LITERATURA VICTORIANA Writing a Paper

Transcription

1 LITERATURA VICTORIANA Writing a Paper 1. The Paper A paper is a short essay (usually 2,500 words) which argues a thesis about a particular point. Papers are written to be read in academic gatherings (conferences, seminars) in order to present new research and to persuade the author s audience that his/her particular thesis is valuable, and that it makes a significant contribution to an area of knowledge. Here s an instance. Suppose you are a specialist in Victorian Fiction: that is your area or speciality. You have read Wuthering Heights and you have come to the conclusion that the behaviour of its main male character, Heathcliff, is conditioned by the abuse he suffered as a child. You want to communicate your idea to other specialists in the same area, for which you do research to check what other critics have written about this topic: that is to say, you read their essays as secondary sources. Then you write a paper with your thesis and the conclusions of your research to be presented at a gathering of other specialists like you (a conference or seminar on Victorian Fiction). In this paper you argue and defend the thesis that Heathcliff s behaviour is conditioned by child abuse and you support this thesis by quoting other people s academic writings related to your own thesis about Emily Brontë, Wuthering Heights, or Heathcliff, but also about child behaviour and child abuse in Literature (and in real life). You use quotations (significant fragments) from these secondary sources to give more weight to your own idea (your thesis) and to show that you know well the main debates on the text you are analysing. The next step is reading the paper to your colleagues at the conference or seminar, who should respond by beginning a discussion of your thesis. Habitually, papers are revised and often rewritten depending on the issues raised during discussion; once revised, and often considerably lengthened, they are published in volumes of conference proceedings (or actas, books which gather together all the papers presented in a conference or seminar), or in specialised academic journals and maybe, eventually, in collective books or as chapters in monographs. 2. The paper for Victorian Literature Papers are not essentially different from the 350-word critical essays you have already written for Literatura Anglesa del Segle XX. They are just longer and supported by quotations from secondary sources. In this subject we re asking you to write a short paper (minimum 1,000 words) using at least 3 secondary sources (= bibliography; the primary sources are the literary texts you comment on) 1

2 Your paper can deal with any of the novels in the course except Charles Dickens s Oliver Twist. The topic can be freely chosen but must be validated by your teacher (you need to submit a proposal); here we give you some suggestions, which you may develop: *the role of the narrator *the narrative structure *the gentleman and gentlemanliness *violent masculinities *men and self-destruction *the women s situation *the representation of children *social (in)justice *gossip and reputation *the criminal world *class and race prejudice (and privilege) *imperialism and colonialism 3. Choosing a Topic, Thinking of a Thesis 1. Read carefully the novel(s) you have been asked to write about. 2. Make notes about the topic you need to focus on. 3. Focus on a main idea in relation to the topic that you can argue with conviction. 4. Formulate a thesis 5. Find the passages in the novel(s) that support your thesis. 6. Read relevant secondary sources that support your thesis and make notes of the passages in them that can be useful for your paper as quotations. Make sure you keep a complete record of where your notes and quotations come from. 7. Prepare and write the outline (see below). 4. Finding Bibliography You must be familiar with this from the first year exercise in which you had to produce a bibliography of secondary sources. Here s a reminder: -! use first the UAB library catalogue ( from home or from the library, WHICH YOU NEED TO VISIT -! use next the Catalan University Libraries catalogue ( this will tell you where to find each book -! access the MLA database, to locate book chapters and the journal articles. You may access all the UAB intranet resources from home using the new Are service ( accessible with the same NIE and password as for webmail. -! will help you to find the websites about the author; Google Books and Google Scholar may also be helpful -! The World Catalogue is another interesting source of information: Remember that you MUST use ONE of the articles we provide as bibliography for your essay or paper. They can also be very useful as models for you to follow. 2

3 5. The Paper Outline The outline of your paper, which must be handed in (or ed depending on the teacher s instructions) between November at the latest, should include: * your name! the title of the paper (provisional). This should have two sections: a) a short title to catch the reader s attention and anticipate the content, b) a longer, explanatory subtitle which must include the title of the novel you are going to discuss. For instance: Sowing the Seeds of Hatred: Heathcliff and the Consequences of Child Abuse in Wuthering Heights.! the date when you submit the outline! the abstract (100 words approx.) 1. This is a summary of the (future) content of your paper and includes the thesis you want to argue. This abstract should be included between the title and the beginning of your paper. It should be single-spaced, indented at the margins 1cm and in a smaller type (like long quotations, see below). NOTE: the abstract is a summary of the IDEAS in your paper, and NOT an announcement of what you will do, NOR a description of the parts of the paper. Here s an example: ABSTRACT: One of the issues most often debated in relation to Emily Brontë s Wuthering Heights is the origin and causes of Heathcliff s abusive behaviour as an adult. Critics have speculated on his nature, even arguing that he is, somehow, demonic. In this paper I argue that, far from being attributable to supernatural causes, Heathcliff s rage and the ill-treatment he imposes on the other characters are the result of his being abused as a child, mainly by his step-brother Hindley but also to a great extent by the elder Catherine. As he is hated by Hindley and despised by the socially ambitious Catherine, Heathcliff s self-esteem collapses and he sees no other way to regain it than to avenge himself on his enemies and their children. Keywords: Wuthering Heights, Emily Brontë, Heathcliff, childhood, psychological abuse! if possible, some notes about the structure your paper will have.! a bibliography listing the secondary sources you have checked (at least 3 items).! the quotations you might use: at least 3 passages from the novel and 1 from each of the secondary sources NOTE: You will have a tutorial with the teacher, whether through the or in the office, to discuss the topic of your paper and the outline. You may only start writing the paper once the outline has been approved by the teacher. 6. Writing your Paper 1 See the document Working on Abstracts 3

4 Once your outline has been approved you will probably have to return to the library to finish your research. Write then a draft of the essay based on the structure proposed in the outline. Keep at hand the quotations you want to use from the secondary sources and from the novel. Writing an essay requires much rewriting. Organising well the ideas is the key to a successful paper and this can only be done after constant rewriting. Word processors help, as they allow you to reorganise the text as often as you wish but, obviously, it is always necessary to begin by producing a solid outline. Remember: Title: the title and the introduction must attract the listener s (or reader s) interest. Introduction/Thesis: The thesis is the idea you want to argue in your paper and must be clearly stated at the beginning, in the introduction, which needn t be separated from the rest of the text and should be about 2 paragraphs long. Argumentation: A paper of this length (about 1,000 words) requires 8 to 12 paragraphs, each dealing with an aspect of your argumentation, which must be announced in the first sentence or topic sentence. The argumentation must avoid needless repetition. Conclusion: Don t forget to use the last paragraph for your conclusions. The conclusion must be brief and didactic, and must round up the paper in a precise, concise and relevant way. Bibliography: You must include at the end of the paper a list of the secondary sources you have quoted in it. Please:!! Make sure that the text s cohesion is good, the connections adequately marked and the sequencing clear.!! The number and length of quotations must be reasonably limited. It is absolutely necessary to quote from the novel(s) you are discussing to prove that you have read it carefully, but you should use passages of moderate length (no more than 5 lines, if possible). You are required to quote from four secondary sources, too; again, the quotations should be short (no more than 5 lines). 7. Editing your paper Consider the following aspects: Cover: You don t need a cover for your essay. Clarity, Economy and Precision: Try to express your ideas with clarity and brevity. Do not insert explanations about what you plan to do; avoid sentences such as I am going to discuss this aspect. The ideas in the paper are assumed to be your own; use phrases such as I think or in my view sparingly. Also avoid vague terminology ( things, facts, etc. ) Syntax/Grammar: Use short sentences and straightforward syntax. See that the sentences are varied in rhythm and that the text is not monotonous. Don t overuse connectors like however, moreover and similar. Avoid basic grammar mistakes such as: plural adjectives, missing 3rd person singular simple present ending, wrong use of verb tenses, wrong use of adverbs (malformed adverbs or in the wrong position), badly formed indirect/direct questions, wrong 4

5 forms of irregular verbs, wrong use of articles (missing or superfluous articles), wrong use of prepositions, wrong use of possessives. Use the present tense to discuss the actions of characters in fiction works. Punctuation and Spelling: Read the text aloud to check the punctuation. Check the spelling. Vocabulary: Avoid colloquial or informal language and transfers of vocabulary from Spanish or Catalan. When in doubt, USE the DICTIONARY ( is quite good). Sexist terminology: Avoid sexist terminology. You may use the compound pronoun s/he whenever you mean either men or women or you may use the plural: For example: The reader disagrees with this as s/he cannot see what the author means or Readers disagree on this point. Titles: The titles of books must be in italics. The titles of articles, short stories, poems must be inserted within double quotation marks ( ). Spacing, Margins, Page Numbering: The text of the essay must be double-spaced except for long quotations (see below), the notes and the bibliography, which must be single-spaced. The text of the essay must include margins wide enough for the teacher to write comments on. The pages must be numbered. Notes: Use footnotes or endnotes placed before the bibliography. Make sure the footnotes or endnotes are numbered and that its content corresponds to the number. 8. Quotations and Bibliography Use the Department s STYLESHEET, available from our website: Quotations: Quotations are little bits of original text that you borrow from the primary or the secondary sources to support or illustrate a point in your argumentation. Their source must always be properly identified. For this you can use the name of the author, the year of publication of the source you are using and the page number the quotation comes from in parenthesis like this: (Smith 2001: 23). In some cases, you may be borrowing an idea, rather than specific words from a text, in which case the information simply includes the name of the author and the year of publication, like this: (Smith 2001). If you quote from a primary source -a novel- the habitual practice is to insert just the page number in parenthesis after the quotation and mention the edition you are using in a footnote or endnote. Quotations can be of different lengths and thus follow different conventions: 1. quotations of less than forty words can be inserted in the text within quotations marks. For example:! Apparently, both Burroughs and Cronenberg deal obsessively with "the invasion of the body, the loss of control and the transformation of self and Other". (Bukatman 1993: 78) 5

6 Here the author is inserting Bukatman s words within the text, using the quotation marks and noting in brackets that this sentence comes from page 78 of the book Bukatman published in To know the title of this book, the reader must check the bibliography. 2. quotations of more than forty words must be indented at the margins, single-spaced and separated from the double-spaced text by one space above and one below. You needn t use quotation marks. For example: Like Drouet and Carrie, the group enjoys seeing and being seen in expensive places, but unlike them, the group also enjoy patronising those below them. Dabham's presence is the most revealing aspect of the real lack of dignity and depth of this flamboyant set, as Lawrence Selden reflects: It was before him again in its completeness - the choice in which [Lily] was content to rest: in the stupid costliness of the food and the showy dullness of the talk, in the freedom of speech which never arrived at wit and the freedom of act which never made for romance. The striding setting of the restaurant, in which their table seemed set apart in a special glare of publicity, and the presence of Dabham of the "Riviera Notes" emphasized the ideals of a world where conspicuousness passed for distinction, and the society column had become the roll of fame. (216) This quotation comes from a novel and so, only the page number is quoted. The habitual practice is to use a type slightly smaller than the type of the body of the text. Please, remember: The transitions from your text to the quotation should not be too abrupt, confusing or forced. Use a colon (:) or expressions such as As Smith argues/observes/maintains/notes/stresses/defends..., In Smith s opinion and so on. Quoting is NOT copying. REMEMBER: Plagiarised papers in which text from secondary sources is not properly identified will be rejected and the subject failed immediately. 6

7 Bibliography: List at the end of the paper in alphabetical order by author the edition of the novel you have used and the secondary sources. Different styles can be used provided you use them consistently, but here you are advised to use Departament s Stylesheet (see above) 9. Models you can Use Although we provide models for the 350-word critical essay in the first year, we do not provide a model for the longer papers you need to write in the Literature subjects (and indeed for the TFG). This is because the model, basically, is the same one, with the only difference that the introduction can be 2/3 paragraphs long and the main body 8/12 (the conclusion should still be 1 paragraph long). We select very carefully the secondary sources we ask you to read, thinking of them also as models of your own papers. The only way to learn to read good academic work is by reading actual professional criticism, beginning with articles and moving onto books. Do pay attention, then, not just to content but also to style and rhetoric (how arguments are built). PLEASE, REMEMBER: a) Read and re-read your essay before you hand it in. It might be a good idea to do some peer editing with a classmate, reading each other s essays. This would help you very much to notice and correct your mistakes. b) Remember that your teacher will be marking about 50/60 papers in a period of a few days. A good presentation will always make a good impression! 7