in advance of the final due date: you may revise as many times as you wish, but once you turn in your essay for a grade, the grade cannot be changed. More weight will be given to the papers at the end of the course, however; I am interested in your best work. On Thursday Dec. 4, you will turn in a portfolio with all of your previous papers--including any preliminary drafts with my comments--along with your fourth paper.

Online Writing Resources

    Strunk and White's Elements of Style
    Jack Lynch's Guide to Grammar and Usage