An interesting approach to the topic of women and literature is to see if the real working roles of women have been reflected in fiction. As delineated in novels, women are seen engaged in: (l) farm labor; (2) jobs that are extensions of their nurturing roles; (3) factory work--especially in the early textile and clothing mills; and (4) housework (though women are rarely protagonists if only "homemakers"). There are realistic portrayals of women as farmers (either with husbands or alone) in Cather's "My Antonia" and Glasgow's "Barren Ground," or as social reformers in Peattie's "The Precipice" and Laughlin's "Just Folks." Portraits of women working in industrialized settings are delineated in Sinclair's "The Jungle" and Dreiser's "Sister Carrie." Representations of women as artists who are paid for their work and do it as professionals are scarce, but one example is Arnow's "The Dollmaker." Women in business are found only in a series of popular novels by Edna Ferber. All these novels provide examples of women characters who are self-aware and even independent, who fail or succeed for the same reasons men do, such as actions of others, narrow societal roles, limitation by circumstances (such as poverty, health, or ignorance), or lack of energy. Such a literature course has appeal and impact, and helps to expose stereotypes for what they are and to present alternatives. Over 45 works of fiction are cited in the concluding bibliography. (NKA)