Early American Women Writers
Instructor: Michele Tarter
Women living in early America (1630-1800) faced many challenges and adventures; indeed, picking up the pen to write was a major accomplishment for them. Scholars over the last few decades have unburied an enormous treasure trove of archives written by women centuries ago. Representing many races and classes, these women were writing, speaking, contesting, and re-shaping culture in early America. Our interdisciplinary seminar will look at such primary documents as manuscript diaries and letters, commonplace books, Indian captivity narratives, trial and courtroom records, prophetic broadsides, cross-dressing narratives, prophetic poetry, and bestselling Revolutionary fiction. Ultimately, we will address the historical, literary, and cultural influences that shaped women’s lives at this time and then discern the ways that women negotiated and subverted such influences through the power of the written word. Requirements include short response papers, a research presentation, and a final research paper.