Assignments
Pre-Seminar (due Feb. 4)
| Practice using Zotero and Hamnet; learn about some resources available at the Folger and at your home library. Full Assignment |
Assignment 1:
Annotated
bibliography on
your category of books
(assigned Feb 11, due Feb. 25)
Provide
an annotated bibliography of secondary research related to the subject
of your chosen book. Your bibliography should have 15-20
entries, including
|
Assignment 2:
Communications
circuit for your book
(assigned Feb 18,
due March 11)
| In a
3 - 4 page
essay, discuss the identities of and relations among the writer,
publisher and readers of your book. Consider the following
questions: who was the publisher of your book? What was his
reputatiion and what other kinds of materials was he publishing,
especially at the time he published your book?
What was the social and/or professional status of your book's
writer? His apparent motive for writing? Other work
written
by him? How did the writer's copy for this book end up with
this
particular printer and did it have any kind of life (manuscript / oral,
e.g.) before being printed? Who are the (intended) readers of
this book, as they can be discerned from either interrnal evidence from
the book itself, from contemporary references to the book or books like
it, or from secondary scholarship on your book or books like it?
You don't need to answer a question that's not relevant to your particular book. On the other hand, your particular book may raise other questions not listed here. Be sure to cite your sources. |
Assignment 3:
Editions of your book
(assigned Feb. 25, due March 18)
| In a 2 -3 page essay, provide a listing and description of all the pre-1800 editions of your book. Include the collation formulas for each edition, and describe what they indicate about the different formats (if any) of the book. Try to examine at least two editions, and note any major differences in the editions, including changes to title pages, headings, additions or subtrations of other paratextual material, and, if you can see any without detailed comparison, changes to the text. Can you draw any conclusions from these changes? |
Assignment 4:
Bibliopgraphic essay
charting major bibliographic resources and historiographic traditions
relating to the subject of your book
(assigned March 11, due April 1)
| In a 4 -5 page bibliographic essay, chart the major approaches and debates over the subject of your book. Draw, if you can, on your annotated bibiography. And, taking advantage of the Folger's deep collection of modern books, see how far back you can go in your history. |
Assignment 5:
Choice of a) brief
transcription of a manuscript relevant to your book or b)
discussion of book format, images and/ or paratextual elements of your
book.
(assigned March 25, due April 15)
| a). If there is a manuscript related to your book that you would like to work on, try to transcribe about ten lines of it. Or b). In a 4 - 5 page essay consider paratextual features of your book. Possible questions: type of images; relationship (or non-relationship) between images and content; typeface used, prefaces or dedicatory letters, marginalia. How do these elements compare among different editions of your books, or among books on related subjects? To the elements of books in (apparently?) different genres? What do these elements suggest about the book or its readership? What do you make of any variations between editions, or among books with related subjects? Since you can't address all these questions in an essay of this length, be sure to focus on an element or elements that seem most interesting/telling to you. |
Assignment 6:
Short paper
discussing the
range of evidence available
for work on your topic and possibilities for future research (6-8 pp.)
(assigned April 1, due April 22)
| In a
6 - 8 page essay, consider directions for further research on
your book. To do so, draw on the other exercises that you
have completed over the semester. For example, how would the
consideration of a particular observation of the format or design of
your book relate to or develop some idea that you've observed in the
history of criticism on its subject. You could also, at this
point, relate other exercises to the content of your book--that is, how
would some of the research you've done so far relate to a reading of
the book's content? You do not need a thesis for this essay. Indeed, a range of possible questions would be as welcome as a particular focus. However, you should be able to offer for any question you raise the historical and interpretive grounds for its relevance, as well as possible ways to address the question. |
Grading Percentages (for students needing to receive a letter grade)
- Assignments # 1 - 5 count for 15% each (75% total)
- Assignment #6 counts for 25%
- Late papers will have a grade penalty unless you have a valid reason.
- Attendance at each class meeting is expected.
- Each assignment completed.
- Each assignment is of passing quality (I'll let you know if one isn't).
- No late papers unless you have a valid reason.
- Attendance at each class meeting is expected.
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