Tentative Course Schedule Fall 2023
MW 2:00-3:15 GWC 408
NOTE: This schedule may change as needed. Your presence in class ensures correct assignments
WEEK 1
T 8/29 Intro to Course
HOMEWORK (DUE 8 /31):
- Complete Syllabus Quiz
- Read Johnson, Allan G. 1988. Chapter 1, "Where are We? What is This Thing
Called Patriarchy?
- Read "The Yellow Wallpaper?" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
- Do Reader Response 1: What does Gilman's story teach readers about gender
roles and patriarchy in 1892 America? Connect this to chapter 1 of Johnson's
book. Include a quote from Johnson and from Gilman. Response must be min.
of 2 pages.
R 8/31 Gender as a Structure; Binary vs. Becoming; Blog Post: Simone de Beauvoir
once stated that "one is not born, but rather becomes a woman." What do you
think she may have meant by that? Discuss Gilman story.
HOMEWORK (DUE 9/5):
- Read "Why I Wrote the Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
- Read "Read "Running" by Joyce Carol Oates. Handout.
- Do Reader Response 2: Oates' and Gilman's stories were written exactly 100
years apart. What differences do you notice in regard to gender and women's
roles? Do you notice any similarities? Why do you think these are significant?
WEEK 2
T 9/5 Blog post: Gloria Anzaldua once stated that "a woman who writes has power and
a woman who has power is feared." What is the significance of that statement?
Discuss Oates story.
HOMEWORK (DUE 9/7):
- Read “"Leave It to Beaver and Ozzie and Harriet" from The Way We Never
Were: American Families and the Nostalgia Trap by Stephanie Coontz, pp.
23-47 (IN ULEARN)
- Do Response 3: Does our culture still romanticize the 1950's view of the
- traditional family? Support your argument with one examples and quotes from
- the article as well as your own personal experience and knowledge
- First Gender in the News Assignment Due
R 9/7 Begin watching The Hours (in class)
HOMEWORK (DUE 9/12):
- Read "The Politics of Housework" by Pat Mainardi
- Read Kate Chopin's "The Storm" (1898)
- Woman Movement" by Susan Cruea
- Do Response 4: Identify possible connections between Chopin's story and the
ideas presented in Cruea's academic article. Argue whyou think think they are
significant.
WEEK 3
T 9/12 Complete The Hours (in class); Blog Post and Discussion
HOMEWORK (DUE 9/14):
- Read Elizabeth Cady Stanton, "Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions" (1848) and "Solitude of Self" (1892) by Elizabeth Cady Stanton
R 9/14 Discuss Stanton and Truth; Blog post and Discussion.
HOMEWORK (DUE 9/19):
- Read "The Master's Tools Will Never Dismantle the Master's House" by Audre Lorde (1979)
- Read selections from Audre Lorde's The Black Unicorn
WEEK 4
T 9/19 Discuss Lorde
HOMEWORK (DUE 9/21):
- Watch The Color Purple (2 hours 33 min.) $3.99 rental @ Amazon.com; $14.99
to purchase
- Do Response 5: Identify and Discuss Connections between the content of the
Color Purple and the work of Audre Lorde. Point to specific events in the film
(Things characters do, things they say, the specific quotes, and objects closely
associated with characters that might be symbolic). Connect these examples
from the film to specific quotes and ideas from the work of Audre Lorde.
R 9/21 Discuss the Color Purple; Approaching Essay 1
HOMEWORK (DUE 9/26):
- Complete Claim and Subclaims; Upload to ulearn
WEEK 5
T 9/26 Workday for Draft; bring all notes and laptop
HOMEWORK (DUE 9/28):
- First FULL draft of Essay 1 Due; upload to ulearn and submit to Smarthinking
tutor
M 9/28 Why Critique? Critique Process; Conferences
HOMEWORK (DUE 10/3):
- Complete critique of partner's paper (BOTH parts); upload to ulearn and
email to partner
- Do Smarthinking Report and Revision plan; upload to ulearn.
- Continue to Revise Essay 1
WEEK 6
T 10/3 Conferences
HOMEWORK (DUE 10/5):
- Final Draft of Essay 1 Due with Reflection (due by 11:59pm on Thursday, 10/5)
17 min.)
- HOMEWORK (DUE 10/10):
- Do Response 6: What is the cultural and historical significance of a popular
TV series like Pose? Use one quote from article and point to specific events
from the series (things characters do, things they say, or objects closely
associated with them, their symbolic significance).
WEEK 7
T 10/10 Discuss Judith Butler; Watch Your Behavior Creates Your Gender and How
Ulearn)
HOMEWORK (DUE 10/12):
- Read "Doing Gender" by West and Zimmerman
- Watch Me, My Sex, and I (from BBC One, 2011)
- Do Response 7: What connections do you see between theses texts and
"Queer," "Boy with Flowers," and/or Episode 1 of Pose?
R 10/12 Discuss West And Zimmerman
HOMEWORK (DUE 10/17):
- Watch First Episode of I Am Jazz (41 minutes)
- Read Read "Boy with Flowers" by Ely Shipley & (in Ulearn, WEEK 8 folder)
- Do Response 8: Complete an analysis of this poem: What is the central theme
of this work and how is that communicated through the poem's most
important image?
WEEK 8
T 10/17 Watch Ex Machina (1 hour, 48 minutes)
HOMEWORK (DUE 10/19):
- Watch Science Fiction vs. Speculative Fiction (18 min.)
- Second Gender in the News Assignment Due
R 10/19 Complete Ex Machina; Discuss depictions of gender in the film
HOMEWORK (DUE 10/24):
- Do Response 9: What does this film have to teach us about gender and the idea
of patriarchy? Should it be considered a "dystopian" film? Support your
argument with examples and quotes from the film, Butler's ideas and
Zimmerman's text, and last class's video.
WEEK 9
T 10/24 Watch Episode 1 of The Handmaid's Tale (57 min)
HOMEWORK (DUE 10/26):
- Read pp. 1-33 of The Handmaid's Tale
- Complete Reading Quiz in ulearn
- Third Gender in the News Assignment Due
R 10/26 Discuss The Handmaid's Tale; Review Characteristics of Literature
- Read pp. 34-66 of The Handmaid's Tale
- Complete Reading Quiz in ulearn
- Locate a feminist critique of The Handmaid's Tale from the library's database
- Complete Summary and Analysis of Article; upload to ulearn
WEEK 10
T 10/31 Discuss The Handmaid's Tale
HOMEWORK (DUE 11/2):
- Read pp. 69-99 of The Handmaid's Tale
- Complete Reading Quiz in ulearn
- Do Response 10: Make a connection between your feminist critique article of
the novel and one of the other class readings and connect these to the first
99 pages of the novel.
T 11/2 Discuss The Handmaid's Tale; Purpose/Audience (Willing Audience)
Rhetorical Situation
HOMEWORK (DUE 11/7):
- Read pp. 103-133 of The Handmaid's Tale
- Complete Reading Quiz in ulearn
WEEK 11
T 11/7 Discuss The Handmaid's Tale
HOMEWORK (DUE 11/9):
- Read The Handmaid's Tale, pp. 134-163
- Complete Reading Quiz in ulearn
R 11/9 Discuss The Handmaid's Tale; Research Question/Tentative Thesis
HOMEWORK (DUE 11/14):
- Read pp. 164-195 of The Handmaid's Tale
- Complete Reading Quiz in ulearn
WEEK 12
T 11/14 Discuss The Handmaid's Tale
HOMEWORK (DUE 11/16):
- Read pp. 199-233 of The Handmaid's Tale
- Complete Reading Quiz in ulearn
R 11/16 Discuss The Handmaid's Tale
HOMEWORK (DUE 11/21):
- Read pp. 234-295 of The Handmaid's Tale
- Complete Claim and Subclaims for Literary Analysis; upload to ulearn
WEEK 13
T 11/21 Complete Discussion of The Handmaid's Tale; Discuss Ideas/Essay Structure
HOMEWORK (DUE 11/28):
- First Draft of Lit Argument due; submit to ulearn
- Upload draft to Smarthinking tutor
R 11/23 NO CLASS, THANKSGIVING BREAK
WEEK 14
T 11/28 First Draft of Lit Argument Due
HOMEWORK (DUE 11/30):
- Complete Peer Critique of Partner's Essay
- Revise Your Essay
- Smarthinking report and revison plan due
R 11/30 Peer Critique; CONFERENCES
HOMEWORK (DUE 12/5):
Revise Draft of Lit Argument
WEEK 15
T 12/5 CONFERENCES
HOMEWORK (DUE 12/14):
Final Draft of Lit Argument Due with Reflection
R 12/7 READING DAY, NO CLASSES
WEEK 16
