ENG457F: Language in
Britain in the 1770s
Take-home test #1: a
literary essay using literature online
Due October
15th,
by 11:00 am, at the Wetmore Porter's Lodge, New College (or to me in my
office). 2% off per day thereafter.
Length Between 2000-2500 words (8-10 typed pages)
Format Do NOT
put your NAME on the test.
ONLY your STUDENT
NUMBER & a CLEVER SPECIFIC TITLE.
Answer one of the questions below in essay form.
You must read the instructions on the back
of this sheet.
You must use literature online (http://lion.chadwyck.com/) to generate
your first round of data.
You may use secondary sources, but you must cite them accurately and
scrupulously.
The topics
1. The worthy eponymous protagonists of both Humphry Clinker and Evelina have their true names and (relatively) worthy births
revealed at the end of the novel. Compare and contrast some literary functions[1]
of the word name in these novels.
2. Compare and contrast some literary functions of dress and/or clothing in each novel.
3. It is conventional to oppose the conventions and
artifice of human society to nature.
Consider the word nature in both
novels: who uses the word? what issues does it raise? Compare and contrast the
literary function of the concept of nature.
4. While each novel focusses on civilian society and
its artifices, each contains at least one captain.
Compare and contrast their literary functions.
5. Crisis often reveals character – and what else?
Compare and contrast the literary functions of incidents in a coach or carriage in each novel.
6. Compare and contrast the literary effects of references
to France and/or the French in each novel. Or, you may
broaden the topic to include references to “abroad” more generally – e.g. also
considering the East Indies and America in Humphry Clinker.
7. Both novels are epistolary. Compare and contrast
the literary functions of of writing
in each.
8. Consider the word language in each novel. What literary issues does it illuminate?
Compare and contrast!
9. Consider the word creature in each novel. What literary issues does it illuminate?
Compare and contrast, and ignore the monkey at your peril!
10. Compare and contrast the literary effects of the
social significance of tea and coffee in each novel.
11. Compare and contrast the literary effects of the
word body in each novel. (Yes, in Evelina it’s mostly in any body, no body, etc.)
12. A topic of your own choice: get my approval in
writing by October 3rd.
Getting started
This assignment has several purposes:
I’d like you to have read and
thought about both novels in a literary way before we spend class time
discussing how language is used and/or represented in each text. (However, you
have the option of writing on a more language-oriented topic.)
I’d like you to use literature
online for this assignment so that you have an idea of how you might use
it for your research paper. As you can see, most of the topics could be done
without literature online, but I want
to see what you can do and have done with it.
Assessment of your assignment will
include the following:
Does
your answer demonstrate familiarity with the entirety of both novels?
Have you focussed the question
sharply around representative incident(s), patterns, etc.?
(I.e. do not consider every single instance of the word when analyzing
how the concept it denotes functions in the novel!!)
Does your answer demonstrate
your ability to analyze the texts closely, with sense and subtlety?
Does your answer demonstrate
your ability to draw links between your specific topic and themes or issues
that you consider important to the novels?
Is
your answer well organized and well written?
The research
1.
Search
for your words in literature online.
You should consider whether your head words have variants that you need to
check (e.g. variant spellings, variant grammatical forms (e.g. plural, past
tense), derived forms (prefixes, suffixes).
2.
Some
of the topics will generate a lot of hits, others less. Look for patterns: if
your word is very common, you not only can but must narrow things down: the use
of the word by one character; the importance of the concept it denotes at a
particular point near the end of the novel; the word’s appearance with other
words…
3.
Go
to the novel and mark, then read the references.
4.
As
you’re reading the references, keep taking note of any patterns. Is your
word/concept associated with particular people, recurring situations, etc.?
The
interpretation and analysis.
1.
In
order to interpret the data, you’ll need to sort, classify, compare the
material. Use such guidelines as
-which characters?
-how is it placed in the novel
– in which scenes or situations?
-your own criteria
2.
In
order to analyze the data, you’ll need to ask yourself about the significance
of your topic to your overall understanding of each novel: how does it relate
to themes, issues, characters, etc.?
3.
Select
and synthesize your findings, and compose an essay presenting your research in
the form of an argument, a line of reasoning which follows logically from point
to point.
4.
Your
essay will undoubtedly contain paragraphs or pages that provide a context for
your topic rather than dealing with it specifically.