x ICS 401E Women’s Literature & Film

Dr. Yifen Beus beusy@byuh.edu Office Hours: T, TH 9-10 (after 9/23)

McKay Faculty Bldg. 207 (O) 293-3618 M, F 10-11

Course Description and Objectives:

In this class, we will explore the creative works of contemporary women from multiple cultures with a focus on their literary and cinematic expressions. We will be listening to their voices and reading their stories and attempt to imagine and study the worlds they live in that produce such works.

Course Requirements:

* Required Texts & Films: they should be read or viewed before their designated class times

Text:

Womon Warrior (Maxine Hong Kingston)

The Bluest Eye (Toni Morrison)

Women of Algiers in Their Apartment (Assia Djebar)

Nervous Conditions (Tsitsi Dangarembga)

House on Mango Street (Sandra Cisneros)

Black Board Readings:

Part I: Mulvey, “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema”; Johnston, “Women’s Cinema as Counter Cinema”; Ruby Rich, “In the Name of Feminist Film Criticism”

Part II: LeBihan, “Feminism and Literature”; Olsen, “The Silences of Women as Writers”; hooks, “A Body of Work: Women Labor with Words”

Films :

Clueless (Amy Heckerling, 1995, 97 mins)

Cléo 5 to 7 (Agnès Varda, 1962, 90 mins.)

Monsoon Wedding (Mira Nair, 2001, 114 mins.)

Ruby Bridges (Euzhan Palcy, 1998, 89 mins.)

Silences of the Palace (Moufida Tlatli, 1996, 127 mins.)

Halving the Bones (Ruth Ozeki Lounsbury, 1995, 72 mins.)

* Black Board:

Frequent use of email and the course site (Black Board) is mandatory. Reading materials will be posted on the site for downloading before the reading assignments are due. Reminders and announcements will also be posted there. The URL for the site is: http://courses.byu.edu. To log in, use your 7-digit BYU ID number as username, and the last 3 (if the first number is zero) or 4 digits of your SS# (or 4-digit birthdate: 1005 for October 5^th, or 3 digits: 112 for January 12^th by dropping the first zero) as the password.

* Attendance, punctuality, quizzes, and homework:

High levels of attendance, preparation, interaction are required in order to succeed and to create an engaging environment. Reading quizzes will be given at the beginning of the class. All writing assignments must be typed and are due on the designated dates.

* Special Needs

Brigham Young University-Hawai'i is committed to providing a working and learning atmosphere, which reasonably accommodates qualified persons with disabilities. If you have any disability that may impair your ability to complete this course successfully, please contact the students with Special Need Coordinator, Leilani A'una at 293-3518. Reasonable academic accommodations are reviewed for all students who have qualified documented disabilities. If you need assistance or if you feel you have been unlawfully discriminated against on the basis of disability, you may seek resolution through established grievance policy and procedures. You should contact the Human Resource Services at 780-8875.

* Preventing Sexual Harassment

Title IX of the education amendments of 1972 prohibits sex discrimination against any participant in an educational program or activity that receives federal funds, including Federal loans and grants. Title IX also covers student-to-student sexual harassment. If you encounter unlawful sexual harassment or gender-based discrimination, please contact the Human Resource Services at 780-8875 (24 hours).

* Final Examination

All students should be aware of the BYUH policy that there are no early final exams. An exception to this policy is the case of a school sponsored activity which takes an individual or a team away from the University at the time an examination is scheduled to take place. Faculty and Administration who are responsible for scheduling official University activities attempt in every way to avoid scheduling activities in conflict with the scheduled examinations. Students must plan travel, family visits, etc., in a way that will not interfere with their final exams. Emergency situations should be presented in writing as soon as possible to the Dean of the college or school of the student’s major.

Less expensive fares, more convenient travel arrangements, and any other non-emergency reasons are not considered justification for early or late final exams. Students are responsible for making sure that family or friends who may supply tickets or make travel arrangements for a student are aware of the student’s need to complete courses by taking the final examinations as scheduled.

Grade Breakdown:

100 pts Midterm

100 pts Final Exam (comprehensive)

50 pts Reading quizzes on novels

50 pts Family folkstory & Power Point presentation

100 pts Final paper or fiction (8-10 pages, a research paper or creative fiction on any of the issues surrounding women and their work, using the critical/theoretical works we read in class)

100 pts Narrative Notebook, 1 entry for each film and literary text (1.5-2 pages; at least10 entries)

Here are some writing possibilities:

1) Critique a text by isolating one or two points/ideas/images you find provocative for their feminist implications.

2) Explore one or two points/ideas/images from the text that relate (or do not relate) to your own lived experience.

3) Note parallels between texts.

4) Extend a class discussion.

5) Comment on a writer’s/director’s craft, the way she writes/directs and how effective you find it.

50 pts 5-6-min. Interview report/think-through: you will interview 5 students (female if possible) from one of the following cultures (Chinese, Korean, African, Filipino, Pacific, Latino, Indian, etc.)

Schedule

8/25 (Wed)

Introduction

8/30 (Mon)	Background readings, part I, film: these readings will provide a quick overview of the feminist theory and criticism in film
9/1 (Wed)	Showing of Clueless
9/6 (Mon)	Holiday (Labor Day)
9/8 (Wed)	Discussion of Clueless Notebook entry #1: “Impressions So Far...”
9/13 (Mon)	Background readings, part II, literature: these selections will provide a quick overview of feminist literary criticism and theory
9/15 (Wed)	The Woman Warrior Consider questions asked by feminist literary critics Consider intersections of gender, culture, class, etc. urged by bell hooks Consider Kingston’s use of myth, time, space, her reflections on cultural liminality, women and community
9/20 (Mon)	The Woman Warrior, continue discussion Reading quiz; portions of VTV 4701 Kingston’s Stories
9/22 (Wed)	Family Folklore Essay due, class time, 2-3 pages. As Kingston demonstrates, every family has its folklore, stories passed along for generations, stories newly constructed, stories that guide, teach, entertain, warn, connect. Sometimes, as in Kingston’s case, they are what generate entire fictions. What are some stories in your family? Select one and record it in a distinct narrative voice. Tell it the way it has been told to you or the way you will tell it to your children. Conclude with some reflection on the significance of the story–or of folklore in general.

9/27 (Mon)	Halving the Bones
9/29 (Wed)	Discussion of Halving the Bones
10/4 (Mon)	Family Folkstory Presentations (5-6 mins each)
10/6 (Wed)	The Bluest Eye Reading quiz

10/11 (Mon)	The Bluest Eye, continued VTV 3011 Toni Morrison
10/13 (Wed)	The Bluest Eye, continued, VTV 6068 A Place of Rage Notebook Check: 4 entries
10/14-16	Midterm Exam (Testing Center)
10/18 (Mon)	Ruby Bridges
10/20(Wed)	Discussion of Ruby Bridges
10/25 (Mon)	Women of Algiers in Their Apartment Reading quiz
10/27 (Wed)	Women of Algiers in Their Apartment, continued Interview Report
11/1 (Mon)	Silences of the Palace
11/3 (Wed)	Discussion of Silences of the Palace Reading: Naaman, “Woman/Nation: A Postcolonial Look at Female Subjectivity” (CD)

11/8 (Mon)	Nervous Conditions
11/10 (Wed)	Nervous Conditions, continued Notebook Check: 8 entries Interview Report
11/15 (Mon)	Cléo 5 to 7 Reading: “From Feminine Masquerade to Flâneuse: Agnès Varda’s Cléo in the City”
11/17 (Wed)	Discussion of Cléo 5 to 7
11/22 (Mon)	The House on Mango Street Reading Quiz
11/24 (Wed)	Interview Report Paper Full Draft Due for Exchange/Peer Review (late drafts will receive point deduction—5 points for each day late) Review for Final Exam
11/29 (Mon)	Monsoon Wedding Paper due in class
12/1 (Wed)	Discussion of Monsoon Wedding Reading: TBA
12/3 (Fri)	Notebook due
12/08 (Wed)	Final Exam (3-6 PM at Little Theatre)