Final Project

ENGL 2550.03: Gender, Identity, and Literature

Spring 2016

Key Dates
Tuesday, April 19: Choose Project and Group by Today
Thursday, April 28: Workshop Projects/Papers in Class
Thursday, May 5, 2-3:50: Present Final Projects/Papers to Class
Textual Investigations and Option 2 essays all must be emailed to ablumber@slu.edu as
Word files by 2pm on May 5.
Option 1 Collaborative Project
For your Final Project, worth 20% of your grade, you will work in collaborative groups of 3 or 4
people, each group focusing specifically on one of the four texts weve read during the second
half of the semester. Each text must be represented by at least one group, but some texts will be
covered by more than one group.
Texts
Virginia Woolfs A Room of Ones Own (1929)
World War I Poetry by Siegfried Sassoon and Wilfred Owen
Charlotte Perkins Gilmans The Yellow Wallpaper (1892)
Oscar Wildes The Importance of Being Earnest (1895)
This project consists of:
o Documented group discussions
o A six-part written Textual Investigation*
o An individual project narrative
o The in-class presentation on May 5.
*Instead of a paper version of your written Investigation, you may opt to compile a website
(please only create private, password-protected websites) which displays the six parts of your
Investigation. Websites would still need to stick to word requirements, but have some added
aesthetic appeal and could create more effective presentations. If you choose to create a website,
you will still need to email me a Word document of your Investigation.
Textual Investigation
Group Discussions: Each group will meet outside of class for at least 2 hours total. You may
break this up however youd like. During these group discussions, you will address the projects
various parts, including the logistics of the project (e.g., who writes what), but importantly also
the close-readings, critical history, etc. Essentially, you will have more focused versions of our
larger class discussions. I want to see how your ideas evolve. Take notes about the main talking
points in these meetings. An agreed-upon version of these notes will comprise Part I of the
Textual Investigation.

ENGL 2550.03, Final Assignment

Part I Discussion Notes: These may take any shape youd likea narrative, bullet points,
etc. No required word count. Part I must simply give a picture of the main topics and direction of
conversation during your meetings.
Part II Intro to the Text and Genre (300 words): Give the basic original publication details
of this text. Who is the author? Where/when was the text written? When was it published? What
genre(s) does this text fall in? What are some key elements important for analyzing that genre?
Use our Gardner text (Reading and Writing about Literature) as well as other course materials.
Part III the Big Picture (400 words): Speaking broadly about the texts plot, themes,
characters, etc., explain how this work both responds to, and shapes conceptions of gender and
identity. In other words, what does this text have to do with gender?
Part IV Critical History/ Annotated Bibliography (700-800 words): Create an
annotated bibliography of 7-8 sources (at least 5 of them academic sources) addressing your
chosen work, spanning roughly from the time of publication to the present. An annotated
bibliography includes a list of citations (MLA format) of the sources you find. Each entry includes
a 100-word annotationa summary of that sources main claims. The summary may address
how that sources claims compare or contrast with others on the list. This annotated bibliography
helps paint a picture of how your text has been critically received over time.
Your group may want to split this task between several people. Each person is responsible
for x many sources. Each person reads those sources carefully, in order to fully explain the text to
the rest of the group and write an accurate annotation. Collaborative Research.
Part V Argument (1000 words): Present an argument about this text, using gender as a lens
and the bibliography youve developed, along with close readings of the text. This part of the
Investigation is like a small version of midterm paper. No need for a Works Cited, since all the
texts you refer to are already in your Annotated Bib.
Part VI Contemporary Connections (300 words): What are some connections you see
between our own culture (even our university community in particular) and what youve
discussed in your chosen text?
Individual Project Narrative (300-500 words): You will not include this narrative in the
Investigation or the presentation. Rather, you will share it only with Ms. Blumberg (email by
2pm on May 5). In this narrative, explain your own experience with this project. How have your
own thoughts taken shape through this process? What do you feel you contributed most? What
was your experience working in a group? As you might infer, this portion of the project both
shows me how you as an individual learned from this project, and also can serve to clarify if
group-work was unbalanced in any way.
Text-Specific Alternatives
For some of our texts, you may need or want to alter your approach to this project.
1. WWI Poetry by Sassoon and Owen: As an alternative to the annotated bibliography, you
may instead engage with the Cambridge Digital Library Sassoon collection we explored in class.

ENGL 2550.03, Final Assignment

Spend some more time looking through that digital collection, and instead of a Critical
History, provide a Media Analysis, discussing how the collected digital resources (poem drafts,
diary entries, sketches, letters, etc.) can shape the way we read his poetry. Give examples.
2. The Importance of Being Earnest. Because we are viewing a live production of this play, it
would be silly not to consider the play in this project. For Part II Intro to the Text and
Genre, you should consider writing about the live performance of the drama, instead of the
silent text. For Part V Argument, include some analysis of the play as a key part of your
argument. For example, if you argue that one of the female characters in Wildes text represents
the New Woman figure of the 1890s, analyze the interpretation of that character in the stage
production, focusing on one or two key scenes. You likely wont be able to focus entirely on the
play, because it will be hard to keep notes and thoroughly analyze each scene if you can only see
it one time. You are of course welcome to see the play multiple times.
In-Class Presentation
On Thursday, May 5, instead of a regular exam, we will meet in the classroom and each group
will present their work. The time limit for each presentation will depend on how many students
choose the group project and how many choose the individual essay.
Presentations can be fairly conversational, but should be planned. You will focus the presentation
on Parts II through VI of the project, and each group member should be responsible for
presenting some information. Be able to distill the main points from each section of your
Investigation. So, instead of reading through every word of your Annotated Bibliography, you
will present the various critical responses to the text overall, and how these may have changed
over time. If you created a website, you will display the website to the class. If you chose not to
create a website, you may want to create short handouts or visual aids for your classmates. No
group needs to make paper copies of their entire Investigation.
Option 2 Individual Essay Assignment
If you prefer to work individually, you may choose to write a traditionally literary analysis essay,
just like the midterm paper. See the midterm essay assignment sheet for a reminder. The same
formatting requirements apply. The only differences are:
o You will select your own topic, addressing one of the four texts weve read this half of the
semester.
o Papers (exclusive of Works Cited) must be 2000 words
o You must consult three secondary academic sources to support your argument
Papers will be graded using the 2000-Level Literature Paper Rubric, posted on the Assignments
tab of our class website. Those who select this assignment option will still have to present their
papers to the class on May 5.
Papers need to be emailed to ablumber@slu.edu by 2pm on May 5, in addition to being
presented to the class. Presentations will involve reading your paper aloud, and can involve visual
aids if you wish.