American Women's Narratives of European Travel

ENGL 4378/5378

American Women's Narratives of European Travel

Dr. Anne Boyd Rioux

Writing Workshops in Cork, Ireland

Summer 2015

This course will explore writings (fictional and nonfictional with an emphasis on the latter) by American women about their experiences on the road as they traveled to Europe. As we will see, these experiences often led women to question their national, ethnic, class, and gender affiliations. We will contextualize readings and gain an understanding of how women’s movement across great distances as journalists, artists, leisure travelers, writers, and professors created possibilities for artistic production, self-examination, and social critique. We will read about the journeys of solo women, married women, women with their families, and women in the company of other women. We will discover women who traveled to Europe in search of art and culture, love, history, pleasure, healing, home, and self-discovery.

We will approach our readings geographically, covering Ireland, Great Britain, France, and Italy, arguably the most written-about countries in Europe. We will start with Ireland, so that you have the benefit of encountering Ireland on your own with our readings in mind. And each country will be represented by a range of texts from the 19th-century to the present (or recent past). We will also provide a context for our readings by examining the history of travel writing and, more specifically, women’s position within that tradition.

By the end of the semester, students will be able to effectively analyze the elements of travel writing, demonstrate an understanding of the conventions of women’s travel writing and how it has changed over time, as well as articulate their own theory of travel writing and demonstrate its application in an analysis of literary texts or in the construction of their own travel writing texts. Students will also learn how to analyze their own strengths and weaknesses as a thinker/writer and set goals for themselves as writers. In addition, Graduate students will be able to effectively lead a class discussion and present complex ideas to the class.

TEXTS:

Students are responsible for obtaining their own texts before coming to Cork. Many are available used online for unbelievably cheap prices.

Rebecca Solnit, A Book of Migrations: Some Passages in Ireland, 2nd edition (Verso, 2011). ISBN: 978-1844677085

Willa Cather in Europe (University of Nebraska Press, 1988). ISBN: 978-0803263338

Susan Allen Toth, My Love Affair with England: A Traveler's Memoir (Ballantine, 1994). ISBN: 978-0345385659

Clare Cooper Marcus, Iona Dreaming: The Healing Power of Place (Nicolas-Hays, 2010). ISBN: 978-0892541577

Edith Wharton Abroad: Selected Travel Writings, 1888-1920 (Palgrave, 1996). ISBN: 978-0312161200

Shay Youngblood, Black Girl in Paris (Penguin, 2001). ISBN: 9781573228510

Eloisa James, Paris in Love: A Memoir (Random House, 2013). ISBN: 978-0812981902

Frances Mayes, Under a Tuscan Sun, reprint edition (Broadway Books, 1997). ISBN: 978-0767900386

Elizabeth Gilbert, Eat, Pray, Love (Riverhead Books, 2007). ISBN: 978-0143038412

SCHEDULE OF READINGS (Proposed):

(Readings that are not in the four books ordered for the course will be available for download from the course website. These will consist of critical essays about our readings as well as additional examples of travel narratives.)

Week 1 (July 22, 23, 25)—Introduction and Travels to Ireland

Historical overviews (TBA)

Solnit, A Book of Migrations

Articles and additional short readings (TBA)

Week 2 (June 28, July 1, 2)—Travels to Great Britain

Cather, articles on England in Willa Cather in Europe

Toth, My Love Affair with England

Marcus, Iona Dreaming

Articles and additional short readings (TBA)

Week 3 (July 6, 8, 9)—Travels to France

Cather, articles on France in Willa Cather in Europe

Wharton, essays on France in Edith Wharton Abroad

Youngblood, Black Girl in Paris

James, Paris in Love

Articles and additional short readings (TBA)

Week 4 (July 13, 15, 16)—Travels to Italy

Wharton, essays on Italy in Edith Wharton Abroad

Mayes, Under a Tuscan Sun

Gilbert, Eat, Pray, Love, first part on Italy

Articles and additional short readings (TBA)

WHAT TO DO BEFORE GOING TO CORK:

·  Gain access to our website and FOLLOW it (see below), so that you can get further information about the course, such as how to approach your reading journals. I will also post the short readings (critical articles and travel essays) on the website.

·  You should buy the books and read as many of the texts as possible (at least half of the books, but preferably more—think of it this way, the more you read ahead of time, the more time you will have to enjoy Ireland). The books are all a pretty easy read. So that you remember what you have read, you should take notes and underline important passages, as well as write your reading journals. While we are in Cork, you will review your notes and journals, and upload your responses. Journals are a crucial part of all of my courses but even more so this one, since we will do most of our reading ahead of time. The readings journals will lay the foundation of our class discussions.

·  Post your reading journals for the first week of class on our website. (You will find instructions there of what exactly to read and where to post your work.) These will be due by June 11, but you can post them earlier.

·  Email me with any questions: .

WEBSITE:

I have created a website for our course: http://engl4378cork2015.wordpress.com/. Here I will post our readings and you will post your journals. It is a private site, meaning that only our class will have access to it. To gain access, please follow these instructions:

1.  Go to Wordpress.com. Click on GET STARTED HERE.

2.  Fill in your E-mail address and choose a username or password (if you don’t already have one.). **Please make sure you use a name by which I and your classmates can all recognize you** I suggest using your first name plus some numbers or symbols. If you create a name that neither I nor the class can recognize, then it might hinder your ability to participate in class work on the blog.

3.  You don’t need to fill in an address for your blog. Instead, look at the right hand column next to the box for Blog Address and click on "Sign Up for Just a User Name."

4.  After you fill out this form and submit it, Wordpress will send you an activation email. Go to your email account, open the email from Wordpress, and click on the link to activate your account.

5.  No go to our class blog (http://engl4378cork2015.wordpress.com/).

6.  When you try to enter, you will be notified that this is a private site, and you can request permission to access it. Click on the appropriate link to do so. I will receive an e-mail with your request and will activate you.

7.  Now once you are an approved user: go to the class blog and click on "Follow." Enter Your Email according to the instructions.

8.  You are now a follower of the blog and will receive updates every time I add a new post. This is how you will know when I have added new materials or course information, which I will be doing in the weeks leading up to the course.

EXPECTATIONS:

Students should use the website, read all of the texts, complete all of the assignments, attend all of the classes and readings (on Tuesday evenings), and be active participants in the class discussion. Reading attendance is mandatory for all program participants, and faculty will be notified of students’ absences.

ASSIGNMENTS:

Assignments include:

·  a reading journal, which will be posted online in our website for all to read. This means that we can share our thoughts before we meet and thus stimulate a more productive class discussion. These will be substantive, approximately 1-2 pages per class meeting, for a total of 12-24 pages (double-spaced). One of your reading journals should be a response to one of the Tuesday readings. This can substitute for your reading journal for one class period.

·  a short self-analysis exploring what you have learned, 3-4 pages.

·  a final project, which can be a research paper (9-10 pages) OR a creative project that grows out of the themes of the course and includes a short analysis explaining the relationship between your project and the course (creative part, 9-10 pages; analysis 3-4 pages).

·  For graduate students: you will also lead class discussion of a critical article related to our reading for that class period and write a longer final project, which can be a research paper (15-17 pages) OR a creative project that grows out of the themes of the course and includes a short analysis explaining the relationship between your project and the course (creative part, 15-17 pages; analysis 3-4 pages).

GRADING:

Undergraduates:

Journal: 25%

Class Discussion: 20%

Self-Analysis: 15%

Final Project: 40%

Graduates:

Journal: 25%

Class Discussion: 15%

Self-Analysis: 10%

Final Project: 40%

Lead Class Discussion: 10%