GSJ 108/ENGL 108E: Gender and Representation

About GSJ 108/ENGL 108E: Gender and Representation

What you'll learn

GSJ 108/ENGL 108E examines the role of gender in the study of literature and poetry. Through a selection of 20th- and 21st-century texts, you’ll consider how gender is portrayed, constructed, and expressed in writing while engaging with a diverse range of storytellers.

Through written assignments and in-class discussions, you’ll develop a critical approach to reading and interpreting literary works while strengthening your skills in literary analysis. Any student at the University of Waterloo can take this course: there are no pre-requisites.

Readings

The course includes weekly readings that explore a wide range of literary forms. Throughout the term, you will study poetry, short stories, and novels, with additional time devoted to longer works.

Primary texts include The Bloody Chamber by Angela Carter, ‘The Apple’ from Kissing the Witch by Emma Donoghue, Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo, Brokeback Mountain by Annie Proulx, as well as a selection of other short stories and poems. Longer texts will be studied over multiple weeks, giving you additional time to engage with the readings and prepare for in-class discussions surrounding each work. 

In addition to the primary texts, the course includes secondary readings that provide opportunities to deepen your understanding of key themes, concepts, and critical approaches explored throughout the term. 

Assignments

GSJ 108/ENGL 108E includes three major written assignments. For the first two assignments, one allows students to choose between a reflective response or an essay, while the other allows students to choose between a reflective response or a creative writing piece. The final assignment is a longer analytical essay that replaces a formal final exam. 

Throughout the course, students also complete five in-person writing exercises designed to encourage engagement with the course material while earning participation marks. Prompts for these assignments and in-class writing exercises are provided throughout the term and are connected to the course readings. 

A typical GSJ 108/ENGL 108E class 

GSJ 108/ENGL 108E is typically scheduled for two 80-minute classes each week. Each class begins with an introduction to a topic or reading that is explained by the professor. Afterward, discussion questions are introduced, and students split into groups to explore the readings together. This format gives everyone the opportunity to share their ideas and engage with the texts in a meaningful way. 

These discussions also create space for students to ask questions, deepen their understanding, and learn from one another. As a result, it is important to come to class having completed the required readings so that you can actively participate in discussions and contribute to the learning environment. 

Why take this course?

Gender is not something that is going away; it is woven into many aspects of our lives. Whether you want to expand your understanding of gender, strengthen your writing skills, or develop critical literary analysis, this course offers opportunities for growth in all of these areas. 

The required reading list introduces you to works of literature that you may not have encountered otherwise, broadening your perspective and helping you recognize how gender shapes many aspects of education, culture, and everyday life. 

Dr. Carol Acton is an English professor within St. Jerome’s University College. She primarily teaches first and second year courses focused on women’s writing, gender studies, and the health humanities. 

In addition to her teaching, Dr. Acton serves as the director of the Health Humanities diploma program while also conducting research on letter exchanges during the First World War. She is deeply passionate about literature and is committed to introducing students to diverse voices and perspectives through the authors featured in her courses. 

“I like it because it allows me to bring in a wider range of perspectives. I can include men’s writing and look at how men represent women. I suppose you could say gender is a broad issue because you can bring in queer issues, trans issues, gender-neutral identities, and all of those different perspectives."

For example, there’s the character in the novel Girl, Woman, Other who eventually decides that they’re going to identify as gender neutral. I wouldn’t say she — I’d say they — because the character is referred to as she for much of the novel and then becomes they. You see this whole process of trying to understand who they are and eventually claiming that identity. It’s not about deciding to be queer or something else; it’s about identifying as gender neutral, and they becomes the appropriate pronoun.  

It’s interesting because, partway through the novel, the reader has to move from one pronoun to another. In a way, that’s quite clever because it makes you think about how you represent people and how language shapes identity.” 

“I like to use a lot of class discussions. Everybody will get bored and fall asleep if I stand up and lecture the whole time, saying, "This is what this is about, and this is why you should think about it." I'll do a little of that, but I like to alternate throughout the class and hope that people engage in discussion rather than just sit back and let someone else do the work. Many people don't feel comfortable speaking up in front of the whole class. That can be difficult. So, I'll often have students discuss something in small groups first, and then we'll come back together for a larger discussion. 

With poetry, I like challenging poems where you can really hear the poet's voice. I almost always play a recording of the poet reading their own work, and then we talk about poetry not just as something on the page, but as something that's meant to be heard.” 

“My first hope is that students will discover that reading is enjoyable if they haven't already. I really like the idea of people finding pleasure in reading, and I want students to engage with the material and see it as relevant, rather than just something they have to do for class.” 

“I don't know if you'd call it a topic, but I have some favourite writers. In Brokeback Mountain, the short story, Annie Proulx's writing, is amazing. Every time I read that story, I'm so in awe of how she uses language.  

A lot of times when I'm rereading something, I'm thinking, “Oh, this person is so good, right?” There's just this sense of amazement at how writers can capture things and use language to express ideas, thoughts, and feelings. 

I suppose language is my favorite topic.” 

Special thanks to Dr. Carol Acton for providing an interview for this article.