MARBL Presentation and Paper


MARBL Project

 

One of the goals of this semester is to learn about the resources held in the Woodruff Library’s Manuscripts, Archives, and Rare Books Library (MARBL). To help every member of the class learn as much as possible about MARBL’s different materials as well as give you a chance to get to know a particular set of documents especially well, the class will divide into four groups. Each group will examine a different set of materials (we will learn more about them during our Library visit on 3/18):

 

Carol Ann Duffy

Seamus Heaney

Langston Hughes (Fabre Collection)

Ted Hughes/Sylvia Plath

 

Throughout your investigations at MARBL, one of the primary questions you should keep in mind is how these materials advance, restrict, or otherwise change our experience of the author’s or authors’ poetry.

 

There are two elements to this project:

 

Group Presentation

After exploring these materials, each group will present its findings to the class. The form of the presentation is up to your group. You will be responsible for leading 30 minutes of a Friday class, followed by a Q & A. Each person in the group must participate in some element of the presentation. You should all examine the collection and decide what elements might be of interest to the class and how best to present those materials to us (a handout, a poster, PowerPoint, pages on the wiki, etc).  Feel free to set up an appointment to meet with me to discuss your ideas.

 

In addition to sharing your general knowledge of the collections, you will choose a poem (or poems) to serve as the centerpiece of your presentation. Its relationship to the materials will depend on what you find and must be explained in your presentation. This poem (or one of these poems) will be posted to the wiki for annotation by the entire class. This will allow everyone to come to class with some familiarity with the material. You must send me the assigned reading, including the poem for the wiki, via email by noon on Tuesday of the week that your group is presenting.

 

Each person will also turn in a short (2-4 page) reflection on the group project. This reflection is due on the day of your presentation. It should outline your experience conducting research (What was most interesting? What was most difficult?), your contribution to the presentation, and your overall impression of the project (Did you enjoy it? Did you think it was successful? Why or Why not? What would have made it more successful?)

 

Individual Research Paper

Each student will also write an 8-page paper on a topic inspired by her/his research in MARBL. This paper must be an argument. There are two guidelines that you must follow:

You may use secondary research (using books and/or peer reviewed journal articles) for this paper, but it is not required. If you use secondary sources, please use MLA format for citations.

 

Deadlines for Research Paper

 

You can read more about the grading of the assignment on the original document or here on the wiki.

 

Link to Seamus Heany MARBL Group