Fall 2024 - ENGL 417W E100

Seminar in Gender, Sexuality and Literature (4)

Class Number: 4716

Delivery Method: In Person

Overview

  • Course Times + Location:

    Sep 4 – Dec 3, 2024: Mon, 4:30–8:20 p.m.
    Burnaby

    Oct 15, 2024: Tue, 4:30–8:20 p.m.
    Burnaby

  • Prerequisites:

    45 units or two 300-division English courses.

Description

CALENDAR DESCRIPTION:

Advanced seminar on selected literary works as they intersect with and are shaped by issues of gender and/or sexuality. May be organized by theme, critical approach, historical period, or individual author. This course may be repeated for credit if a different topic is taught. Writing.

COURSE DETAILS:

Beyond the Tragic Trope: Queer YA Romance

Romantic narratives about queer youth in English no longer feature blame, shame, and self-harm, but more often represent, support, and celebrate, while acknowledging the social challenges and attacks queer youth experience. There is currently a publishing boom for Young Adult love stories in which the protagonists are gay, lesbian, bisexual, non-binary, gender-fluid, and transgender. Though there’s not as much representation yet of intersex, asexual, or two-spirit characters, we’re starting to see these texts published. It has been a time of much positive change.

This course features protagonists who are racially diverse as well as being bisexual, demisexual, transgender, and lesbian, in recent YA novels that draw on a variety of popular genres—rom-com, realism, magic realism, historical—to explore how current OwnVoices authors are moving beyond the tragic trope. What do these works say to us as readers, whether we are Queer or cis-het? How do they relate gender and sexuality to culture and identity, to family and friendship? Why are they important texts, and what effects are they likely to have?

Each student in this course will develop an individual research project, which could be focused on a course author, make a comparison with other works in a genre, or do something else the student and instructor agree will be productive. You will build on your strengths and knowledge bases (cultural, creative, academic, etc.) and develop skills in using databases, academic writing, peer review, and editing. The instructor will give feedback and letter grades to each student at various stages of their work, and the final grade will come out of dialogue between the instructor and the student. The course will be Writing Intensive: more than 50% of the work each student does will be writing they get feedback on, and revision will be an important part of their writing process. Roughly 25% of class time will be hands-on work on the research project such as database use and peer review.

Assessments will include a research proposal, an annotated bibliography, a pecha kucha research presentation, a draft essay, and a revision of the essay. Any assessment may be re-done after receiving a letter grade. The instructor is open to essays that blend the creative and critical, use multiple media, and/or use styles that are outside the norms of Western settler academia, provided they are supported with evidence from literary texts and research materials. At the end of the course, students can choose to publish their revised essay in an anthology as part of SFU library’s digital collection.

COURSE-LEVEL EDUCATIONAL GOALS:

1/ to develop/refine skills in academic (& possibly non-academic) research in literature,

2/ to pursue one topic of interest intensively and achieve a publishable piece of writing on it,

3/ to explore what lies beyond traditional gender-normative thinking, and

4/ to employ anti-oppressive ways of being in the world that can make a difference to students’ (and others’) lives.

Grading

  • Research project proposal 15%
  • Annotated bibliography of research sources 20%
  • Pecha kucha presentation of research process and results 15%
  • Draft of research paper, for feedback not a mark 0%
  • Revised research paper 50%

NOTES:

Each student will consult with the instructor early in the term to develop their research proposal and meet with the instructor at the end of term to discuss their skills, work, circumstances, and final grade (which could match assigned marks or be higher). Any assessment may be re-done after receiving a mark. Each student will have two extension tokens, for no-questions-asked three-day extensions on due dates, and there is no final exam.

Materials

MATERIALS + SUPPLIES:

Although sometimes the required readings contain sadness and violence, each one ends in a good place for the protagonists. Not too many content warnings necessary.

The texts will be on reserve in the library and available through the bookstore. You are welcome to purchase used books, use audio books, and/or source books from local libraries. There will also be a couple of short excerpts from other works and some critical articles to read, which will be available in Canvas or from the library.

REQUIRED READING:

When the Moon was Ours, Anna-Marie McLemore (YA magic-realist romance, 275 pp.) 


ISBN: 978-1250160102

Last Night at the Telegraph Club, Malinda Lo (YA historical romance, 400 pp.) 


ISBN: 9780525555278

The Summer of Bitter and Sweet, Jen Ferguson (YA realist romance, 360 pp.)
ISBN: 9780063086166

Hani and Ishu's Guide to Fake Dating, Adiba Jaigirdar (lower-level YA realist romance, 350 pp.)
ISBN: 9781645677543

REQUIRED READING NOTES:

Your personalized Course Material list, including digital and physical textbooks, are available through the SFU Bookstore website by simply entering your Computing ID at: shop.sfu.ca/course-materials/my-personalized-course-materials.

Department Undergraduate Notes:

IMPORTANT NOTE Re 300 and 400 level courses: 75% of spaces in 300 level English courses, and 100% of spaces in 400 level English courses, are reserved for declared English Major, Minor, Extended Minor, Joint Major, and Honours students only, until open enrollment begins.

For all On-Campus Courses, please note the following:
- To receive credit for the course, students must complete all requirements.
- Tutorials/Seminars WILL be held the first week of classes.
- When choosing your schedule, remember to check "Show lab/tutorial sections" to see all Lecture/Seminar/Tutorial times required.

Registrar Notes:

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY: YOUR WORK, YOUR SUCCESS

SFU’s Academic Integrity website http://www.sfu.ca/students/academicintegrity.html is filled with information on what is meant by academic dishonesty, where you can find resources to help with your studies and the consequences of cheating. Check out the site for more information and videos that help explain the issues in plain English.

Each student is responsible for his or her conduct as it affects the university community. Academic dishonesty, in whatever form, is ultimately destructive of the values of the university. Furthermore, it is unfair and discouraging to the majority of students who pursue their studies honestly. Scholarly integrity is required of all members of the university. http://www.sfu.ca/policies/gazette/student/s10-01.html

RELIGIOUS ACCOMMODATION

Students with a faith background who may need accommodations during the term are encouraged to assess their needs as soon as possible and review the Multifaith religious accommodations website. The page outlines ways they begin working toward an accommodation and ensure solutions can be reached in a timely fashion.