Guidelines and Assignments

Preparing for the Graduate Seminar

Graduate seminars do many things: they fulfill course requirements for degree-seeking students, they provide an overview of the major literary works of a given field, they allow both instructors and students to investigate scholarly debates in more depth than in the undergraduate class, and they prepare students for the professional world of academic teaching and writing. 

Secondary sources are emphasized more in the graduate seminar than in previous undergraduate courses. They help to orient the discussion on a given primary text, but they are also included to give you a balanced introduction to the major critical conversations going on in the field.

Expectations for Seminar Discussions

1. Complete all of the reading assignments (in their entirety, unless otherwise noted) for each session.
2. Draw up your responses to discussion questions and come prepared to share them with the class.  These need not be in written form, although preparing notes/bullet points for your own use is an excellent way to offer organized and thoughtful comments.  Always cite specific examples from the texts when you convey your thoughts to the class.  This will make for more fruitful conversation.  
3. Good discussions rarely generate comprehensive answers to all key questions and issues.  They more often entail rigorous examination of the assigned reading that requires input from the entire discussion group, not just from the professor. While seminars usually feature some form of lecture, most of them expect active participation from graduate students, so your preparation for class will be more extensive than in previous courses.

Topic Statement and Annotated Bibliography

1. Your topic statement should provide a 2-page overview of your working argument for the final paper.
2. List the key critical questions you will investigate and discuss how your work fits into the scholarly debate surrounding your project. 
3. The annotated bibliography lists your projected sources for the final paper. Each source entry should include two to three sentences in which you detail how you will use/respond to that source.

Class Conference

1. The class conference is held at the conclusion of the course, and it gives all members of the seminar a chance to share their work with one another.
2. Conference presentations run for roughly 12-15 minutes, or 8-10 pages in length, depending on how quickly you read through your work, if you include handouts for discussion, etc.
3. Presentations may be condensed versions of the final paper, or they may consist of a longer section from that paper.  

Specifications and Applications for the Final Writing Assignment

1. The final paper consists of one critical essay, usually 25-30 pages in length. Seminar papers are modeled on the scholarly article. They should include a coherent introduction that establishes the critical context of your topic and a clear thesis; they should proceed with detailed analyses of relevant passages drawn from both primary and secondary works; all sources should be properly cited or footnoted (most instructors expect MLA or Chicago citation) and should appear at the end of the document in the bibliography.
2. Paper topics should focus on at least one major theme or issue discussed in class, but they may include primary and secondary texts drawn from outside the course. Always discuss your potential topic with the professor (this is the purpose of submitting your written topic statement and working bibliography ahead of time). In this way, you can safely tailor the topic according to your own research interests.
3. Think of the final paper as your intervention in a scholarly conversation. Treat your secondary sources as fellow interlocutors in a topic that matters to you. Most scholarship in the discipline of English is meant to proceed as a rigorous conversation. You want to imagine your work opening up new questions and directions for you and your peers.  
4. Papers serve as starting points for future professional work, especially if the course is in your major field of research. Students often revise papers into conference presentations and article submissions to scholarly journals.