ENGL111: Major Women Writers

A Literature of Their Own

Office: Leonard Hall, 300 Instructor: Haneen Al Ibrahim

Office Phone: 724-388-4406 Class Time: MWF, 10:00-11:00 am
Email: h.alibrahim@iup.edu Classroom Place: Leo 105

Office Hours: M: 1:00-3:00, Tue: 2:00-3:00, Thurs: 12:00-2:00, and by

appointment

Course Description:
In this course, we will focus on writings by women in different genres
throughout the centuries, starting from the Medieval period and going
through the important periods of the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, and up to the
modern and contemporary times. We will also focus on how women were
functioning as writers and how they wrote, and still writing, about other
women and women-related problems and issues in the different societies they
lived in, such as gender issues, ethnicity and race, as well as the similarities
and differences in the topics and subject matters that women write about
throughout time.

Course Goals:
- To appreciate women authors and what they add to literature through
their writings.
- To contemplate the connections and international literary bonds
among these women writers.
- To strengthen or improve our knowledge of different types of writings
by women.
- To explore issues of importance in those writings and how they
associate with life.
- We will study carefully and closely the structure, style, themes and
characterization in the selected works, and we will also compare some
of them with works by male authors, such as comparing Elizabeth
Barrett Browning’s poems with those of Robert Browning, and the ones
of Mary Elizabeth Coleridge with Samuel Taylor Coleridge.
- By the end of the semester we will have read different types of works by
women and will be able to examine critically and closely other similar
works to expand our understanding of this on-going field in literature.
- Your own goal(s) ---------------

Required Texts:
The Norton Anthology of Literature by Women (Third Edition), Gilbert and
Gubar, eds. 2007.
 Course Requirements:
Attendance and Participation: all students in this course are expected to be
present and on time for each class meeting. Attendance will be graded and will
count towards your final grade, and if you need to miss class for serious
reasons you must send me an e-mail to notify me prior to class time.
Since you are all university students, I will assume a high and good
level of interest and dedication, therefore, you should all come prepared and
having read and finished the required readings and assignments of each class
meeting. You must also actively participate in class discussions and groups
work.
Due to time limitation, we might not be able to discuss every reading
assignment in class, or we may need to skip some of the details or issues or
skim through them quickly. However, you are all responsible for mastering
these readings and should be well knowledgeable of them and be able to
answer questions about them in the Midterm examination.

Response Paper: response papers are due on the third class of each week.
Students are asked to write a one to two single-spaced response paper on the
assigned text. Those papers should discuss critically a theme or an issue in the
text, and it should answer at least one question and analyze a quotation, a line
of verse or a paragraph from the text. These papers will help you develop a
critical way of thinking and how to connect between yourself and the text, and
set the similarities and differences between the text and the current issues of
our time.

Individual Presentations: each student is required to make a 15-mintue

critical, original, and in-depth presentation on the text of the day. The
presentation should cover critical approaches, historical context and cultural
context of the text, and it can be linked with other texts that we cover in class
(if applicable). After all, students have the freedom to present everything the
want about the text (brief bio of the author as long as it’s related to the text
material, pedagogical approaches to the text, or anything else). Students can
use their presentation time in leading us through the text and/or engaging
other class members in discussion and questions. The voice of the speaker is a
key issue in the oral presentation, so tell us what YOU think of the text and
issues related to it besides telling us about it.
Sign-ups for the text presentations will start on the first day of classes.

Midterm Exam: the midterm exam is designed to help students explore the
issues and the subject matters of the course and to response to them critically.
The exam will constitute of two essay writing (I will give you four topics to
choose from). The essays should demonstrate the students’ ability to analyze
and develop argumentative discussions and connect texts with each other and
with critical techniques.

Final Paper: there will be no final exam in this course, but you will write a 15-
20 page research paper as a final activity. The final paper should be double-
spaced and follow MLA style. You are free to choose your topic for the paper
from texts that we have read during the semester or by choosing texts from
outside class as long as they related to our topic for the course. The paper can
be a critical exploration and argument of the chosen text, with applied critical
approaches, or it can be a pedagogy-driven paper providing theories on how to
teach a specific text or multiple texts.

Grading Chart:
Attendance and Participation: 10%
Response Paper: 10%
Individual Presentation: 10%
Midterm Exam: 25%
Final Paper: 45%
Total: 100%

Course Policies:
Attendance Policy: Each student has three absences allotted without penalty,
but you still need to notify me if you are going to be absent for that day. More
than three absences will result in the loss of grades. Add to this, a student will
be counted absent if he/she sleeps in class, talks in subjects not related to the
course, and makes noise, come late or leave early, and use the cell phone.

Late Paper Policy: All teachers’ aim is to give their students’ papers a fair and
unhurried reading and to return them in a timely fashion; therefore, I will
need your papers at the beginning of class of their due dates. Students who
arrive late on that day will receive no more than half the grade on their paper.
All paper assignments must be of satisfactory quality and demonstrate valid
critical and argumentative thinking. They must also follow MLA format and be
double-spaced, except for the response papers that will be due on the third
class of every week.

Plagiarism Policy: plagiarism is totally prohibited in this course, and all other
courses, and it will result in a zero grade if seen in a paper or assignment for a
first time, but will result in failing the students in the course if seen again. all
sources should be cited, even paraphrased paragraph should be cited with full
information of the source used, the author’s name and year of publication in
MLA format.

Classroom Etiquettes: all cell phones should be turned off or put to silent
mode during class, and it is more preferable if they are not laid on the desks.
The same policy goes for the usage of any other electronic device. I will only
allow the use of voice recorder for students who need it. Food and drink are
permitted in class, but that does not mean that students can bring “big meals”
to the classroom.

Course Schedule: