Midterm Research Project (due no later than Th, March 3)

All papers should be at least 8 pages in length, double-spaced, excluding bibliography.

You are expected to draw upon primary and secondary sources in crafting your essay. Either topic will lead you to do work with original materials, so you will want to keep an archive of these in case they merit publication at the Spirit site, which currently emphasizes literary materials. You get the "by line," of course!

Note that you will want to take careful notes or work with a digital camera (w/o flash) or laptop to transcribe certain works; you will probably not be permitted to scan or photocopy these newspapers. I will try to get a camera and loaner laptop reserved for you to check out, if enough of you request that.

I imagine that you will need at least eight hours of research time, if not more, to gather enough information for the essay. Start SOON to avoid disaster. Make arrangements with friends to travel together to the Library of Virginia or to UVA's microforms collections. I can provide more information about parking and directions.

Topics:

1) The editors of our local papers belonged to the same social class, and shared many of the political views, of the frontier humorists. Review accounts of crimes, disasters, and scandals in newspapers from 1830-60.

How and where you make your search is up to you, but you might search start with the Spirit of the Southern Frontier and with Boatwright's collections, then move on to materials at Library of VA, on microfilm in UVA's Alderman Library, and online at The Making of America. In what ways do these documents reflect the rhetorical approaches, philosophical outlook, or social attitudes found in the work of humorists? Do not provide a catalog of grisly incidents, although you will want to refer to specific accounts that seem representative. Instead, pay particular attention to the ways in which attitudes of class and the Tidewater/Frontier dichotomy get played out in the pieces you examine. Let the data help you determine a focus for the paper; for example, you might decide to compare accounts of dueling to those violent incidents that affected the lower classes.

2) Advertisements reflect the desires and fears of the times. Study the advertisements that appear in the newspaper & special collections mentioned for topic one. Go beyond amassing a simple catalog of rewards for escaped slaves, "King's Cameleopard" performances, promises of medical quacks, services of odd dancing masters, and records of shoddy goods sold to bumpkins. You will find all of them in quantity! Instead, look for patterns that reveal deeper cultural values. How do these records of material culture reflect the world-view that produced frontier humor? What connections can be made between the language of the advertisements and the ironic techniques and situations we encounter in fiction?

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