English 2235 / Spring 2006
Bibliographic Essay Assignment
Assignment:
Find a critical article from a scholarly journal or a chapter from a scholarly book that provides commentary on one of the works of American literature that we are studying this semester, from Volume C or D. The article or chapter should be at least 10-15 pages long and should not be a biography of the writer. Then write a bibliographical essay of 3-5 pages. Your essay should contain the following sections:
Objectives:
Instead of assigning the traditional “term paper” (which sometimes becomes a “loose baggy monster”), I chose this assignment because it is more limited in scope and it retains the research and critical reading, thinking, and writing skills needed for introductory literary research and writing. It is my hope that you will be able to (1) explore a literary text of interest to you, (2) learn basic literary research skills, (3) critically read and think about a critical article or chapter from a scholarly book, and (4) summarize and then evaluate and/or respond to the article or chapter in a meaningful way.
Samples:
The first sample paper is one that I wrote in my World Literature I survey course in the Fall of 1990. We had just finished reading Virgil’s Aeneid, I had particularly liked Book Five, and I wanted to examine it in more depth; in addition, I noticed similarities between this part of the Aeneid and similar sections in Homer’s The Iliad and The Odyssey. After doing a search for books and/or articles about the Aeneid in general and Book Five in particular, I found the article, “Was Book Five Once in a Different Place in the Aeneid?” in the scholarly journal, American Journal of Philology.
The second sample paper is one that I wrote in my British Literature I survey course back in the Fall of 1991. We had studied Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales earlier in the term, I had particularly enjoyed “The Miller’s Tale” -- its story, its form, and its humor -- and I wanted to explore the genre of the fabliau further. After doing a search for books and/or articles about fabliau in general and Chaucer’s fabliau in particular, I found the article, “The English Fabliau Tradition and Chaucer’s ‘Miller’s Tale,’” in the scholarly journal, Modern Philology.
After studying these first two sample papers, you will notice that the summary section in the British Lit. paper is more thorough than the summary in the World Lit. paper; since I want your summary to have some substance to it, follow the British Lit. example. As for the analysis sections, you will notice that each paper takes a different approach: the British Lit. paper takes an “evaluation” approach while the World Lit. paper takes a more “response” approach -- this is because these two assignments were quite different, given by different professors in different courses. The approach you take in your own analysis section is up to you (and you might even combine both “evaluation” and “response” in your analysis), but be sure your analysis section contains your ideas about the article or chapter (and the literary text the article or chapter is about) and does not simply re-summarize it. But perhaps follow the World Lit. paper in terms of length for the analysis section; I want your analysis section to be as long, or even a bit longer, than your summary section.
The third sample paper was written by a student in my English 2230: American Literature I course in the Fall of 2003. Her assignment was exactly the same as the one you have now. She chose to write about Frederick Douglass' Narrative.
The fourth sample paper was written by another student in my English 2230: American Literature I course in the Fall of 2003. Her assignment was exactly the same as the one you have now. She chose to write about Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter.
Evaluation:
Your essay will be graded on (1) the MLA bibliographic citation, (2) the accuracy, brevity, and clarity of your summary, (3) the clarity and strength of your analysis -- the “depth” of your critical thinking in your evaluation and/or response, (4) the clarity and logic of your structure, and (5) your use of language -- reasonable “correctness” in grammar, punctuation, spelling, and mechanics. In other words, in addition to the summary, your ideas and how you present and explain them are most important; “grammar” is only taken into account to the degree that it detracts from your presentation. A final word of warning: you are able to use the article or chapter and your text and notes as you write your essay, so be very careful that you are accurate with your use of authors’ names, quotations, and factual details from the texts.
Formatting Requirements:
Your essay should be at least three (3) pages long but no longer than five (5) pages -- double-spaced and word-processed -- with 1.0"-1.25” margins on all sides, and a 12-point “normal” font (e.g. Times New Roman or Arial). No title page is needed: simply put your name, the course prefix and number, my name, and the date in the upper-left-hand corner of the first page. Note: the sample papers are single spaced without any indentations simply to save paper; do not follow this formatting on your own paper. I will provide more details later about formatting. Finally, check this page and this page for more information about writing papers in literature classes; also check this page for writing bibliographic citations in MLA style (or use a current writing handbook).
Peer Review Draft Due Date: ____________________ (four copies of a complete draft)
Final Draft Due Date: ____________________
Note: In addition to the final draft and a copy of your rough draft and peer review notes, you must submit a copy of the article or chapter you are summarizing and analyzing along with your final draft -- perhaps use a two-pocket folder. Failure to submit a copy of the article or chapter along with your final draft will result in an “F” for the essay.
Last revised on 18 June 2009 by SRS