Contents:
Schedule --- Approach options/Types of papers --- Techniques of analysis --- Successful paper topics from past courses --- Requirements and options (page length, etc.) --- Style sheet (formatting requirements)

Schedule:
Term paper proposals are due Mon., Apr. 10. Submit a one-page, typed, double-spaced proposal with the topic of your project (literary data to be studied, type of analysis planned, names of participants).

Term paper due dates are flexible. I will ask you to commit to a date between Friday, June 2 (last day of 'dead week' and Wed., June 7 (which would be the date of our final exam if we had one)

THIS PAPER COUNTS FOR 50% OF YOUR GRADE, SO CONSULT WITH ME OFTEN ABOUT IT, AND KEEP ME APPRISED OF YOUR PROGRESS. COME IN QUICKLY IF YOU HIT SNAGS; DON'T BE AFRAID OF 'LOOKING STUPID'. You'll look at lot more stupid if the paper gets an F.

Approach options/Types of papers:

The list below presents options for term projects. This project is intended to give you an opportunity to develop one extended application of a method or methods of analysis we are learning about in this class.

The paper is to apply the specific analytic techniques that we practice in class and find in the readings to either literature (poetry, drama, fiction) or non-fiction (literature is preferred, but particular genres of non-fiction or non-literature, such as advertising or propaganda (bumper stickers? [better collect A LOT]), lend themselves well to this type of analysis). It would probably be best to choose a piece/author that you are familiar with and like, so that the background in literary criticism will be somewhat familiar to you already. Think of this as a way of extending your knowledge of the piece into the realm of linguistics/stylistics.

You are REQUIRED to come and talk to me in the early stages of the project for guidance. Regular visits as you work on your projects are very strongly advised.

Types of papers: (in order of difficulty from easy  (1) to hard  (6)). I don't care whether you go for easy or hard.

• (1) Your basic: Analysis of a particular piece: a poem, scene(s) from a play or a short play; representative chapter(s) from a novel or other longer piece.
• (2) The personal touch: The distinctive style of an individual author (of any of the genres mentioned above): Finding out what specific linguistic features of that person's texts create the style. This would involve working with samples from various works generally considered representative of that author's style.
• (3) What's the difference? Comparisons between two individuals, or between different stages of a single individual's career, etc.
• (4) Why the funny talk? In-depth examination and analysis of use of dialect in a particular piece or a particular author's work (recommended to anyone especially interested in sociolinguistics, racism/classism/sexism in literature, etc.)
• (5) Are they right? Study of how/whether a particular individual's style truly fits the way they have been characterized in criticism (e.g., is so-and-so really a 'typical female' writer of X period?)
• (6) What's 'X' literature? Study of the specific linguistic features that lead readers/critics to type or group authors into a certain category — e.g., again, 'a woman's voice' in literature, or the reflection of cultural biases such as imperialism or racism in particular periods -- what characterizes it linguistically; can we prove from linguistics that such writing really has distinguishing characteristics that support the characterization of it as racist, feminist, imperialist, sexist, etc.? Is author X really a minimalist? How can we define 'stream of consciousness' linguistically?

Techniques of Analysis:

You will need to decide early which type of analysis you are going to concentrate on. Certain kinds suggest themselves as distinct from others, and therefore suitable as techniques for a single paper:

-- How sound is used to achieve certain effects in a particular poem: segments, prosody, alliteration, assonance, etc. etc.

-- How syntactic structure determines style: sentence length, complexity, deviation, compression, etc.

-- Metaphorical analysis á la Lakoff & Turner of a particular piece (poem, prose, play)

-- Use of frame invocation and/or frame deviation (content that violates the frame set up by previous content) to suggest interpretations or achieve effects

OR

-- Applying multiple techniques to a single piece to see how several 'tricks' (use of speech sounds, prosody, graphology, deviation in morphology and syntax, paralellism, etc.) work together to achieve the effect(s) the piece is known for. Focusing on use of a particular feature, such as deviation or parallelism, in a work or author is also possible, although you would need to point out a good number of different (morphological vs. semantic vs. syntactic vs. graphological) ways that that feature manifests itself.

WE CAN REFINE THESE AS WE TALK INDIVIDUALLY ABOUT YOUR PROJECTS.

As soon as you have decided on your topic, you should begin data collection and background reading. You cannot afford to wait until the analytic principles are covered in class!!
 

Successful paper topics from the past (ENGL 503 & 504 courses):

• Conceptual metaphorical analyses of:
• the poem 'Dover Beach'
• the novel 'Heart of Darkness'
• the poem 'The Man-Moth'
• the novel 'The Red Badge of Courage'
• weaving metaphors in the novel 'Moby Dick'
• Angie Estes' poem 'The Iron's Credo'

• Frame-invocation analysis of:
• the short story 'The Yellow Wallpaper'
• Syntactic analysis of:
• Stream-of-consciousness style
• Henry James' handwritten vs. dictated works
• Use of dash interpolations in Faulkner

Requirements and options:

• Projects may be solo or pair-work. I will expect papers written by more than one person to cover more data (data = literary text) than papers written by just one person, and to give a more-extensive analysis. Pairs will hand in one paper, with both names on it; both students will receive the grade that the paper earns. Take responsibility for your share of the work!! I will not mediate disputes over workload; sort this out as mature adults. To avoid conflicts, it is best to work with people you know at least a little bit.
• Your paper is to be no less than 15 and no more than 20 pages long. (Undergraduates: 10-15 pages).  Write and edit your paper carefully for good organization, clear language with good spelling, punctuation, etc. (group work provides a good opportunity for careful editing by more than one person). Graduate students are held to very high standards for writing, including style, organization, content, grammar, spelling, paragraph indentation, etc. See my grading standards for more details.

• -Typed, double-spaced, normal-sized font (e.g. 12-point Times Roman or 12-point Helvetica), no tiny or large print, please).
• -Use a consistent method of in-text citation and listing of sources you used. List only sources which you cite in the text of the paper. Find a style guide (MLA, APA, or LSA) and follow it slavishly.
• -Follow the MLA (APA, or LSA) guide for mechanics and usage. Pay careful attention to generic pronoun use (I don't like generic 'he'; some other solution must be found).
• -Strive for a physical presentation that makes the paper easy to read. I like subheadings and clear topic divisions in a paper, rather than one long essay. This is untypical of literature papers, so take note.
• - Pages MUST BE NUMBERED!

BIGGEST POSSIBLE NO-NO: Making interpretive claims without BACKING UP such claims with linguistic principles:

BAD: 'this poem is pleasing because it is full of soft sounds like /s/, /f/, and soothing low vowels'
GOOD: 'features such as +continuant, -strident, +sonorant lead to positive impressionistic judgments of 'softness' in language (cite sources)'

BAD: 'this character's speech clearly makes her weaker than her competitor for the favors of Ashley'
GOOD: the constant use of features that linguists (cite sources) have found to be associated with weakness of character, such as tag questions, few first-person references, portrayal of the self as patient rather than agent, etc. demonstrate the author's intention to portray so-and-so as weaker and her competitor as stronger [then quote sample dialogue from the piece]

Data: Literary or non-literary texts that are the object of your analysis
Criticism: What literary critics have had to say about a piece or a person's work (non-linguists).
Linguistics: Sources on the structure of language, and/or sources on stylistics/linguistic analysis of literature.