English 194H - Winter, 2013

Special Study for Honors Students

Class Information

Instructor: Dolan, Frances
Time: MW 2:40-4:00
Location: 248 Voorhies

Description

Entrance to this seminar is by application. The application form is available online.


The culmination of this two-quarter honors course will be a 25-30 page extended research thesis due at the end of the Spring quarter 2013; that thesis is the basis for the honors program itself. The purpose of this seminar in the Winter quarter is twofold: it is meant to provide a preliminary basis for the research and writing you will be doing independently in the Spring quarter, and it is meant to provide an introductory sense of the classroom dynamic one encounters in graduate school seminars. The majority of each class session will be devoted to discussing that day’s reading assignment, though we will also frequently discuss the progress of your research.

The theme of the seminar is directly connected to the act of doing research. We will read a range of texts--poetry, fictional and non-fictional prose, and drama--exploring the relationships among the forensic process of gathering and assessing information or clues, the construction of fictional plots, and the process of reading critically. In our reading, we will keep approaching the research process from different angles, exploring research methods and materials, as well as our investments in the research process,and our fantasies and reservations about it. While we will attempt to discuss each text in its own terms, our goal is also to explore a variety of different strategies, models, and lessons that might prove useful for you as you undertake your own research on your project.

Grading

Attendance, participation, and in-class writing: 25%
Abstract and annotated bibliography for final project: 25%
Detailed proposal for final project: 50%

Texts

Shakespeare, Twelfth Night (Arden edition)
Kate Summerscale, The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher
Edgar Allen Poe, Murders at the Rue Morgue
Arthur Conan Doyle, Sign of Four
Josephine Tey, Daughter of Time
Jonathan Culler, Very Short Intro to Literary Theory
Wayne Booth et al, Craft of Research