English 592: Writing Women in the Age of Shakespeare
Assignments
bibliography | close reading | individual presentation | term paper | final presentation
E592 Home Page / Syllabus / Policy Statement
Due: Friday, April 7
In order to introduce you to the library (real or virtual) and its resources, your first written assignment will be to compile a brief bibliography of the most interesting recent articles written on one of the texts we will read this quarter. (I will assign you a particular text to work on.) From the MLA Bibliography database, select ten books, journal articles or essays in collections.
Requirements:
1. Most (or all) of your items should have been published since 1970.
2. Your Bibliography must be arranged alphabetically and presented in MLA style as specified in the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. If you are an English major, you should own a copy of this reference guide. If you do not own a copy, it is available at the library in the reference section (check OSCAR for details). Note: the MLA database does not put items in bibliography format. You must convert the information into the proper form!
Below are several examples of MLA style bibliographic entries; however, you are likely to find items which are more complicated than these very basic models.
Book:
Author’s name. Title of the book. Editor’s name (if any). Publication information.
Shakespeare, William. The Complete Works. Ed. Gary Taylor and Stanley Wells. Compact
Edition. New York: Oxford University Press, 1987.
Essay in an anthology/collection:
Author’s name. "Title of essay." Title of collection. Editor’s name (if any). Publication info.
Page numbers.
Belsey, Catherine. "Desire’s excess and the English Renaissance theatre: Edward II, Troilus
and Cressida, Othello." Erotic Politics: Desire on the Renaissance Stage.
Ed. Susan Zimmerman. New York: Routledge, 1992. 84-102.
Article in a scholarly journal:
Author’s name. "Article title." Journal title Volume.Issue (Date): page numbers.
Levin, Richard. "Women in the Renaissance Theater Audience." Shakespeare Quarterly
40 (1987): 165-73.
Material/articles from electronic journals:
Author’s name. "Article title." Journal title Volume.Issue (Date): #of pages [or
"n.pag."]. Online. Name of computer network [Internet, BITNET,
etc.]. Date of access. Available: Network address.
Readings, Bill. "Translatio and Comparative Literature: The Terror of European Humanism."
Surfaces 1.11 (Dec. 1991): 19pp. Online. Internet. 2 Feb. 1992. Available
FTP: harfang.cc.umontreal.ca.
Due: Friday, April 21
Objective: In order to help you develop the skills you will need to read literary works attentively and analytically, your first writing assignment will be an exercise in close reading.
For this assignment, you will select one of the works we've read during the first three weeks of the course. You may find it helpful to photocopy sections of your chosen work so you will feel free to mark up the text. Begin by making notes to yourself about every feature of the text that seems significant. Use the following suggestions to get started, but don’t stop here. (For more help with close reading, come see me.)
1. Identify and look up any Biblical references in your text. What is the point of the Biblical passage? How does your author use the citation? (Is she interested in particular words? in the tone? Does she dispute the "standard" interpretation of the passage, or does she rely on this "standard" interpretation?)
2. Pay attention to what your author says and how she says it. What is the structure of your text? (Is it divided into sections? Does it make a series of parallel points? Does the author balance contrasting points against one another or does she develop a line of related, complementary points?) Does the author vary her tone as she writes? (Does she compliment her reader or her sources, then mock her opponents...?) Does she quote other authors? (How does she handle such borrowed material?)
3. Pay particular attention if your author uses figurative language. Notice any metaphors and images your writer crafts. Do they make common ideas seem extraordinary or extraordinary things seem commonplace? Do they play on particular senses? Do they use nature as a point of reference? or human society? or the supernatural? Is there a pattern of imagery in your work? (For instance, if several metaphors in a text compare the author's adversaries to beasts of prey, that's significant!) What does each metaphor contribute to our understanding of the thing being described? What is the collective effect of all of the images taken together?
4. Pay attention to word choice. Are there any words that might convey more than one meaning? Is there a pun or a double entendre at work? Is your author relying on the words' multiple connotations to deepen or texture or problematize the her meaning? or is she "simply" indulging in humor?
With regard to this last issue, be sure to look up any words you do not know and any words which seem to be used differently by your author than we use them today. On general principles you should look up all of the words which seem to be important hinges in the argument or imagery of the work. The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) is the tool you will need. You must be on campus to gain access to this database. Alternatively, you could go to the library and look in the bound volumes of the OED, but the database is a newer edition and is easier to use once you become familiar with it.
After you have excavated all of the formal and artistic aspects of your text, then you will write a short analytical paper (2-3 typed, single-spaced pages in length) discussing how your writer crafts her text to make her point to best effect. You must discuss at least one word’s significant meanings as researched in the OED, but I’d encourage you to discuss as many words in this way as you can. The best papers will have a real argument to make about the work’s artistry and will be richly textured in their presentation and treatment of evidence.
English 520: Presentation Assignment
** After you sign up for a presentation, see me and I will give you a copy of the description of your particular assignment.
Not all of the presentations ask for exactly the same kind of work, so I will describe the requirements in general terms. If you have any questions about your particular assignment, consult with me (either during office hours, or by making an appointment, or by e-mail).
Substance/Timing: On your presentation day, I will set aside 10-15 minutes of class time for you to begin the class’s discussion of your topic. You should have 2 or 3 observations to suggest about your text(s) or topic and you should have 3 questions for the class, which we will use as time permits.
Handout: You should plan to use a handout to outline your major points and to distribute your discussion questions. Be sure to include citations if you quote from your texts (a good idea!), so the class can easily find the sections of the texts to which you refer. It is often helpful if you print out important quotations on your handout.
If you are reporting on a document from an outside source, your remarks should draw connections between that document and the work(s) we are discussing as a class on the day of your presentation.
You will be our resident expert on the material you have prepared, so you should anticipate questions the class and I will have about your text and your reading of it.
The grade you receive will assess your preparedness, the substance and relevance of your observations about the materials, and the effectiveness of your questions in opening up areas for discussion. (You will not be graded on your classmates’ (un)willingness to take up the discussion -- I will help you engage them if they are slow to pick up your lead. However, it would be a mark of your excellence if you could animate the class on a slow day!)
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Do not, do not fail to show up for your presentation. Once the day is past, it’s past. Carpe Diem.
Grand Finale: A Celebration of Women Writers
Your final assignment for this course is to make a formal contribution to our final class celebration. In early modern England, people knew how to throw a party! Like us, they enjoyed food and drink, and they loved to entertain and to be entertained: women especially cultivated talents for music, singing, and dancing. Other popular entertainments included juggling, slight of hand, gymnastic tumbling, comedy sketches, masquerading, and play-acting. For our celebration you may choose to entertain us with a short scene from one of the plays we've read, a recitation of a significant soliloquy, a dramatic reading of a series of poems, an appropriate (or inappropriate) ballad, a jaunty jig, feats of juggling, skillful demonstrations of slight of hand, or with witty jests zestfully performed.
Two restrictions: You may not use live animals or do anything that would constitute a violation of the laws of the State of Ohio or of the United States.
Each of you will be responsible for one entertainment, though you may certainly recruit others or sign on with others so that you may work in groups. (In other words, there should be as many entertainments as there are class members, and you will be primarily responsible for one of them, though you may participate in more than one if you wish. You will get a grade for one of these and our collective good wishes for any others you choose to do!) You must let me know in advance what you plan to do. I encourage you to employ props and costumes where you are able. Remember that this is a graded assignment, but also remember that it is meant to be fun.
Bring food and libations to share. (No strong drink, please!)