Final Project: Assignment Sheet

This term, each student will have the option of completing either a traditional seminar essay of 15 pages in length, or a hypertext project.

Traditional seminar essay option:

Your seminar essay for this course should be 12-15 pages in length. It should give a sustained literary analysis of one or more primary texts assigned within a literary-historical or theoretical context provided by the secondary material read in class. Outside of the secondary material read in class, your essay must include at least one additional reputable secondary source. Your seminar essay must substantially engage with both primary and the secondary sources, though the secondary sources should above all be contextual.

Hypertext option:

Alternatively, you may construct a hypertext of one assigned reading that presents a sustained literary and/or historical analysis. Because the “novel” is first and foremost a “new” medium for the exploration of individual experience in a rapidly changing world, the web presents a unique opportunity for us to investigate the strengths and limitations of a new and increasingly commonplace medium. Like the eighteenth-century novel, hypertext not only requires new modes of reading, but it also represents changing patterns of human thought. As Marshall McCluhan famously argued, the medium is the message; we see the world—and our roles in it—differently in different media.

You may complete this option either individually or in teams of two. While we will not devote course-time to learning the basics of website construction, Marymount has several resources available for such a project; you may also use Microsoft Word to create such a text. I will make how-tos and other guides on this subject available as well. If you choose this option individually, your hypertext must be accompanied by a 5 page overview that describes, in miniature, your argument and what function you see such a project performing (If you choose this option in teams of two, your overview must be 10 pages in length). Did you confront and overcome any specific obstacles, especially in your conceptualization of the project? What does the hypertext as medium allow you to do or see differently, as you read and interpret your text? If you elect this option, you must use at least two reputable secondary sources (for each person contributing to the project), either assigned or researched on your own.

You might begin by examining several existing hypertexts and similar web-based projects, like the student projects included in “Eighteenth-Century England,” an online collection of undergraduate and graduate work by students at the University of Michigan. You might also take a look at the ongoing Pierre Marteau hypertext 1719 edition of Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe. You may also take a look at a few substantial projects created by advanced undergraduates at Washington & Lee University for ideas and inspiration; available projects are on the 18th century novel and Restoration and 18th century drama. Finally, you can examine sample hypertexts constructed by students in English 200 last term, each of which were created using Microsoft Word. As graduate students, however, I expect your work to be significantly more rigorous than several of these existing projects. Ultimately, I will post these projects online, beginning a dedicated site for hypertext readings crafted by graduate students at Marymount University.

Many, if not all, of the primary sources we are reading this term are available online from Project Gutenberg; you should feel free to use this resource as you construct your project.

It should go without saying…

Whichever option you decide to complete, your work must be completely compliant with MLA formatting and citation guidelines, free of grammatical and stylistic errors, and written in lively and engaging prose.