contemporary criticism presentation / report guidelines

These presentations / reports will give you a chance to engage with some of the contemporary literary criticism on one of the novels we’re reading. For many of you, this will be the first time you’ve looked at the professional discourse of criticism, and I realize that it may seem strange, difficult, and frustrating at first glance. I hope that actively working with a small number of articles in order to present them to the class will help you get a grasp on both how contemporary criticism works and what the currently important issues are. I do not expect completely mastery, but rather a good-faith engagement with this material. I will, of course, be happy to discuss your presentation / report with you at any stage.

Research:

     Each presentation / report must deal with at least two pieces of criticism, which should be selected from more general reading around (see below). One may come from the reserve readings (see the handout of critical readings on reserve), and one must be an article you have found in a recent journal. During our library workshop (Wednesday, 1/31), you will be able to begin this research. This article must be recent (published in the last 15 years or so), and from one of the following journals of literary criticism: ELH (English Literary History), Eighteenth-Century Studies, Eighteenth-Century Fiction, Eighteenth Century: Theory and Interpretation, Eighteenth-Century Life, SEL (Studies in English Literature), PMLA (Publications of the Modern Language Association). (If you find something of interest in another journal, run it by me.)

     Keep in kind that you’ll need to skim a few pieces (4-5) in order to find ones that look interesting enough to work on. Part of the work of any research is reading around and finding something engaging enough—worthy enough—for your attention.

Preparation:

     For each article (or chapter), please prepare an annotated bibliography. This should include a correct citation of all the pieces you’ve looked at (see the Paper 1 Assignment for examples of how to cite), and a paragraph that outlines the main argument of the pieces you’ve chosen to focus on (this is the "annotation" part).

     It will help to approach each argument with two large questions in mind:

     Critical arguments put texts into contexts, showing how they serve as examples of larger issues or developments. These contexts may be historical (Pamela introduces a new conception of marriage), or formal (Moll Flanders offers a new way to represent people in landscapes), or theoretical (Tristram Shandy addresses questions about the relationship of discourse to bodies). So first ask, what is the larger context into which the critic is putting the text? It may help to think of this as the "forest" in which the particular "tree" of the text is situated.

     Secondly ask, what does the text (your novel) do in this context? What work in the larger development does it perform? How does it participate in the story that the context tells? In terms of the metaphor, how does this particular "tree" show us something about the given "forest."

Presentation:

     First, summarize from your annotated bibliography the main argument of each critical piece and present it to the class in sketch form.

     Second, compare the arguments: When you read the novel from the point of view each argument, how does the novel look? What problem is it trying to solve? Do the critics agree on what is important in the text? Do they focus on different aspects of the text?

     Third, comment on the critics: Are you more convinced by one piece? Is there a way to adjudicate the different claims about the text? Are there important aspects of the text that the criticism ignores? How has the criticism changed the way you read or understand the novel?

     For the oral presentation, please hand in whatever outline / notes you use for the presentation. For the written reports, this should be in the form of a two page (or so) cover sheet that comments on your findings and the annotated bibliography. The exact format (outline, notes, more formal prose) is up to you: however you choose to approximate an oral report in writing.

     Each oral presenter should have already decided on her or his date. The written reports are due on the day of the final class discussion of your chosen novel.