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Morality and Maidens: The Ethics of Women in Literature Joanna Johnson Development Team Reviewed 4/8/08 Click Here for Lesson Plans
	Introduction In well-known English academic Harold Bloom’s literary canon, the vast majority of the authors are men. Out of the last 104 Nobel prizes for literature, eleven have been awarded to women (and out of 777 Nobel prizes overall, only thirty-four have been awarded to women). Are women being deliberately ignored, have they lacked opportunity, or are they just not as good as men at writing works of literature? View More
	Key Concepts and Vocabulary Literary canon: an authoritative list, or standard, of works of literature Gender vs. biological sex: gender is whether something is masculine or feminine, and is not necessarily the same as the biological sex, which is male or female. In other words, something or someone who is male, could be feminine, or vice versa. The terms are not interchangeable. View More
	Background for for Teachers What is the literary “canon”? This depends on different contexts, but in principle it’s an agreed (authoritative) list of works of literature that are renowned or considered to be great in some way. But the controversy and difficulty that arises here concerns the words “agreed” and “renowned” or “great.” Who is doing the “agreeing” and by what criteria are the works “renowned”?   View More

	Core Subject Areas and Grade Level		Extension Activity
	Local, State, and National Standards		Bibliography and Web Resources
	Core Values Emphasized in this Learning Module
	Suggested Time for Instruction
	Description of Classroom Activities

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