Guidelines

Peer Evaluation Rubrics

Assignment Guidelines

All assignments may be submitted either in print or electronically by email to justin.yang@alumni.ubc.ca. If you wish to submit your assignment in print, please staple or paperclip your submission.

Seminar Presentation

The seminar presentation is intended to provide you with an opportunity to lead a discussion by presenting on some topic relating to the primary reading you have selected (i.e. Madame Bovary, The Well of Loneliness, Lady Chatterley’s Lover, or Lolita). Any topic addressing the primary topic and the nature of the course will be acceptable; in cases of doubt, please don’t hesitate to contact the Course Coordinator (justin.yang@alumni.ubc.ca).

Possible topics can include:

    • a historical approach to understanding the sociocultural milieu in which a work was written
    • an application of any combination of legal tests (e.g. Hicklin, Roth, Miller, Butler, etc.)
    • any theoretical approach to a work’s contents (e.g. psychoanalytic, deconstructionist, Marxist, feminist etc.)
    • an examination of the author’s other works in relation to the work in question
    • an examination of the trials in which the work is discussed
    • a close reading of the primary text that advances the class’s discussion of aesthetics and/or obscenity

You should expect to present for about 15-20 minutes with time for questions. Visual cues, while encouraged, are not expected.

Seminar Paper

The seminar paper should ideally be drawn from material presented in the Seminar Presentation and be between 5-6 pages (double-spaced, single-sided, 12-point Times New Roman, 1-inch margins). Citations, where necessary, should be used but are not necessary.

Annotated Bibliography

The annotated bibliography should outline and critique 8 sources you are considering for use in your research paper. Formatting should be consistent with MLA formatting for bibliographies. For an example, you can consult here.

Research Paper

The research paper is a work of original research and thought of between 8-10 pages (double-spaced, single-sided, 12-point Times New Roman, 1-inch margins) addressing at least one of the four core texts of this course (i.e. Madame Bovary, The Well of Loneliness, Lady Chatterley’s Lover, or Lolita).

You may write on any topic of your choosing; if in doubt, you may consult the Course Coordinator (justin.yang@alumni.ubc.ca). Topics for consideration include:

  • compare and contrast the legal cases against any two novels
  • describe the ways in which sex and/or class participate in a work towards its perceived obscenity
  • describe the ways in which the sensational censorship of a work directly addresses the society in which it is written
  • deconstruct the legal arguments against any work