Didst thou ever see a white bear? cried my father, turning his head round to Trim, who stood at the back of his chair:——No, an' please your honor, replied the corporal.——But thou could'st discourse about one, Trim, said my father, in case of need?——How is it possible, brother, quoth my uncle Toby, if the corporal never saw one?——'Tis the fact I want, said my father—and the possibility of it, is as follows.
(Sterne, The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy V:xlii.)

Third Paper Assignment


Third Assignment
(proposal due 4/15, 5pm on Compass;
paper due 4/25,  by 1pm, on Compass AND in hard copy brought to class).

This third assignment will pull together the various ways of engaging in literary history that we’ve practiced in this course and allow you to further explore a text that interests you, and the interpretive issues it raises.  The exact topic of your paper is up to you, but it must include the following components:

·      A further analysis of any ONE of the primary (that is, written in the later C18) readings assigned for this course.  It can be a text assigned by me or by your classmates in their group projects; it can be part of one of the two books assigned for the course (the poetry anthology or Tristram Shandy), or one of the many PDFs you’ve accumulated.  The only thing it CAN’T be is a text you’ve worked with already in the first or second assignments or in your group projects.

·      At least three secondary works (articles or monographs) that bear on the issues that you explore.  They cannot be works from your group project bibliography.

·      An interpretive question that you would like to answer in the course of writing the paper.

The Assignment: 
I.               (12 pts) Write a 1- to 2-page proposal describing the question you want to answer in your 6- to 8-page paper. The proposal should (a) describe the primary text you want to work with further (4 pts),  (b) identify the issues you want to explore in it (4 pts), and (c) suggest how the related secondary texts (have some titles in mind) will help you in this endeavor (4 pts).  You need not have your argument fully worked out, but you should have ideas about the directions in which your paper might go (due on Compass by 5pm on 4/15).
II.              (48 pts) Write the 6- to 8-page paper you have proposed (due on Compass and in class by 1pm on 4/25)

Expectations
Success on this paper (II) requires you to do the following:

a. Develop a plausible yet arguable thesis  
b.  Analyze specific and directly quoted evidence from the text to support your claims.
c.  Use secondary sources critically and shrewdly to frame or support your argument.
d.  Organize your ideas effectively and persuasively.
e.  Write clearly 
f.  Proofread 
g.  Include a Works Cited page in MLA style.

The Fine Print

  • Review the syllabus for information about how to hand in your paper and my policies on plagiarism and late papers.   The university’s policies on academic honesty as well as my own apply to this paper as to all written work for the course.

  • Your paper should have a title; whether or not it has a title page and where precisely you put your name, the date, and other identifying details is up to you—just be sure that my name and the course number appears somewhere on the first page.   

  • Number your pages.

  • Refrain from justifying the right margins. 

  • By all means, come by my office hours (or make an appointment) if you want to confirm your understanding of the assignment, discuss your ideas, or get further guidance.  I will   look at drafts in office hours (or by appointment), but you must come with a specific question or issue on which you would like advice—I will not pregrade papers.



 
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