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Getting Started

You've now read a great deal on how to research a textual history, as well as something about how to research a textual history on Byron.

What strategies should you use to turn that information into action?

Choosing a Topic

When you think you have a possible topic, ask yourself the following questions:

1. Is it a text I will be working with in some other way? dissertation, another course this semester, a paper for a conference or article?
2. Is this a text that has some or all of the types of materials available that are indicated on the assignment description pages?
3. Does it look like I will be able to find materials on composition (letters, journals, other articles, biographies, etc)
4. Does it look like I will be able to find materials on publication?
5. Does this text have critical articles or books written about it? or, in other words, will I be able to find information about critical reception?

If you can't answer yes to ALL of these questions, you might wish to reconsider and find another text for which you can answer yes to all.

Gathering Information: Initial Phases

Often articles or books will discuss textual information as part of a larger discussion, focusing on interpretation. This is the case, for example, with Jerome McGann's Fiery Dust which examines Byron's idea of man as a spirit-infused body.

Taking Notes

A good tactic is to photocopy all the resources you need (rather than take notes). This also takes less time: you identify what you need and gather it, but leave the interpretation of that data for later. Scholars undertaking large projects often do just this, especially if the materials are at locations they can't get to often and they have limited time.

Make sure that any notes you take clearly indicate whether it is a paraphrase or summary (for which you should use none of the author's words nor their sentence structure). Also indicate if your notes are a direct quotation: if a direct quotation it should provide an exact word-for-word, punctuation-for-punctuation mark, reproduction of the original text.

Since the contemporary reviews often have a flare for wording, it's sometimes hard to get past those great phrases to the essential points. Make sure that you have a clear idea of the reviewer's position.

Converting Notes to Draftt

Make sure to organize the material you gather into clear--and clearly understandable--units ( composition, publication, reception) and sub-units (early composition, revision in press, initial response, later response, and so forth).

Don't just provide a play-by-play:

Bad Example: "On June 2, the Quarterly came out, and the reviewer thought this, and this and this. Then on June 3, the Edinburgh came out, and the reviewer thought this, and this, and this."

Instead, organize your discussion on the reviews around their responses to particular aspects of Byron's poem.

Good Example: "Though reviewers were generally favorable to Byron's poem, a number found his use of X offensive."

Make sure to give lots of specific details:

Good Example: "Of the 23 reviews, only 4 came out within two weeks of the initial publication. Those were A, B, C, and D. Of these 2--C and D--where highly critical, finding fault with Byron's Q which D described as 'completely heretical.'"

Converting Notes to Paper

As you look over your materials, ask yourself how much information you should provide for each of the areas required.

You may organize this information into sections for the three areas. If you use headings, however, try to offer more direction to your reader than just the words "composition," "publication" and "reception." Look at examples of this kind of writing to see what techniques writers use for this kind of rhetorical task.

Using Quoted Material

Please review the advice for using quoted material at the general resources section of this website.

In general, a paper of 8000 words should contain no more than 1000 words of block quotation--and direct quotation should be no more than 20%.

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