MORGAN STATE UNIVERSITY
COLLEGE OF LIBERAL ARTS

DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH AND LANGUAGE ARTS


SYLLABUS

Course No. and Title:  ENGL 501:  Materials and Methods of Research in Literature and Writing
Term: Fall 2023
Instructor’s Name: L. Adam Mekler, Ph. D.
Office: Holmes Hall 228
Phone: 443.885.4032
E-mail:  adam.mekler@morgan.edu
Classroom: Holmes 109
Office Hours: Mon, Wed., Fri. : 1- 1:50
Thu.: 2-3:50
(Other hours by appointment)

Course Description:
This course of lectures on and exercises in bibliographical research is intended to help the student to develop effective techniques of literary study and satisfactory skills in the organizing and writing of scholarly literary papers.

Course Objectives:
Students will be expected to

Student Learning Outcomes:
After completion of English 501, students should be able to

Required Texts:

Recommended Text:

Reading List:

Aug
22 Course Introduction

29
Hurston, “Sweat” (and “Gilded Six-Bits”) (1926, 1933)
  • Wall, Introduction: 3-19
  • Chronology: 21-22
  • Hurston, “Sweat”: 25-40
  • Background to the Story: 43-134
  • Hurston, "The Gilded Six-Bits": 135-46
  • Hemenway, from ZNH: A Critical Biography: 149-52
  • Jones, “Breaking Out of the Conventions of Dialect”: 153-68
  • Walker, “Looking for Zora”: 211-30

Response Paper Due: List, Discussion of Works Held in ERL: ZNH, STC, MWS

Sept
5
Hurston, Their Eyes Were Watching God (1934)
  • Washington, Foreword: ix-xvii
  • Hurston, Their Eyes: 1-193
  • Gates, Afterword: 195-205 (and Mekler "annotation")
  • Washington, “I Love the Way Janie Crawford Left Her Husbands”: (Sweat) 193-209
  • Mekler, “‘Freedom Found Me’: Their Eyes Were Watching God and the Slave Narrative Form”

Response Paper Due: Summary, discussion of 21st-century journal article on the novel


12
Manuscript Discussion
  • Robinson, Introduction to The Original Frankenstein (and The Frankenstein Notebooks)
  • Robinson,"Editing and Contextualizing The Frankenstein Notebooks"
  • Romantic Digital Projects
  • Shelley-Godwin Archives
  • Hurston Archives (LoC)
  • Hurston Archives (UF)
  • Hurston Archives (UCF)
  • NYPL Digital Coleridge
  • BL Coleridge and The Ancient Mariner

Deadline to Select Author for Research/Oral Presentation


14
Response Paper Due: Manuscript Assignment

19
Coleridge, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner (1798/1817)
  • Fry, "Biographical and Historical Contexts": 3-24
  • STC, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner: 25-75
  • Fry, "Critical History": 79-96
  • Reader-Response Criticism: 97-130
  • New Historicism: 168-219
  • Deconstruction: 261-314
Response Paper Due

26
Shelley, Frankenstein (1831)
  • Smith, "Biographical and Historical Contexts": 3-18
  • MWS, Frankenstein: 19-189
  • Smith, "Critical History": 267-99
  • Psychoanalytic Criticism: 300-39
  • Feminist Criticism: 340-80

Response Paper Due

Oct
3
** Wellness Day: No Class **

10
Shelley, Frankenstein, cont.
  • Gender Criticism: 381-445
  • Marxist Criticism: 446-80
  • Cultural Criticism: 481-529
  • Postcolonial Criticism: 530-68
Response Paper Due

17
Student Presentations
Response Paper Due: Secondary Source Annotation

24
Hurston, Dust Tracks on a Road (excerpt)
Boyd, Wrapped in Rainbows (excerpt)
Research Paper Abstracts Due
Nov 31
Working/Annotated Bibliography Due
Final Deadline for Research Paper Abstracts

7
Research Paper Outline Due

14 Discussion of Journals, Style Guidelines, Submission Procedures, etc.
Response Paper Due


21
Initial Research Paper Draft Due

28
Final Discussion of Papers
Dec
5
Final Research Paper Due

11
Last Day to Submit the Research Paper

Course Requirements and Student Evaluation:

Grading Scale:


Class Participation: 10 %

Oral Presentation: 10 %

Response Papers/Briefer Assignments: 40 % A: 90-100

Critical Research Paper:
Abstract (5)
Annotated Bibliography (5)
Outline (5)
Initial Draft (5)
Final Draft (20)
40 %


B: 80-89
C: 70-79
F: 0-69

(Selected) Secondary Texts: