Book Projects are Due 9:30 on Wednesday, December 17th (with a rather larger grace period of 8pm-ish a.k.a. before I go to bed)

–All work (including blog posts) from this class must be submitted by end of the day on Wednesday, December 17th, unless you have met with me and worked out a different date.—

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Book Project Write-Up and Bibliography:  What it says about the Book Project in the the assignment section:

“You may choose the form you wish to present your project. You may write a paper, which would likely need to be around 10 pages.  However you may also decide to make a web page, do a PowerPoint, or a video.  Unless you do a paper, you will be required to submit a one paged double spaced page articulating your overall claim and main project objectives and why you chose your medium.  You must submit a bibliography, which will have at least three sources (the text you are working on, a piece of relevant literary criticism, and relevant historical source).”

1) All Book Projects require a bibliography (with at least 3 sources, see above) and must properly cite any quotations in the project.

2) If you are not writing a paper, you must also submit a 1 paged double spaced evaluation.  In this evaluation you should A) tell me your overall claim (think your thesis or argument);  B) tell me why you chose to use the form you chose (i.e. painting or powerpoint) to present your project; and  C) explain what you were trying to convey and why you made the choices you made.

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Book Project Assessment:  I will assess the presentation based on the following:

1) Project Presentation– (not related to your in-class presentation) -Does it look well put together?  Does it stand on its own?  Is it complete?  Does the form make sense given the project’s overall aim?

2) Argument – Does this project express a central claim?  What is that claim?  Is it arguable? Is it based in the text?  Is it within the realm of what is arguable in a literature course?  Is it well supported with the materials provided in the presentation?

3) Engaging Scholarship – Does this project engage at least one peer-reviewed scholarly source in a clear and thoughtful way?

4) Engaging History- Does this project accurately contextualize the text(s) within appropriate historical moments?  Does this project illuminate how a particular aspect or aspects of history might change the way we  read this particular text?

5) Engaging the Literary Text- Does this project offer analysis of the literature’s text and/or visuals?  Does this project put interpretive readings of the literature in conversation with scholarship and history?
I will provide a grade for each of those five sections, and the total grade will be an average of those 5 assessment categories.

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NOTE: For those of you making a power point and wondering whether or not the presentation stands alone (without aid of a presenter), you should consider showing the presentation to a friend. Have them go through the presentation without telling them anything about what you’re doing, and then asking them (in your own words) a version of the question I have in the assessment.   I don’t recommend asking all the question or even asking it exactly in my language (though you could); I recommend asking one of the questions from each category but worded in your own language.  If your friend can answer the questions satisfactorily, you should be fine. If not, then you know where you want to do a little more work.

Name:

1. In 2-4 sentences, please describe your proposed book project, its central aim, medium of presentation, and its relevance to the course material and potential relevance to your future goals:

2. Please list the literary text(s) to which your project will attend:
3. Please describe the specific detail or idea and/or chapter/scene/section your project will focus on in the text(s) you’ve chosen:
4. Please list the peer-reviewed scholarly articles you have consulted in this project (provide name of author and title, and star the article you plan to engage the most):
5. In regards to your starred article, why are you focusing on this article?
6. Please detail how your project will engage the historical context around your literary text(s):
7. Please explain what your central argument or claim is and how your project plans to convey that claim:

I emailed this handout to you all because there is no more room to upload material on the site. I’m pasting it here, but the comments I put in the side bar are not visible.  For the fuller handout please consult the document I sent out via email.

Sample Scholarly Analysis Paper (not full):

This sample includes a full introduction with thesis and redaction and then outline of supporting paragraphs (commentary in the site notes).
While Sanjay Sircar’s arguments against the presence of racism in the story seem  problematic and contradictory, his essay importantly invites us to consider the source and power of pleasure in (even racist) children’s literature. Rather than refuse and completely throw out these racist stories, we might do well to ask what is so captivating about them?   In particular building on Sircar’s brief mention of barter and consumption, I argue that what is particularly pleasurable here is the terror and titillation of consumption which the story invites its middle class British, American, and (apparently when they exist) Indian readers to adopt.  This pleasure is particularly fitting for middle class children whose class existence depends upon a market economy and the increasing globalization of capitalism.

As a whole Sanjay Sircar set out to make a case for The Story of Little Black Sambo a story which he, an Indian man very much liked as a child.  Sircar’s defense for the story seems to have two main thrusts:  1) Assuming that the problem with the story is its alleged racism towards black peoples of African descent, Sircar sets out to debunk the idea that the story is racist namely by proving that it was never about black peoples of African descent.  2)  Much of his argument relies on the intense fondness for the story he had as a young Indian child (and what seems to be equally intense nostalgia about that experience).  Announcing the joy the book brought him and his sister is something the essay comes back to again and again, and it is also part of Sircar’s argument that though Bannerman’s story might not have been wholly accurate in its depictions of India, it did not portray a character with whom Sircar and his sisters negatively identified.

Interestingly though if we explore the pleasure of consumption which Sircar mentions but does not elaborate on, we might begin to see that while indeed these above reasons are the stated trust of his argument, what Sircar is really bringing to light here is a fantasy about consumption that’s pleasing to middle class children (even to the point of making them immune to any potential racist identifications). Both the story and Sircar’s essays seem to generate and revolve around a pleasure of consumption.

Possible Paragraph Break Down

1. In the text we see the pleasures of consumption in Sambo’s acquiring new garment
2. That this consumption speaks to (if not largely so) notions of economic consumption can be seen by the fact that we start off first with the market (the bazaar), then by the fact that bartering is not a satisfactory solution. Yes it does allow Sambo his life, but the story can’t end with him going home safe proud of being shrewd but learning not to walk in the jungle with new clothes. It has to come up with the ending where his commodities are properly returned to him. And then also the numbers in the pancake again suggest that the pleasure of consumption here is deeply tied to economics.
3. So too with Sircar’s account of his attachment to the books.   He talks about not wanting to let the book go even to charity, even after he himself is growing into other literature.   He is also particular in his fondness not for the story per say (even though purportedly he is making a case for Bannerman’s original) but he is really clear that his fondness comes from the particular edition of the story which he received through BLANK.
4. Especially when we consider that Sircar’s claim that the text isn’t racist b/c it’s not referring to people of African descent and because he didn’t negatively identify with it are fraught (the first because there are plenty reference which he say are not African but are, and the latter because he ultimately lets us know the reason he doesn’t negatively identify is b/c he doesn’t identify at all), this notion of the story as a middle class fantasy of consumption becomes even more clearly part of what animates both the story and Sircar’s desire.
5. Conclusion

(This grammar note and other notes can be found under the “workbox” section of the class site.   It’s hard to see in the top tab section because it appears on the white part, but you can also access it via the left side bar).

6.   All titles should be capitalized.  As a rule (unless it is the first word in the title) you do not need to capitalize articles or prepositions.   Titles to novels, newspapers, journals, plays, collections of poetry should  be either underlined or put in italics.  Titles to poems, articles, short stories, or any smaller piece that will be found under the title of a larger collection should be put in quotations.

For Example:  The Adventures of Alice and Wonderland  or The Adventures of Alice and Wonderland

not:  “The Adventures of Alice and Wonderland” (issue with underlining/italics) or the adventures of alice and wonderland (issue with capitalization) or The Adventures Of Alice And Wonderland (issue with over capitalizing).

For Example:  “Little Annie’s Ramble”

not:  Little Annie’s Ramble or Little Annie’s Ramble or “little annie’s ramble”

For more on when to underline, italicize or use quotation marks check out:   https://web.cn.edu/kwheeler/documents/Punctuating_Titles_chart.pdf and  http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/italics.htm (this site thinks about when to use italics in general, which can be helpful)

The class site has exceeded it’s upload capabilities, but pasted below is more information on a scholarly analysis paper.  Please read and come to class on Monday with questions.   Note:  If you have an idea for a paper, it might be easier to figure out questions if you start mapping your idea along with the requirements listed on the handout.

Scholarly Analysis Paper

Scholarly Analysis: A scholarly analysis paper takes the sustained reading of a close reading paper and opens your singular reading of that text up to a larger dialogue with another scholar. In this paper your thesis while it may originate more from your reading of the text will in some way engage what another scholar has said about this text.   Indeed your thesis may originate as a response to what a scholar has said about the text, in which case you may use a close based reading of the text to respond to the scholar’s argument.

Overview & Objectives:  One of the goals for the course is for students to strengthen their ability to engage with the work of other critics and writers, using and citing such sources effectively.  This third paper is an opportunity for students to practice engaging literary scholarship and putting their own ideas about a text in conversation with other scholars.

I am particularly interested in your ability to join a scholarly conversation in written form.  Joining a scholarly conversation means that you 1) acknowledge another scholar’s argument and how they made it 2) you share (by reading and studying) one of the primary literary text’s the scholar was focusing on and 3) using your own reading of the primary literary text, you engage the scholar’s original argument.  It is in many ways just like having a dialogue in person except that because you are engaging someone’s written text the claims made are more complex or more thoroughly supported than sometimes we are able to do in a quicker real time conversation.   You should make your own response thoughtful and thorough as well.

Building on past assignments: Like your other papers, this paper is still at heart a close reading based paper.   The difference is that where in the history paper, you found some outside history to expand your perspective and how you could interpret the literary text, in this assignment you will find some other (scholarly) conversation about this text that will expand your perspective and how you interpret the text.

What you need before you write:

1. Literary text from the syllabus
2. Some idea (whether it’s a small section or scene or a small recurring element or a major theme you see emerging in a particular way in one aspect of the text) of what you ultimately want to focus on in the text.
3. Two “peer reviewed” scholarly articles addressing that literary text

What your paper should include:

1. A clear and cogent thesis (argument) that stems from a close-reading based engagement with the text and a critical but respectful engagement of at least one of the scholarly text you read.
2. A clear summary of the article(s) you are using. Your summary should let me know the author’s central topic, main thesis (argument), and the major way they support that argument
3. You should clearly identify the specific aspect of the scholarly argument that your thesis and paper are engaging.
4. Accurate and clean citations for the scholarly article you use.
5. Your bibliography should include both of the scholarly texts you read, even if your paper only really engages the arguments one text.

Engaging Scholarship

1. There are many ways to engage a scholarly argument.
2. You may confirm all or some part of the argument by offering another point that strengthens or adds depth to the argument.
3. You may highlight a small hole (or maybe even a major fissure) in the argument. (If you identify a problem, you must spell out the implications of such a problem).
4. You may point out how one part of their argument actually connects to another part of their argument if they consider aspect Z in the story.
5. Even when you want to challenge a part of the argument or add to it, you should be respectful of what the scholar is doing and acknowledge the validity of the points.
6. Even when you want to confirm and agree with where the scholar is going, you should acknowledge the argument’s scope and the limitations of its and your potential claims.

Engaging Scholarship Don’ts

7. Don’t simply quote a fact that the scholar uses. For instance in the Sanjay Sircar argument it would not be enough to use the essay to cite the fact that Bannerman was Scottish or that the story had many different reprints.  You need to make sure you are engaging the scholar on the idea (not just the material) they are presenting.
8. Don’t try to say the whole essay is wrong, evil, sexist, racist, or stupid. Even if you think so. Even if you’re right. You need to be more specific. You simply do not have time/space to demolish a whole article (itself easily 15-35 pages).   Neither do you have time to take on the whole literary text. Your argument then needs to be about a specific part of the literary text and about a specific part of the scholarly text. Even if you believe you argument extends to other or all of the texts, your paper for this assignment needs to focus in on a specific aspect.   You might develop the argument more in your Choose-A-Book project if you wish.

Paper Format

1. 5-7 pages
2. double spaced
3. 12 point size
4. Times New Roman font
5. 1-inch margins
6. page numbers
7. MLA inline citation and work cited page

A few things:

1)  I will be emailing the readings for next week as I scan them.  I have emailed The Pasteboard  Bandit  in two separate emails to you (part 1 and then part 2).

2) Please read The Pasteboard Bandit for Monday.  I have taken the Gwendolyn Brooks off the syllabus, so we will discuss the The Brownies Book and the Langston Hughes poems on Wednesday.

3) I have extended the deadline for the third paper by a week.  The paper is now due on Saturday morning [9:00am] December 6th.  (Yes, this deadline is in the middle of presentations, so if you are presenting please plan accordingly).

4) I am in the process of creating a hand out on the third essay and how to engage scholarly criticism in your (still close reading based) analysis of one of the literary texts on the syllabus.   The main thing you need to know is that you should have a literary text from this syllabus, and you should read two scholarly articles on that text.  (Note: You must read articles that come from a peer-reviewed journal. Journals will say in their description if they are peer-review.  If you use JSTOR to find your article, it will more than likely be peer-reviewed.)   I will post the handout sometime today or tomorrow.

5) Please look over the handout for Monday as we will start where we left off, and I will specifically try to model a scholarly paper.  It will be a more useful demonstration if you come prepared with your questions.

Have a good weekend,

Allison

Discussion Questions for The Adventures of Alice in Wonderland

1)  What do you think about Alice?  Do you like her?  Is she funny?  Is she innocent?  Do you sympathize with her?

2)  Who is your favorite character and why?  (Alternately you may answer what is your favorite moment and why.  Only do this option if your moment is a very specific moment.)

3) Who is your least favorite character and why?  (Same alternate question applies.)

4 Identify a trope in The Adventures of Alice in Wonderland, which you see in a book, movie, artwork today.   For example the idea of falling into a hole or going through an everyday portal that takes you to a magic upside down land is a trope well established in the novel.  We can see that same trope in Harry Potter, particularly the first book or The Lion,  the Witch and the Wardrobe.

Abolitionism

(power point from class last week)

Here is the powerpoint from last Wednesday’s class.

Slides show for Colonial and Early American Children’s Lit

In the last fifteen minutes of class, I explained a little more about how Peter Pan is exemplary of what all children’s literature seems to do.  I drew a diagram. I doubt that it will be helpful for those of you who weren’t privy to that last 15 minutes, but I am posting it all the same. Perhaps it will generate dialogue.