Romanticism information (actually, there is plenty on the French Revolution and such here, too; dig around.)

Paradise Lost

A previous post on the gothic and sublime (we’ll talk about this tomorrow).

Share below any other cool things you find.

In which you compile a number of sources to prove an amazing point about a novel of your choice.

I’ll present the essay in steps, then lay out the rules. Remember to record all information (essay titles, author names, URLs of interesting essays, and search queries) in your journal. Bring this journal tomorrow.

1. Think about a few novels you’ve really enjoyed.
2. Look up the titles or authors in the EBSCO Databases here. (Click the link, then click “EBSCO Databases, then “Select All,” continue, then “Continue,” check “Full text,” then enter your terms.)
3. If you don’t find several articles about your book or author, start over from #1 –or– search for similar titles and authors, the period in which it was written, or the genre. Root around, you may come up with an idea just by searching similar works.
4. Once you have a number of articles, check the bibliography, the source, the subject matter of each. If one looks solid, continue. If not, move on to the next one.
5. Skim the article. If it’s interesting, print it (or email a copy to yourself and print at school tomorrow) and repeat #4 with another article. If it isn’t interesting, discard it and repeat #4.
6. Once you have a number of interesting articles, grab your copy of the book and begin re-reading it if you’d like.
7. Reflect and feel content about your full night’s work.

We’ll discuss all of the specific guidelines in class tomorrow, but here are some to set you in the right direction:

This is going to be a research paper over the historical, philosophical, or cultural context of the novel. As you go, you’ll record all steps, information gathered, and ideas in a journal. I will meet with each of you daily until you have a solid footing with this project. Come to class every day with an explanation of your night’s work along with your research, the work and your journal.

Historical: You will be explaining what circumstances may have enabled the novel to come about (the impact of previous works or the historical context). For example, if you wrote over Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, you might write about the “perfect storm” of Victorian Gothic literature and scientific exploration during the Edwardian eras.

Philosophical: You will be writing over the philosophy presented in the novel. A Freudian interpretation of Lord of the Flies (which we touched on during our discussions) would be appropriate here.

Cultural: Some novels seem to be timeless and continue to have impacts today. With the cultural essay, you will research the impact a novel had on a time period other than the one in which it was written. Of course, tracing the repercussions of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein would be great, or the resurgence of Lord of the Flies during the sixties (thanks, Ellen!) or recently, with the production of the movies.

Post any and all questions below or write them in your journals for class tomorrow. We’ll be looking at all of these approaches in more detail then.

“That [You] May Infuse a Spark of Being into the Lifeless Thing” You’ve Wrought. Or something like that…

In class today we worked through a peer review of your essays. Here are some things to check as you type your work tonight:

• Proper margins, type, etc.
• MLA Works Cited page
• Is your introduction interesting? Does it capture the attention of the largest audience possible? Make them lean forward?
• Do your paragraphs answer all relevant questions about your thesis? (A great way to check this is to give your thesis to a friend and get them to ask questions about it. Make sure all the answers are covered in your paragraphs.)
• Do you provide relevant support? If your quotations are longer than a sentence, it is usually best to cut them down to the bare essentials; don’t be afraid to tear into the author’s work. Make it your own.
• Are your sources cited correctly? MLA guidelines for books are here, and movies halfway down the page here. If you can’t find the information on the movie, check the IMDB.

As always, post questions below.

Today we went over our thesis statements. They looked great! I can’t wait to see how the essays turn out. Remember, you’ll be writing your essay in class on Monday from a detailed outline. Don’t forget the following:

• Your thesis statement should not simply be a statement of the similarities of and differences between the two works. It should point out the relevance of the comparison. As I looked over each of your thesis statements I pointed out things you could focus on. If you have any questions, post them below or send me an email.
• The topic sentence of each paragraph should support your thesis, and the paragraph sentences should support the topic sentence with cited quotations.
• Include all necessary quotations in your outline (especially if you’re using a film), as you won’t have time to look up quotations.

But it may ours.

We’ll be reading/journaling through chapter six for Monday. Find a quiet corner of the house (not too far away from safety, though) and curl up. If you haven’t popped into the story yet, devote a little more time than usual to get into it. Once you’re there, it’ll be smooth sailing.

You’ll need your journals for the discussion on Monday, so make sure you have it then.