You are required to prepare 2 novel reports over the course of the semester. The first will concern Memoirs of Emma Courtney (due Saturday, February 1st, revised) and the second will cover Persuasion (due Saturday, April 11th).

1/24 revisions in bold red font.

Your responses should be limited to 2-4 double-spaced pages in Times 12. Please clearly identify the text in question at the top of your assignment (and don’t forget your name). Each assignment should follow the following format.

1. Give the title of work, its author, the date(s) of composition, and the date of publication. In this section of the report, you should remark on any interesting aspects of the composition and publication process. Additionally, you should try to set the work into its historical context (i.e. what was going on in the world when the novel was written and published?). Avoid biography. The emphasis should be on composition history and historical context. Your best source for this section is the introduction to the novel, as well as material presented in the appendices. [10 points]

2. Describe and identify the point-of-view from which the narrative is recounted. Please provide 1-2 examples of how the narrative establishes point of view at the beginning of the novel. In other words, you’re answering the question: “How is the story told?” Avoid plot summary but conclude by asserting the way in which the author employs point-of-view for specific effect. [10 points]

3. Examine vocabulary and allusions [10 points]

a. List three words you looked up in a dictionary; your best source will be The Oxford English Dictionary. Write down the definition(s). Also write down any significant etymology of the word — its root word or words and their meanings. You are looking for words which you suspect are being used in a double manner, words that you think may have changed meaning since the nineteenth century, and/or words which seem of particular significance to the novel’s overall meaning. Note the significance of the word to narrative’s dominant themes and subject matter. Choose words that give you a new way to interpret the text.

The UGA Library’s Galileo database archive can link you to the Oxford English Dictionary and the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography

b. Look up between 3 to 5 allusions that you think are important to understanding the novel. Don’t just rush by a reference to Rousseau. Find out who he is! You will be expected to go beyond any short footnotes available to you. List and briefly comment on the significance of some of the most significant allusions. You must list as many allusions as you find, although you do not have to write on all of them

4. Describe the overall narrative arc of the text as a whole, noting how it works in the aggregate and the ways in which one section of the text relates to another to convey meaning. Avoid simple plot summary. [10 points]

5. Consider connections between works. Briefly describe a link between the novel you are working with and other literature read during the semester, or even literature that you have read elsewhere. Provide at least one specific example to receive full credit. Your response should be thoughtful and considered. [10 points]

Grade Range for Novel Reports

The range for an “A” report is 45 to 50; “B” 39 to 44; “C” 35-38; “D” 34; “F” less than 34. I will expect your reports to be written in complete, well-edited, and carefully proofread sentences.