| Quizzes.
Brief in-class tests over works we've read. These can also include
questions about terms or concepts we've covered in class. [10 points] Reflection Essays. Formal essays, three or more pages in length, on one of the works we've read. You will usually have a choice of two to four questions to answer; these will be posted on the Syllabus. [25 points] Minor Presentations. Brief presentations (5 minutes or so) giving the class background information on some particular topic or person. Please prepare and distribute a one-page handout to go with your remarks. [10 points] Major Presentation. Presentation of roughly 15 minutes, plus time for discussion, on your findings in your Thematic Research Project (see below). [10 points] Thematic Research Project. Instead of doing a critical research paper on one particular literary work or author, you will trace a particular theme or topic through the course, examining its effect on three writers, one of which will be Philip Sidney. You should be developing your ideas as we work through the various authors. The work will require the use of outside sources, to provide the necessary background for your topic, and your own consideration of how the topic affects the works of the writers you study. You will present a Preliminary Report around Midterm, and a Final Report at the end of the course. Preliminary Report. Your Preliminary Report, due October 15, will trace the significance of your topic through any two of the authors we read before Philip Sidney. You may, if you wish, use works by those authors that are not on the Syllabus. You may also, if you wish, substitute one author who is not on the Syllabus. The one restriction here is that this optional, substituted work not be a play by William Shakespeare. The paper should be six or more pages. [50 points] Final Report. Your Final Report, due December 12 (Friday of Finals Week), traces the topic or theme through the two writers of your Preimlimary Report plus Philip Sidney. By this time you should know not only Sidney's work, but you should have a fuller, tighter grasp of your theme in general, enabling you to revise and enrich the earlier sections of your study. Your Major Presentation will inform the class in detail of your findings across all three authors. The paper should be ten or more pages and should involve at least six outside sources. [75 points] Miscellaneous Assignments. I will from time to time assign minor, informal pieces of work, generally as an aid to pulling your ideas together in preparation for a discussion. [Par 5 grading] Topics for Thematic Research Paper
Note: This is not an exhaustive list of possibilities. If you have another idea you'd like to pursue, please let me know. If it seems viable to me, you may work on it. |