April 17 Preliminary bibliography for the research paper due (part of class participation)
April 24 Summary of one article or book chapter to be used for the research paper due (10%)
May 6 Outline of the research paper due (part of class participation)
May 13 Research paper due (5%)
June 5 Revised research paper due (10%)
1. Select a topic--any one literary text--from the list below. You may write on two of the shorter works if you wish.
2. Read the text(s) carefully.
3. Do any necessary research to comprehend the text(s).
4. Find 12 sources analyzing or evaluating your text(s). Do not consider the actual works of literature as sources.
5. Type up an MLA-style bibliography that includes the source for your text(s) and the 12 other sources that analyze the text(s). Proofread the bibliography and turn it in on April 17th.
6. Read the sources you have located. Take careful notes on the sources.
7. Select the source that is most interesting to you.
8. Make a copy of the source to turn in with your summary.
9. Use your notes to write a summary of the source. Do not plagiarize. Put any use of two or more words from the original source in quotation marks. Do not imitate the style of the source. Plagiarized summaries receive a grade of zero. Since the summary is 10% of the final grade, be obsessive about not plagiarizing. A good summary contains the thesis of the essay, the key supporting points, and brief statements about the proof provided for the points. Do not include any examples. Do not use long quotations.
10. Assemble your summary, a work cited page for your summary, and the original source. Turn these in on April 24th.
11. Reflect on your text(s) and notes. Select an appropriate method(s) of development to approach your topic: comparison, contrast, process analysis, division, classification, causal analysis, definition, argument, etc. Begin to formulate a thesis statement for your topic.
12. Show your potential thesis statements to me during my office hours.
13. Select the best thesis and draft up an outline of an argument that will prove the thesis.
14. Copy out your outline neatly and turn it in on May 6th.
15. Write your research paper. Take it to the writing center in University Hall for assistance with improving the writing. Use MLA-style.
16. Type and proofread your paper. Turn it in on May 13.
17. Read your graded research paper with care. Revise as recommended. Consult me and the writing center about revision.
18. Turn in your revised research paper and the original on June 5th.
Any complete poem included in "The Restoration and the Eighteenth Century" section of The Norton Anthology; Any work of literature assigned for the class
Any essay from The Spectator
Richard Steele, The Conscious Lovers
Aphra Behn, Oroonoko, The Rover Part I, Love Letters Between a Nobleman and His Sister, "The Fair Jilt," "The Unfortunate Bride," "Anges de Castro," "The Adventure of the Black Lady"
John Bunyan, Pilgrim's Progress
Daniel Defoe, Moll Flanders, A Journal of the Plague Year, Roxanna, Robinson Crusoe
George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham, The Rehearsal
John Gay, The Beggar's Opera
Oliver Goldsmith, The Vicar of Wakefield, She Stoops to Conquer
Horace Walpole, The Castle of Otranto
James Thomson, The Seasons
Henry Fielding, Joseph Andrews, Tom Jones
Sophia Lee, The Recess
Charlotte Lennox, The Female Quixote
William Wycherley, The Country Wife
Richard Brinsley Sheridan, The School for Scandal, The Critic, The Rivals
Clara Reeve, The Old English Baron, "The History of Charoba, Queen of Eygpt"
Samuel Richardon, Pamela, Clarissa, Sir Charles Grandison
George Farquhar, The Beux' Stratagem
Frances Burney, Evelina, Cecilia
Anne Finch, "To the Nightingale," "Friendship between Ephelia and Ardelia," "Life's Progress," "Reformation," "Enquiry After Peace"
Laurence Sterne, A Sentimental Journey
Henry Mackenzie, The Man of Feeling Eliza Haywood, Love in Excess, The History of Miss Betsy Thoughtless