ENG 427 –Jane Austen Problems

Research Project

For your major piece of independent coursework, you will conduct a multi-step writing project reflecting your semester-long immersion in the close reading, analysis, and research of Jane Austen and her work.  This project will involve preliminary writing deliverables and will culminate in a researched literary analysis in which you must make an argument that contributes to the current critical conversation about Jane Austen.  Your final written argument needs to present a clear method based primarily on close reading but also informed by one or two theoretical approaches, including historicist/new historicist; feminist, queer, or body methodology; film adaption; emotion studies; ecocriticism; or another critical construct.  Your paper can focus on one or two of Austen’s novels that we read for this course.  Love and Freindship can also be used as the second work.  It is absolutely fine to focus on just one of Austen’s novels.  If you decide to write about two novels, you will need a specific focus that spans across both works. 

Deliverables

This project consists of three major deliverables:

1. An abstract (1-1 ½ page) with annotated bibliography (100-200 words per annotation)
2. A complete draft (at least 7 pages) of your paper for peer review. 
3. An 8-9 page MLA compliant research paper complete with Works Cited. 

Research

Begin with research. Start now!  Do a thorough review of the sources on our class web site, paying particular attention to the JASNA site, Persuasion, Persuasions Online, and the Romanticism on the Net site.  Search the MLA database and the internet through Google and Google Scholar.  Make an appointment to see me, and we can talk!

To help formulate your project, you might start by thinking about what you find most interesting, what you feel is underdeveloped in critical conversations about Austen, and what you think you can add.  To develop a working argument, think to yourself,

“Austen scholars have said/done X about Y but (no one has…) (another way to read this is…) (the problem with this is….) (those ideas can be extended as….)_______________________

_______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________.”

Abstract and Annotated Bibliography

The abstract should be 1 – 1 1/2 pages double-spaced.  It should begin by explaining the paper topic and why it is of interest.  Be sure to clearly describe the literary and cultural elements that you will analyze.  You should explain how you plan to approach your topic methodologically and also briefly mention the major sections you have planned for your paper. You may also mention concerns, open issues, or questions that you are investigating.  Conclude with how your paper will contribute to the conversation about Austen.

The annotated bibliography should conform to MLA 8^th edition and consist of eight academically credible sources; at least six must be peer reviewed articles (print or electronic) or book chapters; at least four of these peer-reviewed sources must be from 2000 or later.  Sources pre-dating the mid-eighteenth cannot be used for this project.  Cultural backgrounds should be carefully chosen to align with the British late 18^th and early 19^th century (Austen is not a Victorian). No general encyclopedias or Wikipedia articles permitted. 

Each annotation should be 150-200 words.  The annotation should describe the source and its significance to your project.  Include a phrase or very short sentence to identify who the scholar is (for example if they are an expert or a professor and where).  Be sure to state the author’s main thesis and briefly describe the critical approach.  Explain how you plan to use the source.  Quotes are encouraged but not required for all sources; include a quote for a least four of our sources.

Final Essay

The essay should be 8-9 pages (no more than 10 pages) and must present a clearly defined argument/thesis supported by textual evidence.  The essay should follow MLA 8^th edition style.  If you include illustrations, they will not count towards your page count.  The final essay must use all 8 of your sources; you can also use additional sources provided that they are scholarly sources on Austen.

Grade Breakdown

Your research project is 40% of your grade for this class, which I will calculate as follows:

Abstract and Annotations          10%  (based on 100 points) 

Draft                                          10% (based on 100 points: 90 points for the deliverable plus 10 points for the online peer review) 

Final paper                                 20%  (based on 100 points) 

Schedule

Previous Titles by Students

Interpretating Letters in Sense and Sensibility and Pride and Prejudice

Jane Austen’s Portrayal of Masculinity in Pride and Prejudice

Villains in Sense and Sensibility and Northanger Abbey

Influential Relationships Between Fathers and Daughters

Elizabeth Bennet: A Feminist Social Revolutionary Character

Shaping Fanny Price’s Social Identity

Slavery in Mansfield Park