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ENGLISH 5390.004: Writing for Publication Fall 2008 Wednesdays, 6:00 – 8:50
PM English Building, Rm. 107 |
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Dr. Jennifer Snead Email: jennifer.snead@ttu.edu Webpage: http://www.faculty.english.ttu.edu/snead Course page: http://www.webct.ttu.edu |
Office: English Building 204 Office hours: Phone: 742-2500, ex. 256 |
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Course description: This is a writing- and
response-intensive course that will prepare literature and linguistics
graduate students for submitting manuscripts to scholarly journals in their
fields. Students must have an
article-length (5,000-7,000 words) paper in hand by the beginning of the course,
usually one written for a previous graduate course. In addition, this course aims to make students better
acquainted with scholarly publishing more generally, including but not
limited to: the process of
manuscript submission, rejection/acceptance and revision; peer review of
scholarly arguments (including book reviews); the types and approaches of
scholarly publication venues, in print and online. While we will focus primarily on article and book review
publication, we will also discuss how these relate to the publication process
of scholarly books. |
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Expected learning
outcomes: On completion of the
course, students should be able to: 1.
Locate and assess
scholarly venues in particular fields, in terms of their
approach/orientation, and determine their suitability for publishing
the
student's own work 2.
Analyze and assess
published articles in terms of the strategies, approaches, and conventions
each uses 3.
Revise and edit
discipline-appropriate prose in the student's own writing 4.
Engage in thoughtful
and responsible peer reviewing of fellow studentsı work-in-progress 5.
Understand and be
able to use different scholarly citation formats 6.
Engage in
appropriate, discipline-specific formal reviewing of published work –
including the preparation and submission of a book review 7.
Prepare a scholarly
article for submission to a peer-reviewed journal, including writing a cover
letter and article abstract |
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Assignments (methods
of assessing learning outcomes): 1.
250-word article
abstract (describing your
essay) (10 points.) 2.
Revision and
publication plan: This is a 2-page description of how
you plan to revise your article, what specific changes you expect to make,
where you plan to submit your article, and why. It is due to me (posted on the course WebCT site) by noon on Friday, 19 September. We
will meet in my office the following week to discuss it. A revised version of your plan will
be due to me by noon on Friday,
1 November. (10 points total – 5 points
each.) 3.
Article analysis: by
mid-September you will have chosen a scholarly article in your field that you
find particularly compelling or useful.
By Friday, 26 September
you will have uploaded that article to our WebcCT site for the rest of the
class to see, under the relevant discussion thread. By Wednesday, 1 October at noon youıll post a substantial analysis of this
article, not to exceed five pages, that describes in detail the article's
argument, and the strategies its author uses in writing its constituent parts
(introduction, signposting and structure, use of proofs/evidence, approach
(theoretical? historical? etc.),
use of sources, the kind of scholarly intervention the author claims to be
making, etc. I expect you to
draw on our class discussions of 2, 10, and 17 September for a model of your
analysis. (20
points) 4.
Comparative
analysis of journals: Write an analysis (3000 words)
comparing three different scholarly journals to which you might send your
article for publication. One of
these may be electronic, but the other two must be print venues. In this analysis you'll be expected
to identify each journal's scholarly approach and orientation, research its
circulation and submission-and-acceptance rate data, and take into account
the information on its masthead (such as the makeup of its editorial board,
etc.) Due (posted to the WebCT
site) by Wednesday, 15 October at noon. (20 points) 5.
Single journal
issue analysis: analyze (in about 1500 words) a
single recent issue of the journal you have chosen to submit your work to,
including its book review section, masthead, and submission
requirements. In a final
paragraph argue for why you feel your work would be a good fit for this
journal. Due (posted to the
WebCT site) by Wednesday, 22 October at noon. (10
points) 6.
Peer review: you
will be expected to read each others' essays (I will divide you into writing
groups) and provide thoughtful and responsible critique and revision
suggestions, posting those on the class WebCT site before our in-class peer
review session (Wednesday, 29 October).
Peer groups will be given one class session to meet together, although
you may choose to meet more frequently outside of class. 7.
Book review:
write one for your chosen journal, either on a single book or on two
or three recent books on the same topic. Due (posted to the course WebCT site) by Wednesday,
12 November at noon. (10 points) 8.
Revision: a preliminary revision of your article is due (posted on the class
site for your peer group and myself to read) by Friday, 24 October at 5:00
PM. You'll discuss this draft with
your peer group in class the following Wednesday. (10 points) 9.
Final revision and
cover letter: a final revision of your article,
along with a cover letter to the editor of the journal you're submitting it
to, is due to me by Wednesday, 19 November at noon. (10
points) |
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Grading:
100 points possible.
90-100 = A. 80-90 =
B. 70-80 = C. 60 – 70 =
D. Below 60 = F. |
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Required
reading: (I
would prefer you use the editions listed below, but you may use alternative
ones if theyıre more affordable
or available to you)
Alexander Pope, The Rape of the Lock, ed. Cynthia Wall. Boston & New
York: Bedford/St.
Martin's, 1998.
Frances Burney, Evelina,
ed. Kristina Straub. Boston
& New York:
Bedford/St. Martin's, 1997. W.T.
Coleridge, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner (1798 and 1817 texts),
ed. Paul H. Fry. Boston
& New York: Bedford/St. Martin's,
1999. Published journal
articles on the three texts above, all available on the course WebCT site:
Kathleen McConnell, ''Creating People for Popular Consumption: Echoes of
Pygmalion and 'The Rape of the
Lock' in Artificial Intelligence (AI),'' Journal
of Popular Culture 40:4 (August
2007), pp. 683-99.
Kathryn Walls, ''The Unveiling of the Dressing Table in Pope's Rape
of the Lock, I.1.21,'' Notes and Queries 53: 251 (June 2006), pp.196-97.
Colin Nicholson, ''The Mercantile Bard: Commerce and Conflict in Pope," Studies
in the Literary Imagination 38:1
(Spring 2005), pp.77-94. Tita
Chico, "The Arts of Beauty:
Women's Cosmetics and Pope's
Ekphrasis," Eighteenth-Century Life 26:1 (Winter 2002), pp.1-23. Peter
Heymans, "Reading the Animal:
An Ecocritical Approach to the
Discourse
of the Sublime in 'The Ancient Mariner,'" Coleridge Bulletin 30 (Winter
2007), pp. 17-26. Peter
Larkin, ''Repetition, Difference, and Liturgical Participation in
Coleridge's 'The Ancient Mariner,' Literature & Theology 21:2 (June 2007), pp.
146-59. Anne
Williams, "An I for an Eye:
'Spectral Persecution' in The Rime of the Ancient
Mariner," PMLA 108:5
(October 1993), pp. 1114-1127. Debbie Lee,
"Yellow Fever and the Slave Trade:
Coleridge's The Rime of the Ancient
Mariner,' ELH 65:3 (Fall 1998),
pp. 675-700. Julie Choi,
"Engendering the Modern Individual: Empire, Class and Nation in Evelina," Feminist Studies in English Literature 8:2 (Winter 2001), pp. 1- 31. Julie Park,
"Pains and Pleasures of the Automaton: Frances Burney's Mechanics of
Coming Out," Eighteenth-Century Studies 40:1 (Fall 2006), pp. 23-49. Helen Thompson,
"Evelina's Two Publics," Eighteenth Century: Theory
and Interpretation 39:2
(Summer 1998), pp. 147-67. Book reviews/review
articles (also posted on course WebCT site): Jennifer Snead,
"No Exit? Recent
Publications on Pope," Eighteenth-
Century Studies 38:2
(Winter 2005), pp. 349-55. Jennifer Snead,
"The Mind in Motion," Eighteenth Century: Theory and
Interpretation 48:2 (Summer
2007), pp. 173-79. Toni Bowers,
"Gender Studies and Eighteenth-Century British Literature," Literature
Compass 4:4 (2007), pp. 935-966, 10.1111/j.1741-
4113.2007.00446.x Assorted cover letters,
query letters, and readers' reports (also posted on course WebCT site |
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Course Schedule: W 8/27
Introductions W 9/2
Rape of the Lock
and essays W 9/10 Rime of
the Ancient Mariner and
essays W 9/17 Evelina and essays; article abstract due [post] [F 9/19 revision
and publication plan due in my box by noon] W 9/24 meet
one-on-one in my office to discuss revision plan [F 9/26 post
chosen articles to webct site] W 10/1 article
analysis due W 10/8 discussion
of article analyses (continued) W 10/15
comparative analysis of journals (3) due W 10/22
single journal issue analysis due [F 10/24 article drafts due (post on webct
site)] W 10/29
in class peer group review meetings [F 11/1 revised
revision and publication plan due by noon in my box] W 11/5 discuss
book reviews W 11/12
book reviews due [post]; discuss reader reports/responses
and query letters W 11/19
cover letters and revised essay due; peer review of book
reviews in class W 11/26
No class; Thanksgiving holidays [M 12/1: revised
book reviews due by noon in my box] W 12/3:
Last day of classes |
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Course policies and
student responsibilities: I
expect you to have finished each class's assigned reading by the day
specified in the syllabus, and to arrive in class ready, willing, and able
both to share your reading experiences and to respond to those of the other
members of the class. Attendance
in this class is mandatory; our discussions during each class session
are as crucial to the course as the assigned readings and writing you and
your fellow students will be doing outside of class. I expect your regular, punctual
attendance and engaged – even enthusiastic – participation in all
class discussions and activities.
I consider lateness the equivalent of an absence. Absences accrue from the first day of
the semester, regardless of the add/drop period. If for any reason you must miss class, know that if you
miss more than three classes during this semester, you will fail the course,
regardless of the reasons for your absences. You
are responsible for turning in all assigned work on time, regardless of your
attendance, and for obtaining notes and/or assignments from your classmates,
not me. If you are involved in a
university-sponsored activity that will require you to miss class, come and
see me well in advance so that we can discuss strategies for helping you to
make up class absences.
Remember that the free exchange of ideas is predicated on civility in
the
classroom: treat your
fellow students and their ideas with the same
courtesy and consideration you expect from them. In your classroom
interactions with one another, I expect you will honor the English
Department's guidelines for student ethics in English, observing
clarity,
honesty, tolerance, respect, objectivity, fairness, engagement,
and
responsibility. You can
access a more detailed description of "Ethics in
English: A Guide for
Students," via the department website: www.english.ttu.edu/linked_files/Ethics_in_English_for
_Students.pdf If
you engage in inappropriate or abusive behavior (including intolerance based
on race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, physical or any other
disability), you'll be removed from the course. Further administrative action may also be pursued, so be
sure you know and understand the university's policies on acceptable conduct
in the classroom (see your Student Handbook for that information). I
expect that all of us will turn off all cell phones and beepers before class
starts (this includes me). |