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Course Information

ENGL 4630 A Senior Seminar: The Elegy
CRN: 80966
TR 3:30 - 4:45
Newton 2210

Course Description

The University Catalog says that "In this capstone course, English majors will study a discrete body of literature and conduct extensive research in literary criticism related to a specific topic. Emphasis will be on preparation, revision, and oral presentation of an original research project. Prerequisite(s): ENGL 3110 and ENGL 2100, ENGL 2111, or ENGL 2112.."

What we'll be doing this semester is taking a long look at the Elegy. Poetry at Harvard notes that "this genre can be difficult to define, as there are specific types of elegiac poems as well as a general elegiac mood, but almost all elegies mourn, and seek consolation for, a loss of some kind: the most common form of elegy is a lyric commemorating the death of a loved one." That's a bit long-winded, so we can start with Peter Sacks' far more terse definition: "a poem of mortal loss and consolation." I argue that the elegy is not only the original form of poetry, but it exists because it must exist. It is the most emotional, the most hearfelt — and heart-breaking — form of literature. It turns anguish into art.

If you're looking to pin this down a bit more, do your online research with caution. There are quite a few bad, inconsistent, or illogical descriptions of the elegy out there. One of the most ridiculous is this "a poem of lament which expresses gloomy thoughts of a person who is no more." So for this site, at least, an elegy is a text written by the deceased, gloomily lamenting their state. Yeah, I've been working on elegies for over 30 years now, and I don't know of any trend in the genre where the dead person don';t know

In this class, we'll begin by wrapping our arms around the vast historical, cultural, and social functions of the elegy. We'll look at multiple types, from the personal to the pastoral to the cultural to the anti-elegy. And we'll cover every Western literary period, from the ancient world to the 2000s.

All of this means that you'll have a vast array of topics you can address in your seminar paper. Your goal this semester is to produce an article-length paper (minimum 3500 words, not counting your abstract, any block quotations you might use, and your Works Cited section). You'll then distill that paper into the script for a ten-minute public presentation, followed by a questions from department faculty members. We'll be scaffolding this semester-long project, so you don't find yourself cranking out 15 pages the week before its due.

Course Dates

• August 10: Classes begin
• August 10-15: Drop-Add period
• October 6: Last day to drop with a "W"
• November 21-26: Thanksgiving Holidays
• November 30: Last day of classes
• December 6: 10:00 am - Final Exam

Learning Outcomes / Career Readiness Competencies

Learning Outcomes are the knowledge or skills you should gain (and be able to demonstrate) by the end of a particular course.

Career Readiness Competencies are core competencies developed by the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE). They address eight areas where employers agree that your abilities and skills signify your readiness to begin and/or extend your career. Below are the skills you'll have the opportunity to practice in this course.

Learning Outcomes:

Upon successful completion of this course, you should be able to:

• Recognize and analyze the literary elements in elegiac texts.
• Situate and interpret those texts in their historical, cultural, and literary contexts.
• Create a well-developed and organized essay with clear and precise prose, presenting a sustained argument about the elegy.

Career Readiness Competencies contained within this course:

Self-Development	Display curiosity; seek out opportunities to learn. Assume duties or positions that will help one progress professionally. Seek and embrace development opportunities. Voluntarily participate in further education, training, or other events to support one’s career.
Communication	Understand the importance of and demonstrate verbal, written, and non-verbal/body language, abilities. Employ active listening, persuasion, and influencing skills. Communicate in a clear and organized manner so that others can effectively understand. Frame communication with respect to diversity of learning styles, varied individual communication abilities, and cultural differences.
Critical Thinking	Make decisions and solve problems using sound, inclusive reasoning and judgment. Gather and analyze information from a diverse set of sources and individuals to fully understand a problem. Proactively anticipate needs and prioritize action steps. Accurately summarize and interpret data with an awareness of personal biases that may impact outcomes. Effectively communicate actions and rationale, recognizing the diverse perspectives and lived experiences of stakeholders.
Equity and Inclusion	Solicit and use feedback from multiple cultural perspectives to make inclusive and equity-minded decisions. Seek global cross-cultural interactions and experiences that enhance one’s understanding of people from different demographic groups and that leads to personal growth. Keep an open mind to diverse ideas and new ways of thinking.
Leadership	Seek out and leverage diverse resources and feedback from others to inform direction. Use innovative thinking to go beyond traditional methods. Plan, initiate, manage, complete, and evaluate projects.
Professionalism	Act equitably with integrity and accountability to self, others, and the organization. Be present and prepared. Demonstrate dependability (e.g., report consistently for work or meetings). Prioritize and complete tasks to accomplish organizational goals. Consistently meet or exceed goals and expectations. Have an attention to detail, resulting in few if any errors in their work. Show a high level of dedication toward doing a good job
Teamwork	Listen carefully to others, taking time to understand and ask appropriate questions without interrupting. Effectively manage conflict, interact with and respect diverse personalities, and meet ambiguity with resilience. Be accountable for individual and team responsibilities and deliverables. Employ personal strengths, knowledge, and talents to complement those of others. Exercise the ability to compromise and be agile.
Technology	Navigate change and be open to learning new technologies. Use technology to improve efficiency and productivity of their work. Identify appropriate technology for completing specific tasks. Manage technology to integrate information to support relevant, effective, and timely decision-making. Quickly adapt to new or unfamiliar technologies. Manipulate information, construct ideas, and use technology to achieve strategic goals.

These career readiness skills will serve you well no matter what your next steps after graduation might be. Find out more about them on this page of the NACE site.

Required Material

Course Texts

Here's the good news: I'll provide the primary text for this class, so you won't have to buy any textbooks. Of course, I've got a number of primary and secondary sources I can recommmend to you, but for now, let's just begin with An Anthology of Elegies, which is a pdf file in Folio. You'll find it under "Course Materials."

Trigger Warning

A “trigger” is anything that might cause a person to experience a strong emotional and/or psychological response. Some triggers are shared by large numbers of people (for example, rape), while others are more idiosyncratic (for example, orange juice).

All texts read in this course, all class discussions, and all ancillary materials may contain instances of the following potential triggers, as well as other unanticipated and so unlisted potential triggers: ignorance; willful ignorance; cultural insensitivity; oppression; persecution; swearing, abuse (physical, mental, emotional, verbal, sexual), self-injurious behavior (self-harm, eating disorders, etc.), talk of drug use (legal, illegal, or psychiatric), suicide, descriptions or pictures of medical procedures, descriptions or pictures of violence or warfare (including instruments of violence), corpses, skulls, or skeletons; needles; racism; classism; sexism; heterosexism; cissexism, ableism; hatred of differing cultures or ethnicities; hatred of differing sexualities or genders; body image shaming; neuroatypical shaming; dismissal of lived oppressions, marginalization, illness, or differences; kidnapping (forceful deprivation of or disregard for personal autonomy; discussions of sex (even consensual); death or dying; beings in the natural world against which individuals may be phobic; pregnancy and childbirth; blood; serious injury; scarification; glorification of hate groups; elements which might inspire intrusive thoughts in those with psychological conditions such as PTSD, OCD, or clinical depression.

Unless expressly stated otherwise, the views, findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in the texts read in this course, the classroom discussions, and the ancillary material do not necessarily represent the views of the University or the course instructor.

All texts read in this course, all class discussions, and all ancillary materials may also contain instances of overwhelming beauty, profound truths, and serious reflection on what it means to be human.

By remaining registered in this class, you agree to be exposed to all of the above. As Jenny Jarvie has written,

In short, texts and/or discussions in this class may make you uncomfortable. . . for many of them, that may be the whole point.

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Course Structure

General

As the capstone couse in the Department of Lterature, this course gives you the opportunity to synthesize all that you have learned throughout your career within the Department, and communicate that body of knowledge in both written and oral formats. Toward that end, you're expected to proceed thus:

• Read and analyze the literary elements of a signifcant number of primary and secondary texts on the elegy.
• Situate and interpret those texts in their historical, cultural, and literary contexts.
• Create and present a well-developed and organized paper with clear and precise prose, containing a sustained argument that uses discipline-specific vocabulary and analytic techniques.
• Within that paper and presentation, apply and/or incorporate appropriate literary criticism and/or theory.

Apparatus and Application

The "apparatus" of this course is unique, because it's based on the individual critical processes you engage in when you encounter these texts. I don't expet you to buy my interpretations hook, line, and sinker. In fact, I'll be disappointed if you don't push back with some ideas of your own.

Your application is obvious: you're going to produce the longest and most dense paper you've ever written (I think), and you're going to defend your argument against a group of experts in the field. But as with the apparatus above, if I and my colleagues have done our jobs well, you have the chops for this task.

Readings

As mentioned above, we'll read a number of elegies, and a bit of the important critical works addressing both individual elegies and the elegy as a genre.

An Anthology of Elegies (available as a pdf file in the Folio site) will be our primary text for the elegies themselves. Other readings will come from material passed to you through the Folio site, or material you find through your research.

Papers

Early in the semester you'll write one very short paper, which you wll present to the class. You will also write one very long researched paper on some facet of the elegy, which you will present publicly.

See the Guided Argument and Researched Paper assignments below for an extensive explanation of these projects.

Exams

The good news is that there are no exams in this class. Your study should be focused on the clarity of your written work.

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Course Expectations

Learning Commitment

The "Carnegie Unit" is how universities define credit hours and categorize the amount of work students do for each credit hour. Each credit requires 15 "contact hours," which are essentially the hours you spend in class during the semester. And each contact hour requires two hours of outside work, or time devoted to the class that doesn't happen in the classroom itself. This is a three-credit course, with 45 contact hours. Those 45 contact hours necessitate at least 90 hours of out-of-class work on your part. That's at least 135 hours committed for each three-credit class that you take.

If you're not a self-starter, or you have problems with deadlines, or you just don't think you can commit to this level of work, you should probably look for another section of this class.

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Academic Integrity

I expect that you will conduct yourself within the guidelines of the Honor System. All academic work should be completed with the high level of honesty and integrity that this University demands.

I do not tolerate academic dishonesty. Beyond the moral implications, I find it insulting. All instances of plagiarism will be reported to the Office of Student Conduct. Any instance will result in an F in the course and possibly further sanctions. Plagiarism is presenting someone else's work as your own without giving them credit. Someone else is defined as anyone other than you: another student, a friend, relative, a source on the Internet, articles or books. And work is defined as ideas as well as language. So taking someone else's ideas and putting them in your own words—or using someone else's words to express your ideas—is plagiarism. And, in the case of friends and family, it doesn't matter if they give you permission.

A note about group work: I encourage you to read and discuss these texts together outside of class. It is, in fact, the core of our endeavor, to hone our own ideas on these texts through discussions with others. You should also discuss your writing with your classmates, as hearing a number of ideas will help you create and polish your own. However, this does not mean that you should write your papers as a group. While discussion is obviously a group activity, writing is a solitary one, and should be treated as such. Any attempt to subvert this would be an instance of academic dishonesty.

The University has a more extensive definition of Academic Dishonesty (from the Student Conduct Code):

CHEATING

1. submitting material that is not yours as part of your course performance;
2. using information or devices that are not allowed by the faculty;
3. obtaining and/or using unauthorized materials;
4. fabricating information, research, and/or results;
5. violating procedures prescribed to protect the integrity of an assignment, test, or other evaluation;
6. collaborating with others on assignments without the faculty's consent;
7. cooperating with and/or helping another student to cheat;
8. demonstrating any other forms of dishonest behavior.

PLAGIARISM

1. directly quoting the words of others without using quotation marks or indented format to identify them;
2. using sources of information (published or unpublished) without identifying them;
3. paraphrasing materials or ideas without identifying the source;
4. Self-plagiarism: re-submitting work previously submitted without explicit approval from the instructor;
5. unacknowledged use of materials prepared by another person or agency engaged in the selling of term papers or other academic material.

Should you wish to pursue a case of academic dishonesty through the Office of Student Conduct, I will speak at your hearing and send a copy of this syllabus along with the documents in question to the Hearing Officer, so a plea of ignorance or non-malicious intent on your part will not be valid.

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Course Schedule

I have deliberately not listed any sections, chapters, or page numbers below. Doling out a text in bite-sized chunks is counterproductive, especially at this level. If you consider reading such a chore that you need page counts or deadlines to prod you to finish reading, or if you need to ask me how far you should read in a book, you might need to reconsider your choice of a major.

Reading should be a pleasure; it is most certainly a privilege. With the texts below you should grab the opportunity to read as far as you can as soon as you can.

DATE	CLASS ACTIVITY	DUE
Week 1 8/11	Introduction / Syllabus / Introduction to the Elegy
Week 2 8/16	Discipline-specific research
8/18	Reading academic articles
Week 3 8/23	Elegies – from An Anthology of Elegies
8/25	Elegies – from An Anthology of Elegies
Week 4 8/30	Elegies – from An Anthology of Elegies
9/1	Class cancelled
Week 5 9/6	Guided argument presentations	GA
9/8	Guided argument presentations
Week 6 9/13	Elegies – from An Anthology of Elegies	RP P
9/15	Elegies – from An Anthology of Elegies
Week 7 9/20	Elegies – from An Anthology of Elegies
9/22	Elegies – from An Anthology of Elegies
Week 8 9/27	Elegies – from An Anthology of Elegies
9/29	Elegies – from An Anthology of Elegies
Week 9 10/4	Elegies – from An Anthology of Elegies	RP AB
10/6	Elegies – from An Anthology of Elegies
Week 10 10/11	Elegies – from An Anthology of Elegies
10/13	Elegies – from An Anthology of Elegies
Week 11 10/18	Individual writing
10/20	Individual writing
Week 12 10/25	Class cancelled
10/27	Peer editing	RP D1 (2 printed copies to class)
Week 13 11/1	Individual writing/editing
11/3	Individual writing/editing
Week 14 11/8	Peer Editing	RP D2 (2 printed copies to class)
11/10	Peer Editing	bring 2 clean copies of D2 to class
Week 15 11/15	Editing for presentation	RP FD (2 printed copies to class)
11/17	Editing for presentation
Week 16 11/29	Public Presentations	Draft Reflection - in Folio dropbox
12/6	3:30 pm: Public Presentations

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Instructor

Dr. Pellegrino

I'm Dr. Joe Pellegrino, an Associate Professor in the Literature department. I teach lots of different classes. My specialties are Irish literature and postcolonial literature, so I end up doing classes that don't fit into the standard Brit Lit/American Lit model: Irish lit, African lit, etc. Basically, if other people in my department can teach it, I don't teach it.

It seems like I went to school forever, and went to lots of different schools: Duquesne University, St. Louis University, Mannes College of Music, The New England Conservatory, and UNC-Chapel Hill, which is where I did my last degree. I've also taught at a lot of schools: Duquesne, UNC, Eastern Kentucky University, University of South Carolina-Upstate, Greenville Tech, Converse College, and here at GS. I've got some experience in online education; I was a University Director for the (short-lived) Kentucky Commonwealth Virtual University, and have taught online classes for over 20 years now.

Professionally, I also edit two international journals, The Journal of Global Postcolonial Studies and The International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning. I'm interested in a number of fields, but most of my publications are either on Irish studies, postcolonial lit, or teaching.

I have only one item on my bucket list: to see the Northern Lights. One day I'll get there, but in the meantime I'm negotiating the lives of two teen daughters, making heirloom furniture (pretty much a middle-aged guy cliché), keeping up with new technology, wishing I could spend more time doing music, and trying to keep my head above water.

Contact Information

• Email: jpellegrino@georgiasouthern.edu
• Phone: 912.478.5853
• Office Hours: M: 12:00-1:45 | R: 11:00-12:15, 2:00-3:15 | F: 11:00-11:50

A WORD ABOUT EMAIL

Please don't hesitate to post to me if you have a question about any of the readings, especially if you're struggling to figure them out. But please think twice about posting questions where the answer is either in this syllabus or in the course schedule. If you do, I have two options for a reply: I can copy and paste material from the syllabus or schedule just for you, but that's redundant, since you already have access to the material. Or I can reply with something like "check the syllabus" or "check the schedule," which you should already know to do. Since neither of those are satisfactory, if you ask a question that is already answered in the syllabus or in the schedule, I won't be replying at all. So if you don't hear back from me, you should know that the answer to your question is in this document (since the course schedule is here as well.)

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CLASS POLICIES

Writing Proficiency

If you need additional work on the surface features of your writing, I'll let you know. Basically, if I can't understand what you're trying to say in your first paper, then you'll have to work at writing more clearly. I'll ask you to schedule sessions at the Writing Center in order to be more successful on your next paper.

The reason professors make students write papers is not because we love to mark them up, or because we somehow enjoy this. I'm willing to bet that every professor you ask would say that marking and grading papers is the worst part of their job. I know it is for me. The only thing that makes it bearable is hoping that I'll be able to engage with your ideas, or see the texts we're covering through your eyes. But if I have to stop after every sentence to figure out what you're trying to say, I'm most certainly not thinking about your ideas.

So do yourself a favor: give yourself enough time to do a good job on these papers. Remember that writing clearly takes far more time than you think it does, because you have to consider your argument from a reader's perspective, not your perspective.

I realize that the grand academic dance of submitting your work, having it evaluated, then responding to that evaluation (either through improving your work in your next paper, or by coming to see me in my office) is essentially a negotiation between us. You want to demonstrate your abilities with X amount of work, an amount that you think deserves a certain grade. You submit your work without knowing how others will see it, and only become aware of their perceptions when your work is returned to you with my comments. But this puts you at a disadvantage, because you're making your first move in this negotiation blindly.

So in the spirit of openness, let me try to level the playing field by giving you a few tips:

• This is academic writing, where clarity and concision are essential. If your work isn't clear, if every sentence doesn't hang together, you're losing the negotiation. What you have written may make sense to you, but it needs to make sense to your readers as well.
• At the post-secondary level, your work isn't evaluated in terms of the amount of work you put into it. Just like any other skill, the amount of effort necessary to master academic writing varies from person to person. I am sure that it would take me far more effort than most of you to get back to playing football. But even if I did ten times the work you did, when we both showed up on the field we'd be evaluated on our skills, not on the time it took us to gain them.
• If you pay attention to what the prompt is asking you to write about, and keep that in mind as you think about your paper, you're making a good start.
• if you look at the rubric, especially the distinctions between the levels of performance in content and form, you should get a good idea of how successful your paper will be.
• If you're wondering if your "X amount of work" is enough, it isn't.
• And one last personal comment:
  Before we had things like TurnItIn and other automatic checkers on academic integrity, I was the guy other faculty members went to to track down cases of suspected plagiarism. When Google was just getting off the ground, I was a beta tester for them (one of 25 in the country). I've also been teaching English for over 40 years now. So if you're thinking that you've changed enough of that material that you've copied and pasted to make it look like your own work, think again. If writing and evaluating papers is a negotiation, then presenting someone else's work as your own is a gamble, and you're betting your academic career that you can get away with it. I've just told you what I bring to the table, so if you really think you can get away with it, my only advice is to do it as early as possible, so you can spare yourself the work for the rest of semester, because you'll already be gone from this class.

Course Work

You should submit your papers into the appropriate dropbox in the Learning Management System (Folio).

I DO NOT ACCEPT LATE ASSIGNMENTS. NO EXCEPTIONS, NO EXCUSES. A late assignment is any work that is not turned in by the deadline, when the dropbox closes. This means that you must anticipate any problems that will occur. In other words, a computer / printer / drive / car / arm being broken at the last minute is not an excuse. To avoid last-minute catastrophes (which always occur), DO NOT WAIT UNTIL THE LAST MINUTE TO DO YOUR WORK.

Accessibility Accommodation

I'm a strong advocate for those who are differently abled, so of course I want to be in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). I'll honor any request for reasonable accommodations made by those with disabilities or demonstrating appropriate need for learning environment adjustments. However, I can only make those accommodations if they're accompanied by an accommodation letter from the Student Accessibility Resource Center (SARC) before academic accommodations can be implemented.

For additional information, please call the SARC office at (912) 478-1566 on the Statesboro campus, or at (912) 344-2572 on the Armstrong and Liberty campuses.

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ASSIGNMENTS

GUIDED ARGUMENT (GA)

This short (500-word) paper and class presentation will serve as an introduction for both you and me. I will be introduced to your ability to write and present a solid argument, and you will be introduced to the way I comment on papers and presentations. It should be enlightening for all of us.

For this paper and presentation, I’ll give you your thesis statement: “[Fill in the blank] is the most elegiac piece of music I know.” You’ll fill in the blank with the piece of your choosing, and your paper will convince us all to hear that piece of music in the same way that you do. It’s pretty simple: you need to offer an interpretation and analysis of the work that makes your understanding of it inevitable. For a deeper understanding of this, see “Writing as an English Major.”

If you look at that thesis statement, there are some inferences you must make. First, you must clarify your understanding and use of the word “elegiac.” Is it synonymous with “sad,” “mournful,” “depressing,” or “grieving”? Or does it signify something subtly different than all of these? If you’re choosing a piece with lyrics, you’ve got to explain how the music and the words work together to produce an effect, and thus your understanding of the work.

What You Can’t Do
This paper isn’t just a personal reflection; it’s an argument, so you can’t write about how the piece makes you feel, or about how someone else should feel about the piece. You can’t offer support for such a subjective experience. This shouldn’t be a nostalgic trip to a time in your life when the piece was significant. While we may be moved by, say, your grief at the loss of a beloved pet, such a subjective experience can’t be argued, or even fully understood by someone else. What you can do, however, is write about why the piece makes you feel as you do about it. That is, you can write about how the piece achieves its ends (through its musical structure, its key, tone, melodic motion, word painting, use of lyrics, etc.).

If you’re choosing a piece with lyrics, you can’t focus solely on them. If you do, you’re only addressing half of the piece. A better way to proceed is to focus on the relationship between the music and the words. How do they complement one another?

This paper will be submitted on September 5 (even if you’re not presenting until September 7). So bring two copies of your completed assignment to class on September 5 (one for me to mark, the other for you to use for your presentation).

GA PRESENTATIONS
You’ll present this paper to the class during week 5. You should be prepared to present on Tuesday, September 6, where a number of you will be chosen randomly to present that day. Those not chosen to present on September 6 will present on September 8.

Your presentation should begin with you playing the piece for the class. If the piece is longer than five minutes, you should probably excerpt a portion of it. You can use youtube, or bring in an .mp3, .mp4, .aac, or .flac file on a flash drive to play. After we listen to the piece, you’ll then present your paper. The standard for academic presentations is that it takes roughly two minutes to read/present a page of text. So you’ll have somewhere between four and six minutes to present your paper after we listen to your piece.

JOE'S HELPFUL HINTS

Technical vs. Lay Language
Technical vocabulary allows writers to describe music’s subtleties precisely. Using some technical language may thus be necessary for the sake of clarity. And if you’re familiar with music, you may find it natural to use such language and make reference to the score, sheet music, or chord charts. But that’s not the only choice you have. If you’re new to music, or can’t read it, simply describe the evidence of your ears. Don’t use technical language for the sake of using it. Use it only when it helps you to make a point. I’m not looking for Shenkerian analysis of the tonal centers of a work; I’m looking for you to persuade your audience to hear something the way you hear it.

Using Metaphors
Good writing about music almost always employs metaphorical language, which can convey the essence of a musical passage far better than technical description alone. You could, for instance, describe a chromatic bass line in a Chopin piece by suggesting that it “slithers.” Metaphor brings us closer to conveying the expressive quality of a piece of music than technical description alone.

Well-chosen metaphors and other extra-musical associations convey meaning that technical terms alone cannot. Consider this example: “The theme in the violins sputters and spits like a trick candle on a birthday cake, struggling to remind the listener of its former brilliance right up until the moment when the entire orchestra douses it for good with a fortissimo chord.” By comparing the violins’ stopping and starting to the flickering light of a trick candle, the writer illustrates the frustrating incompleteness of an otherwise robust theme. The simile thus could act to bolster a larger claim or interpretation — about nostalgia, perhaps, or about the importance of this theme in the context of the larger piece.

Poorly-chosen metaphors — or those that lack specific musical details — detract from your efforts to communicate convincingly about music. Consider the following example: “Hearing this violin theme is both funny and sad, like watching someone trying to blow out a trick candle.” This simile is unsuccessful because it lacks concrete connections between images and specific musical events. Valid though the writer’s feelings are (here, a feeling of amusement), they do not serve as concrete evidence. If you fail to make clear the connection between image and music, you risk alienating your readers and weakening your argument.

RESEARCHED PAPER PROPOSAL (RP P)

A research proposal is a document that is written to present and justify your interest and need for researching a particular topic.

If you want a successful research project, you need to write a great proposal for it. Without a good proposal, you will not be able to communicate the essence of your research properly. There are several common components to all proposals. A good proposal should lead you easily into an outline of your paper.

Here is a basic format you can follow while writing your proposal:

Title
This should be obvious.

Contact Information
This contains your name, academic address, and email

Abstract
This is a short summary of your paper, usually about a paragraph (c. 6-7 sentences, 150-250 words) long. A well-written abstract serves multiple purposes:

• an abstract lets readers get the gist or essence of your paper or article quickly, in order to decide whether to read the full paper;
• an abstract prepares readers to follow the detailed information, analyses, and arguments in your full paper;
• and, later, an abstract helps readers remember key points from your paper.

Proposed or Current Research
Think of this as your preparatory research for the subject you want to write on. Since you’ve come up with a topic and have a preliminary plan of action for how you think your argument might go, you’ve certainly looked to see what secondary material is out there, so you should include that here. You’re not bound to use everything you include here, and you can use more sources than you have here, but you should pitch this section as a way to demonstrate that you’ve already put some thought into this project.

Biography
This should be a couple of sentences about your academic career and interests so far. Think of it as something a moderator will read when introducing you before you present your paper to a group of academics. What do you want them to know about you?

ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY (RP AB)

An annotated bibliography is a list of citations to books, articles, and documents. Each citation is followed by a brief (usually about 200-250 words) descriptive and evaluative paragraph, the annotation. The purpose of the annotation is to inform the reader of the relevance, accuracy, and quality of the sources cited. Creating an annotated bibliography calls for the application of a variety of intellectual skills: concise exposition, succinct analysis, and informed library research.

Annotations are not abstracts
Abstracts are the purely descriptive summaries often found at the beginning of scholarly journal articles or in periodical indexes. Annotations are descriptive and critical; they expose the author's point of view, clarity and appropriateness of expression, and authority.

THE ASSIGNMENT

1. List the completed bibliographical citation, in MLA 9 format.
2. Explain the main purpose of the work.
3. Briefly describe the content.
4. Evaluate the relevance of the information.
5. Note any special features.
6. Warn readers of any weakness, defect, or bias.
7. Attach copies of the articles you annotated to the completed assignment.

THE PROCESS

Initial Appraisal
Note: not all of these Initial Appraisal elements will be germane to your annotations. While the process of analysis is important for what follows, not all of this should make it into your final annotation. Address only those that are not redundant, obvious, or spurious to your purpose.

Critical Analysis of the Content
Note: THIS is the important material, the information that your will need to demonstrate mastery of in order to convince your reader that you know what you’re talking about.

Having made an initial appraisal, you should now examine the body of the source. Read the preface or abstract (if there is one) to determine the author's intentions for the work. Scan the table of contents and the index to get a broad overview of the material it covers. Note whether bibliographies are included. Read the chapters or sections that specifically address your topic. Reading the article abstract and scanning the table of contents of a journal or magazine issue is also useful. As with books, the presence and quality of a bibliography at the end of the article may reflect the care with which the authors have prepared their work.

JOE'S HELPFUL HINTS

Remember to write a paragraph that would help a researcher decide if this article would be helpful to him or her. Write an annotation that you would like to read if you were the researcher.

You should refer to the author’s last name (full name will be just above the annotation in the citation) and quote words and phrases sparingly from the article, weaving those quotations into your own sentences. Most likely it would be inappropriate for you to quote entire sentences from the articles.

Quotations, however brief, require parenthetical page numbers (or some other form of notating place for an internet source). See MLA 9 formatting guidelines.

Your annotations should give evidence of a careful, accurate reading and a cogent synthesis.

RESEARCHED PAPER (RP)

Throughout the semester you’ll be working on a researched paper of a minimum of 3500 words (15 pages in double-spaced Times New Roman 12 point font) on a topic of your choosing concerning the elegy. In this paper you will respond to the critical conversation around an elegy or the practice of writing elegies. You’ll will use your logic, argumentative skills, and supplemental sources.

Introduction
The topics available to you are incredibly varied. They can be as specific or as open-ended as you choose. But no matter the topic, all of them will be designed to allow a reader to evaluate your argumentative skills. Your argument is what you make of it, and the strength of your paper is reliant upon your ability to make your conclusion inevitable, to convince your reader to think the way you do.

Your number one task in this paper is to make your reader think about the text or practice in the same way that you have. That is, you need to teach your reader how to read, how to understand and interpret the text through your eyes. There are many metaphors that we use for this. Some have spoken in legal terms, where you marshal evidence in support of your case. Some have talked about logic, with major and minor premises and an irrefutable conclusion. But I like to talk about inevitability. You need to make your conclusion inevitable. Readers, if they buy your first premise, must, inexorably, be led to your conclusion. You do this by offering evidence: from primary and secondary texts, from historical documents, from cultural artifacts, from analogies, from examples, and from critical thinking.

Beginnings: Thesis
Your thesis will determine your approach. A thesis statement should be an idea or opinion that is supportable based on facts or evidence taken from the text under consideration or from the text and the critical conversation surrounding it. That is, a thesis statement cannot be a restatement of fact or an unsupportable opinion. You are not merely the Buzzfeed of the major (“Ten Reasons Why ‘Lycidas’ Rules!”) — merely collecting what others have said is both tiresome and boring, for both you and the reader. Thus, your thesis must be interesting and not immediately obvious, elaborating an idea that most readers would find new and refreshing, rather than unduly familiar or self-evident. A thesis statement often suggests a particular way of reading or understanding a story, an interpretation that the average reader wouldn’t see right away. A thesis that only says a work uses literary devices isn’t a good thesis, because all it is doing is stating the obvious, leading the reader to say, “so what?” The best thesis statements are specific rather than general.

Readings: Start by understanding what you’re reading
Literary criticism, and especially literary argumentation, involves “closeness.” This can be a “close reading” of a literary work or a closely-argued process of leading a reader into a new perspective. This happens regardless of whether you are arguing about a particular interpretation, comparing stories or poems, or using a theory to interpret literature. Do not just summarize the text, argument, or analysis you’re discussing. The purpose of your paper is not to inform readers, but to offer a compelling argument.

Definitions:

PAPER CALENDAR
Week 1: Paper assigned, elements explained
Weeks 2-4: Students conduct initial research for the paper
Week 6: Paper proposal (RP P) due (5%)
Weeks 6-7: Students prepare first draft of paper; students revisit and add to initial research
Week 9: Annotated Bibliography (RP AB) due (15%)
Week 11: Draft 1 (RP D1) due (15%) to instructor and peers (4 copies); students review one another’s drafts
Week 13: Draft 2 (RP D2) due (15%); Draft Reflection A (DR A) due (5%)
Week 15: Final draft (RP FD) due (40%); Draft Reflection B (DR B) due (5%)
Week 16: Public Presentations

REFLECTIONS ON DRAFTS
You’ll submit a reflection paper with the second and third versions of your paper. You can’t just improve the language – how did you strengthen your argument, better incorporate better sources? Did you pick a fight? What did you discover in this draft that you hadn’t discovered previously? Why is this version deeper? Why does it see more? What does it see? How is it more intellectually ambitious than the previous draft? Be specific. What changes did you make to this version based on what your peers told you in the editing session? See the R/R assignment prompt for further details.

JOE'S HELPFUL HINTS

Don’t put it off
The calendar above stretches through the whole semester. That means that you’ll have to decide quickly about what you’d like to address and how you’d like to approach it. I’ve incentivized your staying on task by building evaluation points into the process above, so don’t miss them.

Do you like it? Is it your favorite? Does it give you goosebumps? —— I don’t care.
Saying that you like a work is not the same as writing a paper about it, but it can be a good place to start. Analyze your attraction for the piece and try to jot down answers to basic questions like these:

• What do I like about this piece?
• Why do these things appeal to me?
• What makes them different enough from the surrounding material that they stand out in my mind?
• Where does that difference come from?
• How is it achieved?

Of course, if you’re writing about something addressing genres, or periods, or literary theory, or secondary criticism, the above may not apply.

Pitch for the Reader
The scope of this assignment can at first seem daunting. But sometimes when you find yourself confused, a basic analysis by a noted scholar can clear things up immensely. I can recommend some sources, but you can also find sources on your own. Anything calling itself an “Introduction” or “Overview” of an author or work is probably a good bet. Remember to take notes.

I’m giving it away!
Talking to me about choosing your topic, doing your research, outlining, writing your draft, editing, proofreading, etc., can be helpful, but only if you handle it correctly. I won’t give you specific instructions about choosing a topic, or assign one for you; choosing a topic is part of the learning process. However, I might be more familiar with this literature than you are (both the primary and the secondary literature), so perhaps I can point you in new directions. Instead of looking for specific answers, go looking for advice.

DRAFT REFLECTIONS (DR A; DR B)

For the second and third versions of your papers, you’ll also be submitting a short (400-500 word) reflection on your writing. Without it, your version is incomplete. My assumption is that, of course, you will improve your clarity, mechanics, and other technical issues as you move from version to version. It is not sufficient to say you'd correct any errors and improve the flow of your writing. This reflection, however, asks you to do more than that. Consider the following questions as you reflect on your work and the differences between your versions:

• How did you strengthen your argument?
• How did you incorporate your sources better?
• Did you pick a fight with a critic, or agree with a particular reading, or use sources only when they agreed with what you already thought?
• What did you discover in this version that you hadn’t discovered previously?
• Why is this version deeper than the previous version?
• What does this version present differently than you earlier version?
• Why does this version see more?
• How is this version more intellectually ambitious than your previous version?
• What structural changes did you make to this version? (e.g., did paragraph 3 become your conclusion; did paragraph 1 get deleted?)
• What changes did you make to this version based on what your peers pointed out in the editing session?

For all of these reflections, refer to specific places in your previous and current versions.

However, this is not a narrative about how you did your research, how many articles you looked at, or how long it took you to complete this process. It is also not a story about how your initial version was incomplete, but you now offer a completed document in this newer version.

A Descriptive Rubric
A strong reflection will demonstrate that you have considered not just the content of what you have written, but the process of writing itself. It will address both the strength of your argument and the way you present it. It will focus on your reasoning and purpose as well as changes in the quality and quantity of details you provide (either in the text being considered or in the secondary sources). It will address changes in structural and organizational elements at the global, paragraph, and sentence levels, as well as corrections to your grammar and mechanics.

An average reflection will demonstrate a basic understanding of your writing, revising, and editing process, but it will be either unspecific or unfocused. It may nod to the strength of your argument, but its focus will primarily be on your presentation and formatting. It may mention reasoning, purpose, and the quality and quantity of details, but will lean toward explaining your structural and mechanical elements.

A weak response will not adequately explain the process of improvement and the changes you made from draft to draft, or it will focus solely on mechanical or grammatical issues and your correction of usage errors.

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Rubric

     Researched Paper Rubric
This is the ultimate rubric for the Department of Literature. Your researched papers will be evaluated according to this rubric, and faculty members who attend your presentation will also complete this rubric.

SLO	4	3	2	1	SCORE
1. Recognize and analyze the literary elements in a text.
	Uses and applies literary terms & elements (such as plot, characters, setting, tone, style, point of view, narrative technique, structure, theme, etc.) accurately and clearly, contributing to a richer understanding of the text(s).	Accurately addresses textual literary terms & elements (such as plot, characters, setting, tone, style, point of view, narrative technique, structure, theme, etc.) Their use does not add to an understanding of the text(s).	Addresses textual literary terms & elements (plot, characters, setting, tone, style, point of view, narrative technique, structure, theme, etc.), with some lapses or omissions.	Does not use literary terms & elements, or does not use them accurately.
2. Situate and interpret texts in their historical, cultural, and literary contexts.
	Presents the text(s) as representative of its culture, historical moment, cultural milieu, or literary period. Identifies and explains aspects of the text(s) which reflect or shape the dimensions of the culture in which it was created.	Attempts to interpret the text(s) in relation to a particular historical moment, cultural milieu, or literary period. May not identify all aspects of the text(s) that justify such a reading.	Attempts to make a point about history, society, or a literary period using the text(s) as evidence. Does not identify aspects of the text(s) that justify such a reading.	Does not present the text(s) in relation to a historical moment, cultural milieu, or literary period.
3a. Create a well-developed and organized paper with clear and precise prose, presenting a sustained argument that uses discipline-specific vocabulary and analytic techniques.
Thesis / Position	Thesis is focused; intent is obvious. Positions are insightful and clear.	Thesis is general; intent is evident. Positions are sound and understandable.	Thesis is general or vague. Positions are sound and understandable.	Thesis may be absent or intent is unclear. Lacks a position on topics.
Structure	Overall structure complements and completes content.	Overall structure is appropriate for the content.	Overall structure is generally adequate for the content.	Overall unity and coherence are flawed.
Style	Demonstrates overall sophisticated prose, syntax, and clarity.	Demonstrates moderate strength in terms of prose, syntax, and clarity.	Demonstrates acceptable if inconsistent, facility in terms of prose, syntax, and clarity.	Demonstrates unsophisticated prose, syntax, and clarity
Grammar / Errors	Grammatical structures are well-chosen. No errors detract from meaning.	Grammatical structures carry the meaning forward, although readers notice occasional error(s).	Grammatical structures detract from the meaning.	Grammar errors are so obtrusive that readers are seriously distracted.
3b.Create a well-developed and organized paper with clear and precise prose, presenting a sustained argument that applies and/or incorporates appropriate literary criticism and/or theory.
Critical lens	Demonstrates mastery of the literary perspective applied.	Demonstrates a solid understanding of the literary perspective applied.	Demonstrates some understanding of the literary perspective applied.	Demonstrates little understanding of the literary perspective applied.
Relevance of sources	Sources are thoroughly examined, explained, and clearly relevant to the argument.	Synthesizes or explains material from secondary sources, with occasional lapses.	Most material from secondary sources is not synthesized or explained.	Almost all material from secondary sources is insufficiently synthesized or explained.
Attribution of sources	Sources are clearly attributed with accurate documentation.	Sources are attributed, but some documentation may be inaccurate.	Some sources are not attributed, or their documentation is inaccurate.	Most sources are either not attributed or their documentation is inaccurate.
Essays plagiarized or not written on the essay assignment will receive a score of zero                                                TOTAL SCORE: (max score 36 points)

Questions I ask while grading

For each sentence in your paper, I ask the following questions:

1. What are you saying?
   At a basic level, I’m trying to decode the meaning of each sentence. If I cannot understand what you’re trying to say, everything that follows is problematic. If your sentence is confused, convoluted, or contradictory, you make it difficult, or even impossible, for me to answer this basic question.
2. Is what you’re saying accurate?
   Does this sentence demonstrate that you understand the text or the critic you’re addressing? For instance, if you’re summarizing someone else’s argument, I need to assess if you’re being true to the original author's intent. In your response, I’m assessing your evidence and examples.
3. Is what you’re saying well-expressed grammatically and mechanically?
   This assumes that your grammar and mechanics aren’t so bad that I’ve been stymied back up at Question #1.
4. Does the writing have appropriate flow?
   Does each idea link up with the one previous to it and the one to follow in a way that meets audience needs, attitudes, and knowledge?

If I can answer all four of these questions positively for every sentence, you’re doing well. But when the answer is no, complications ensue. If I can’t understand what you’re saying, I have no way to engage with your ideas, and so I have additional questions.:

• Do you not understand the original text you’re addressing?
• Do you understand the original text, but your writing leaves a gap between that understanding and what is written on the page?

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Evaluation

ASSIGNMENT	WEIGHT
Guided Argument (GA)	10%
Researched Paper        Proposal (RP P)   5%        Annotated Bibliography (RP AB)   15%        Draft 1 (RP D1)   15%        Draft 2 (RP D2)   15%        Draft Reflection A (DR A)   5%        Draft Reflection B (DR B)   5%        Final Draft (RP FD)   40%	50%
Oral Presentation	30%
Participation	10%
TOTAL	100%