Below appears information regarding the Critical Paper Abstract required of my Fall 2014 ENGL 2413 students. While a hard copy will be distributed during class time, the online version is to be considered authoritative.
As I have noted, the process of developing an academic paper often begins with an abstract, a short response to a call for papers that articulates the expected scope and thrust of the project that will culminate in the paper. The Critical Paper for my Fall 2014 section of ENGL 2413 will have such a beginning; students will need to draft an abstract of approximately 300 words that does the following:
Identifies a primary topic of discussion--the paper must focus upon investigation of a work of literature (i.e., an artistic work that creates its artistic effect primarily or largely through writing, including poems, plays, prose fiction, and graphic novels) not covered in the course textbook and hailing from outside the United States and the countries of the United Kingdom (England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland--but note that works from the Republic of Ireland, after its separation from Britain beginning with the Irish Free State in 1922, are available for use)
Identifies a context for discussion--the paper must situate the topic of discussion in a field of discussion, such as historical context, cultural context, authorial context, audience context, reception or transmission, or critical school
Asserts a thesis for the discussion about the work in its context
The abstract, a 100-point major assignment, is to be submitted as a single file in .doc, .docx, or .rtf format to the assigned D2L dropbox before the beginning of class time on 12 September 2014. When it is assessed, the grade it receives will be determined as follows:
Format (25 points)
Is the abstract written in double-spaced 12-point Times New Roman, with one-inch margins on all sides and heading, title, and page numbers as appropriate (per standards promulgated by the Modern Language Association of America [MLA])?
Is the abstract submitted in one of the approved file formats and to the approved electronic location?
Content (50 points)
Does the abstract identify a single, specific work of literature for treatment? Is the identified work one not represented in the course textbook? Is the identified work from outside the United States and the countries of the United Kingdom?
Is a suitable critical context--such as historical or cultural situation of the author or work, the interaction with expected audience contexts, treatment of how the work receives or transmits figures and tropes, or literary critical school such as the postcolonial or new historicist--provided for the work?
Is a single clear thesis to be developed in a longer essay stated? Is it one appropriate to introductory collegiate literary study in terms of what it seeks to validate and the manner in which it is presented?
Mechanics (25 points)
Does the abstract adhere to the guidelines of academic American English usage promulgated by the MLA? Does it deploy style, tone, and level of diction reasonably expected of students in a sophomore-level English class?
A copy of the grading table that will be appended to student submissions for their return appears here.
Examples of abstracts are here, here, and here. Others may be forthcoming.
Note that the abstract is tentative, and that more exploration may cause it to change. It is not a bad thing.
Per my Spring 2014 discussion of a similar assignment, "The abstract will benefit from being situated among prior criticism. Formal citation is not expected in an abstract (although quotation is also not expected), but informal citation will be obligatory. The abstract for '"Which Way I Fly Is Middle-earth; Myself Am Middle-earth": Miltonic Resonance in Tolkien' linked above offers a model of how to handle such citation. Failure to offer appropriate citation will be investigated as plagiarism. Please do not do it."
More information may be forthcoming. Check back for updates.