08:432 Seminar in Victorian Literature: Spring
2003
Victorian Inscriptions of India
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Assignments
Magazine Reports
The class balances between shared reading/discussion and in-the-trenches research. Twice during the semester, we’ll generate a list of questions based loosely on the topics under discussion and specifically on your questions about British representations of India. In search of answers, you'll turn to nineteenth-century British periodicals where you might choose to read fiction or nonfiction essays about colonial politics, legislation, education, daily life in India, religious differences, discussions of caste, race, the arts, whatever you find compelling. The questions will only be limited by dates; in the Report 1, we'll focus on the period before the so-called "Mutiny" of 1857, and in Report 2 on post-1857. Then you’ll head to the library to explore the periodical(s) of your choice.
Your reports should have two parts. The first page or so should provide background information about the particular periodical you’ve chosen to study so that we have a sense of the biases and investments of the periodical. Depending on the journal you choose, you can find this information in Walter Graham’s English Literary Periodicals, in the Reference Room. You’ll also find information about many of the journals in the The Wellesley Guide to Victorian Periodicals, 1837-1900 (Z2005. H6 On line, Software 3143 CD ROM) and in Poole’s Index (also in Reference). In addition, the first issue of a periodical often includes a prospectus which clarifies its affiliations and character. (If you’ll email me the title, the years and volume numbers of the volumes we hold, and the location, I’ll add these to the master list I'm building.) Please note that periodicals may be located in the third floor periodical section, in Special Collections, or in storage. Finally, the journal Victorian Periodicals Review (VPR) can be a useful source. See the web page for my earlier "Victorian Periodicals and Their Readers" course for information about magazine culture (see especially the Resources page) at http://twist.lib.uiowa.edu/viczines/. The second, 4-5 page section of your report should be your reflections on the questions we’ve generated in class based on your reading. Feel free to limit yourself to (and tweak) one or two of our shared questions given the periodical you’re considering. Please post your reports on the Discussion page of our website with a heading indicating your focus.
Annotated Bibliography
Your bibliography should give you a running start on the topic you choose to pursue in your final paper. Try to make this assignment as useful to you as possible. I strongly recommend that you begin working on this bibliography from the first week of class. If you annotate 3 or 4 items each week, this assignment shouldn't be taxing. For those of you who have not yet taken your comprehensive examinations, this is an excellent opportunity to begin that list or to practice the strategies you'll use in the bibliographical portion of your exam. The difficulty is to summarize the argument of a piece succinctly (in 2 or 3 sentences) but then to move beyond summary to a succinct analysis of the piece. The analysis can do several things: locate a text in relation to other studies of the topic, note the biases and strengths of the text, offer a sense of its usefulness (explaining why), critique the piece, perhaps by noting questions it raises that others might expand upon or important omissions that require attention. Aim for 30 items, balancing books, articles, and web sites (if you like). You can also include primary texts such as short stories, magazine articles not covered in your reports, or novels beyond our reading in class. Please post these on the Discussion page of our web with a heading that indicates your focus.
Research Paper
The final paper should be conceived as a publishable academic article, which may take one of many forms: a study of an individual work, an exploration of a topic across a range of works (including nineteenth-century magazines), a discussion of theoretical or pedagogical approaches to studying or teaching British representations of or relations with India, to name a few. We'll discuss the demands of different kinds of articles and the expectations of different types of journals as you consider what kind of audience you wish to address and what forms of the academic essay are most compatible with the journal or journals in which you look forward to publishing your work. You'll develop your final seminar project through several stages: an annotated bibliography (due April 9), a tentative abstract (due April 16), and a conference version of your paper (Saturday, May 10). The final paper should be turned in along with a revised abstract that you could submit in response to a call for conference paper proposals. Such abstracts are usually 100-200 words long.
Instead of meeting on the final Wednesday, we'll meet on Saturday May 10 for a mini-conference. Based on your topics, I'll divide the class into 3 panels. Each person will deliver a 15 minute version of the paper-in-progress. This will give you practice in presenting your work in public and will allow your classmates and I to give you feedback before you write the final draft of your paper. In addition, we’ll discuss appropriate conferences for you paper. The University of Iowa will be hosting the Interdisciplinary Nineteenth-Century Studies (INCS) conference in the spring of 2004, and I hope many of you will be interested in participating as organizers, volunteers, moderators, and panelists. You'll find a description of this year's conference at the University of California Santa Cruz on the web.
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Copyright © 2003 Teresa Mangum, The University of Iowa. All rights reserved.