How Do People Use Narratives to Orient Themselves in Space and Time?
Main texts: Charlotte Bronte, Jane Eyre (1847); Charles Dickens, Bleak House (1852); Charles Darwin, Origin of the Species (1859)
Why is London haunted by dinosaurs in Dickens? What kinds of connections do Brontë, Dickens, and Darwin use to hold together a sense of order and meaning in the world? Where have we come from and where are we going?
Choose two sources. At least one should be from the three main texts listed above, Brontë’s Jane Eyre, Dickens’ Bleak House, or Darwin’s Origin of the Species. The second source can be either another main text from the class, or it can be an artifact of your own choosing. This second artifact could be a novel, image, movie, video, advertisement, or song—just about anything. I’ll provide feedback on your ideas as we work on the assignment.
Identify a narrative about time embedded in a specific passage (or, depending on medium, specific details) in each text or artifact. We will talk about numerous examples in class. Does the passage or artifact draw on an idea of progress, of evolution or devolution, of crisis? Explain the narrative that you have identified using evidence and quotations from the passage that you have chosen.
Compare the narratives that you have identified in each text. What are similarities or differences in how these texts situate themselves in time and space? What do the authors do, rhetorically, with these narratives in order to get you to see the world in a particular way? How do your own narratives relate to the ones in these texts?
Skills That I Am Asking You to Practice
- Identifying temporal, historical, and scientific narratives.
- Researching the entwined histories of literary and scientific or historical genres of writing.
- Developing a thesis that connects examples from two different texts.
- Scholarly citation practices.
Requirements
To receive credit for the assignment, you should:
- Identify and compare temporal narratives in two texts
- Your thesis must mention both sources and define a relationship between them. Putting the two texts into conversation should illuminate features of both that would not have been apparent if you were looking at either in isolation.
- Reflect on how the narratives in these texts are similar to or different from your own narratives about time, or about the world.
- Use MLA citation conventions. You are not required to use secondary sources for this assignment.
- Do the above in around 1,000 words (excluding works cited).
Due Dates
| Brainstorming | 3/19 |
| Proposal | 3/26 |
| First Draft | 4/2 |
| Peer Review | 4/2 |
| Final Draft | 4/9 |
| Reflections on Revision | 4/4 |
