English 3332 students:
For our Friday, April 22, blog, please post a comment of just one well-developed paragraph about the most helpful secondary source of literary criticism you have used for your research paper. In what way is this particular literary critic who authored this source helpful to you? How will you use this critic's insights in your paper?
This week you do not have to reply to another student's comment.
This weekend's reminders:
- Please keep in mind that you may use some secondary sources from other disciplines (social sciences, history, etc.) in your paper, as appropriate to your topic, but that those sources do not count toward your required minimum of seven sources of literary criticism.
- Also keep in mind that the two literary works you have chosen to write about are primary sources that are not counted toward the required seven sources.
- The paper is due at the beginning of class this Monday, April 25, and the late penalty is 5 points if turned in anytime before midnight on Monday, and 10 additional points per day after that. If you turn in your paper late, you may email it to me as a Word document attachment.
For your convenience, the assignment sheet for the research paper is copied below.
Have a productive weekend,
Dr. K
____________________________________________________
English 3332
Spring 2016
Rough draft due date: Wednesday, April 20th
Final draft due date: Monday, April 25th
Research Paper
Directions: Write an 8-10 page research paper, using
MLA documentation style, on one of the topics below. Discuss the ways this
topic is represented in two works of your choice, selecting one from each of
two (out of the three) different periods covered on our syllabus (i.e., two of
these three periods: 1865-1910, 1910-1945, or 1945-present). Delve into
controversies that you find in your research, taking a stand, or stake out your
own interpretive territory.
Topics:
- Education and/or literacy
- Childhood (or another
period of our lifespan)
- Marriage, sexuality, or other
gender-related issues
- Labor/employment or other
class issues
- Racial issues
MLA Format: You can find guidelines for MLA style on
the Purdue OWL website. In your paper, use at least seven varied secondary
sources of literary criticism—for example, two to three electronic
sources, two to three book-length studies, and a few journal articles. Please
do not rely primarily on electronic sources. They are generally not as
substantial or authoritative as books or journal articles. Journals that
provide full-text online access to their contents are not considered electronic
sources in this count, but their electronic access information should be
included on the Works Cited page.
The most influential literary criticism I have come across would be a journal entry that has experience with racial discrimination in the work place. In regards to my paper, this source helps tremendously because it agrees with Langston Hughes' point of view on the limit of expression we, as African Americans have due to being engulfed and influenced by whites that we are taught to be "above" the African American population. It was extremely interesting reading someone's experience that I hadn't ever made a connection with. I plan on using this source to help strengthen the point of views of not only Hughe's, but Du Bois's as well.
ReplyDeleteSuzy Holstein's "Power of Silence" has been my most valuable secondary source so far. This scholarly article has really supported my claim and backed my ideas thoroughly. It has also helped expand my ideas and opened the door for further insight. It discusses Susan Glaspell's "Trifles" and the reasoning behind why the women did not reveal the motive for the crime. Upon reading this article, I was focusing only on the wife. This article really helped me branch my idea and furthering my research opportunities. This secondary source has really strengthened my paper and my ideas.
ReplyDeleteMy most helpful source is my book source on W. E. B. Du Bois. It was only available through interlibrary loan, but after some digging, I was able to locate a version online. The author, Peter Coviello, discusses Du Bois in a sense of racial tensions and the journey to find the illusive African American identity that Du Bois explains in terms of “double-consciousness.” This piece is a helpful insight into Du Bois own personal battle to find his true identity in a racially hostile world. I am able to use the source in depth because of the sheer ground it covers information and analysis-wise. The definite position Coviello takes is backed up and is persuasive enough that I apply his arguments to other papers I analyze and either defend or dissent.
ReplyDeleteMy best citation for “The Yellow Wall Paper” came from an article I found on Ramcat. Hume, Beverly A. "Managing Madness In Gilman's 'The Yellow Wall-Paper'." Studies In American Fiction 1 (2002): 3. Literature Resource Center. Web. This article showed the narrators decent into madness into a clear and precise manner. It made pulling quotations and in text evidence easier for my intended ideas. This article was able to provide adequate evidence to back up my thesis. I also really enjoyed reading all the different ways that one can interpret the short story by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. This short story has numerous ways to read her incarceration.
ReplyDeleteMichael Atkinson's " The Necessary Extravagance of Sarah Orne Jewett: Voices of Authority In 'A White Heron'" was extremely valuable in characterizing Sylvia. He had valuable insight into her connection with nature before and after her journey to finding the heron. He talks about the bond between Sylvia and the tree and how this reflects Sylvia's contentedness in her current lifestyle. This strengthens her resolve to not reveal the location of the white heron to the young man, which would be a betrayal of her love and original values.
ReplyDeleteSome of my most helpful sources (I have chosen two) will Be "Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" and Langston Hughes "The Soul of Black Folks". I am utilizing these sources in my paper with these are the two authors works ill be covering in my research paper. The focal point of my research paper will be over Mark Twain's "A True Story" and Langston Hughes poem "The Negro Speaks of Rivers", but want to use the other two sources to gain more insight of how the authors wrote, and felt about the racial disparities in their respective time periods.
ReplyDeleteMy source, "Anderson's Wing Biddlebaum and Freeman's Louisa Ellis" by Lynda Brown is my most helpful source. It incorporates both of the literary works I am identifying with gender and sexuality. Brown describes both Wing Biddlebaum and Louisa Ellis' sexuality and how they are represented through symbolism. It also shows the similarities between the two works even though they were written years apart. This article has helped my arguments in major ways and it is one of the main sources I use through out my research paper.
ReplyDeleteMy most helpful source so far is an essay entitled "The "Sick" Women of the Upper Classes" by Barbara Ehrenreich and Deirdre English. The essay examines the question of what causes or exacerbates the health problems female invalids experienced in the late nineteenth century, with a focus on Charlotte Perkins Gilman's "The Yellow Wallpaper." Its significance for me rests on its look at how prevalent cultural attitudes as well as the biases of male doctors contributed to female mental and general health. It is also a good souorce because it examine's Gilman's story in light of Gilman's own negative experience with treatment for mental health issues, highlighting Gilman's views on the subject. Since one of the goal's of literary studies is exegesis, or determining the author's original intent and meaning, this source will be quite useful.
ReplyDeleteThe most valuable source that I have found is Lynn Wardley's article "Reassembling Daisy Miller." Wardley has great insight on the character Daisy Miller as he dissects her into different categories. He divides her into different categories of woman which helps me to argue the new woman image that Daisy portrays. This article has also helped to view the new woman image in "Roman Fever" as well.
ReplyDeleteThere is a journal which compares William Faulker's "Barn Burning" (one of the stories I'm contrasting to Flannery O'Connor's "The Artificial Nigger", drawing comparisons to the way in which Snopes treats and raises his son Sarty to the primary relationship of the latter book. While this offers little in my discussion of "Recitatif" (my other choice), it did offer more valuable insight into Sarty's thought process throughout the story and the factors that ultimately led to his decision at the end. I will no doubt use that insight when discussing my thoughts on abuse and its effects on the side of "Barn Burning."
ReplyDeleteThe most helpful secondary source of literary criticism that I have used for my research paper is Radhashyam Dey's critical analysis of social responsibility in “Death of a Salesman”. Dey's analysis is helpful because he critiques Willy Loman and how he fulfills, or rather fails to fulfill, his roles as father and, more relevant to my research paper, and as a husband. While watching the play, I had figured that Willy had committed suicide due to a combination of mental health issues and disappointment that he was unable to realize his own dreams. Due to the way that he interacted with his family, it had never occurred to me that his disappointment in himself for cheating on his wife and essentially ruining Biff's chances at success and happiness may have drive him to take his own life. Dey implies that, while Willy was overall a very selfish person, in committing suicide he was doing his family the only good that he felt he could at that point. I will use his insights to compare his motives with the way he treated his family, especially Linda, and how his disparate actions and feelings affected his marriage.
ReplyDeleteThe most useful piece of literary criticism I have come across for my paper is"I Had Barbara": Women's Ties and Wharton's "Roman Fever" by Rachel Bowlby. The article focuses on the way as the secrets that unfolded throughout the story are told, the reader is able to realize that some of the previous statements said by the women can be interpreted differently and point more toward their secrets. It also tackles the forbidden sexuality that Grace has clearly partaken in. The way that it talks about sexuality is a important point in my own paper that discusses the freedom of sexuality and marriage in "Roman Fever" and "A New England Nun."
ReplyDeleteThe most helpful secondary source I used for my paper is called Changing Role of Womanhood by Deborah Thomas. This source was especially helpful because in her article, she parallels the time period of the 1800’s to The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, which is one of my primary sources. Therefore it was helpful to compare her opinion on the treatment of women to mine, in order to expand my opinion. I used her valid information on Dr. Weir Mitchell in order to understand what Gilman went through during her “hysteria”, as well as the woman character in her story. In addition, I used her insights in my paper to add professional quotes, and helpful information that is pertinent to the message of my paper
ReplyDeleteMy favorite secondary source that I have been working with is a journal about domesticity and nationalism. It was a very interesting read and I am finding it very beneficial to my research process.
ReplyDeleteThe most useful secondary source I have used is a Journal article about teaching students the difference between American and European society and culture through the story Daisy Miller. I found several good ideas to use in my paper and learned so much about both the culture and about teaching, which is very helpful considering I will be an English Teacher. This article is one I can use for my paper and for my future classroom!
ReplyDelete