ENMWRW-Women's Rights, Women's Writing

Module Provider: English Literature
Number of credits: 20 [10 ECTS credits]
Level:7
Terms in which taught: Spring term module
Pre-requisites:
Non-modular pre-requisites:
Co-requisites:
Modules excluded:
Current from: 2023/4

Module Convenor: Dr Mary Morrissey
Email: m.e.morrissey@reading.ac.uk

Type of module:

Summary module description:

This module takes an interdisciplinary approach to the study of women’s political activism, looking at the history of women’s writing on women’s rights and the texts (non-fiction and literary) produced by women as interventions in political controversy. Beginning with the early modern period, this module tracks key moments when women took the initiative in debates about their role in society and about their political rights. We will look at the ways in which women demanded that their voices be heard, the rhetorical strategies that they used to argue for their rights, and how they pushed back against efforts to restrict their political and cultural agency. We will examine the life, activism and writings of women such as Mary Wollstonecraft, Barbara Leigh Smith Bodichon, Virginia Woolf, and Emmeline Pankhurst alongside less well-known figures like activist Sophia Duleep Singh and the working-class activist and writer Hannah Mitchell.

Aims:

This module will enable students to understand the long history of women’s political writing and its relationship to their everyday lives. We will discuss the significance of their political actions (from Rachel Speght’s decision to publish under her own name to the ‘militant’ strategy of the WSPU). We will show how women’s published works deployed literary and rhetorical strategies that responded to and refuted the arguments against the public role of women in local and national political spheres, whether writing political speeches or literary prose. We will examine key moments in the history of women’s writing on women’s rights from the early modern period to the early twentieth century, rather than trying to cover all aspects of this long history. We will focus on women’s own voices as they are extant in speeches, reports of speeches, and in their published works. This will enable us to better understand the significance of what they say within the immediate context of their lives and the political controversies with which they engaged.

Assessable learning outcomes:

By the end of this module, students will have:

• An understanding of the history of women’s writing on women’s rights, from the early modern period to the twentieth century


• Knowledge of some of the key moments in the history of the campaign for women’ rights and how the terms of the debate changed over time

A familiarity with a broad range of women’s writings on women’s rights, including speeches and political tracts as well as essays and autobiographies. 

Additional outcomes:

Students will gain enhanced skills in academic research through the Research Report assignment. Skills in identifying appropriate primary and secondary sources, framing and refining a research question, and planning the structure of their report will enhance their work on the dissertation module.

Outline content:

This module works across the disciplines of English Literature and History to offer an in-depth understanding of women’s writing on women’s rights: we will understand how the lives of these women shaped their activism and their writings, why their words and actions were considered politically or socially transgressive in their time, and how they responded to the sexism of the dominant political and cultural institutions. We will begin in the early modern period, looking at the earliest women to publish under their own names on this subject (such as Rachel Speght and Mary Astell). We will then consider Mary Wollstonecraft, often considered the earliest British feminist. We will consider the changing social position of women in the Victorian period and the challenge that writers like Barbara Leigh Smith Bodichon mounted to the limitations on women’s public roles. We will end with a lengthy consideration of the early twentieth century’s ‘first wave’of feminism in the campaign for women’s suffrage and debates over women’s right to education. 

Brief description of teaching and learning methods:

This module will be taught in weekly two-hour seminars. The seminars will be led by members of the departments of English Literature and History, as appropriate for the topic under discussion that week. Students will be set a short piece of primary reading for each week; recommended additional reading to support the assessment will be available on Talis. The convenor will be available for consultation on a one-to-one basis to discuss students’ work and their progress on the module. &nbs p;

Contact hours:

	Autumn	Spring	Summer
Seminars		20
Guided independent study:
Wider reading (directed)		20
Preparation for seminars		20
Completion of formative assessment tasks		30
Carry-out research project		100
Reflection		10
Total hours by term	0	200	0
Total hours for module	200

Summative Assessment Methods:

Method	Percentage
Written assignment including essay	20
Project output other than dissertation	80

Summative assessment- Examinations:

Summative assessment- Coursework and in-class tests:

The module is assessed by a Literature Review of 1000 words comprising a 300 summary of a research question and a 700-word annotated bibliography. This accounts for 20% of the module weighting.

The second assessment is a 3000-word Research Project, in which students offer a thorough investigation of a text, a historical event or a particular woman who has contributed to the history of women’s rights. Students will choose the subject of their Research Project in consultation with members of staff.

Formative assessment methods:

Students may build on the topic of their Literature Review for their Research Project. They will receive feedback on their Literature Review assessment that will help them to frame their research question and research strategies for the Research Project.

Penalties for late submission:

The below information applies to students on taught programmes except those on Postgraduate Flexible programmes. Penalties for late submission, and the associated procedures, which apply to Postgraduate Flexible programmes are specified in the policy 'Penalties for late submission for Postgraduate Flexible programmes', which can be found here: https://www.reading.ac.uk/cqsd/-/media/project/functions/cqsd/documents/cqsd-old-site-documents/penaltiesforlatesubmissionpgflexible.pdf
The Support Centres will apply the following penalties for work submitted late:

• where the piece of work is submitted after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline): 10% of the total marks available for that piece of work will be deducted from the mark for each working day (or part thereof) following the deadline up to a total of five working days;
• where the piece of work is submitted more than five working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline): a mark of zero will be recorded.

The University policy statement on penalties for late submission can be found at: https://www.reading.ac.uk/cqsd/-/media/project/functions/cqsd/documents/cqsd-old-site-documents/penaltiesforlatesubmission.pdf
You are strongly advised to ensure that coursework is submitted by the relevant deadline. You should note that it is advisable to submit work in an unfinished state rather than to fail to submit any work.

Assessment requirements for a pass:

A mark of 50% for the module as a whole.

Reassessment arrangements:

Resubmission of coursework. Students must choose a different topic for the Literature Review and / or the Research Project when resubmitting coursework.

Additional Costs (specified where applicable):

1) Required text books:  £60

2) Specialist equipment or materials: 

3) Specialist clothing, footwear or headgear: 

4) Printing and binding:  £5

5) Computers and devices with a particular specification: 

6) Travel, accommodation and subsistence: 

Last updated: 30 March 2023