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Module 3: Realism, Part 2: The Struggle for Equality

REALISM, PART 2: The Struggle for Equality

OUTCOMES:

  • Students will be familiar with the major events and movements of the historical period corresponding to the published works of writers studied.
  • Students will understand and apply the characteristics of realism to the works of Howells, Chopin, Freeman, and Gilman.
  • Students will explore and analyze the subtle motivations of the characters in the assigned works.
  • Students will be familiar with the plots and characters of assigned fiction and major ideas of the assigned non-fiction.
  • Students will recognize and explain the major concerns of the women of the 19th century as they are depicted in the stories.
  • Students will examine the arguments of DuBois concerning the problems of African Americans in their struggle to attain the full rights and responsibilities as Americans.
  • Students will examine the situations facing Native Americans in the 1900s, including the loss of their lands, loss of family, separation from family, and loss of culture.
  • Students will analyze the concept of oppression as it applies to all marginalized persons, especially applying it to the characters or real persons studied who were oppressed by one group or another.

Assignments include

  • reading the historical introductory material in the text book,
  • reading links on women, realism, and oppression in the course site and viewing video on Gilman
  • reading selections from the works of Howells, Chopin, Freeman, Gilman, DuBois, and Sa.

Assessments include one written assignment on the first three works, one discussion post on the Discussion Board, and one 60-point quiz (not proctored).

 

Assignment 2: Due February 2                                     

Read the head note for William Dean Howells and “Editha,” p. 1489+.

Read the head note for Kate Chopin, p. 1604 and, “At the ‘Cadian Ball,” and “The Storm,” p. 1611+.

Read the headnote for Freeman and “New England Nun,” p. 1621+.

You’ve read three stories with women as the important characters:  Editha, Calixta, and Louise.  You noticed that the situation of women was quite different as they were nearly totally subservient to men in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Some of the women in these stories, however, had very strong opinions and/or independent natures.

For each of the stories above, explain what the woman’s situation (wealth and status) was and her relationship to the man/men in her life. So that’s three short paragraphs total, all on ONE document please. Submit it at the Assignment 2 link.

Discussion: The Women, Due February 5

Read Women In The 19th Century and then post a reply to the question in the Discussion on The Women. Worth 6 points.

The next two readings do not require a written submission, but ARE included in the Fourth Week Quiz.

1. Read the head note for W.E.B. Du Bois (1715) and “The Souls of Black Folk,” beginning at the top of p. 1727. Especially look for the three things he said that Blacks must needed to achieve equality in 1900. 

2. Read the head note for Charlotte Perkins Gilman and “The Yellow Wallpaper,” p. 1668+. Look especially at the unnamed character's relationship with her husband and how it relates to what we know of women's role in the early 1900s. The video by Prof. Berstein is good, but optional.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HgqWKUa_c7Y Links to an external site.

3. Read the head note for Zitkala Sa (1823+) and the very short section #1 (1825-26) from her autobiography Impressions of an Indian Childhood, which will give you a glimpse of the life she remembered before her education and assimilation into the white culture began. Consider the position the Sioux, as well as all Native Americans, came to be in toward the end of the 1800s: become like the whites and succeed, or stay on the reservation and either die or go hungry. Either way, much of the tribal culture was lost.

Notice that these three writers focus on the struggle between groups of people or individuals to understand each other. Both demonstrate the devastation that occurs when people use their power to force their will upon another.  Read and really think about Oppression In America. This theme (oppression) is the topic of ONE of the big discussion questions on the Midterm Exam.

Week 4 Quiz: Due by Feb. 9--available at the Quizzes tab.

 Take the Quiz on Module 3.  It must be done by Feb. 9 at midnight to avoid a grade penalty.

The big question has to do with one of the major themes, the changing roles of women in the 1800s, so be sure to study the link above on the women and think about the characters and how they each deal with their situations.

 NOW—go ahead and make your appointment for the proctored midterm exam so that you can take it sometime between Feb 26 and March 10. Just follow the instructions in this link to register: http://ptrs.hindscc.edu Links to an external site.. You MUST register at least three days before the day you are registering for--the system will not let you register after that. Register with the date you think best suits your schedule even if there is a possibility that you will have to change it since the seats fill up fast.

The exam is proctored—you cannot take it at home because it is password protected; the proctors will enter the password for you.