Engl. 875-01
Seminar: Emily Dickinson
Spring 2006
MWF 10:00-10:50, Rm. 312
Instructor: Dr. K. Nichols
Writing Assignments
LETTER REPORTS: Oral and Written--15 % of total grade.
Due: Weeks 4-5.
Length: 4-5 typed pages (double-spaced).
Class Presentation: 30 minutes, on assigned date.
Directions: Each student will be responsible for one of the assignments listed here.
You will need to read several times the indicated letters (below) and poems (see
the syllabus) and to read several times the assigned secondary source. Study the material--
underline, take notes, give yourself time to assimilate all the material. Review it some more;
take additional notes. Know your material well.
For the written report, here are some guidelines. NOTE: This is not an outline for
your paper, but a list of the kinds of things you should address. It is up to you to find
an organized way to discuss your material. Half of your grade will be on how informative and
on how focused/organized your report is.
- Summarize who the letter recipient was--pertinent and significant
information about him/her.
- According to your secondary source, what is the letter recipient's relationship to
ED? Does it change over time? Why? Which letters (cite selections from them) support
your source's reading?
- How does your secondary source describe ED's writing style (language, tone, pose,
etc.) in key letters? Give examples. How literary or "artful" are some of
her letters?
- What other interesting points are made by your secondary source about the letters
read by the class as a whole and about other letters not read by the class. Give
examples.
- Weave in your own observations about some of the letters. Select some significant
details and/or passages and do your own analysis of ED's language or attitudes or
themes expresses there.
For your class presentation, DO NOT READ YOUR PAPER TO THE CLASS (boring!). Instead,
TALK to the class. For that 30 minutes, you are the teacher, and your fellow-students are
eager to learn from you. Provide them with helpful information they can take notes on; it is
especially important that you have them look at the actual letters under discussion. Point
out key passages and interesting phrasing and revealing ideas (etc.) in the letters so that
your audience can underline them, make notes next to the passages, and ask questions about them.
Half of your grade will be on how focused and helpful your presentation is to the class.
- Report 1: Sue. Due Feb 6.
Sue Letters: L 38; L 56; L 73; L 77; L 85; L 93; L 94; L 97; L 107; L 173; L 176; L 178;
L 238; L 294; L 305; L 306; L 320; L 356; L 392; L 664; L 757; L 858; L 868; L 886;
L 908.
Judith Farr, Ch. 3, Passion
of Ed, 100-139 (Library Reserve).
- Report 2: Sue. Due Feb 8.
Sue Letters: L 38; L 56; L 73; L 77; L 85; L 93; L 94; L 97; L 107; L 173; L 176; L 178;
L 238; L 294; L 305; L 306; L 320; L 356; L 392; L 664; L 757; L 858; L 868; L 886;
L 908.
Judith Farr, Ch. 3, Passion
of Ed, 140-77 (Library Reserve).
- Report 3: Bowles. Due Feb. 10.
Bowles Letters: L 189; L 193; L 196; L 205; L 219; L 223; L 249; L 250; L 251; L 277;
L 415; L 438; L 465;
L 466; L 489; L 515; L 532; L 536; L 537; L 651; L 724; L 815.
Richard B. Sewall, "Samuel Bowles," Life of ED, 463-511 (Library Reserve). All
letters to and from Sue.
- Report 4: Master; Lord. Due Feb. 13.
Master Letters: L 187; L 233; L 248; L 248a. Lord Letters: L 559; L 560; L 561; L 562;
L 563; L 750; L 752; L 752a; L 842.
Richard B. Sewall, "The Master Letters" and "Otis Phillips Lord," Life of ED,
512-31 and 642-67. (Library Reserve).All letters
to Master and to Lord.
- Report 5: Higginson. Due Feb. 15.
Higginson Letters: L 260; L 261; L 265; L 268; L 271; L 280; L 290; L 314; L 316; L 319;
L 323; L 330; L 330a; L 342a; L 342b; L 368; L 413; L 418; L 440; L 441; L 450; L 457;
L 459; L 459a; L 593; L 641; L 653; L 674; L 675; L 676; L 972; L 1007; L 1042.
Richard B. Sewall, "Thomas Wentworth Higginson, Life of ED,
532-76 (Library Reserve). All letters to Higginson.
- Report 6: The Hollands; Jackson. Due Feb. 17.
Holland Letters: L 133; L 175; L 185; L 207; L 269; L369; L 391; L 432;
L 650; L 667; L 779; L 873; L890. Jackson Letters: L 444; L 444a; L 573a;
L 573b; L 573c; L 573d; L 601; L 601a; L 937; 937a; L 1007.
Richard B. Sewall, "Dr. and Mrs. Josiah Gilbert Holland" and "Helen Hunt Jackson,"
Life of ED, 593-615 and 577-92.
ARTICLE REPORT--10 % of total grade.
Due: Weeks 6-13.
Length: 3-4 typed pages (double-spaced).
Class Presentation: 15 minutes, on assigned date.
Directions: Each student will be responsible for presenting to the class one
of the articles listed on the syllabus for Friday oral/written reports.
You will need to read your assigned article several times. Study the material--
underline, take notes, give yourself time to assimilate all the material. Review it some more;
take additional notes. Know your material well.
For the written report, here are some guidelines. NOTE: This is not an outline for
your paper, but a list of the kinds of things you should address. It is up to you to find
an organized way to discuss your material. Half of your grade will be on how informative and
on how focused/organized your report is.
- Summarize the thesis/main argument of the article/book chapter. For the thesis, check
both the introduction (it may be several paragraphs long) and the concluding paragraphs (it
should be re-stated in some form there). Don't be vague.
- Note major sections of special interest in the article/book chapter.
- Give some sense of the kinds of evidence used to support the thesis, especially poems
that are discussed in some detail. Have students turn to those
poems and explain specific points the author makes about them.
- Do not ignore or minimize the second half of the article. Sometimes students get so involved
in the opening pages of the article that they overlook the rest of it. In other words,
they omit half the argument--the part that is being developed in the last half.
For your class presentation, DO NOT READ YOUR PAPER TO THE CLASS (boring!). Instead,
TALK to the class. For that 15 minutes, you are the teacher, and your fellow-students
are eager to learn from you. Provide them with helpful information they can take notes
on and ask questions
about. Half of your grade will be on how focused and helpful your presentation is
to the class.
WEEKLY ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY--15 % of total grade.
Due: Mar. 10 (minimum of 6 annotations) and Apr. 14 (minimum of 8 annotations).
Length: Each annotation/short summary should be about 250-350 words.
Directions:
During Weeks Six through Thirteen, read at least two scholarly articles/book chapters in
addition to the assigned class readings for each week. At the beginning of each week, I have
listed some "recommended" sources that relate to the readings for that week, but you may
also select sources that relate more directly to your selected topic. However, I would like
you to explore, at least initially, a greater range of approaches to D. For instance, even
though you may want to study a certain poem in the context of one fascicle, you should
know that other critics have looked at that poem in other contexts.
It is important that your annotation/short summary be as specific as possible, or it
won't be of much help to you later when you are writing your seminar paper. Here are some
typical kinds of information often included in an annotation/short summary:
- Summarize the thesis/main argument of the article/book chapter. For the thesis, check
both the introduction (it may be several paragraphs long) and the concluding paragraphs (it
should be re-stated in some form there). Don't be vague--that won't help you later when
you are writing your seminar paper.
- Note major sections of special interest in the article/book chapter.
- Indicate how this thesis/approach differs from other approaches to the topic.
- Give some sense of the kinds of evidence used to support the thesis, or poems of
particular interest to you that are discussed in some detail.
- Speculate on some of the ways you might want to use this article/book chapter in
your own seminar paper.
- If your source is a book chapter, you might want to skim briefly through the introductory
chapter of the book since it would usually explain the thesis for the entire book, whereas
Chapter 3 (for example) would only give the thesis for that chapter. For books, it is also
helpful sometimes to note the other chapter titles listed in the table of contents and see
if there is another chapter you might want to explore later. Or check the Index at the end and
see if there is more than one section of the book that covers something you might want to use
in your seminar paper.
SEMINAR PAPER, documented--45 % of total grade.
Due: Week 17.
Length: 20 pages (double-spaced, Times New Roman font size 11 or 12).
Class Presentation: 15 minutes, on assigned date.
Directions:
A seminar paper is the culmination of an entire semester of studying Dickinson in some
detail and depth. It should reflect your understanding of D's texts and contexts and your
awareness of various trends and arguments found in a variety of secondary works by recognized
scholars.
So that the project does not become overwhelming, it is crucial that you begin
your research early in the semester (the articles assigned as class readings will assist
in this process) and continue
it weekly, independent of class assignments, throughout most of the semester. Here is the
schedule we will be following:
- By Feb. 3: Select a topic to investigate. Do not draw conclusions at this stage. All
you need at this point is a topic that interests you and that seems researchable.
- Weeks Three through Thirteen: Read and absorb as much of D's poetry and letters as
possible. Read her texts often, and re-read them again. Although some of the class assignments
may not appear to relate directly to your selected topic, you will probably find that the
more you know about D's writing, the easier it will be for you to interpret the poems/letters
selected for your seminar paper.
- Weeks Six through Thirteen: Read several scholarly articles/book chapters each week
so that you become familiar with a variety of ideas and approaches related to your topic.
These readings will include the assigned class readings and the independent readings that
make up your Annotated Bibliography. (You may need 15-20 sources for your seminar paper.) In addition, keep some notes on your own thoughts and tentative readings that occur to you along the
way, but be flexible and willing to revise your thoughts at this stage.
- Weeks Fourteen through Sixteen: Write up a short but specific proposal/explanation of what you will
do in your seminar paper. At this point, you should have some solid conclusions you can
draw about your topic. Those conclusions will become your thesis for your paper. Confer
with the instructor several times while you draft your seminar paper.
- Week Seventeen: Your seminar paper and your oral presentation are due.
Organization: Note the ways in which the articles you read are organized. Although
there is no one set pattern, your goal is to carry on a dialogue with your secondary sources
by weaving them into your paper while you develop and support your own thesis. Here is a
general pattern you may follow:
- Introduction: In a longer seminar paper, your introduction may need
to be several paragraphs long. Briefly introduce the kinds of approaches scholars have
taken to your topic, or what they did instead of addressing your topic. Acknowledge what is
helpful or valuable in their approaches, but also set up your thesis by indicating how or why
their approaches are lacking in relation to your topic. Make sure your
reader understands what the issues are and why they are important or worthy of further study.
Sometimes some brief background is needed, but if it needs to be treated in some detail,
save most of it for a section in the body of your paper. Near the end of your introduction,
make sure your thesis/approach is clearly indicated, perhaps in a thesis paragraph (rather
than just a thesis sentence).
- Body of Paper: Develop your thesis in an organized and focused way.
Since you can't talk about everything at once, sub-divide your thesis/argument into a series
of sub-points, and treat each separately, making sure that you provide evidence from D's
texts to support your sub-points. At various points, weave in what other scholars have said
in relation to the sub-points, but don't use secondary texts as your "evidence;" secondary texts
should be viewpoints/readings
you agree or disagree with. Remember that D's texts are your evidence for supporting your
reading. Make sure that each sub-point is clearly stated in a topic sentence at the
beginning of each body paragraph.
In most cases, do not reprint the entire D. poem. You can briefly indicate what it is about
as a whole and then just quote the specific phrase or line(s) that you want to discuss in
some detail.
- Conclusion: In one or more concluding paragraphs, re-state your thesis
(in language different than you used in the introduction) and indicate the ramifications or
significance of your overall approach and conclusions in your seminar paper.
Documentation: Follow standard practices described in the MLA
Handbook.
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