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Literature 4553: Issues in American Literature
Frederic Murray Frederic Murray Assistant ProfessorAssistant ProfessorMLIS, University of British ColumbiaMLIS, University of British ColumbiaBA, Political Science, University of IowaBA, Political Science, University of Iowa
Instructional Services LibrarianInstructional Services LibrarianAl Harris Library Al Harris Library [email protected]
Issues in American LiteratureIdeal• Democracy• Spiritual • Lawful
Actual/Flawed• Slavery• Greed• Violence
The American Character is...
D.H. Lawrence
The essential American soul is hard, isolate, stoic, and a killer. - Studies in Classic American Literature (1923)
Research Paper
• Text either upholds or contradicts one list of clichés about the American character
• 6-7 Pages (plus Works Cited page)
• Support argument– Citations from selected Text– A Critical Secondary Source that discusses Text– A Scholarly (Critical) Secondary Source that discusses
cliché
Literature: Research Competencies
• Research plays an indispensable role in the textual discovery process for students
• Good research skills help the literary explorer learn more about the author and the author’s world
• Examine scholarly interpretations of the text
• Create new studies and interpretations to add to a body of knowledge
Research Competencies I. Understand the structure of information within
the field of literary research
II. Identify and use key literary research tools to locate relevant information
III. Plan effective search strategies and modify search strategies as needed
IV. Understand that some information sources are more authoritative than others and demonstrate critical thinking in the research process
Guidelines for Literature
I. Understand the structure of information within the field of literary research
Review Criticism
Absalom Absalom
Review Criticism
I. Understand the structure of information within the field of literary research
• Understand the concept and significance of peer- reviewed sources of information
• Understand that literary texts exist in a variety of editions, some of which are more authoritative or useful than others
• Understand the authorship, production, dissemination, or availability of literary production. This includes understanding the meanings and distinctions of the concepts of editions, facsimiles, and authoritative editions
II. Identify and use key literary research tools to locate relevant information
• Use reference and other appropriate information resources to provide background information and contextual information about social, intellectual, and literary culture
– American Writers– Bachman’s Encyclopedia of Pop.
Fiction– Handbook to Literature
II. Identify and use key literary research tools to locate relevant information
• Understand the uses of all available databases and services
• America: History and Life with Full Text
• MLA International Bibliography (EBSCO)
• JSTOR• Ebrary (digital
books)
Sources: Databases
• America: History and Life with Full Text
• Historical Abstracts with Full Text*
• MLA International Bibliography (EBSCO)
• JSTOR • Literary Reference Center • Ebrary*
Sources: Digital Books
• EbraryChapter Search
Search: Las Casas
Buscaglia-Salgado, Jose F.. Undoing Empire: Race and Nation in the Mulatto Caribbean. Minneapolis, MN, USA: University of Minnesota Press, 2003.
• Chapter 3: Bartolomé de Las Casas at the End of Time; or, How the Indies Were Won and Lost
III. Plan effective search strategies and modify search strategies as needed
Keywords Boolean
Boolean Operators
• Connect keywords only• Must be placed between keywords• AND
– Narrows your search
• OR– Expands your search with synonymous
terms
• NOT– Excludes words from your search– If used too much, it can work against you!
Research Competencies• Understand that some information
sources are more authoritative than others and demonstrate critical thinking in the research process
Research Paper
• Text either upholds or contradicts one list of clichés about the American character
• 6-7 Pages (plus Works Cited page)
• Support argument– Citations from selected Text– A Critical Secondary Source that discusses Text– A Scholarly (Critical) Secondary Source that discusses
cliché
Possible Topic
• Bartolomé de Las Casas
• Brief Account of the Devastation of the Indies
Authoritative Edition ?
Authoritative Edition ?
Authoritative Edition ?
Possible Topic
• Bartolomé de Las Casas
• Brief Account of the Devastation of the Indies
Needed for Paper…• NEED: Citations from selected Text
– Brief Account of the Devastation of the Indies• NEED: A Critical Secondary Source that discusses Text
– Buscaglia-Salgado, Jose F.. Undoing Empire : Race and Nation in the Mulatto Caribbean. Minneapolis, MN, USA: University of Minnesota Press, 2003 (Ebrary Chp. 3)
• Need: A Scholarly (Critical) Secondary Source that discusses cliché or assumption about the American character *
What’s Needed……..
• What’s really needed is a selection of one of the assumptions/ clichés surrounding the American Character
• What’s really needed is a working Thesis…
Discussion: Example
• The spiritualism of the Puritans vs. the materialism of later generations
• In Las Casas it could be framed as Saving Souls Vs Brutal Land Grab
Working Thesis
The American character is predacious and unrelenting and often masked under the guise of religious temperance. Bartolomé de Las Casas Brief Account of the Devastation of the Indies provides early examples of this characteristic.
How to Search the Assumption?
Search: early Caribbean greed and violence
VERBURG, RUDI. "The Rise Of Greed In Early Economic Thought: From Deadly Sin To Social Benefit." Journal Of The History Of Economic Thought (Cambridge University Press) 34.4 (2012): 515-539. Historical Abstracts with Full Text. Web. 22 Sept. 2014.
Research Paper
• Strategies for Search– Write a working thesis– Criticism of Work/Discussion of Idea
• Sources to Search – Ebrary –Digital Books/Chapters– Lit Databases
• JSTOR/MLA/LRC – History Databases
• American Life/Historical Abstracts/JSTOR
Class Exercise• Find three scholarly sources
interrogating the idea of violence in the American character.
• What databases?
• What keywords?
• Bring citations to class Friday
Literature 4553: Issues in American Literature2nd Lecture
Frederic Murray Frederic Murray Assistant ProfessorAssistant ProfessorMLIS, University of British ColumbiaMLIS, University of British ColumbiaBA, Political Science, University of IowaBA, Political Science, University of Iowa
Instructional Services LibrarianInstructional Services LibrarianAl Harris Library Al Harris Library [email protected]@swosu.edu
How do we research and write about literature?
• Working Thesis• Subject Specific Databases/Ebrary
• Select Keywords/ Boolean
/Limiters
Why do we research and write about
literature?
Interpretation?
Creativity?
Value?
Harry Wu
• The study of Literature is unclassifiable….one of the few remaining fields that lie beyond quantitative analysis
• The world is in love with data, but good writing, what we might call literature, is about passion and emotion, not bits and bytes
• Good writing makes us feel something
A few notable practitioners• Northrup Frye: Unified Theory of Criticism:
criticism is a “structure of thought and knowledge existing in its own right.”
• Andrew Delbanco: critic of American literary and religious history/Director of American Studies at Columbia University
• Sven Birkerts: The Guttenberg Elegies/ Editor of AGNI
• Harold Bloom: American literary critic/Yale/twenty books of criticism/ Jedi Master of Shakespeare
• Helen Vendler: Critic of Wallace Stevens
Class Exercise• Find three scholarly sources
interrogating the idea of violence in the American character.
• What databases?
• What keywords?
• Bring citations to class Friday
Exercise: The idea of violence in the American character
Graham, Hugh Davis. "The Paradox of American Violence: A Historical Appraisal." Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 391., Collective Violence (1970): 74-82 [JSTOR]
Cawelti, John G. "Myths of Violence in American Popular Culture." Critical Inquiry 1.3 (1975): 521-41. [MLA]
Rogers-Cooper, Justin. "Righteous Violence: Revolution, Slavery, And The American Renaissance." Nineteenth-Century Contexts 36.2 (2014): 205-207. America: History and Life with Full Text. Web. 26 Sept. 2014.[America History & Full Text]
Keywords: Slotkin and American Violence
MLA – 1 ASC – 3 Bk ReviewsJSTOR – 47
Graham, Hugh Davis. "The Paradox of American Violence: A Historical Appraisal." Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 391., Collective Violence (1970): 74-82.
Keywords: violence and American character and texts
MLA – 1657 – 18
Cawelti, John G. "Myths of Violence in American Popular Culture." Critical Inquiry 1.3 (1975): 521-41.
http://screencast.com/t/kN0pB6MkrBfK
Keywords: violence and American literature
American History and Full Text- 121
Rogers-Cooper, Justin. "Righteous Violence: Revolution, Slavery, And The American Renaissance." Nineteenth-Century Contexts 36.2 (2014): 205-207. America: History and Life with Full Text. Web. 26 Sept. 2014.
Digital Tools
• Refworks
• Ebsco Folders
• Ebrary Bookshelf
Thanks!
