- English 500: Methods of Scholarly Research
Dr. Steven Frye
Winter 2006
Office Hours: 9:30-11:00 MW, 4:00-6:00 R, and by appointment
Office: Faculty Office 315
Office Phone: (661) 952-5095
Email:
Course Description
This course will introduce students to the various methods, strategies, and techniques necessary to create well-written research-based literary analyses. Students will learn about the specific library resources available through the CSUB Stiern Library and other libraries via interlibrary loan. The course will involve a required field trip to the UCLA libraries, one of the richest university libraries in the world, where we will receive an introduction and tour. The course will also explore the essential features of critical articles as they are produced by practicing scholars in the field, and we will read and discuss the Norton Critical Edition of Herman Melville’s The Confidence Man, exploring both the novel itself and the specific criticism and textual analysis provided by the Norton. Our purpose here will be to understand the way in which various resources acquired through research—critical articles, early reviews, letters, contextual materials—inform our understanding of a complex and mysterious text and even controversial text.
Course Requirements
Students must complete all assigned work on time. Required work is due at the beginning of class. Late work will not be accepted without significant penalties. Grading will be as follows:
- Oral Presentation and Handout 20%
- MLA Style Annotated Bibliography (15 sources minimum) 20%
- Bibliographical Essay (MLA Style, 12-15 sources, 15-20 pages) 40%
- Critical Article Introduction (1-2 pages) 10%
- Attendance and participation 10%
Required Texts
Order any edition of the Melvillenovelon line. The various criticism and external contextual material will be available in the course packet.
- Herman Melville, The Confidence-Man
- Frye, Stiern Library Electronic Course Packet, English 500
- MLA Handbook (in AVC Marauder Bookstore)
Schedule
Week One
1/5 Library Tutorial
Introduction to the Form and Purpose of the Research-Based Scholarly Essay
Week Two
1/12 Library Tutorial
Continued Discussion of the Research-Based Scholarly Essay
Discussion of Bibliographic Essay
Week Three
1/19 Orientation to the materials at the UCLA Libraries
Elizabeth Renker, “A_____!: Unreadability in the The Confidence-Man”
Jenny Franchot, “Melville’s Traveling God”
Week Four
1/28 Saturday Field Trip to the UCLA Libraries. We will car-pool, meeting at campus promptly at 7:00 A.M. We must be there promptly for our guided tour. No class at our normal Thursday time
Week Five
2/2 Melville, The Confidence-Man
Week Six
2/9 Melville, The Confidence-Man
Due: Annotated Bibliographies (Note: you should be making progress on these long before our trip to UCLA, via on-line full-text scholarly articles and interlibrary loan articles and books.
Week Seven
2/16 The Confidence-Man,Reviews
The Confidence-Man, Letters
Week Eight
2/23 The Confidence-Man, Shroeder, “Sources and Symbols for The Confidence Mane
The Confidence-Man, Parker, “The Metaphysics of Indian Hating”
Week Nine:
3/3 Two student presentations on a critical resource from the library. Students assigned to present here may select particular resources they find useful and decide on two separate resources and present them separately and individually
Week Ten
3/10 Student presentations on definitive editions. Students assigned to present here must select works that have recognized definitive editions (example: the Newberry Edition of Moby-Dick) and present the argument for why these editions are definition, as well as the history of their creation, the backgrounds of the editors, and the distinctive nature of the editions.
Week 11
3/7 (Monday) Due: Bibliographic Essays and Critical Article Introductions (hand them to me in my office or place them in my box)
Annotated Bibliography
The purpose of the annotated bibliography is to assist you in preparing and organizing your research for the Bibliographic Essay and Critical Article Introduction. In this annotated bibliography, you should provide all the bibliographic information for your source (either book, chapter in book, or scholarly article) using MLA style. Just beneath that, you should provide a brief summary of the work’s thesis and the salient points the critic uses to support that thesis. Finally, you should provide a brief analysis of the argument. Each entry should consist then of the following: bibliographic citation, summary, analysis. It should be between an third and a half a page single-spaced. You should compose this as a resource for other scholars, and you must provide a copy of the annotated bibliography for each class member. In this way, you will be assisting other scholars in the act of research. Fifteen sources minimum.
Oral Presentation
Because this is a graduate course, you are expected to take a larger role in the intellectual interchange occurring in each class meeting. Each discussion will begin with a 10-15 minute oral presentation designed to initiate discussion. We will usually have two oral presentations per session. Ideally, your presentation will “break down” into a fruitful class discussion that may go in many different directions. Once the interchange has begun, you don’t need to “lead” it (though you may find yourself participating extensively--and that’s just fine). Depending upon your topic, you may explore and present a preliminary idea for a conference paper or critical article, research some aspect of context or biography pertinent to the work as provided in the Norton Critical, take up some important question that might make for a valuable discussion. The best oral presentations are informed by research. In the case of those presenting in weeks nine and ten, you should introduce and explain the value of the source and be prepared to answer questions. All presenters should provide a typed handout. The presentation will be evaluated based upon the apparent interest you put into the topic, the originality and interest of your contribution, and the usefulness of your handout. You will not be penalized for nervousness or public speaking skills.
Critical Article Introduction
In this assignment you will compose a one to two page introduction to a critical article modeled on the published essays you have read. This introduction should establish a critical context for your argument, with sources cited, and conclude with a well-written and ideally an original thesis. The purpose is for you to begin to observe how scholars build arguments by responding to and advancing previous research on the topic. This introduction should be on the same topic as your bibliographic essay and may form the basis for a seminar paper in another course.
Bibliographical Essay
Your bibliographical essay should synthesize 12-15 critical sources dealing with a canonical literary work (by this I mean any work that has generated a significant body of criticism within the scholarly community). These critical sources should be published no earlier than 1970. However, if you think it is necessary and useful to consider works before that period, you may do so in addition to the above required number. (Note: Very short notes from publications such as Explicator and Note and Queries are generally not appropriate for the bibliographic essay). Your essay should be between 15-20 typed, double-spaced pages and should contain the following components:
- An introductory rationale (2-4 paragraphs). Explain why you have chosen the sources you have included. Discuss why you have excluded certain sources that someone familiar with your topic might expect you to include. Provide a clear statement regarding the structure of your essay.
- A thoughtful, objective synthesis of your sources (12-15 pages). Be as disinterested and unbiased as you can. Remember that you are not writing a standard critical essay. Instead, you may use this synthesis of research material as background for a future critical project, perhaps a seminar paper or even your thesis. Don’t just select the articles that interest you. Be objective. Your purpose here is to bring together major critical trends, debates, and central issues that have preoccupied the critical community in recent decades.
- A prediction of future scholarship and criticism (2-4 paragraphs). What meaningful critical work remains to be done? After having studied the body of criticism that has accumulated around a work of literature, you should be ready to answer this question with some specific ideas. Feel free to offer your own informed perspective here. Perhaps you are considering writing your thesis on the work you have chosen for this assignment. Briefly describe how you would go about planning your thesis.
- A list of works cited (2-3 pages). Divide this list into two separate sections. In the first section, you will list your 10-12 sources alphabetically. Present the definitive editions (s) of the canonical work you have chosen in the second section. If any controversy exists over the definitive edition of your work, please discuss this conflict in the main body of your essay. If you work with “classic” critical sources (sources that precede 1970) list them in the third section with an appropriate heading. Use MLA documentation style.
Attendance and Participation
Participation in class involves demonstrating an interest in the reading material and sharing insights with others in class discussions. All reading is to be completed by the due date on the syllabus. Success in the course is dependent upon attendance; attending a class means arriving on time, coming back to class promptly from breaks, and staying for the entire class period. Leaving early will count as an absence. Any missed class sessions may naturally affect your performance, but you may miss one class meeting without formal penalty. Additional absences will affect your grade unless there are clear and verifiable extenuating circumstances. If you miss more than three classes you will not pass the course.
The library field trip is a required aspect of the course. If you do not attend, it will be reflected in your class participations grade.
All cell phones and pagers must be turned off for the duration of the class period.
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