ENGL 618: Seminar in the Romance

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 		 1. Formal seminar paper. The usual "tangible product" of a graduate seminar is a formal scholarly essay that would be suitable for reading at a scholarly conference or publication in an appropriate journal. Conference papers are usually ten to twelve double-spaced pages (2500-3000 words) exclusive of documentation and should take about 20 minutes to read aloud. Journal articles are usually twelve to fifteen double-spaced pages or longer. So aim for that 12-15 page range and you should be okay. Your paper must

· have a critical (i.e. argumentative) slant,
· involve close analysis of the text(s) you work with,
· show familiarity with the scholarly issues and discussion already published on the subject you have chosen, and
· be documented according to the MLA format (unless the journal you would intend to submit to has a different format).

When you turn in the final essay, you will be asked to identify a specific, appropriate journal or conference for your essay, though you need not actually submit it. We will use the www.turnitin.com system for submitting essays. You will also be asked to turn in an informative abstract for the finished paper that you could submit to a conference or journal. As graduate students, I should not have to remind you that it is mandatory you avoid plagiarism, but I’ll do that anyway; consult the Guide to Using Borrowed Material on the English Department web page or ask me if you have any questions about whether you’re using source material appropriately. Students using this course to meet "non-Western" requirements for coursework must choose a paper topic that involves a non-Western writer or work.

This assignment has three components: you must submit a descriptive abstract to me by Wednesday, March 12; turn in an annotated bibliography (at least eight items) by April 2; and turn in the final paper at or before Monday, April 28.

This assignment counts as 25% of your grade. Both the abstract and the quality (and timeliness) of your rough draft will figure into the final grade for the paper.

For tips on writing both kinds of abstract, click here.

For samples of several kinds of abstracts, click here.

For my Literary Analysis rubric, click here.
 
2. Starting Point Papers. You must do five out of seven of these during the semester to pass the course (you may do more and drop the two lowest grades if you prefer). For the first two papers, I will give you a starting point, but for the rest of the papers, you must choose a quotation or starting point and work from it yourself. These should be between two and three double-spaced typed pages, exclusive of Works Cited page. They are intended to give you practice in developing critical stances, so they must have a point (a/k/a a thesis) to make, must support your point with specific, concrete details from the text, and must show that you have read the entire assignment. You need not submit a paper of any kind in the weeks when you are discussion leader but this does not excuse you from turning in the minimum of five papers. This assignment counts as 25% of your final grade.
 
3. Final examination. The course will have a cumulative take-home final examination asking you to draw together what you have learned in the course. The questions will be all essays and there will be some choice of topics. This assignment counts as 20% of your grade. It is due at the beginning of the scheduled examination period.