Write an argumentative research paper (7-9 pages, 1750-2250words) on a work of literature and another cultural artifact (a painting, a song, a magazine, a historical document, etc.).  The essay should be an interpretive argument in which you explain how the works you've selected comment on Victorian culture or society in a particular way.

I encourage you to begin your process with a question or concern from one of the works.  Use critical and historical resources to help answer the question, but of course, you will be the driving force behind the essay.

Let me give you an example:  let's say I've just read Elizabeth Gaskell's novel North and South (a novel about how factories changed life in the north of England), and as I'm reading it, I get interested in the whole concept of work and the value of work for its own sake.  In particular, I get interested in how work is associated with the upper middle class and the working class in different ways.  I remember that my British Survey II teacher (Gosh he was brilliant!) had us read an essay by Carlyle on work, and I remember that one of my classmates did a presentation on a painting by Ford Madox Brown that was even called "Work."  I ask my professor what the name of that Carlyle essay was (Past and Present), and I talk to the dude who did the Brown presentation to see if he can recommend any articles that were particularly useful.  After I do some reading, I know I'm on to something even though I'm still not sure what my thesis is going to be.  I do an MLAIB search, and I come up with two articles on work and Gaskell, a couple of articles on the painting, and three articles on work and Carlyle. 

Before I read all the secondary sources, I decide to reread Carlyle's Past and Present.  After I've read it, I learn some interesting things about Carlyle's ideas about work and class that seem to resonate with the novel and the painting.  In particular, I get interested in the "captains of industry" (Thornton in North and South is the embodiment of a "captain") idea and the responsibility business leaders are supposed to have for society in the context of the medieval idea of chivalry.  This notion of chivalry makes me think of Brown's work as a Pre-Raphaelite—even though Work is not a medieval painting, there might be connections to medieval ideas in the painting.  I review the painting and the novel and isolate some quotes/images that seem related to ideas of chivalry and captains of industry and after much though I formulate a tentative thesis that goes like this:  Gaskell in North and South and Ford in Work both rely on Carlyle's chivalric notion of a "captain of industry"; however, Gaskell uses allusion and metaphor while and Ford relies on allusion and perspective.  Ultimately, both works show the need for chivalry in an age where industrialization has made people less civil and compassionate. 

At this point, my thesis is pretty messy, but it gives me a map for how I might write the rest of the paper.  I would need to give some background information on the whole captains of industry idea and how it relates to chivalry.  My main avenue for this would be Carlyle. Then I would follow up with an analysis of Gaskell and then an analysis of Ford, comparing the two works when I got the Ford section. 

After a first draft, I decide I need to give some more background on captains of industry so I turn to a number of secondary sources I can use as historical background as well.    I also decide that my organizational structure isn't working well, so I decide to isolate four main points about captains of industry and compare these points in each work and how the authors express them. 

There are an infinite number of other ways you could approach this assignment, but I thought it would be useful if I walked you through it once.  You can build on some of the presentations you heard or articles you read in your research already.  I want you to do some research, but the main point is for you to make your own argument here.  You should drive the essay, not your research. 

Here are some general suggestions for the process:

• Review your notes and books.  Think about ideas and issues that have interested you as you've been reading.  In particular, think about topics/issues/questions that we might have discussed but not have explored extensively.  Also think about topics you might have considered in other classes that might apply to some of the texts we're reading (psychology, philosophy, art, music, religion, other English classes, etc.).

• Try to formulate a guiding question.  Why does the author use this strategy to address this topic?  Why do certain issues keep recurring in these works?  Why does history seem so distant to this work?  Why does this character develop in this particular way?  What do these songs/pictures/biblical references add to the work?  How does this work comment on the culture at the time.  The list could go on and on.

• After you've come up with a question, pose a tentative answer—this is your tentative thesis.

• Start to do some research.  Look for articles that are related to the topic.  Ask peers to borrow copies of articles they may have gathered for their bibliographies. 

• If you have trouble finding information on your topic, seek help.  Talk to me or a reference librarian, and we’ll help you.  Don’t expect to find something (and don’t look for an article) that makes your case for you.  Look for information/examples that will help you make your own argument. 

• MAKE COPIES OF ALL ARTICLES/ SOURCES YOU examine OR USE.  IF THERE IS A QUESTION OF PLAGIARISM, YOU WANT TO BE ABLE TO FIND YOUR SOURCES.  IF YOU USE BOOKS, MAKE SURE YOU HAVE COPIES OF THE PAGES FROM WHICH YOU TAKE INFORMATION. 

• Definitely make an outline before you do too much drafting.  Sure you’ll change your order, but an outline will help you get a sense of the big picture of your argument.

• Be flexible with your thesis.  As you're revising, play around with your ideas.  After you've written through the paper once, you may find that you've come up with something totally different (and better) than you planned.  That's okay, just change your thesis (that's why it's tentative) and rework from there.

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