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English 3000
Historicist or Biographical Analysis
Fall 2012
Dr. Patrick Erben
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1) Goals and Scope of the Assignment
Notwithstanding Michel Foucault’s famous announcement that the “author is dead,” we
have one of our authors visit campus this fall—Julia Alvarez. We are unusually fortunate
to have this internationally acclaimed author speak at UWG, and we will use this
opportunity to understand her work not just through the text itself but also through her
own voice, your interaction with her, and finally your broader research into her “life and
times”—the biographical and historical (as well as a sociological, political, cultural,
religious) “context(s)” in which she created her work and in which it unfolds. What
makes Alvarez and her work so attractive for biographical and historicist analyses is her
persistent negotiation of cultural, linguistic, and literary hybridity. As a Latina
(specifically Dominican American) writing in English about her and other women’s
experiences with the Trujillo Regime in the 1950s and 60s Dominican Republic, her
immigration to the US, and her complex explorations of intersectional American identity,
Alvarez allows us to understand the manifold ways in which history, memory, self,
culture, and society interact in literature. For this paper (4 full-5 pages), therefore, you
will apply historicist and biographical critical methods to examining a specific feature of
Alvarez’s work. You will research a minimum of 3 biographical and historical sources
(including, LITERARY CRITICSM USING HISTORICIST OR BIOGRAPHICAL
ANALYSES) as a foundation of YOUR analysis of the text, supported by your reception
of Alvarez’s own words during her visit (IF APPLICABLE TO YOUR
PAPER/ARGUMENT).
The emphasis on 3-4 secondary sources is meant to encourage you to develop your paper
in conversation with historical and biographical background. You may ONLY use
scholarly books and articles published by university presses or peer reviewed
journals (when in doubt, ask me!). You may NOT use internet websites, encyclopedia
articles, Cliff Notes, Spark Notes, Notes and Queries, or Wikipedia.
This paper does not have to follow strictly historicist methods as laid out in the Bressler
chapter. What is most important to me is that you are developing your own argument and
demonstrate how literary text and historical/biographical background interact in your
interpretation. Even though we are no longer following the close reading methods of
New Criticism in this paper, it is crucial that you support all your ideas with
appropriate evidence from the literary text you are discussing, as well as the
secondary sources you found!
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Possible steps to completing the assignment:
a) Look over your journal entries and consider issues that might be illuminated
by further biographical and/or historical research.
b) Consider the questions for analysis and sample essay in Bressler (pp. 226232).
c) Formulate a preliminary thesis.
d) Read biographical information on Alvarez as well as historical background
information on the D.R. during Trujillo’s regime and/or the US during the
time of Alvarez’s immigration. Do a focused search and focused reading
depending on your interests. E.g., if you are interested in women’s rights
issues, look for information about women under Trujillo’s regime. Or, if you
are interested in Alvarez’s experience as an immigrant, look for information
on the reception of Hispanic immigrants in the U.S. during the 1960s.
e) Take notes about how your research influences your analysis of the text. NB:
in taking research notes, always keep a close log of the sources! Keep
track of page numbers and distinguish direct quotations clearly from
your own summary or paraphrases! This will save a lot time later
(tracking down quotations, etc.) and will help you be more diligent in
acknowledging sources and differentiating others’ words and work from
your own. This is where unintentional plagiarism can happen and where
it can be avoided!
f) If necessary, refine and revise your thesis.
g) Draft an introduction and/or essay.
h) If you’d like, ask for feedback from me about your thesis/intro/draft.
i) Write a draft incorporating primary and secondary quotations.
j) Get a peer response on your paper.
k) Carefully revise and proof-read your paper.
l) Check your quotations and sources; check incorporation of sources and MLA
format (including your works cited).
m) Print and staple your paper; insert it into your portfolio folder.
2) Length and Format
Your essay should be at least 4 full pages long (typed, double-spaced, 12-point font, such
as Times New Roman) and not considerably more than 6 full pages. Your essay must
begin with an original title that is both descriptive and provocative!
Your paper should follow all MLA guidelines we have practiced, including page
formatting, parenthetical documentation, quotation style (including proper incorporation
of quotes) and works cited. NB: Please do not submit your Works Cited as a separate
document, but following the text of your essay.
3) Revision and proof-reading
Organize your time to plan for distinct stages in the writing process, including
- reading and note-taking (preparing for the paper may require that you revisit the
text(s) you’ve already read for class!)
- pre-writing (brainstorming, free-writing, outlining)
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- drafting
- revising
- proof-reading
In particular, you should distinguish between revising and proof-reading. In the revision
stage, you refine the structure, argumentation, development, evidence, and tone of your
essay. In the proof-reading stage, you focus exclusively on the mechanics of language
(grammar, spelling, punctuation) and formatting (margins, documentation, etc.).
There is no mandatory draft; however, everyone may send me sample thesis
statements, introductions, or drafts for comments.
4) Submitting your paper
Please print and staple your paper. Put it in your portfolio folder and bring the folder to
class.
5) DEADLINE:
Papers are due at the beginning of class, Monday, October 15 (note deviation from
previous deadline!)