ENGL 680: Assignments

1. Regular Attendance and Participation in Group Conversation

2. Seminar Presentation: Contexts for Reading and Interpretation (33% of Grade)

Each student will participate in a group (or individual) seminar presentation that provides the rest of the class with essential information about contexts within which we will discuss an author or authors. I strongly urge you to choose a seminar presentation subject that will help you with your research for your scholarly essay. Each student will prepare a 20 minute oral presentation, using whatever techniques seem most appropriate (interactive presentation, lecture, lecture/discussion, slides, video clips, Powerpoint, dramatizations or role-playing, etc). It is important that these presentations stay within the twenty-minute limit. If you are unsure of how to gauge your time, try a "dress rehearsal" or run-through before class. Be advised that it takes roughly twenty minutes to deliver a 9-10 page double-spaced paper.

I have provided an extensive set of links to websites that will be helpful in GLBT Studies. As the course progresses, I will meet with groups or individuals about their presentations. Those of you who are working on a thesis or conference presentation in conjunction with this course may use this activity as an opportunity to present your work to the group.

Assessment Criteria: The seminar presentations will be assessed according to the following criteria: the substantiveness of the information, its relevance to the course, the clarity of the presentation, the organization or the material, the presentation techniques or strategies, and the observing of the twenty-minute time limit. I will distribute a peer assessment sheet so that the rest of the class may participate in the assessment of this activity, and the assessment statements of the class will weigh heavily in my assessment.

3. Weekly "Probes and Insights": 1 substantive discussion question and 1 insight for each of the assigned texts every week (33% of Grade)

Because the reading for this course is quite heavy, I want to grant credit and assign a grade for completing that work. My assumption is that each of you intends to read all the texts thoughtfully, striving to grasp as much as you can and asking fruitful questions. Therefore, I would like to assign the letter grade of "A" to this course activity from the outset of our work together.

One useful strategy in writing a probe and insight is to start with a specific passage or “moment” from the text you are considering. For the scholarly or critical essays, a useful way to start your probe and insight is to first nail down the author’s thesis idea in a sentence or two. That gives you a solid grounding in the author’s argument as you frame your own question and insight in response to the scholar’s argument.

Expectations & Assessment Criteria: The only thing that I ask is that each week you prepare carefully thought out and cogently written (for want of a better word) "probes and insights." By "probes" I mean essential, critical questions that get at what you feel are the central issues of the pieces we read. These should be substantive questions, dealing with fundamental concerns. When we have more than one assigned text, your "probes and insights” should deal with each one; you may wish to create questions that "probe" the issues of a couple of the assigned texts. By "insights" I mean just that--ideas that have come to you after careful reflection upon each piece. Make your "insight" be the one idea you would most like to contribute to our conversation about one or more of the assigned readings each week; again, you may create an "insight" that deals with a couple of the assigned texts, but you should deal with all the assigned texts explicitly. Your insight could be the “Ah ha!” moment that you arrived at by thinking carefully about the readings. Our conversations each week will be rooted in your own concerns as articulated in your questions and ideas. I will collect these each week and use them to plan for future class meetings. Please type these ("consider these gray hairs" and failing eyes). To receive a grade of "A" submit your "probes and insights" on the due date. Late work or incomplete, and half-hearted "probes and insights" will necessarily lower the grade.

4. Scholarly Essay (33% of Grade)

Each student will complete a fully researched scholarly essay that grows out of our work in the course. The essay should be narrowly focused so that you can demonstrate your idea convincingly in about 10-12 pages of text with 3 or so additional pages of content endnotes and works cited. The essay should be addressed to a specific audience and should pursue a clear purpose. Those of you who are writing theses about sexuality or gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgendered authors may complete one of your chapters to fulfill this activity. Those of you who are studying for the Masters Degree in other departments may integrate your own discipline into this activity, for example, by writing a more personal reflection on the content of the course and how it comes to bear on your discipline, your own education or your professional work; or you may pursue one LGBTQ issue pertinent to the work that you will do when you graduate.

Possible Options for the Scholarly Essay:

For each of these options, I encourage you to consult the sources provided on the "Links to Resources" web page.

Conference Paper: Target a specific conference and direct your piece to its audience. UNC Asheville has an LGBTQ conference each spring. Consult the CFP listserv and check out Voice of the Shuttle and Online Resources in British and American Literature for comprehensive calls for papers and chapters. When you submit your essay, indicate your target conference. Most conferences allow a twenty-minute presentation. Text should be no more than 10 pages. You should, however, provide additional elaboration, references, and materials in at least a couple of pages of content endnotes. Text, content endnotes and works cited pages should total about 12-15 pages. Conference papers should be no less substantive than scholarly articles; the only difference is that they compress their scholarship much more, and offer adequate evidence to be convincing but not exhaustive proof; they often rely on explanatory endnotes for the elaboration that must be omitted from the text. Try to integrate about 15-20 sources into your argument, using content notes when necessary to compress. Proper MLA documentation is required.

A wide range of topic is acceptable for this essay. You may wish to deal with a literary topic, an individual writer or text, or a concern that several writers address. You may wish to do historical or cultural work. You may wish to address a topic pertinent to LGBTQ Studies that we do not examine in the course; any number of popular culture studies would be appropriate.

I recommend that you integrate your research for the scholarly essay and the seminar presentation. That way you could be building upon your earlier research and writing as you work toward your final paper.

Personal/Scholarly Reflection: The purpose and audience for this essay will vary depending upon the writer, but it should offer a personal/scholarly reflection on the content of the course. The paper should be about 12-15 pages, counting content endnotes and works cited pages. This type of essay invites you to bring scholarly research and rhetorical power to any issue or concern related to the material we have been studying. By personal/scholarly, I mean that the piece may, indeed, explore your intimate responses to the materials but will do so in a way that uses scholarly sources and documentation, that affords a scholarly context derived from research provided by any of the required and recommended readings, and that demonstrates its ideas using evidence from the texts upon which it reflects. Like any piece of scholarly writing, this type of essay uses full and accurate documentation of sources, including content endnotes and work cited pages. Proper MLA documentation is required. Strive for a richly imagined and generous integration of your research materials with the course materials, using about 15-20 sources in the text and content endnotes.