The content of this unit, designed for use in both tenth and twelfth grades, will explore women’s role, status, self-image, and history in literature written by women. The proposed framework will serve two main purposes: 1) to help students gain an awareness of the effect of history on literature, and 2) to help students comprehend the female literary tradition. An eclectic model of instruction is employed, lectures, class discussions, small group discussions, panels, paragraph writings, short paper writing, journal keeping, and audio-visual presentations fulfill content objectives. Emphasis on the twelfth grade level is on the British woman writer and the emergence of the literary woman; on the tenth grade level, the focus is on the British woman’s American counterpart, whose values, role models, lifestyles, and literary traditions emerged from a distinctly British background. Strategies are introduced to facilitate student awareness of sex role stereotyping and the exclusion of women from traditional study. Introductory lecture material on both literary and historical facts and events is in the narrative. A variety of detailed sample lessons, suggested activities and assignments, as well as additional lecture outlines, are included.
(Recommended for use in English II and III—American Literature and English IV—English/World Literature classes.)
Key Words
Women American History Literature Authors Twentieth Century
