Journal

*Date and title each entry!*

Required Entries:

• Response: Comment on how you interpret the readings. You may want to focus on one aspect of the assigned passage or to connect the assigned passage to the text as a whole. Keep track of details that caught your attention. Note any allusions. Think also in terms of literary techniques: what do you think the author is trying to do with character, setting, plot, symbolism, word sounds or rhythm, word choice, format, etc. If the passage is difficult to follow, keep track of the meaning and the words that help you understand the meaning. Make sure to note page numbers from your text! See the syllabus for individual assignments and lengths.

• Allusions: You will be assigned a few allusions to read about. For each one, 1) summarize the text or idea to which the allusion refers, 2) explain how knowing the meaning of the allusion helps you interpret the passage in the poem or novel from which the allusion comes, and 3) note all information necessary to cite your source using MLA format. Keep a copy of your source. No length requirement.

• Secondary Readings: For each of our three primary texts, you will be asked to read one secondary article. The articles for Eliot are included in the Norton text; you may select your own scholarly journal article or anthology chapter for Joyce and Woolf. For each article, write a précis of about 4-5 sentences that includes the author, title, year of publication, and title of the journal or book in which the article was published. The précis should also answer the following questions: 1) what is the argument of the article? 2) how is the argument supported? 3) do you think the argument is effective, and/or do you agree with it? why or why not? and 4) how does the article help you better interpret the primary text? After the précis, select a quote from the secondary text that strikes you as important, copy it into your journal, and explain what the author is saying and why you think it's important. No length requirement.

• In-Class Writing: We will do some discovery and reflective writing in class as appropriate.

• Class notes
• Research notes
• Brainstorming and drafting papers or project

After we read each of our three primary texts, you will be asked to work on a paper or project. The two paper assignments and the project are described below. You can decide which assignment you'd like to apply to which text; you should do one of each. If you have another idea for an assignment you'd like to work on, please discuss this with me; I am open to suggestions, but I need to know well in advance so that I can make sure what you'd like to do will fit my requirements. One of these assignments can be collaborative.

Papers

• Paper A: Pick a small portion of the text to work with--a section, a character, a symbol, a setting, a literary technique--and argue why it is significant to the meaning of the whole.

• Paper B: How do you interpret the text as a whole? How does your interpretation situate the text in the category modernist literature? Define modernist literature, and discuss 2 or 3 aspects of the text to support your argument.

• Clear thesis: the thesis should connect a claim about the text to reasons. The thesis should be located in the paper's introduction so that the reader knows from the beginning what you will be arguing. This argument should be different from that made by any sources cited in your discussion.
• Logical organization: paragraphs should have one topic each, should appear in a logical order, and should have transitions that demonstrate how they relate to the previous paragraph(s).
• Most paragraphs should include a topic sentence that connects the topic of the paragraph to the thesis. This sentence should appear at or close to the beginning of each paragraph so that it can act as a signpost for the reader.
• Paragraphs should be developed using examples and logical discussion and referring to specific quotes from primary and/or secondary sources. Think of each paragraph as a "sandwich" with your guiding ideas surrounding examples or information drawn from elsewhere. Your analysis should significantly exceed the quantity of cited material. Use summary but do not allow even one paragraph of your discussion to be wholly summary.
• Format: double-spaced, 12-point font, 1” margins, and MLA citation format for all ideas or words belonging to someone else.
• Because errors influence readers’ opinions of you as a writer, make sure to proofread before printing a final copy.
• Warning! Drafts may receive failing grades if they do any of the following: consist mostly of summary, consist mostly of ideas from secondary sources, fail to cite paraphrased information, lack a works cited page, lack evidence of significant revision, or are submitted after the deadline without express permission from me.

• Final draft
• Rough drafts, including response group work with comments from your group members
• Works cited page
• Copies of any cited secondary materials except those included in course texts. For example, if you refer to an idea on page 210 of a book, copy that page.

There are other ways besides academic papers to show your understanding of a literary work. Ideas: Song, story, poem, play or acted scene, dance, essay, drawing, painting, collage, sculpture, photograph(s), model (of a scene or building), costume design, food, etc. I recommend speaking with me about your project ideas before proceeding.

Your creative project should be accompanied by a 3-4 page "why I did what I did" essay that explains the relationship among your project, the primary text, and your understanding of modernist literature. Deal as specifically with the details of your project as possible. This essay should conform to the paper requirements.

Project Submission Checklist

• Project final version
• Any notes related to planning the project
• Rough and final drafts of "why I did what I did" essay, including response group work with comments from your group members
• Works cited page
• Copies of any cited secondary materials