Everything you will submit for this course (3 submissions in total) builds toward your scaffolded semester project, step by step. A few weeks into the course, you will choose a text published anywhere between the 1700s and present. This can be a text of any genre (fiction, non fiction, poetry, theatre, short story, etc.) and you can choose to approach it in its entirety or to just focus on an extract. It can be a text within our syllabus (as long as you bring your own take on it), or in can be any text you know and are interested in. Throughout the semester, you will gradually work towards either a final essay, a podcast, or a video that presents an analysis and interpretation of the text you have chosen.
All assignments are to be submitted on Blackboard via SafeAssign by 11:59pm on their due dates. Detailed rubrics are available on the Blackboard assignments under “Course Documents”.
Extensions must be requested prior to the relevant deadline.
No questions asked, but handing in late work several times may impact your grade (please see Syllabus).
Please see the Schedule in the main Menu to see assignment due dates in perspective. I highly recommend that you take note of those deadlines and write them in your calendar.
Directions
I. The Project Proposal (one single-spaced page):
Due February 27, 11:59pm on Blackboard
Please prepare a one-page (single-spaced) document containing the following:
1) At the top left corner: your details (full name, email, declared/intended major), the title and author of your chosen text, date and country of publication, and whether you’ll approach it as a whole or from an extract (if an extract, please indicate the pages or relevant chapter.) If your text has an online version, please link it.;
2) A working title for your proposal (it should give a hint at the aspect of the text you’re interested to focus on and what period/area the text is situated in);
3) One paragraph describing why you are interested in this text (not a summary of the text);
4) One paragraph about potential aspects of the text that you think you will need to explore in order to make your point about the text (you don’t have to know your point yet, but the reasons why you are interested in the text will probably guide your interpretation later);
5) One (shorter) paragraph on your projected format for the scaffolded project. Are you more inclined towards writing an essay, or recording a podcast, or making a video (or something else, if you have another idea)? Why does that format appeal to you most? What challenges do you foresee? (You can change your format later, but not your text).
Since the prompt gives you an enormous breadth of choice on what to work on, I acknowledge that you may feel lost in such a pool of opportunities. A good way to narrow it down is to browse through all the modules on this website and see what period might interest you most. From there, you could think of a country you’re curious about, or an aspect of literature that aligns with your interests (e.g., genre, audience, authorship, a specific historical event/period, gender, literary reflections of a socio-economical reality, a moment in the history of art, music, or cinema that you could approach from a literary point of view, etc.). You can also skim through the anthology, or you may have previously studied a text or literary period that you really liked and would like to explore further (just remember we are only working on texts from 1700 to present). Once I review your proposal, I will provide some feedback on how to plan your project from there, and I may offer some guidance on how to approach your chosen text. The more detailed your reasons for choosing that text, the more I can help with your next steps!
Grading: Complete/Almost Complete/Incomplete
A detailed rubric is available on Blackboard.
II. The Project Outline (2-3 single-spaced pages):
– Draft due March 26, class time, for peer-review activity in pairs
– Revised outline due April 5, 11:59pm on Blackboard
No matter your chosen project format, please write an argument outline of 2-3 double-spaced pages containing the following:
- A revised title for the project (rework your proposal title now that your topic is defined). The title should indicate the specificity of the topic and still situate the general spatio-temporal context of the text;
- A temporary introduction that situates the text in its context (not a plot summary) and gives a clear thesis statement and a summary of your main points (that is the structure of your argumentation, which leads to your most important point about the text);
- Subheadings for each main points (2-3 max.). Under each subheading, there should be bullet points with a brief description of what the point is, and selected quotes or moments from the text;
- Narrative transitions (i.e., in full sentences) between each main point. Explain in a sentence or two how you are moving from A to B, B to C, etc. Never assume that your thought process is clear to your reader. Using conjunctive adverbs (below) helps give a sense of logical progression to your argument.
- A temporary conclusion. How would you put your most important point, in your best words? What is the takeaway of your analysis? What have you concluded so far? What’s left to do?
- A note to me identifying one particular concern or area of your work that you would like feedback on.
Detailed video instructions for the outline are here. During our outline meeting (see Schedule), I will also show you a sample outline from a former student who has agreed to have it shown.
Grading: Complete/Almost Complete/Incomplete
A detailed rubric is available on Blackboard.
III. The Final Project:
Due May 16, 11:59pm on Blackboard
+ Self-assessment form (mandatory to determine your final grade)
Instructions by format are below:
If you chose the essay (2000 words, in Word document format), click here.
If you chose the podcast (10-12 minutes, in mp3 format), click here.(coming soon)
If you chose the video (10-12 minutes, in mp4 format), click here.(coming soon)
I am happy to show you examples of former student work for each project format, and you are also welcome to propose your own creative format.
As a further alternative, you are also welcome to use the free software StoryMap for a project format that combines visuals with route maps relevant to either the plot of a text, or the author’s life. A tutorial is available here, and this is an example of an ENG2850 project using StoryMap (please not that this is an author-biography project, not a final project as this class requires). Please let me know if you have any questions about choosing this format!
If you are using any images for your project, no matter the format, please acknowledge image credits, and better still, strive to find open-access images that allow reproduction in their copyright. Here are tips on how to find such open-access images.
Grading: Complete/Almost Complete/Incomplete (no resubmissions at this point, see grading table on Syllabus)
A detailed rubric is available on Blackboard.
