SLN: 76910
Wed. 4:40-7:30 PM
Tempe LL 105
 
   
     
 
Last modified:
10/20/2010
 
     

 

ENG 500

Literary Research Methods

Fall 2010


Dan Bivona
Office: LL 224
dbivona@asu.edu

Office hours: T 3-5 (in LL 224), T 7-9 pm (online), and by appointment

Directions for online meetings:
[Audio conference: Call my Skype number from any phone: 602-903-3825]
[Video conference: 1) Find my contact info in the Skype Directory, 2)
add me to your contacts list, 3) and make a video call (this requires you to have Skype
on your computer; video calls on Skype are free. See www.skype.com to download)]

Phone: 602-903-3825

Website: http://www.public.asu.edu/~dbivona

This course is intended to prepare you with the basic skills and knowledge to undertake the kind of research you will need to do to succeed in a graduate program in literature, either at the M.A. or the Ph.D. level. In addition, it will offer an introduction to the profession: not simply the blessings and pitfalls but the values one needs to adopt in order to succeed in the literary profession. The course is required of all students in the M.A. and Ph.D. programs in our department.

The course has essentially four major components: 1) an introduction to research methods in English; 2) an introduction to literature faculty in English who represent different fields within the department and who are available to direct dissertations and masters theses; 3) a unit covering critical theory; and 4) a unit which introduces you to what is now called "English Studies." Please note that this course requires a significant investment of your time and effort, although the required reading list is relatively manageable. You are required to do 2 in-class presentations in addition to the writing assignments. However, ideally much of that effort will pay off in the future by giving you the opportunity to do preliminary research work in a field close to that of your eventual masters thesis or PhD dissertation.

Requirements for ENG 500
Assignment
Where it can be found
Due Date
% of Final Grade
1) Research assignment "Assignments" area of Blackboard due in the Assignments Drop Box on September 22, 11:59 PM 15%
2) Critical theory bibliography + 1 in-class presentation (15 minutes) "Assignments" area of Blackboard

presentation to be scheduled; bibliography due in the Assignments Drop Box on November 3, 11:59 PM

20%
3) Annotated bibliography + 1 in-class presentation (5 minutes) "Assignments" area of Blackboard due in the Assignments Drop Box on November 17, 11:59 PM; presentaton to be scheduled later. 20%
4) Bibliographic essay "Assignments" area of Blackboard due in the Assignments Drop Box on December 8, 11:59 PM 25%
5) Attendance/contributions to class discussion/contributions to Blackboard discussions (beginning after September 22) Discussion forums on Blackboard throughout 20%
Total     100%

N.B. All students must identify a field of literary interest (e. g. "Victorian Literature and Culture," "Medieval Studies," "Postcolonial Studies," "Nineteenth Century American Literature,"etc.). Ideally, the field you identify will be the one in which you will write your MA thesis or PhD dissertation. You must then identify a general topic of interest within that field that might, ideally, end up as the topic of your dissertation/thesis. Your annotated bibliography, critical theory bibliography, and literature review will then focus on that field and topic. The presentations by Department literature faculty are designed to help you make your decision by introducing you to the wealth of opportunities available in the English Department.

Outline of assignments:

1) Research assignment: This assignment requires you to answer 25 questions on a diverse array of literary topics all of which may be found through internet sources. The path you followed to find the answer must be identified in your responses. See the assignment sheet for "assignment 1" for details.

2) Critical theory bibliography + 1 in-class presentation (15 minutes): This assignment calls on you to identify a theoretical school that may be of some use to you in developing your dissertation/thesis project. You will compile a bibliography and do a 15-minute presentation on the school. You are encouraged to use Powerpoint for this. See the assignment sheet for "assignment 2" for details.

3) Annotated bibliography + in-class presentation (5 minutes): This assignment requires you to prepare an annotated bibliography in your proposed area of expertise and to deliver a brief (5-minute maximum) overview of your research at the end of class; this bibliography should be as extensive as possible relative to the limitations of time and space, and should aim for helping you develop a possible topic for your thesis/dissertation. See the assignment sheet for "assignment 3 " for details.

4) Bibliographic essay: This assignment requires you to develop and write a bibliographic essay on the topic of your dissertation/thesis. It should be limited to 2500 words in length. Keep in mind that a good bibliographic essay should both summarize the most important extant writing on the topic and identify potentially fruitful areas of further research.

5) Attendance and discussions: At the end of the semester, I will award a letter grade for your attendance and contributions to discussions -- in class and on Blackboard. The Blackboard discussions begin after September 22. You are required to pose at least 5 questions on the Blackboard forums over the course of the semester. These should be posted no later than the Tuesday before class (6 PM). You are also required to offer at least one response per week from September 22 through the last week of the course (again by the deadline of Tuesday before our Wednesday class). These should be thoughtful short paragraph responses rather than simply 1 sentence responses. Some of the Blackboard questions and responses will be discussed further in class.

Please use MLA format for all citations.

Books
Author Title Edition
Altick

The Art of Literary Research*

Norton
Graff Clueless in Academe** Yale UP
Pope The English Studies Book* Routledge
Harner On Compiling an Annotated Bibliography* MLA

*These books are currently available at the ASU Bookstore. Other required readings can be found online or on reserve on Blackboard.

**Please note that this book should be ordered from Amazon.com ASAP. It is not in the ASU Bookstore.

Date
Topic
Assignment
8/25
Introduction to the course
 
9/1

What is information? What's the difference between information literacy and information fluency or expertise?

  1. Finding information [Bivona]
  2. Critically evaluating information (reputation of online sources, proprietary databases, primary versus secondary sources, peer review, Wikipedia versus “Joe Shmoe's Website” versus Encyclopedia Britannica; copyright law [Bivona]
  3. Archival research [Bivona]
9/8

Faculty presentations:

  • Dan Bivona (Victorian Literature and Culture) [4:40 pm]
  • Heather Maring (Old English/Linguistics) [5:30 pm]

How do you find an argument worth making?
  • Read: Faculty writings (Blackboard)
  • Read: Second half of Graff.
9/15

Faculty presentations:

  • Mark Lussier (Romantics) [4:40 pm]
  • Beth Tobin (Eighteenth Century British Literature and Culture) [5:30 pm]

How do you find an argument worth making? cont.

  • Read: Faculty writings (Blackboard)
9/22*

Faculty presentations:

  • Gregory Castle (Modernism/Postcolonial/Irish Studies) [4:40 pm]
  • Eddie Mallot (Postcolonial/Contemporary British Drama) [5:30 pm]

Annotated Bibliography

  • Read: Faculty writings (Blackboard)
  • Read: Harner
  • Begin work on a theoretical school: See especially the Johns Hopkins Guide to Literary Theory and Criticism [online through lib.asu.edu]
9/29

Faculty presentations:

  • Rosalynn Voaden (Medieval Studies) [4:40 pm]
  • Robert Sturges (Queer Theory/Medieval and Renaissance Studies) [5:30 pm]

Bibliographic Essay

  • Read: Faculty writings (Blackboard)
  • Work on your theoretical school (workshop)
10/6

Faculty presentations:

  • Richard Newhauser (Medieval Studies) [4:40 pm]
  • Joe Lockard (Nineteenth Century American Studies) [5:30 pm]

Bibliographic Essay

  • Read: Faculty writings (Blackboard)
  • Work on your theoretical school (workshop)
10/13

Faculty presentations:

  • Simon Ortiz (Native American Studies) [4:40 pm]
  • Brad Ryner (Renaissance Studies) [5:30 pm]
  • Read: Faculty writings (Blackboard)
  • Work on your theoretical school (workshop)
10/20

Faculty presentations:

  • Cora Fox (Renaissance) [4:40 pm]
  • Ron Broglio (Romantics) [5:30 pm]

What is literary research? What is “the literary”?

  1. Establishing “the text”
  2. Who invented literature?
  • Read: Faculty writings (Blackboard)
  • Read: “Textual Criticism” in Johns Hopkins Guide to Literary Theory and Criticism [online database at http://lib.asu.edu]
  • Read: Altick, “Textual Study” (pp. 62-87)
  • Read: Matthew Arnold, from Culture and Anarchy (1869): “Sweetness and Light,” “Doing as one Likes,” “Barbarians, Philistines, Populace,” “Hebraism and Hellenism” (“Literature Online” through http://lib.asu.edu)
10/27

Faculty presentations:

  • Jay Boyer (Film History) [4:40 pm]
  • Deb Clarke (Modern American) [5:30 pm]

1) What is an author? Does language have intentions independent of the author's? Who originates the text? Do readers “author” texts?

 

 
  • Read: Altick, “Problems of Authorship” and the “Search for Origins” (pp. 88-118)
  • Read: “Death of the Author” in Roland Barthes, Image, Music, Text [1968]
  • Read: Michel Foucault, “What Is an Author?” in Language, counter-memory, practice [1977]
  • Read: David Saunders and Ian Hunter, “Lessons from the ‘Literatory.'” Critical Inquiry 17.3 (Spring 1991): 479-509 [JSTOR]
  • Read: T. S. Eliot, "Tradition and the Individual Talent" (http://www.bartleby.com/200/sw4.html)
11/3**

1) What is an author? cont.

2) Student critical theory presentations

  • Presentations: To be scheduled
11/10

1) What is an author? continued

2) Student critical theory presentations

  • Presentations: To be scheduled
11/17***

1) What is English Studies?

2) Student presentations (annotated bibliographies)

 
  • Read: Pope
  • Presentations: To be scheduled
11/24
No Class: Thanksgiving Holiday
12/1

1) What is English Studies?

2) Student presentations (annotated bibliographies)

  • Presentations: To be scheduled
12/8****
Reading Day (No Class)

* Research assignment due
**Critical theory annotated bibliography due
***Annotated bibliography due
****Bibliographic essay due

History of the Profession:

Graff, Gerald. Professing Literature: An Institutional History. Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press, 1987.

Scholes, Robert. The Rise and Fall of English: Reconstructing English as a Discipline. New Haven and London: Yale UP, 1998.