Mary Shelley and Gender Construction 2019

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English 4014 FAO: Mary Shelley and Gender Construction 2019

Course Location: OA 2014 Class Times: Monday and Wednesday 1:00-2:30

Prerequisites: Four FCEs in English, or permission of the Chair of the Department

Notes: May only be taken by Honours students or with permission of the Chair of the Department. English 4014 counts toward fulfillment of the Area 2 requirement.

Table of Contents Instructor Information: ...... 1 Calendar Description ...... 1 Course Description ...... 2 Learning Outcomes ...... 2 Course Resources ...... 2 Required Course Texts ...... 2 Course Website ...... 5 Course Schedule ...... 5 Assignments and Evaluation ...... 7 Assignment Policies ...... 7 Assignment Details...... …………………………………………….9 Preparation and Participation ...... 9 Seminar Presentation ...... 9 Essay Preparation Materials ...... 7 Final Research Essay ...... 11 Creative Alternative to Research Essay…………………………………………… 11 Marking Standards ...... 11 Collaboration/Plagiarism Rules ...... 12 Course Policies ...... 12 University Policies ...... 12

Instructor Information: Instructor: Dr. Alice den Otter Office: OA 3011 Telephone: 705-330-4008 ext. 2622 Email: [email protected] Office Hours: MW 2:30-3:30, TTH 10-12, or by appointment.

Calendar Description An in-depth study of a specific school, concept, or individual thinker in literary and/or cultural theory. The topic of this course will vary but will include a significant Women's Studies component. Students may take multiple sections of this course. 2

Course Description This seminar course focuses on the concept of gender construction in relation to Mary Shelley’s fictional representations. Alongside several short stories and five novels by Shelley (Frankenstein, Mathilda, The Last Man, Lodore, and Falkner), we will be reading excerpts from her mother Mary Wollstonecraft’s theoretical treatise Vindication of the Rights of Woman, as well as other historical, theoretical, and critical texts. Topics to be explored include performativity, identity politics, normative and queer gender relations, and utopian domesticity. As Michael Kimmel points out in The Gendered Society, “Gender is not simply a system of classification, by which biological males and biological females are sorted, separated, and socialized into equivalent sex roles…. When we speak about gender we also speak about hierarchy, power, and inequality, not simply difference” (2). In this course, we will ask and ponder questions such as the following: How are genders shaped, nurtured, and controlled in the Romantic era? How are they represented in Mary Shelley’s writings? How does Shelley reinforce, stretch, or transgress gender boundaries and power relations in her creation of certain characters? What are the political implications of doing so? How well do her narrators and characters perform or question masculine, feminine, or non-binary gender expectations? How do our own gendered assumptions create (un)reasonable expectations for each text?

Learning Outcomes By the end of this course, you will be able to • generally articulate and apply gender theories • discuss complexities of gender construction in relation to Mary Shelley’s texts • critically analyze Shelley’s texts in terms of style, content, & historical/social significance • create stimulating questions and participate meaningfully in discussion • identify a viable research question, evaluate resources, and develop a strong original argument with respect to one or two Shelley texts • present oral and written ideas persuasively, with specific support for claims and clear effective prose

Course Resources

Required Texts Shelley, Mary. Falkner. 1837;rpt. Whitefish, MT: Kessinger, 2004. Available at Amazon.ca or online. ---. Frankenstein. 1818 ed. Ed. D.L. Macdonald and Kathleen Scherf. 3rd. ed. Broadview, 2012. ---. Lodore. Ed. Lisa Vargo. Broadview, 1997. ---. Mathilda. Ed. Michelle Faubert. Broadview, 2017. ---. The Last Man. Ed. Anne McWhir. Broadview, 1996.

Required Online Texts

Banerjee, Suparna. “Beyond Biography: Re-Reading Gender in Mary Shelley’s The Last Man.” English Studies, vol.91, no.5, 2010, pp.519-530. journals- scholarsportal- info.ezproxy.lakeheadu.ca/details/0013838x/v91i0005/519_bbrgimstlm.xml, Accessed 2 September. 2019. Butler, Judith. “Performative Acts and Gender Constitution.” Literary Theory: An Anthology, edited by Julie Rivkin and Michael Ryan. 2nd ed. Blackwell, 2004, pp. 900-911. https://www.academia.edu/12270965/Literary_Theory_- _An_Anthology_Blackwell_Anthologies_by_Julie_Rivkin_and_Michael_Ryan. Accessed 25 July, 2019. Chatterjee, Ranita. “Filial Ties: Godwin’s Doloraine and Mary Shelley’s Writings.” European Romantic Review, vol.18, no.1, 2007, pp.29-41. journals- scholarsportal- info.ezproxy.lakeheadu.ca/pdf/10509585/v18i0001/29_ftgdamsw.xml. Accessed 2 September, 2019. Cope, Jonas. “Passive and Dynamic Sincerity in Mary Shelley’s Falkner.” Keats- Shelley Journal, vol. 63, 2014, pp. 123-137. https://muse-jhu- edu.ezproxy.lakeheadu.ca/article/582458/pdf. Accessed 3 September, 2019. Davis, William. “Mathilda and the Ruin of Masculinity.” European Romantic Review, vol.13, no.2, 2002, pp. 175-181. https://journals-scholarsportal- info.ezproxy.lakeheadu.ca/pdf/10509585/v13i0002/175_matrom.xml. Accessed 2 September, 2019. Gilbert, Sandra M. and Susan Gubar. “Infection in the Sentence: The Woman Writer and the Anxiety of Authorship.” The Madwoman in the Attic: The Woman Writer and the Nineteenth Century Literary Imagination, Yale UP, 1979, pp. 45-59 [38- 45]. http://www.ricorso.net/tx/Courses/LEM2014/Critics/Gilbert_Gubar/Madwoman_ful l.pdf. Accessed 2 September, 2019. Gilligan, Carol. “Woman’s Place in a Man’s Life Cycle.” In a Different Voice: Psychological Theory and Women’s Development. Harvard UP, 1982, pp.5-23. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/275714106_In_A_Different_Voice_Psy chological_Theory_and_Women's_Development/link/540874330cf2bba34c28ff4b /download. Accessed 11 August, 2019. Kristeva, Julia. “Approaching Abjection.” The Powers of Horror: An Essay on Abjection, translated by Leon S. Roudiez, Columbia UP, 1982, pp.1-17. thepoeticsseminar.files.wordpress.com/2017/09/approaching_abjection.pdf. Accessed 22 July, 2019. 4

Little, William and Ron McGivern, eds. “Gender, Sex, and Sexuality.” Introduction to Sociology. 1st Canadian ed., Open Stax College, 2012. opentextbc.ca/introductiontosociology/chapter/chapter12-gender-sex-and- sexuality/. Accessed 2 Sept. 2019. Lynch, Eve M. “Trading Places: Mary Shelley’s Argument with Domestic Space.” ABO: Interactive Journal for Women in the Arts, 1640-1830, vol.3, no.1, 2013, article 2, pp.1-17. scholarcommons.usf.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=https://www.google.com/&h ttpsredir=1&article=1015&context=abo. Accessed Sept 2, 2019. McGavran, James Holt. “’Insurmountable Barriers to Our Union’: Homosocial Male Bonding, Homosexual Panic, and Death on the Ice in Frankenstein.” European Romantic Review, vol.11, no.1, 2000, pp.46-67. journals-scholarsportal- info.ezproxy.lakeheadu.ca/pdf/10509585/v11i0001/46_btouhmdotiif.xml. Accessed 12 July, 2019. Mellor, Anne K. “Possessing Nature: The Female in Frankenstein.” Romanticism and Feminism, edited by Anne K. Mellor. Indiana UP, 1988, pp.1-15. www.lachsa.net/ourpages/auto/2017/3/1/56583024/Mellor-Possessing- Nature.pdf. Accessed 29 August, 2019.

Moore, Melina. “Mary Shelley’s Mathilda and the Struggle for Female Narrative Subjectivity.” Rocky Mountain Review, vol. 65, no.2, 2011, pp. 208-15. https://muse-jhu-edu.ezproxy.lakeheadu.ca/article/456488/pdf. Accessed 2 September, 2019.

Schӧnfelder, Christa. “A Tragedy of Incest: Trauma, Identity, and Performativity in Mary Shelley’s Mathilda.” Wounds and Words: Childhood and Family Trauma in Romantic and Postmodern Fiction, Transcript Verlag, 2013, pp. 163-202. www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv1wxrhq.8. Accessed Sept. 3, 2019. . Shelley, Mary. “The False Rhyme.” 1830. Romantic Circles. romantic- circles.org/editions/mws/lastman/falsrhym.htm. Accessed 2 September, 2019.

--. “The Mortal Immortal.” 1833. Romantic Circles. romantic-circles.org/editions /mws/immortal/mortal.html. Accessed 2 September, 2019.

---. “Transformation.” 1831. The Mary Shelley Reader, edited by Betty T. Bennett and Charles E. Robinson, Oxford UP, 1990, pp. 121-35. http://www.columbia.edu/itc/english/f1102-005x01/readings/transformation.htm. Accessed 28 August, 2019.

Sunstein, Emily W. “My Brilliant Star.” Mary Shelley: Romance and Reality. Little Brown and Company, 1989, pp. 11-28. books.google.ca/books?id=S4Q0Yv_7tawC&pg=PA11&lpg=PA11&dq=sunstein+ my+brilliant+star&source=bl&ots=ksr1l8CyUM&sig=ACfU3U3mhIRi4ajrwuBCkEo 5

gPVzrM30i9g&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjzh7frrqTkAhVJU98KHUzzCaIQ6AE wBHoECAgQAQ#v=onepage&q=sunstein%20my%20brilliant%20star&f=false. Accessed 22 July, 2019. Williams, Nicholas M. “Angelic Realism: Domestic Idealization in Mary Shelley’s Lodore.” Studies in the Novel, vol.39, no.4, 2007, pp.397-415. https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A174595475/AONE?u=ocul_lakehead&sid=AONE &xid=a426279c. Accessed 2 September, 2019.

Reserve texts: Bennett, “’Not This Time, Victor’: Mary Shelley’s Reversioning of Elizabeth, from Frankenstein to Falkner.” Mary Shelley in Her Times. Edited by Betty T. Bennett and Stuart Curran, Johns Hopkins University Press, 2000, pp.1-17. Hofkosh, “Disfiguring Economies: Mary Shelley’s Short Stories.” The Other Mary Shelley: Beyond Frankenstein, edited by Audrey Fisch et al, Oxford UP, 1993, pp.204-219. Hunter, J. Paul, ed. Norton Critical Edition of Frankenstein. 1st ed. Norton, 1996. Hunter, J. Paul, ed. Norton Critical Edition of Frankenstein. 2nd ed. Norton, 2012. Jónasdóttir, Anna G. “What Kind of Power is ‘Love Power’?” Sexuality, Gender, and Power: Intersectionality and Transnational Perspectives, edited by Anna G. Jónasdóttir et al, Routledge, 2011, pp. 45-59. Sites, Melissa. “Utopian Domesticity as Social Reform in Mary Shelley's Falkner.” Keats-Shelley Journal, vol.54, 2005, pp.148-172.

Website D2L site for English 4014 FAO.

Course Schedule Week of Topic and Readings

Sept. 4 Who Is Mary Shelley and What Is Gender Construction? Thursday: Introductory Lecture and Discussion. Bring lots of enthusiasm. Optional after class reading: Sunstein, “My Brilliant Star,” p.11-28. Online.

Sept. 9 How Can Gender Expectations Be Limiting? & 11 Tuesday: Discussion. Before class, read one of the following excerpts from Wollstonecraft: Mary, A Fiction (Appendix to Mathilda p. 148-150; The Wrongs of Woman (Appendix to Mathilda p. 150-155); Also read Shelley, “The False Rhyme”, online; and Little and McGivern, “Gender, Sex, and Sexuality,” online.

Thursday: Discussion. Before class, read excerpts f. & h. from Wollstonecraft, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (Appendix to Frankenstein) p.235-237; Butler, “Performative Acts and Gender Constitution” p.900-911. Online.

Sept. What Role does Education play in Gender Construction? Tuesday: Discussion. Before class read Macdonald and Scherf, “The 6

16 & 18 Education of Mary Shelley” (Introduction to Frankenstein, p.14-19). Shelley, “Introduction to Shelley’s 1831 Edition” (Appendix to Frankenstein) p. 347-352; Frankenstein p. 47-83.

Thursday: Seminar #1 and discussion. Before class read Shelley, Frankenstein p. 83-137; Gilligan, “Woman’s Place in Man’s Life Cycle” p.5-23, online; Veeder, “The Women in Frankenstein” p.271-73 of Norton Critical Edition of Frankenstein, 1st ed., on reserve. Sept. Can Mother Nature Challenge Gender Norms? 23 & 25 Tuesday: Discussion. Before class read Shelley, Frankenstein p. 137-181; Mellor, “Possessing Nature: The Female in Frankenstein” p. 1-15, online.

Thursday: Seminar #2 and discussion. Before class read Shelley, Frankenstein p. 181-221; McGavron, “’Insurmountable Barriers to Our Union’: Homosocial Male Bonding, Homosexual Panic, and Death on the Ice in Frankenstein.” 46- 67, online. Sept.20 How Can the Abjection of Passive Femininity Be Resisted? & Oct 2 Tuesday: Before class read Faubert, “Introduction” to Mathilda pp. 9-25; Shelley, Matilda 41-57; Kristeva, “Approaching Abjection” p.1-17, online;

Thursday: Seminar #3 and discussion. Before class read Shelley, Matilda p.57-73; Davis, “Mathilda and the Ruin of Masculinity,” p.175-81, online. Oct. 7 & How Can Narration Restore Female Performative Control? 9 Tuesday: Before class read Shelley, Matilda p.73-94; Moore, “Mary Shelley’s Mathilda and the Struggle for Narrative Subjectivity” p.208-14. Thursday: Seminar Presentation #4 and discussion. Before class read Shelley, Matilda p.94-115; Schӧnfelder, “A Tragedy of Incest: Trauma, Identity, and Performativity in Mary Shelley’s Mathilda,” 163-202, online. Oct. 14 Reading Week: What Will We Read? & 16 Oct. 21 How Do Narrators Represent Masculine Desire? & 23 Tuesday: Essay Materials Due. Before class read Shelley, “The Bride of Modern Italy” (Appendix to Lodore), p. 449-461; “Transformation” p. 286-300, online.; “The Mortal Immortal: A Tale,” online; Hofkosh, “Disfiguring Economies: Mary Shelley’s Short Stories” 204-219, on reserve. Thursday: Seminar Presentation #5 and discussion. Before class read The Last Man xiii-xxxvi, 1-90. Oct.28 How Do Male and Female Characters Engage Domestic Love Power? & 30 Tuesday: Seminar Presentation #6 and discussion. Before class read The Last Man, 91-188; Jónasdóttir, “What Kind of Power is ‘Love Power’?” 45-59, on reserve. Thursday: Seminar Presentation #7. Before class read The Last Man, 180- 269; Lynch, “Trading Places: Mary Shelley’s Argument with Domestic Space” 1-17, online. Nov.4 & What Choices Are Available to an Angel in the House? 6 Tuesday: Seminar Presentation #8. Before class read The Last Man 269-367; 7

Banerjee, “Beyond Biography: Re-Reading Gender in Mary Shelley’s The Last Man 519-30. Online. Thursday: Seminar Presentation #9. Before class read Lodore 21-30, Vol. I, 49- 53; Gilbert and Gubar, “Infection in the Sentence: The Woman Writer and the Anxiety of Authorship”, pp. 45-59 [38-46], online. Nov.11 To What Extent Are Co-dependency and Blind Obedience Monstrous? & 13 Tuesday: Seminar Presentation #9. Before class read Lodore Vol. 1, 53-180, Vol.2, 181-309; Introduction 30-40. Thursday: Essay Due. Seminar Presentation #10. Before class read Lodore Vol.3, 313-448; Williams, “Angelic Realism: Domestic Idealization in Mary Shelley’s Lodore” 397-415, online. Nov.18 How Might Feminine Fosterage Inspire Heroism? & 20 Tuesday: Seminar Presentation #11. Before class read Shelley, Falkner 3-82; Bennett, "'Not This Time, Victor': Mary Shelley's Reversioning of Elizabeth, from Frankenstein to Falkner, 1-17, on reserve. Thursday: Seminar Presentation #12. Before class read Falkner 82-167; Chatterjee, “Filial Ties: Godwin’s Deloraine and Mary Shelley’s Writings” 29-41, online. Nov. 25 Can Filial Ties Encourage Social Reform? & 27 Tuesday: Before class read Falkner 167-248; Sites, “Utopian Domesticity as Social Reform in Mary Shelley's Falkner” 148-172, on reserve. Thursday: Before class read Falkner 248-328; Cope, “Passive and Dynamic Sincerity in Mary Shelley’s Falkner,” pp. 123-137, online. Dec.2 What Have We Learned about Mary Shelley and Gender Construction? Tuesday: Review and Discuss.

Assignments and Evaluation

Assignment Due Date Value Length Discussion Questions Twice monthly 10% 1-4 sentences Class participation Daily participation 10% Seminar + Handout As Per Schedule 25% 30 min + 1 page Essay Preparation Materials October 21 20% 5-8 pages Research Essay/Creative Alt. November 13 35% 10-12 pages

Assignment Policies • Submission for grades must always represent independent work prepared for this course. Highly similar (or identical) assignments will receive a grade of zero. An assignment may not be submitted for credit in more than one course without the written permission of all instructors involved. Collaboration on assignments is only allowed with prior permission of the instructor.

• Assignments are due by class time on the dates indicated (unless otherwise noted). If you do not hand in your paper in class, send it as an email attachment to 8

[email protected] and then hand in a paper copy as soon as possible to the instructor’s office (OA 3011). Marking will not begin until the paper copy has been submitted. Keep a copy of all papers you submit in case of accidental loss before they are marked. No plastic covers please.

• If you require an extension, you must ask for one by email BEFORE the due date. Without an extension, late assignments will be marked down half a letter grade each class they are late without permission; that is, an "A" quality paper due on Tuesday will receive an "A-" on Thursday, a "B+" on the next Tuesday, etc. Plan ahead, and let me know if time conflicts arise so that we can negotiate a more workable deadline, in which case no penalty will apply. If something unexpected occurs, please provide your instructor with supporting documentation (e.g. doctor’s note).

• All assignments must be in MLA format, double spaced, with 1” margins, and in 12 point font, printed on single sided or double sided white paper.

• If you use internet sources, they should be from academic journals (listed in academic databases, such as MLA Bibliography or JSTOR) or academic e-books. If you want to use a non-academic source, please discuss this with your instructor. When uncertain about the quality of a source, avoid any that lack references and avoid studies by undergraduate students. Particularly avoid citing Wikipedia and other internet encyclopedias or dictionaries. The following internet sources are reliable and may prove useful:

The Oxford English Dictionary: http://www.oed.com.ezproxy.lakeheadu.ca/ accessible via Lakehead library Romanticism on the Net: http://www.ron.umontreal.ca/ Romantic Circles: http://www.rc.umd.edu/ MLA International Bibliography (accessible via Lakehead library): http://libguides.lakeheadu.ca/content.php?pid=143064&sid=1222161

• To avoid plagiarism, make sure that you give credit to ALL sources (including lecture notes, notes from other classes, or internet sources) that you use for an assignment (including notebook entries and exams), even if you paraphrase them. All direct material quoted from a text, even a single sentence or phrase, MUST be placed in quotation marks, followed by the source reference in parentheses. This is especially important for literary theory. You must cite the use of specific words or phraseologies from theorists the first time you use them, especially when they have coined term or phrase and/or imbued it with new meaning(s) specific to literary theory. Paraphrases should be followed with parenthetical references. See the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, which is well summarized in grammar handbooks or online at http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01/ Failure to properly document sources constitutes plagiarism and is an extremely serious academic offense (see Collaboration/ Plagiarism Rules below). Please see 9

your instructor for help if you are uncertain as to whether or not you are giving credit to sources properly. 10

Assignment Details Preparation and Participation (20%): This is a seminar course, so your full involvement is required, including active listening, stimulating questions, and engaged discussion. It is impossible to do so without having read the required readings before class. In order to assist with preparation and participation, each of you is expected to prepare a question with respect to the readings once every other week and post this 2 hours before class in the Desire2Learn discussion area (total 5 questions, worth 2% each). Aim for a question that is open- ended and will generate interesting discussion. Try not to overlap with someone else’s question (although in some cases it might be possible to clarify or deepen it). We will be responding to the questions throughout each class, so before class consider how you might answer your own question (in case no one knows what to do with it). Quality of participation is essential, as is respect for the ideas of others in the class.

Seminar Presentation (25%) Each of you will give an oral seminar presentation on gender construction in Mary Shelley’s texts. You will be signing up for one of the presentation times and will be presenting it at the beginning of class on the date indicated on the course outline. You are strongly advised to consult with me about your seminar one week prior to the seminar so we can discuss your approach, concerns, and any other issues that arise. For your presentation, you will need to include the following features: 1. A summary of the critical/theoretical article assigned for that class (NOTE: Although you are not expected to use additional secondary material, you must mention any secondary material you consulted at the beginning of the presentation and indicate any direct quotes from such sources used throughout). 2. A one-page handout with the 4-5 most useful quotations from the article (include bibliographical information at the top and include page numbers for each quotation). Place quotes in quotation marks with page numbers (or paragraph numbers, if page numbers are not available)! I can make photocopies for the class if I receive the handout in time. 3. Reflection on 1-2 particular passages in Shelley’s text(s) for that week that are enlightened/stimulated by the critical/theoretical observations of your article, or that either support or refute the author’s stance. Quote specifically. How does the article change your awareness of Shelley’s text? 4. A thought-provoking question that you would like the class to explore further in the discussion after the presentation. NOTE: this question replaces your bi- weekly preparation question and should be posted in the online course site by noon the previous day. Your presentation should be no more than 30 minutes long so as to leave lots of time for discussion. (It could be slightly longer if there is a lot of discussion throughout.) Your presentation will be graded according to its accuracy, clarity, usefulness, perception, and ability to stimulate class discussion. Unless you have a documented medical reason, missing a seminar presentation will result in a grade of zero. If you do have a legitimate reason, you will be asked to present your seminar in the next available time slot. You may be asked to change your topic focus to align with the required readings for a later class. If you know your presentation date is not feasible for you, 11

please consult with me as soon as possible so that we can reschedule your presentation.

Essay Preparation Materials (20%) DUE October 21, 2019 Choose one or two Shelley texts that you would like to explore for your essay. Then complete the following 5 steps (please ask for help if you are having difficulty with any of them): 1. In one paragraph, indicate why you personally like this text (or two texts if you are planning a comparison/contrast essay). 2. In one paragraph, identify which gender theory and theorist you would like to use to discuss this (or these) text(s) and explain your rationale for using this approach, including a quotation to show the flavour of the theory. Feel free to include a gender theory or theorist that we have not studied in class but that promises insight into the text. 3. In one paragraph briefly discuss a particular scene (or two for a comparison) in your chosen Shelley text(s) that is illuminated by the theory you have chosen. 4. In 3-5 pages, provide an annotated bibliography of 10 sources that you could use for your essay. The best place to look for academic journal articles on your chosen work, theory, and/or topic is the MLA Bibliography or JSTOR. Note that a book review is NOT an article. Get the book itself via the library catalogue or via RACER. For recent academic books, check the library catalogue or RACER. Ask for help if you are having difficulty finding sources. Make sure that at least six academic sources are about Shelley texts, five sources are from 2005 to the present, at least four sources are from books, and at least four are from literary journals. Some articles will need to be ordered via RACER, which could take approximately 2 weeks to arrive, so begin searching as soon as possible. Each annotation should include the following: a. full MLA documentation (8th ed.) b. one-two sentence summary of the author’s argument c. relevance to your essay, including what the author missed (and what your essay will supply as an original contribution). d. a quotation from the source that will work nicely either to support your argument or to act as a foil with which you will disagree 5. In a small paragraph or point-form outline, suggest a preliminary argumentative claim you would like to make about gender construction in the text(s). Aim for a fresh perspective that varies from previous critics. Then sketch at least three aspects (scenes, characters, images, attitudes, styles, or whatever) of the text that you could use to support that claim. This will be your working thesis. If you are planning to write the creative alternative to an essay, suggest a hypothesis about gender difference that your creative revision will support. Please double space, with 1 inch margins, 12 point font, and use both sides of the paper, if possible. Total Length: 5-8 pages. Due October 21, 2015 12

Research Essay (35%) DUE November 13, 2015 Write an interesting, well-researched, and theoretically-based essay on gender construction in your chosen Shelley text(s), developing and expanding the thesis presented in your approved proposal. Use at least 6 (or more) of your critical or contextual sources as well as your own discussion of key passages to persuade your reader to agree with you. Note that all borrowed sources, even of paraphrased ideas, must be documented (using quotation marks for all direct quotes and references for all paraphrases). This includes internet sources and class notes. When in doubt, ask for help. Use MLA style. Length: 10-12 typed, double-spaced pages, in 12 point font. Due November 13 at 5:00 p.m. Plan ahead. Please see me if unexpected circumstances warrant an extension.

Creative Alternative to Research Essay (35%) DUE November 13, 2015 Rewrite 3-5 consecutive pages of a novel studied in this course, changing the gender of one of the characters (and making sure to clearly identify the pages). Do not just change “he” to “she.” Revise, elaborate, create, while retaining the culture of the novel. Then in 5-9 pages, discuss the difference the changed gender makes, referring to at least 6 (or more) of the sources you gathered in your proposal. Use MLA style. Total Length: 10-12 typed, double-spaced pages, in 12 point font. Due November 13 at 5:00 p.m. Plan ahead. Please see me if unexpected circumstances warrant an extension.

Marking Standards Preparation Questions will be marked for comprehension, insight, clarity, and stimulation of discussion (10%). Participation will be marked for quantity and quality of class contributions (10%). Total Worth: 20%

Seminar presentations will be marked for accuracy (of both article summary and theory overview) 5%, clarity 5%, perception 5%, usefulness (especially of handout) 5%, and ability to stimulate class discussion 5%. Total Worth: 25%.

Essay Preparation Materials will be marked for adherence to instructions, insight, grammatical clarity, accuracy, and relevant specificity. The personal reflection, theory, discussion of scene, use of required types of sources, and thesis will each be worth 1 mark (5x1=5); and each annotation (including MLA format, summary (including quotes), and relevance) will be worth 1.5 marks (10x1.5=15). Total Worth: 20%.

Research Essay or Creative Alternative will be marked in accordance with the English Department Marking Standards: https://www.lakeheadu.ca/academics/departments/english/marking-standards. Worth: 35%.

Collaboration/Plagiarism Rules

As stated in the English Department Marking Standards, “Plagiarism is the unacknowledged use of someone else's words and/or ideas. Not acknowledging your debt to the ideas of a secondary source, failing to use quotation marks when you are quoting directly, buying essays from essay banks, copying another student's work, or working together on an individual assignment, all constitute plagiarism. Resubmitting material you've submitted to another course is also academic dishonesty. All plagiarized work (in whole or in part) and other forms of academic dishonesty will be reported to the Dean, who is responsible for judging academic misconduct and imposing penalties. The minimum penalty for academic misconduct is a 0 on the assignment in question. It might also be subject to more severe academic penalties. See the Code of Student Behaviour for more details.”

Course Policies 1. Attendance is required. Please notify me if you are unable to attend a class. Undue absence will seriously affect both your achievement and your enjoyment in this course. If you have transportation difficulties, please talk to your instructor about the potential to join class via skype. If you find yourself struggling in the course, please see me before November 6, which is the last day to drop the course without academic penalty. 2. It is imperative that you read the assigned readings before the class in which it is being discussed. If for some reason you are unable to prepare for a particular class, please let your instructor know and COME TO CLASS ANYWAY. Don’t make a habit of being unprepared.

3. The university expects you to treat your fellow students and instructors with mutual respect and fairness. Differences of opinion are what fuel interesting debate in a classroom, which is strongly encouraged in this course. However, oppressive statements or behaviour based on race, class, gender, sexual orientation, nation of origin, (dis)ability, religion, or any other identity marker are clearly not appropriate and will be dealt with accordingly.

4. Please refrain from using cell phones, MP3 players, or other electronic devices during class. This is a seminar course based on active engagement, rather than a lecture course where you need to capture as much as possible in preparation for a final exam, so laptops are discouraged. Bring texts to class and feel free to take notes whenever you’re inspired and want to refer to details later. Please see your instructor if that poses a problem for you.

University Policies • Students in this course are expected to conform to the Code of Student Behaviour: https://www.lakeheadu.ca/faculty-and-staff/policies/student- related/code-of-student-behaviour-and-disciplinary-procedures 14

• Lakehead University provides academic accommodations for students with disabilities in accordance with the terms of the Ontario Human Rights Code. This occurs through a collaborative process that acknowledges a collective obligation to develop an accessible learning environment that both meets the needs of students and preserves the essential academic requirements of the course.

This course outline is available online through the English Department homepage and the Desire2Learn site for the course.