English syllabus - Gauhati University

35Women and Literature I and II seek to familiarize students with literature written by women and toacquaint them with feminist theory so as to make available the necessary interpretive apparatus to readsuch texts. Students will examine issues of women’s experience, women’s work, selfhood andrepresentation in the texts prescribed.PAPER 19Feminist theory and FictionMarks 75 (60+15) [15 Marks Internal Assessment]. Credits: 6Section A: Feminist TheoryIn this section the students will have to answer one essay-type question (12marks) and two short notes(2x6) on critical terms based on the texts prescribed. (1x12 + 2x6 =24)Texts: Margaret Fuller (1810-1850): ‘Prejudice against Women’ (From Women in the NineteenthCentury) Virginia Woolf (1882-1941): A Room of One’s Own Simone De Beauvoir (1908-1986): The Second Sex Chapters 1 -3Section B: FictionStudents will answer three questions, each carrying 12 marks, on various aspects and issues pertainingto women’s lives and their representation in the novels prescribed. (12x3 = 36)Texts: Mary Shelley (1797-1851): Frankenstein Charlotte Brontë (1816-55): Villette Louisa May Alcott (1832-88): Little Women Toni Morrison (1931-): SulaPAPER 20Women’s Poetry, Journals and DiariesSection A: PoetryStudents will answer two questions each carrying 12 marks (2x12), and explain 2 extracts from thepoems marked with asterisks with reference to their contexts (2x6). Questions will deal with variousthemes and issues that are of significance and interest to women, and will encourage students to