Homeworks #6 and #7 are designed to give you practice at reading and engaging with contemporary literary criticism. This is important when conducting research or when reading any criticism for two reasons: 1) Most contemporary criticism is written from one or more theoretical perspectives. These perspectives are often not spelled out overtly, and they carry with them certain unstated assumptions, so it's important to be able to identify them. 2) Students tend to "cherry pick" criticism, selecting ripe, juicy comments and observations without regard for the overall argument in which those comments and observations are embedded. The critical views of others, however, always need to be tested and assessed with an awareness of the relationship between the overarching argument and the details with which it is developed and supported.

For Homework #6, send two e-mail messages prior to the start of class on 2/3. The first should be sent to me only (jonsmith@umich.edu), and it should summarize briefly the arguments of Sandra Gilbert in "Plain Jane's Progress." Paraphrase Gilbert’s argument in one to three sentences of your own. Then summarize the main point of each major section, making clear how each of these develops the overall argument. The second message should be sent to the class address (umd.eng434@umich.edu) and should offer some assessment of one of Gilbert's arguments. Do you agree or disagree? Why or why not? You can focus on either her main thesis or a particular point, but provide some textual evidence to support your reasoning.

For a summary, it's usually necessary to read through once to get a sense of the argument. Then go back through the essay.  Remember that while a writer may offer a clear and comprehensive thesis statement near the beginning of an essay, it’s possible that the thesis may be stated only generally or partially at the beginning. And don’t make the mistake of thinking that the last sentence of the first paragraph must be the thesis. See if you can break the argument down into sections (sometimes a writer does this overtly)--what is the main point of each section, and how does it relate to the argument being developed? Try to keep in sight, in other words, both the forest and the trees. A summary that simply moves from one point to another ("first so-and-so says this, then this, then this") is useless because it treats all points as equivalent and fails to capture how the pieces of the argument fit together. Writing a good summary requires thorough understanding of the content and structure of the article.