Georgia State University ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University Summer 2007 English Department Course Syllabi and Assignments September 2007 Bibliography, Research Methods, and Literary Theory, Syllabus Stephen Dobranski Follow this and additional works at: http://scholarworks.gsu.edu/ english_courses_syllabi_summer07 Recommended Citation Dobranski, Stephen, "Bibliography, Research Methods, and Literary Theory, Syllabus" (2007). Summer 2007. Paper 1. http://scholarworks.gsu.edu/english_courses_syllabi_summer07/1 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the English Department Course Syllabi and Assignments at ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University. It has been accepted for inclusion in Summer 2007 by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University. For more information, please contact scholarworks@gsu.edu.
Eng 8000 Bibliography and Research Methods Dr. Stephen B. Dobranski [dough-bronze-ski] Fall 2007 How to Reach Me: Class TU and TH 9:30-10:45 (#80696) in 701 General Classroom Office 951 General Classroom Hours TU and TH 11:00-12:00, and by appointment Email sbdobranski@gsu.edu (checked regularly but not daily) Phone 404-413-5839 Required Texts: Baker, Nicholson. Double Fold: Libraries and the Assault on Paper. New York: Random House, 2001. Gibaldi, Joseph. MLA Style Manual and Guide to Scholarly Publishing. 2nd ed. New York: MLA, 1998. Greetham, D. C. Textual Scholarship: An Introduction. New York: Garland, 1994. Harner, James L. Literary Research Guide. 4th ed. New York: MLA, 2002. I will supplement these readings with essays by various highly-regarded scholars such as Wayne Booth, Gerald Graff, Louis Menand, and Bruce Robbins. What's the Point: The goal of this course is to help you become a productive humanities scholar in graduate school and beyond. More specifically, you want to develop an ease in using libraries and other scholarly tools; to become familiar with a few of the profession s ongoing debates; to appreciate the interpretive implications of the material text; and to enhance your sense of scholarly professionalism. The best of you will acquire not only confidence but also elegance in conducting your research that is, you will be able to conduct research with economy and precision. Others may discover that the life of the scholar is not what they want. And while this realization would depress your instructor, you might find it to be a valuable personal insight. Be advised that this course is labor intensive, and your attitude is crucial. English 8000 can be as dull or engaging as you wish to make it. The intent is to provide a candid glimpse of literary scholarship, from the Eureka! to the Oh, Damn!
Dobranski 2 It Goes Without Saying: You are responsible for mastery of all that goes on in each class meeting. Attendance, accordingly, is mandatory. You should attend every class. It Goes Without Saying, Part II: Your work for this course should be literate, polished, and your own. Please note that collusion and plagiarism are grounds for failure of this course and expulsion from the university. Students are responsible for the information in the Academic Honesty policy printed in On Campus. A Few Words about Reference Librarians: In this course you are attempting to become more competent than any given library s reference staff in your one specialized area. You should thus have little need to take advantage of the friendly and professional staff at the University Library. Instead, try to develop good habits from the start: work independently and you will never need to ask for help unless you are journeying into a new territory, in which case you will have trained yourself to ask the most fruitful questions. Remember that in the future you may not be working in a library with a helpful or available staff person. In your field, you want to become the expert. Principal Requirements: 1.) Biweekly attendance, careful reading, homework, and thoughtful participation (5%) 2.) Your cards due not later than 23 October (25%) 3.) Enumerative bibliography due not later than 15 November (20%) 4.) Short essay on a bibliographical unknown due not later than 4 December (25%) 5.) Final examination that will test your knowledge of both MLA style and the use of works you have studied for your cards due on 13 December at noon (25%) Grades will be assigned on a +/- scale: A+ = 98, A = 95, A- = 92, B+ = 88, B = 85, B- = 82, C+ = 78, C = 75, and so on. Incompletes will not be given. You must absolutely have completed your cards by the semester s midpoint especially, that is, before submitting your enumerative bibliography. I do not accept assignments sent by email or fax because of potential problems in formatting and legibility. Weekly Assignments:
Dobranski 3 Note: The course syllabus provides a general plan for the course; deviations may be necessary. ACTIVITY / TOPIC READING WEEK ONE Tuesday, 21 August INTRODUCTIONS Thursday, 23 August WHAT IS BIBLIOGRAPHY ANYWAY? Greetham 1-12 WEEK TWO Tuesday, 28 August WHY BOTHER W/ SCHOLARSHIP? Gibaldi xv-xxvi POSING QUESTIONS Harner 1-4 Thursday, 30 August UNIVERSITY LIBRARY Greetham 13-46 (we re meeting in the library) WEEK THREE Tuesday, 4 September LIST OF WORKS CITED Gibaldi 149-229 Thursday, 6 September LIST OF WORKS CITED USING JOURNALS WEEK FOUR Tuesday, 11 September CITING SOURCES IN THE TEXT Gibaldi 230-54 USING SOURCES EFFECTIVELY Thursday, 13 September OTHER DOCUMENTATION Gibaldi 289-310 WEEK FIVE Tuesday, 18 September Thursday, 20 September WEEK SIX Tuesday, 25 September CHICAGO STYLE THE CRAFT OF RESEARCH THE CRAFT OF RESEARCH ABBREVIATIONS Gibaldi 255-87 THINKING IN PRINT Thursday, 27 September THINKING IN PRINT Gibaldi 61-125
Dobranski 4 ACTIVITY / TOPIC READING WEEK SEVEN Tuesday, 2 October WRITING: DO S + DON TS Graff (handout) Thursday, 4 October MORE ABOUT WRITING WEEK EIGHT Tuesday, 9 October SCHOLAR IN SOCIETY Booth (handout) Thursday, 11 October SCHOLAR IN SOCIETY Robbins (handout) WEEK NINE Monday, 15 October Tuesday, 16 October Last day to withdraw and possibly receive a W ANOTHER KIND OF BIBLIOGRAPHY MANUSCRIPT BOOKS Greetham 47-75 Thursday, 18 October PRINTED BOOKS Greetham 77-151 WEEK TEN Tuesday, 23 October DESCRIPTIVE BIBLIOGRAPHY Greetham 153-68 Thursday, 25 October TYPOGRAPHY Greetham 225-70 WEEK ELEVEN Tuesday, 30 October Thursday, 1 November RARE BOOKS RARE BOOKS WEEK TWELVE Tuesday, 6 November TEXTUAL BIBLIOGRAPHY Greetham 271-94 Thursday, 8 November TEXTUAL CRITICISM Greetham 295-346 WEEK THIRTEEN Tuesday, 13 November SCHOLARLY EDITING Greetham 347-72 Thursday, 15 November SCHOLARLY EDITING
Dobranski 5 ACTIVITY / TOPIC READING WEEK FOURTEEN Tuesday, 20 November Thursday, 22 November THANKSGIVING HOLIDAY (no class) THANKSGIVING HOLIDAY (no class) WEEK FIFTEEN Tuesday, 27 November DOUBLE FOLD Baker vii-x, 1-197 Thursday, 29 November DOUBLE FOLD Baker 198-270 WEEK SIXTEEN Tuesday, 4 December YOUR PUBLICATIONS? Gibaldi 1-32 PREPARING MANUSCRIPTS Gibaldi 126-40 Thursday, 6 December CONCLUSIONS Your completed final examination is due in my office no later than Thursday, 13 December 2007, at noon.