| Instructor: Philip Holden, Associate Professor, English Language and Literature,
NUS |
Assignment Two--Research Project
Examine a narrative
(or series of linked narratives) of your choice from outside the module, using one or more theoretical perspectives from Unit 2 or 3.
Possible Topics
- Using Althusser, you could explore how the narrative you study incorporates a specific ideology or idelogies.
- Using White, you could explore how a narrative which seems to be a transparent reproduction of reality is actually cleverly constructed.
- Using Shlovsky and or Brecht, you coulds explore how a narrative defamiliarizes what audiences or readers take for granted in their lives.
- Using Waugh, you could explore the metafictional elements of a narrative and their effect on a reader.
- Using Chatman's essay ""What Novels Can Do that Films Can't, (and Vice Versa)" you could explore the difference in effect between film and textual versions of the same narrative (the book of a movie, or the movie of a book).
The list above is not exhaustive, and note that you can, if you wish, engage with the theorists and critique them, rather than only applying them.
Your assignment should be at least 2,500 words
long, and follow the module
format for presentation of assignments.
A brief proposal outlining your plans for the assignment
should be submitted at the end of Unit 2, following the module
format for presentation of proposals. In addition to the proposal, submit a summary and critical evaluation of one of the theoretical essays discussed in Unit 2--you'll find it most useful if you choose an essay which you will be using in the research project.
Essays to Choose From:
- Louis Althusser, "Ideology and the Ideological State Apparatuses"
- Patricia Waugh, "What Is Metafiction and Why Are They Saying Such Awful Things About It?"
- Hayden White, "Introduction to Metahistory"
- Viktor Shlovsky "Art as Technique"
- Bertolt Brecht, "On Chinese Acting"
- Bertolt Brecht, "Theatre for Learning"
- Seymour Chatman"What Novels Can Do that Films Can't, (and Vice Versa)" [if you are keen to work on a movie/novel comparison and would like to get ahead on the reading]
You are welcome to research further, and choose another theoretical essay--for instance by Macherey, or on a different topic. Clear this with me first, though.
Deadlines
Submission of Proposal, Summary and Evaluation: Monday 11 March [you are welcome to submit earlier if you would like to get started on research earlier in the module].
Submission of Final Draft : Thursday 5 April
It is not necessary to include the proposal with your final draft.
Strategies for Writing
Writing the Proposal
1. Begin early. Start to think about the assignment from the first week
of unit two onwards. Unlike Assignment One, Assignment Two requires research,
and thus a longer planning process.
2. Think of a narrative or series of narratives on which you would like
to work. Remember that our definition of narrative will be quite wide--movies,
advertisements, songs, are all possible. If in doubt, e-mail your tutor
to discuss. If you have difficulty thinking of a narrative, resort to prewriting
activities such as brainstorming, treeing and mapping. Choose something
that matters to you--try not to go back to an 'O' or 'A' level text you've
studied.
3. Check that the narrative is accessible to you. If you're going to
write about at TV series, for instance, you might want to base your discussion
on a couple of episodes which you have taped or which you can access
in a digital archive.
Make sure that you have an adequate critical vocabulary to talk about what is happening in the text. You've acquired a vocabulary for prose narratives in Unit 1, and some of this could readily be applied to visual narratives such as movies. However, you need to have a precise ability to read the narrative closely, and this is only possible through knowing terminology. In the case of film, for instance, you;'ll need to consider camera angles, lighting, casting and other factors.
4. Get to know the narrative well, generating information about the
way it is structured, and the various elements of discourse and story it
contains. Try to develop a hypothesis about the way the narrative relates
to a larger social world, using one or more of the theoretical perspectives
were covering in unit 2.
5. Try to carry out some elementary research about the social place
of the narrative. Research might include further reading on a particular
narrative form, one certain social issues, and specific material on the
narative itself. You don't have to go very far here, but do need to locate
some specific leads. Here is a brief list of possible further reading of a more general nature.
6. Write the proposal
Still puzzled?--Here's an example of how I
would work my way through prewriting
for the proposal
Writing Assignment 2
Follow the link for some suggestions on what you need to consider in writing Assignment 2
|
