Eng. 305. Literary Research and Methods Professor Rebecca Bushnell Office: 116 Bennett Hall Office tel.: 898-8220, 898-7341 E-mail: rebecca@reality.sas.upenn.edu Office hours: Tues/Thurs 9:30-10:30, Wed. 10-11, and by appointment listserver for English 305: bushnell305@english.upenn.edu [use to send messages to everyone in the class] class homepage: http://www.english.upenn.edu/~bushnell/eng-305 Books (available at Penn Book Center: Texts: Mary Oliver, Poetry Handbook (Harcourt Brace) An Introduction to Bibliographical and Textual Studies, ed. William Proctor Williams and Craig S. Abbott (MLA) MLA Guide to Research for Undergraduates (MLA) (optional but recommended) T.S. Eliot, The Waste Land; Facsimile & Transcript (Harcourt Brace) William Shakespeare, King Lear; A Parallel Text Edition, ed. Rene Weis (Longmans) The Norton Anthology of Poetry, Shorter Version (Norton) Daniel Defoe, Robinson Crusoe (Penguin) Joseph Gilbaldi, Ed., Introduction to Scholarship Charles Barber, The English Language: a Historical Introduction(Cambridge) Bulk pack at: Campus Copy Center Articles in the bulkpack and the selections from Barber will also be available in Rosengarten Reserve Course Description: This experimental course will explore intensively some of the key questions and problems that arise when we study English literature: What should I look for as I read? Is this text I am reading the "right" or "best" one (and what does that mean, anyway)? Should I be reading literary criticism about this story or poem, and if so, what should I do with it? Where do I find information about the historical context of this book, and should that historical context matter in my reading? We will reach for answers to these sorts of questions through hands-on exercises and class discussion in a seminar format, focused on problems posed by texts from different genres and time periods: texts include T.S. Eliot's The Waste Land, Shakespeare's King Lear, Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe, and selected lyric poems. Topics to be covered may include: literary and rhetorical terminology; meter, rhyme, and poetic form; the uses of old editions and manuscripts; issues in textual criticism; issues in biographical criticism; the roles of literary criticism and theory; effective use of the library; hypertext and electronic data bases. Writing assignments: Textual criticism exercise, OED exercise, scansion exercise, MLA bibliography exercise; 7-10-pp research paper, with class presentation. Syllabus: Sept 4:Introduction What is method? How are means, or methods, related to the ends of literary study? And why does it matter? PART I: MODELS: Using selected examples of poems, plays and novels, this section will cover the basics of textual criticism, close reading, bibliographical and historical research. Week l. Books Sept. 9: Poems from manuscripts to books. Assignment: 1. Read and analyze examples comparing manuscript versions and printed version of the following poems (manuscripts in photocopy-hand out/web site); printed poems in NA of Poetry: Keats, "To Autumn" and Yeats, "The Wild Swans at Coole" 2. Read Michel Foucault, "What is an Author" (bulkpack and reserve) Sept. 11: Library visit to Special Collections (Lea Library, 6th floor of Van Pelt) Assignment: 1. Read introduction from Abbott and Williams, An Introduction to Bibliographical and Textual Studies 2. Read D.W. McKenzie, Chap. 1, from Bibliography and the Sociology of Texts (in bulkpack and reserve) Suggested reading: Williams and Abbot, chap. 3, "On Descriptive Bibliography" Week 2. Texts Sept. 16: Practicing Textual Criticism: Assignment: 1. Read essay by D.C. Greetham, on "Textual Scholarship," in Gibaldi, Introduction to Scholarship. 2. Read and analyze different versions of the following texts: Wyatt, "They Flee from Me" and "My Galley Charged with Forgetfulness," in versions in NA and early printed version in Songes and Sonnettes) (handout and Web site); examples from Ulysses text controversy (handout) Sept. 18: Complicating Textual criticism: Textual criticism exercise explained: due Sept. 25. (On four versions of "To be or not to be" from Hamlet (handout and Web site) Assignment: 1. Read Chapter 5, on Textual criticism, from Williams and Abbot 2. Read Stallybrass and De Grazia, "The Materiality of the Shakespearean Text," from Shakespeare Quarterly (bulkpack and reserve) Week 3: Words Sept. 23: The history and culture of words Assignment: 1. Read Chaps. 2, 6, 8,9 of Charles Barber, The English Language: A Historical Introduction (also on reserve) 2. Read essay by Dennis Baron, on "Language, Culture, and Society" in Gilbaldi In class we will be using the NA of Poetry to look at poems written at different periods of the development of the English language, so remember to bring your NA Sept. 25: Using the OED Assignment: Textual criticism exercise due. OED exercise explained in class (due Oct. 2): and practice in class (bring your NA of Poetry). Week 4: Form Sept 30: Learning the basics of poetic form: rhyme and meter Assignment: Read Mary Oliver, A Poetry Handbook. Reading practice in class with poems from the NA (remember to bring your NA) Oct. 2: Practicing Close Reading Assignment: OED exercise due Scansion/close reading exercise explained (due Oct. 9), and scansion practice in class with sample from NA. Bring your NA of Poetry to class. Week 5: Criticism and Theory Oct. 7: Critical reading Assignment: 1. Read Donald Marshall, on "Literary Interpretation," and Jonathan Culler, on "Literary Theory" in Gilbaldi 2. Read Andrew Bennett, on Keats, "To Autumn" (in bulkpack and on reserve) Oct. 9: Visit to Van Pelt Library: MLA bibliography demonstration. MLA exercise explained (due Oct. 21). Assignment: Scansion exercise due. Week 6: History Oct. 14: no class (Fall Break) Oct. 16: Issues in Historical criticism. Assignment: 1. Read Annabel Patterson, on "Historical Criticism," in Gilbaldi. 2. Read Arthur Marrotti,'Love Is Not Love': Elizabethan Sonnet Sequences and the Social Order, as a case study of historical criticism (in bulkpack and reserve) PARTS II AND III: CASE STUDIES AND STUDENT RESEARCH [Students begin their own research projects] A. Textual Criticism/Historical Criticism: King Lear Week 7: "King Lear" and its Texts Oct. 21. Going Mad with Lear Assignment: Read Weis, introduction, pp. 1-7, and Lear, Acts 1-3, in Weiss's parallel text version: (read either quarto or folio version, as you please, for Act 1-2, but read both versions in Act 3.1, and mark what you think are significant differences Oct. 23. Making up your Deranged Mind Assignment: Read Lear, Acts 4-5; read either quarto or folio version, but read both versions of 5.3 and mark what you think are significant differences Week 8: "King Lear" and History Oct. 28. Histories of Madness/Histrionics Assignment: 1. Read Stephen Greenblatt, "Shakespeare and the Exorcists" (bulkpack and on reserve). Oct. 30. Playing the King Assignment: 1. Read Leah Marcus, "Retrospective: King Lear on St. Stephen's Night 1606", from Puzzling Shakespeare (bulkpack and on reserve) 2. Read excerpt from James I, speech to Parliament in 1606 (handout) B. Manuscript to Text/Reading Allusions: The Waste Land Week 9: Nov.4: Shoring up The Waste Land: Reading Fragments Assignment: 1. Read text of the first edition of The Waste Land, with Eliot's footnotes (at end of facsimile edition: additional notes and glosses to be supplied) Nov. 7: Symbol/Source: What to Believe Assignment: 1. Read selections from Jesse Weston, From Ritual to Romance (handout) Students' research topics due Week 10: 9.Manuscript to text: Who is the Author? Nov. 11: The Writing Process Assignment: 1. Read introduction to facsimile edition of The Waste Land 2. Read facsimile (with transcript) of "The Burial of the Dead" and "The Game of Chess" (pp. [5}-[21] (compare with published edition at the end) Nov. 13: The Writing Process, cont. Assignment: 1. Read pp. [63-81] of facsimile and transcript of The Waste Land C. Formal/Political Reading: Robinson Crusoe Week 11: Crusoe: What Sort of Text is this? Nov. 18: Crusoe, Fact--Fiction Assignment: 1. Read Robinson Crusoe, to "I find a print of a man's naked foot" Nov. 20: Crusoe and narrative form (visit from John Richetti): Assignment: 1. Finish reading Robinson Crusoe Week 12: Political criticism of Crusoe Nov. 25: Colonial Crusoe Assignment: 1. Read selection from Peter Hulme, Colonial Encounters: Europe and the Native Caribbean, 1492-1797 (bulkpack and reserve) Nov. 27: (Thanksgiving Break) SECTION III: RESEARCH REPORTS Week 13: Reports Dec. 2-4: Students present their own research projects in class Research papers due: Dec. 10.