English 52A Spring 1999:
"American Women Writers"
Peter Schmidt
class: MWF 9:30am - 10:20am, LPAC 301
email: pschmid1 Web: http://www.swarthmore.edu/Humanities/pschmid1
office hours: LPAC 206, MW 1:15 - 3pm, and by appointment
office phone and voicemail: 8156

 

 ENGLISH 52A SPRING 1999 / COURSE DESCRIPTION.

A look at romance and realism and race in women's fiction in the U.S. over two centuries, including Lydia Maria Child's A Romance of the Republic (1867); the "local color" short stories of Mary Wilkins Freeman; Maria Ámparo Ruíz de Burton, Who Would Have Thought It? (1872); Edith Wharton, The Age of Innocence (1920); Zora Neale Hurston, Their Eyes Were Watching God (1937); Dawn Powell's The Golden Spur (1962); and recent fiction by Toni Morrison, Paradise (1997); Dorothy Allison, Cavedweller (1998); and works by Ellen Douglas, Lois-Ann Yamanaka, and Rebecca Wells.

  

 

 

 Course Requirements
Regular attendance: that means three times a week, not two. More than 3 unexcused absences over the course of the semester will hurt your grade. To get an excused absence (sickness, family emergency, etc.) you need to get a note from the Health Center and/or the Dean's office; please try to let me know ahead of time through yourself or a friend if you know you'll miss class.


Come to class having studied the readings and other materials assigned for that day.


Participation in class discussions and other class activities, including both leading class discussions and contributing when others lead. Each person in class will be asked to lead class discussion with a group twice during the semester.


Use as required of the material linked to the English 52A WWW page (see syllabus below for details)


Completion of writing assignments on time. See deadlines on syllabus. Late papers and journal entries will be penalized. Completion of any assigned revisions to papers may also part of the course requirements. This course will use WAs (Writing Associates) and you will be required to meet with them on some of the paper assignments.


Assigned writing for English 52 will be of two kinds:

    email journal entries, focusing on a brief passage and your responses. Due dates are on syllabus below.

    2 papers of 6-8pp, double-spaced, due on the dates indicated below. The first paper must be revised after a conference with an assigned Writing Associate (see syllabus below). The second paper requires the use of at least one secondary sources; further details later in the semester.


Grading: Quality of class participation counts 25%; Papers 75%. Poor attendance and class participation will negatively affect your grade. Later papers will automatically receive a NC. No final exam.

  

 

 A note about honesty and coursework: All writing that you turn in for this English class should be yours alone and done solely for this course. When you are borrowing ideas and language from others it is your responsibility to acknowledge these sources accurately; anything less constitutes plagiarism and severe penalties may be involved (including flunking the course and suspension for a semester) regardless of whether you "intended" to plagiarize or not.


For more information, see the Swarthmore English Literature Department's Guidelines on Plagiarism and Citing Sources for English Papers. A copy of this document is available on the Department's Web Page: (www.swarthmore.edu/Humanities/english/). Students should also consult the Swarthmore College Student Handbook's section on Academic Honesty, which has advice relevant for all your classes at Swarthmore.
Plagiarism penalties do not mean you should be afraid of consulting with others (fellow students, me) or of borrowing good ideas from others: it is very simple to acknowledge these with a bibliography.


I will be happy to confer with you about any issues involving citing sources or plagiarism if you have questions. Email me.