Independent Reading Project
By the end of the day on Monday (1/28) post a comment below telling me (1) what option you have picked (the options are explained below), (2) what you plan to read to get some background on your option (if it's a website post the URL; make sure it's a scholarly source), and (3) what novel, play, or other lengthy work (for example, a collection of stories or poems) of literary merit you plan to read and respond to before the middle of term three.
We will be doing some preliminary research on Thursday,
January 24. Wikipedia is a useful tool for preliminary research (though you
should not rely on Wikipedia research in scholarly writing).
Option 1: Bildungsroman. You might continue your
study of the Bildungsroman genre (1) by consulting several sources -- starting with this one
-- to learn more about Bildungsromans and (2) by reading a couple
bildungsromans in addition to the one's you've already studied.
Option 2: Ur*-Narratives (Sacred Texts, Myths, Fairy Tales). You might continue your study of how writers, poets, and other artists use older, archetypal stories -- Bible stories, Greek myths, German fairy tales, etc. -- to create new stories, films, poems, paintings, etc. (We've already studied how Joyce, several painters, and several poets have made use of the Daedalus-Icarus myth.) You will (1) investigate an ur-narrative (a myth, a fairy tale, etc.) and (2) explore how several writers (and perhaps filmmakers, poets, and visual artists) have made use of the original story. (You might modify the assignment to look at how a couple different myths/tales are used.)
*"Ur" is Germanic in origin. In English it is sometimes used as a prefix meaning "original" or "prototypical".
Here are a few books that are based on myths, sacred texts, or folk tales:
* Here's a link to a list of books based on Greek mythology.
* William Butler Yeats wrote several plays based on Celtic mythology and tales.
* Anne Sexton wrote Transformations, a book of narrative poems based on German fairy tales.
* John Steinbeck's Grapes of Wrath and East of Eden include many Biblical allusions. Grapes of Wrath allusions include The Book of Job, the story of Noah and the flood in Genesis, and the story of the Hebrews and the Promised Land (Numbers, etc.) East of Eden is built around the Cain and Abel story in Genesis.
Option 3: Author Study. You might continue your investigation of one of the authors we have studied so far this year: Calvino, Ellison, Rhys, Bronte, Joyce. Or you might want to study another major author. Your study will include an investigation of (1) the author's life and cultural context and (2) her/his literary output beyond what you have already read.
Option 4: Literary Movement. You might continue your investigation of a literary movement that we have touched upon this year: Romanticism, Gothicism, Victorianism, Modernism. Or you might want to study another literary movement. Your study will include an investigation of (1) the -ism and (2) representative literary works from the movement.
Option 5: Literature of a Culture. You might continue your investigation of the literature produced by a particular culture. The works we have read so far this year have come out of several cultural contexts: Italian, African-American, Anglo-Caribbean, English, Irish. Or you might to want to study the literature of another culture. You will (1) investigate the literature produced by the particular culture and (2) read representative literary works from the culture.
Option 6: Critical Lens. You might study literature using a particular critical lens: gender studies, critical race theory, queer theory, Marxist literary criticism, psychoanalytic (Freudian) literary criticism, archetypal literary criticism, ecocriticism, deconstruction, etc. (Click here for Wikipedia's "literary theory" page for more ideas.) You will (1) investigate the critical theory and (2) read literary works "through the lens" of the critical theory.
Option 7: Something else that you concoct and propose. This something else should have a research component and a literary component.
Option 2: Ur*-Narratives (Sacred Texts, Myths, Fairy Tales). You might continue your study of how writers, poets, and other artists use older, archetypal stories -- Bible stories, Greek myths, German fairy tales, etc. -- to create new stories, films, poems, paintings, etc. (We've already studied how Joyce, several painters, and several poets have made use of the Daedalus-Icarus myth.) You will (1) investigate an ur-narrative (a myth, a fairy tale, etc.) and (2) explore how several writers (and perhaps filmmakers, poets, and visual artists) have made use of the original story. (You might modify the assignment to look at how a couple different myths/tales are used.)
*"Ur" is Germanic in origin. In English it is sometimes used as a prefix meaning "original" or "prototypical".
Here are a few books that are based on myths, sacred texts, or folk tales:
* Here's a link to a list of books based on Greek mythology.
* William Butler Yeats wrote several plays based on Celtic mythology and tales.
* Anne Sexton wrote Transformations, a book of narrative poems based on German fairy tales.
* John Steinbeck's Grapes of Wrath and East of Eden include many Biblical allusions. Grapes of Wrath allusions include The Book of Job, the story of Noah and the flood in Genesis, and the story of the Hebrews and the Promised Land (Numbers, etc.) East of Eden is built around the Cain and Abel story in Genesis.
Option 3: Author Study. You might continue your investigation of one of the authors we have studied so far this year: Calvino, Ellison, Rhys, Bronte, Joyce. Or you might want to study another major author. Your study will include an investigation of (1) the author's life and cultural context and (2) her/his literary output beyond what you have already read.
Option 4: Literary Movement. You might continue your investigation of a literary movement that we have touched upon this year: Romanticism, Gothicism, Victorianism, Modernism. Or you might want to study another literary movement. Your study will include an investigation of (1) the -ism and (2) representative literary works from the movement.
Option 5: Literature of a Culture. You might continue your investigation of the literature produced by a particular culture. The works we have read so far this year have come out of several cultural contexts: Italian, African-American, Anglo-Caribbean, English, Irish. Or you might to want to study the literature of another culture. You will (1) investigate the literature produced by the particular culture and (2) read representative literary works from the culture.
Option 6: Critical Lens. You might study literature using a particular critical lens: gender studies, critical race theory, queer theory, Marxist literary criticism, psychoanalytic (Freudian) literary criticism, archetypal literary criticism, ecocriticism, deconstruction, etc. (Click here for Wikipedia's "literary theory" page for more ideas.) You will (1) investigate the critical theory and (2) read literary works "through the lens" of the critical theory.
Option 7: Something else that you concoct and propose. This something else should have a research component and a literary component.
For my independent project, I plan to read the works of J.R.R Tolkien and analyze what inspired the aspects and places found in his fantasy.
ReplyDeleteI plan on conducting an author study of Kurt Vonnegut. I will focus on Slaughterhouse-Five and Cat's Cradle, and will also look into the late author's recent biography. I may or may not look into a third novel.
ReplyDeleteI chose to do option 3 for the independent reading project. I am going to focus on the works of Charles Dickens and investigate father into his literary accomplishments and what inspired them.
ReplyDeleteFor this project, I have chosen option 6: critical lens. I will choose a book of literature and look at it through a psychoanalytic literary criticism view. I am researching psychoanalytic literary criticism and learning about how Freud analyzed the authors of interesting characters. I am still in the process of choosing a book.
ReplyDeleteI've chosen option 4 for this project, and the particular movement I'd like to research is Gothic literature. There are various books I'm considering like The Picture of Dorian Grey, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and Wuthering Heights. I also plan to examine the work of Edgar Allan Poe.
ReplyDelete*Disclaimer* I'm not goth.
I wish there was a like button for this post
DeleteI hope to do option 3 for this project, with my focus being on Richard Brautigan. I want to focus on his life, and how works like his most famous novel, "Trout Fishing in America", reflects the countercultural youth movement of the mid 20th century, as well as other aspects of life from the 1950's through the late 1970's. I mostly am going to read his novels, but also plan to read some of his poetry and short stories as well.
ReplyDeleteI will do option #3 with a focus on Jodi Picoult and why a great portion of her novels focus around the thematic idea of mercy.
ReplyDeleteOh, and I will read Lone Wolf along with House Rules as my choice of lengthy material. I will also reference many of her other novels in which I have read. Perhaps even look into finding a bibliography of hers.
ReplyDeleteI am going to do an author study on Herman Melville and will read Moby Dick as my main literary object of study. I will research Melville and will mostly use internet sources to do so, although I plan to go to the library as well.
ReplyDeleteI am planning on doing option 2 with a focus on epic poems and Greek mythology. I will read Homer's The Illiad, and The Odyssey, as well as Vergil's The Aenied. I will research the views on epic poetry today and the impact of Greek mythology on its culture then and in the present day. I will use internet sources but also plan to look into the subject through other books.
ReplyDeleteI am going to do option 2 and focus on the topic of fairy tales. I am going to begin by reading Transformations by Anne Sexton.
ReplyDeleteI also may read The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly.
ReplyDelete