Topics in American Literature: Girls' Fiction

Little Goody Two Shoes taught morality and the alphabet to the poor children of her village and eventually rode in a coach and six; Nancy Drew drove a blue roadster (later a convertible and still later a hybrid) while solving crimes and bringing justice to the town of River Heights. Between these two landmark characters lie the two and a half centuries of rich and diverse fiction for girls that will be at the center of this writing-intensive course. After grounding our studies by reading selected works from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, we will concentrate on twentieth-century productions, beginning with the surprisingly progressive serial fiction produced by the Stratemeyer Syndicate and others in the early 1900s. (Titles such as The Motor Girls, The Moving Picture Girls, and The Outdoor Girls advertise the series´ departure from domestic settings.) Throughout our study of both popular and classic texts, we will investigate the social, political and familial roles for girls that the texts imagine. Major genres will include mysteries, frontier fiction, career fiction, domestic fiction, school stories, and fantasy. Authors will include Newbery, Alcott, Montgomery, Wilder, Lindgren, L'Engle, and "Carolyn Keene." Writing Intensive. Satisfies the Twentieth Century and later requirement.

Course Attributes: EN H; BU Hum; AS HUM; AS WI I; FA HUM; AR HUM; EL TC; UC ENL

Topics in American Literature: Girls' Fiction

WOMEN, GENDER, AND SEXUALITY STUDIES 3121

Section 01

Section 02