Seminar in Literary Research Methods

ENGL 605-01 (11492): M 5:30-8 in DI 259
http://chss.montclair.edu/~nielsenw/research08.html
<http://english.montclair.edu>

 Prof. Wendy Nielsen
Office Hours: M 4-5:30, W 10-11:30, & by appt. in 352 DI
Email: nielsenw@mail . . . 

Texts available at University Bookstore (all of the following are required):
 Other required readings are posted on Blackboard: http://blackboard.montclair.edu/

Requirements:       Click here to get an explanation of my shorthand on Style issues, and my criteria for grading: http://chss.montclair.edu/~nielsenw/correction.html

#1: The Spirit of a Democratic Classroom: Respect, Collegiality, and Integrity

#2: Participation incl. regular attendance, timely completion of weekly reading, contribution to class discussion, 1 presentation of a Position Paper, and participation in peer review sessions--10%

#3: Position Paper Portfolio (critical intro., 5 originals + 1 revision that highlights your editing skills)--45%:  After reading the assigned material, you need to arrive to seminars with a position in mind. In French called a précis, in German a Referat, the position paper is an academic tradition whereby seminar participants share their thoughts in writing (ca. 1-2 pages/250-400 words). At the very least, a position paper summarizes the salient critical points of a scholarly debate and connects these to the reader’s own thoughts on the primary text, but ideally, a position paper points towards the reader’s critique-in-process, or a mature critical perspective on both primary and critical text, opening the way for the seminar to discuss and debate themes that may call secondary authors' perspectives (e.g., Guillory, Craft) into question. Another way to think about a position paper is as a provocation: it should provoke readers to new ways about thinking about a complex issue. You should use position papers as opportunities to hone your critical perspective, as well as your academic writing persona. The ability to say something intelligent about texts in a short amount of time is a skill that English graduate students are expected to demonstrate in several different forums: in seminars, in theses defenses, in oral presentations at conferences, and ultimately, in front of the classroom as professors. 

Nota Bene: All primary and secondary sources should be cited according to MLA. Sometimes we will be reading more than one critical text. Please choose your own focus: you do not have to write about every single text we read, but should form a critical perspective that might apply to one or more texts. Every seminar participant will write a position paper on assigned days and submit it to the instructor (hard copy, typed, stapled, 12 pt. font in Times New Roman, with 1" margins). Once a semester every student will present his or her position paper to the class. On these occasions, students should provide enough copies of the position paper for the entire class and the instructor (17), and should come prepared to read the paper aloud and to contribute in a significant way to the class discussion. In order to make these works in progress pedagogically effective for all seminar participants, please post your weekly writings on Blackboard/Discussion Board in addition to handing in a hard copy to the instructor.

Evaluation: I will read your position papers, comment on them, and provide check, check plus, or check minuses as pre-evaluative criteria. At the end of the semester, a portfolio of your position papers will be evaluated for a letter grade. The presentation of your position paper is not graded, but you must do it in order to receive a satisfactory Participation grade. Owing to scheduling difficulties, I am afraid I am NOT able to read late position papers, although I do expect to see them in the final Portfolio (see below). I will NOT accept emailed Position Papers. If you cannot attend class, I suggest you ask a fellow participant to bring your hard copy to class. If you are unable to turn in your Position Paper on time, I suggest you ask a fellow student to read and evaluate the work-in-progress.
Position Paper Portfolio (due 11/3): This includes a critical introduction, 5 originals, and at least 1 revision that highlights your editing skills. You may, of course, revise all of the Position Papers, which I will reevaluate. The cover letter should self-evaluate your own position papers and address the following questions: How do these position papers show the independence of your critical thinking? How would you describe your (evolving) academic writing persona? What have you learned about reading, researching, and the field of English? In what ways have these writing exercises prepared you to become a better student as well as to become a better RESEARCHER? How have these writing exercises aided your thinking this semester? What are the strengths and weaknesses of your position papers? Which is your best position paper, and why? What grade would you give yourself for this assignment? Immediately following the cover letter, place a well-edited revision of one of your position papers that highlights how well you can transform your writing from rough to final copy. Even though this is the only required revision, I encourage you to revise all papers carefully. Please include all five originals with my comments on them. You should also include any position papers that you’re handing in late. Here’s a final list of everything you should include: 1) Cover letter; 2) Edited Revision; 3) Original Position Papers; 4) Any late material. Please simply staple everything together, or use a binder clip. No cover pages or folders, please.

#4: Bibliographical Research Project (10-15 pages, incl. Works Cited)-45%:

1. Purpose: The purpose of this project is to test to what extent you have learned methods of literary research, and to that end, you will present a portfolio of bibliographical components. Think of this Bibliographical Research Project as a prewriting for an essay you have not yet written. Your audience is readers of an outdated book, Redrawing the Boundaries. Prepare to write an essay that supplements one of the outdated ones about literary research from Redrawing the Boundaries (p. 1 only of Table of Contents). Like the essay you choose, your proposed piece should indicate the historical direction of research within this field, particularly within the last decade. However, your project will be more limited in scope, because it will provide a case study of a particular author’s work. Your Bibliographical Research Project will refer to and cite at least 10 sources overall. Of these ten sources, you should have at least 7 peer-reviewed sources no older than 10 years old (but preferably younger). The remaining three sources might be primary ones, or supplementary research from letters, interviews, or newspapers. At least half of the project should focus on a primary text, such as a novel, poem, drama, or piece of short fiction.

In order for me to accept your final project, I must see draft work. You may post a work in progress to Blackboard. This will be evaluated according to the following criteria: Writing Style (max. 50 points) including introductory and concluding paragraphs, sentence structure, punctuation, spelling, and paragraph structure. Content (max. 50 points) includes quality, depth, age, and originality of secondary research; thorough annotated bibliography; expertise of textual editing; sense of readership/audience of textual editions; expertise of literary period; sense of the historical trajectory of research, author, and text; and concluding research question(s). Please simply staple everything together, or use a binder clip. No cover pages or folders, please.

2. Introduction: You may begin the Bibliographical Research Project with an introduction that announces your topic: a carefully constructed research question about a primary source such as a poem, novel, short story, or drama. Your research question should show attention to major issues in the field (as presented in the Redrawing essay, and more importantly, in research from the past decade), textual scholarship of your primary source, and close literary analysis. You might begin to formulate this question by examining questions such as: Why is this author’s work so important for this literary history? How does a recent issue in literary criticism change how we view this author’s piece?

3. Supporting Evidence: Demonstrate your competency in literary research methods by outlining the supporting evidence you would use to support your research question/project. The following subheadings do not need to be addressed in the following order, although they should be addressed at some point:

3.1 Close literary analysis of language, tone, theme, symbolism, narrative structure, and other literary elements.

3.2 Textual Scholarship: You should show expertise about the editions and textual history of this primary text, and its author. Where can researchers locate the author’s papers in archives? What particular editing decisions have altered and/or shaped the readership of this text? You should provide a sample of how you would edit a primary text or letter for a specific audience.

3.3 Annotated Bibliography: Although you may refer to research parenthetically throughout, you should also include an annotated bibliography of your 7 sources. An annotated bibliography answers the following questions, in about 5 to 10 sentences: 1) What is the author’s argument? 2) How does the author support this argument? What kinds of evidence does she use? 3) What does the author hope to accomplish by writing this piece? 4) Who is the author’s audience? To what kind of scholarly debate is she contributing? 5) In what ways is this piece relevant for your own research question?

4. Conclusion: Your conclusion should point to research questions that have not yet been addressed by critics in the field. In other words, what still needs to be uncovered by future researchers? How might others build on and/or continue your work?

Tentative schedule subject to change; please check your Montclair email and <http://chss.montclair.edu/~nielsenw/research08.html> for updates
Date
 Class Activities
 Homework Due
Unit I: Reading and Research
1. M 9/8
 Why literature? MLA citation method; PP sign-up
 Read Guillory, preface and ch. 1 from Cultural Capital avail. on Blackboard/Readings (hereafter Bb) and bring copy to class. Bring Gibaldi to class as well.
2. M 9/15
 Methods of Reading & Research  Read in Nicholls: "Poetics" (126-142), "Textual Scholarship" (143--160), "Interpretation" (160-70), "Historical Scholarship" (171-193), & "Epilogue" (312-330). Read 2 articles from Profession: J. Gallop, "The Historicization of Literary Studies"and J. Slevin, "Academic Literacy" (Bb) PP #1: Write a provocative, original, and argumentative response to 1 or 2 of these articles, perhaps by making the case for why one particular approach to reading and research literature is superior to another approach. Incl. a Works Cited. Your 1-2 page response should be post to Blackboard/Discussion Board, and the hard copy you submit to me should be typed, stapled, with 12 pt. font and one-inch margins on either side. Please note that I will only read and respond to Position Papers that are submitted as hard copies, and that I do not read or respond to late Position Papers. Late Position Papers may, however, be submitted for full credit later in the Position Paper Portfolio, when they are finally evaluated for a grade. In the meantime, I suggest that you ask another seminar participant to read and comment on late Position Papers.
3. M 9/22
 Fields of English;  Reference Sources; the Profession
 Read in Nicholls: "Linguistics" (20-47), "Rhetoric" (73-102), "Composition" (103-125), "Cultural Studies" (209-24), & "Comparative Literature" (194-208). Read Damrosch, We Scholars, and skim relevant parts of Wisker, G. Postgraduate Research (no need to bring the latter to class); PP #2:  Go to the first floor of Sprague Library and consult 3 references about a novel you know particularly well. Write an argumentative critique (1-2 pages) of these synopses. In what ways are these summaries inaccurate? In what ways do they differ in their foci? Your Works Cited should include the three reference sources, as well as the novel. Post to Bb and submit a hard copy to the instructor.
4. M 9/29
 Analyzing Poetry; Poetic Histories
 Read M. Cohen, "E. C. Stedman and the Invention of Victorian Poetry" (Bb), P. Fussell, "The Historical Dimension" and W. K. Wimsatt, "The Concept of Meter," from The Structure of Verse (Bb), and skim E. Hirsch, "The Glossary and the Pleasure of the Text" (no need to bring latter to class) PP #3: Analyze a poem of your choice, employing any critical method you choose, but definitely some close textual analysis. Come prepared with a 5-7 min. summary of your analysis, and 17 hard copies of your chosen poem. Post to Bb and submit a hard copy to the instructor.
5. M 10/6
 Researching Poetry
 PP#4: Read at least 3 scholarly, peer-reviewed articles about a poem of your choosing (preferably the one you analyzed last week). Option #1: In addition to synthesizing the argument, evidence, audience, and context of each piece, argue which of these analyses (or none of them) is most convincing, and why. Option #2: Prepare an edited version of the poem (a selected piece, if the poem is long) for a specific audience (undergraduate, high school, local community) based on scholarly research of previous versions, your secondary research, and thematic issues of the text. Include a synopsis of your decision making process and research.
6. M 10/13
 Dramatic Research Read O. Wilde;  C. Craft, "Alias Bunbury" in Representations 31 (Summer 1990) & Theater Reviews of Earnest (Bb). PP #5: Option #1--Offer an original and a provocative reading of Wilde's play by sharply analyzing, critiquing, and/or supplementing Craft's reading. What type of methodologies does he employ? How do the apparati of dramatic research differ from analysis of poetry? How might you use these same methodologies in your own research (or not)? Option #2--Alternatively, you may research additional performances of Oscar Wilde's play by finding reviews. Use databases such as the NY Times Historical database, Lexus Nexus, Project Muse, and Theater Mania, and briefly outline how you find sources. Argue which of any 3 productions presents the best model for staging Wilde, pointing to the difficulties involved in staging Earnest. Option #3: Prepare an edited version of Wilde's text (a selection/scene only) for a specific audience (undergraduate, high school, local community) based on scholarly research of previous versions, the performance history, and thematic issues of the text. Include a synopsis of your decision making process and research.
Unit II: Textual Editing
7. M 10/20
 Textual Editing
 Read W. W. Greg, "The Rationale of the Copy Text;" G. Thomas Tanselle, "The Varieties of Scholarly Editing;" p. 24-154 of R. D. Altick and J. J. Fenstermaker, The Art of Literary Research (Bb)
8. M 10/27
 Authorial Intention Read R. Barthes, "Death of the Author;" and G. Thomas Tanselle, "Textual Criticism and Scholarly Editing," "External Fact as an Editorial Problem," and "Some Principles for Editorial Apparatus" (Bb)
9. M 11/3
 Discussion of Portfolios Position Paper Portfolio due. Bring A FEW copies of what you consider your best Position Paper to class, post it to Blackboard, and be prepared to talk about your growth as a reader and researcher. 
10. M 11/10
 Redrawing Boundaries
 Read an article from Redrawing the Boundaries. PP #6: Research a keyword, key term, author, or text mentioned in the article, following various leads, including ones found in bibliographies of at least 3 articles, books, or chapters of books written in the past 10 years (preferably in the last 5). Write 1-2 pages about how you found your material, and what it might say about how the field has changed since RB was first published. Post to Bb and submit a hard copy to the instructor.
11. M 11/17
 No class meeting: Discuss your Biblio. Research Proj.
Post a proposal for your Bibliographical Research Project on Blackboard/Discussion Board. Come to my extended office hours in 352 DI to discuss this project: 4:30-7:45.
12. M 11/24
 Peer review of annotated biblio.
 Rough draft of Annotated Bibliography due. Post to Bb and bring at least 3 hard copies to class.
13. M 12/1
 Peer review of rough drafts
 Rough draft due. Post to Bb and bring at least 4 hard copies to the seminar.
14. M 12/8
 Peer review of primary texts; Rough drafts returned
 Edition of primary text due; be prepared to present your editorial work to the seminar. Bring a few copies in order to share this material.
Finals week
 Drop off of final projects in 352 DI
 Bibliographical Research Project due M 12/15 between 5:30 and 7:30. If you would like to receive your project back over the break, provide a SAS manilla envelope. If you put "Media Mail" on the front, it will cost $2.23 for under 1 lb.. Otherwise, I will hold onto projects until Valentine's Day 2009 (office hours posted on English Dept. website).