Dynes - Annotated Bibliography - # 3

Justine Dynes

AML 4101

Research Project

December 5, 2008

Creating Bonds Without Blood

Reflections of Female Homosociality in The Boarding School

Butler, Judith. "Performative Acts and Gender Constitution: An Essay in Phenomenology and Feminist Theory." Theatre Journal 40.4. (1988): 519-531.

The basis of Butler’s essay focuses on the female as a gender and how they become that gender. This is not only through genes and biological areas, but also the psychological and nurturing aspect. In this essay, it was pointed out her definition of the gender roles and how people are tied down by them.

Foster, Hannah Webster. The Boarding School; or, Lessons of a Preceptress to her Pupils. . Path: Articles and Databases; Evans Digital.

Foster’s second novel revolves around a boarding school and some of the pupils who attended. The novel begins with a manual of sorts, and the second half is filled with letters between the students and one of their teachers. This was the novel first looked at and where the idea of the friendships and how they relate to women came out.

Handler, Lisa. "In the Fraternal Sisterhood: Sororities as Gender Strategy." Gender and Society 9.2. (1995): 236-255.

The article by Handler focuses on sororities and how they shaped female friendships of this century and the last. It also uses sororities to genderize women and reveal the feminity behind sororities. Reading this essay brought on the idea of eighteenth-century boarding schools and today’s sororities.

Kahane, Reuven. "Multicode Organizations: A Conceptual Framework for the Analysis of Boarding Schools." Sociology of Education 61.4. (1988): 211-226.

Kahane’s article focuses on the basis of boarding schools and what they teach the students who attend. The article also explains certain topics and techniques such as student-staff relationships and multiple curriculum. Kahane also breaks down certain aspects of a boarding school into code, relating that code then to the readers. This essay was used to get a basic idea of boarding schools and how they helped society in general.

Levine, Steven B. "The Rise of American Boarding Schools and the Development of a National Upper Class." Social Problems 28.1. (1980): 63-94.

A sociological look at boarding schools and how the upper class formed due to their education and success. It also looks at not only the rising classes, but the rise of boarding schools and how they came to be in this society. Levine takes things step-by-step in breaking down how each form and combined. This was used as an informational essay to help further my understanding of boarding schools.

Pettingill, Claire C. "Sisterhood in a Separate Sphere: Female Friendship in Hannah Webster Foster’s The Coquette and The Boarding School." Early American Literature 27.3 (1992): 185-203.

Pettingill speaks on the friendships that are found in Foster’s two works. She explains what they mean to the women and what they mean to society as a whole. This essay was used to further the homosocial and family bond aspects.

Vicinus, Martha. "Distance and Desire: English Boarding-School Friendships." Signs 9.4. (1984): 600-622.

Vicinus’ article focuses around not only the homosocial aspect of boarding schools, but the slight edge of homosexuality. She explains how some relationships can lead to the homoerotic and/or just school-girl crushes. This essay helped to explain how friendships could go further, as well as used to help prove the argument of homosociality instead of homosexuality.