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English 5000  Introduction to Methods & Issues in English Studies

An introduction to graduate studies in English, with emphasis on research materials and methods, important genres of academic writing, and professional issues and opportunities. As a common base of reading, we will study four novels (two British and two American) dating from the two decades between 1790 and 1810. Using at least one of the four writers in this group as a starting point, each student in the seminar will pose a series of research questions that will lead to engagement with additional primary texts as well as a wide variety of secondary texts and methods for writing analytically. Seminar members will produce an annotated bibliography, a literature review, a conference-presentation-length paper, an article-length (seminar) paper, and a mock thesis proposal. In addition, the course will explore the opportunities in the graduate program, the connections among its various concentrations, and basic skills for excelling in graduate study.