Skip to main content
Department of English
Search
Log in
Navigation
About
Current Office Hours
Diversity Resources
English Library
Faculty Statement Archives
Internal Dept Resources
Medieval and Early Modern Studies
University Writing Program
Video Guides & Worksheets
Visit us on Facebook
Major/Minor in English
Advising
Creative Writing Application
Honors Program
Internships
Literary Magazines
Major Requirements Guide & FAQ
Minor Requirements
Study Abroad
Why Major in English?
MFA in Creative Writing
Admissions
Events, Prizes, and Resources
MFA Program Faculty
Newly Admitted Grad Students
Resources
Ph.D. in Literature
About
Admissions
Newly Admitted Grad Students
PhD Alumni Directory
Resources
Courses & Schedules
People
News & Events
Off the Syllabus Podcast
Recent News
Contests
Contest Winners
Previous Contest Winners
Newsletters
You are here
Home
»
Courses & Schedules
English 186 - Winter, 2017
Literature, Sexuality, & Gender
Class Information
Instructor:
Freeman, Elizabeth
CRN:
44094
Time:
TR 1:40-3:00
Location:
126 Wellman
Description
This course will explore the relationship between literature and its genres, on the one hand, and the system of gender/sexuality that organizes Western culture, on the other. We will seek to understand how various "schools" of European-and American literature (Romanticism, the Gothic, sentimentalism, realism/naturalism, modernism, and postmodernism) are shaped by the categories of male and female, and homo- and heterosexual, and how women and sexual minorities have engaged with these literary schools. However, one twist to this course is that these categories cannot be understood without understanding how race shapes gender/sexuality, and how gender/sexuality shapes race, particularly the black/white binary. We will therefore begin with two classics of American race relations, selections from Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin and all of Richard Wright's Native Son, to map out the nexus of race, gender, and sexuality in the U.S., before turning to texts written by and about women and sexual minorities. You should emerge with both an enhanced sense of what gender/sexuality and race mean and how they intersect, and a new understanding of literary history as something shaped by social issues.
Grading
Midterm Paper: 20%
Final Paper: 25%
Final Exam, 20%
Ongoing written class participation: 25%
Ongoing pop quizzes: 10%
Oral class participation: up to 5% extra credit
Texts
Native Son
, Richard Wright
Passing
, Nella Larsen
The Sun Also Rises
, Ernest Hemingway
Absalom, Absalom!
, William Faulkner