Writer’s Choice

Evelina by: Frances Burney
Burney, Frances. Evelina, or the History of a Young Lady’s Entrance into the World. Edited by Edward A. Bloom, Oxford UP, 2008.
Purpose: This assignment is meant to help you practice your library research skills
and prepare you to engage with literary criticism in your Term Paper.
Task:
 Use library resources to find a work of literary criticism in which the
author makes an argument about one of the novels we are reading for this
class (any of the novels, including Caleb Williams, will work). This work
should be:
o either an article published in a peer-reviewed scholarly journal or a
chapter in a book from a scholarly publisher;
o at least 10 pages long;
o published within the last 50 years; and
o should present an argument that you find interesting about one of our
novels.
 After reading this text, write a paragraph summarizing it, focusing on the
text’s main claims, the evidence it provides for them, and the broader goals
or stakes of the argument (why the author thinks it is significant).
 If the database in which you found your text provides an abstract for it, you
must not plagiarize this. Your summary will necessarily have some
conceptual overlap with the abstract, it must be your own original
explanation of the text, not a mere rewording of the abstract provided.
 Your summary should not rely on direct quotations, but it must include at
least one quotation from your text (with a citation). Only quote when the
source uses a word or phrase that is significant for its argument.
Summary Specifications:
 Your summary should be around 300-500 words long, not counting your
Works Cited page.
 Your summary must be in MLA format, double-spaced, with properly
formatted in-text citations and a Works Cited page for the work of literary
criticism and any other sources (e.g., the novel) cited.
 Your summary should be carefully edited for grammar, spelling and
punctuation.