March 24, 2011 There's no reason you shouldn't, as a writer, not be aware of the necessity to revise yourself constantly. -John Irving Powerpoint adapted from Melissa Kerwood’s English 112 course

Agenda Introduction to Feminist Literary Criticism Individual Revision Activity Peer Review

Introduction to Feminist Literary Criticism Consider the roles and situations of female characters. Make lists of different aspects of the female character's place in the overall story. Include anecdotal scenarios that will back up a holistic thesis. Look at the relationship of female characters to each other. Examine any discrepancies that might shed light on the overall role of females in the book. Review the role of female characters in relation to their male counterparts. Literary criticism has its famous set of contrasts, for example, man vs. nature, nature vs. society, that set up points of inquiry. In this case, your fundamental contrast would be woman vs. man. Look at the vocational roles of women in the literature. Much of literary criticism can be applied to the workplace. Studying the work that each character does provides a great starting point for analyzing the whole of the work. Consider the attitudes of characters and how their world-views contribute to the eventual outcomes in the story. The goals of characters may or may not cause outcomes. Evaluate how "powerful" each character becomes.

Summarize Your Argument Look at each paragraph in your paper. Next to each paragraph, decide what the main topic or idea is. Summarize each main topic in just a few words beside the paragraph. Hint: If you can’t figure out the main idea of that paragraph, then it may not have one! Do each of these main topics connect logically back to your thesis? If not, how could they? Are these main topics organized effectively? If not, how could you reorder them?

Peer Review Groups Michael Anderson/Amy Scherpenberg Heather Bauman/Becca Eldred Gerry Becker/Kelly Dunham Julie Blackhall/Chris Bowen Abby Brown/Katie DePew Bobby DeJohn/Will Frain Francesco Felice/Katie Jonas Alex Franco/Joe Jarvis Allie Furlong/Maddie Magella Kale Houck/Joe Palm Blake Kanipe/Nick Morgan

Peer Review 1. Introduce yourself to your partner, and tell them what your paper is about. 2. Read through your partner’s draft, taking notes on areas you want to return to, have questions about, etc. Provide comments throughout the paper and end comments, just as I have done with your papers. 3. Look over the assignment prompt and the grading guidelines. Tell your partner where his/her paper is lacking--and how, specifically, he or she can begin fixing those areas. Look over the paper as if you were grading it—what needs to be improved to better meet the criteria? 4. Your partner may have specific questions for you to answer (i.e., focusing on his/her thesis statement, organization, etc.), so make sure you discuss these! 5. your partner (and me) your word response (suggestions, comments, etc.) to their paper by class Tuesday, March 29

Whole Class Advice Don’t wait until next week to start revising! Not only will you be disconnected from your draft and your peer’s comments, but you might need more than one additional draft to get your paper where you want it to be! Remember that I’m expecting to see significant revisions, not just surface-level corrections of grammar or slight rewording. Make sure that you’re honing your connections, exploring your ideas, reorganizing, etc. Remember that this paper should be half research/context, half literary analysis. You’re looking at how the cultural or historical context influenced Persepolis and trying to show how understanding those contexts benefits your readers. Integrate your sources –explain how your sources connect to Persepolis, how they prove your argument, etc. Make sure you meet the minimum page count by fully developing your ideas and explaining your research and analysis. If you go over the maximum page count, make sure it’s for good reason--that is, make sure there isn’t anything left to cut or combine.

Homework Bring in, if accessible, your favorite piece of fiction and a favorite piece of non-fiction (this can be a magazine or newspaper or blog post). In 300 words for each piece of writing, discuss why the writing appeals to you. What is it about this text that makes it your favorite (Is it the tone? The characters? The information? The philosophy?)? Also, what is the context (historic/cultural) of each text? Who is the intended audience? What potential ‘arguments’ are made by the text? Due Tuesday, March 29 th.