EN 601 Research in English Studies (formerly LI 500)

Research in English Studies is designed to familiarize you with the tools necessary for doing literary and composition research. To say the least, the field of English Studies has changed drastically in the last ten years and so have the methods for research. In this light, I have organized the course around four purposes. First, it is designed to introduce you to the tools and resources in the English profession, so that when you need to find a piece of information in your teaching or your writing, you can do so quickly and efficiently. Think about this scenario: You have just landed a new teaching position in which one of the many courses you are teaching is a bit unfamiliar. You want your interpretations to be fresh and provocative, yet you do not have time to sift through all the criticism on the many authors you are teaching. You will need strategies that help you choose the best materials. To this purpose, I have identified several research problems that I hope will be relevant to all of you; many are ones that have been at some point relevant to me. Except for research problems that are frequently shared, each of the research assignments contain both literature and composition components. Keep in mind that the specific information you uncover is a means to help you transfer the retrieval process to other learning situations and to help you better evaluate information in future situations.

Secondly, it is designed to alert you to the different lenses through which most contemporary critics examine literature or composition. If you are writing a paper in which you use two key articles (one Jamesonian and the other Derridean) to support your own interpretation, you are in trouble; the two positions are ideologically antithetical, that is unless you have discovered a brilliant new way to reconcile these two squabblers.

Thirdly, this course should be used as a catalyst for your own research. If you are writing a thesis, this course should provide you with the opportunity to research what others have said about your chosen topic and to begin to think about how your perspective can add to this body of knowledge. As you encounter various reference tools spend some time researching your research project. I have built some extra time into the syllabus to enable you to do this. For example, when you encounter the research problem that requires you to find The Dictionary of Literary Biography, spend some time reading about your chosen figure or topic. If you are planning instead to write a graduate paper, this will be a good opportunity for you to do the research for your paper or to prepare a paper that you would like to submit to a conference.

Lastly, this course is designed to help you put your research discoveries to good use by encouraging you to hone you writing and interpretative skills.

Reading selection will most likely include James Harner, Literary Research, Joseph Gibaldi, MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, Jonathan Culler, A Very Short Introduction, Ross Murfin, ed. James Joyce's "The Dead": A Case Study in Contemporary Criticism