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The Production of Literary Research Sources

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Critics Tools: Textual Evidence Use to determine or support the truth of a claim.

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Emily Dickinson Did Dickinsons seclusion from society inform her poetry?

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Possible Supporting Evidence Correspondence Biographies Poems Critics analyses OED

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Post-Postmodern Evidence Text messages YouTube Tweets Email Digital Archives Poetry slams Blogs

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Categories of Evidence Primary Secondary Tertiary

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Primary sources AND

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Secondary Sources Critical articles Book reviews Biographies Dissertations Conference Papers

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Secondary Sources Critical Analysis: Catherine Goldens article, Marking Her Territory: Feline Behavior in "The Yellow Wall-Paper, published in the periodical American Literary Realism, 2008. Book Review Janet Beers review of Goldens book The Mixed Legacy of Charlotte Perkins Gilman appeared in the October 1, 2002 issue of Modern Language Review Biography Ann J. Lanes To Herland and Beyond: The Life and Work Of Charlotte Perkins Gilman, published by University of Virginia Press in 1997.

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Tertiary Sources Literary dictionaries Encyclopedias Spark Notes OED

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Tertiary Sources: Examples

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Flow of Literary Evidence

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Unpublished manuscript (ms)

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Charlotte Perkins Gilman. Image: The Forerunner

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Flow of Evidence: Yellow Wall-Paper

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Primary Sources: Types of Editions Facsimile Variorum Authoritative Mass market/trade E-text

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Authoritative Editions The authoritative edition is a fundamental tool in literary studies.

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Authoritative Editions The reader is given what the author intended.

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The purpose of a scholarly edition is to present a reliable text.

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Incompetent editors, proof-correctors, and publishers.

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Editors Misreading of Robert Southwells Letter to Samuel Pepys Authoritative edition: [I] lost my health by sitting many years near an inck bottle. Unreliable edition: [I] lost my health by sitting many years near a sack bottle.

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Robert Louis Stevensons Corrupted Editions box becomes fox cottage becomes cabbage bloody becomes beastly bugger becomes beggar

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A.L. Rowses Corrupted Text of Romeo & Juliet Authoritative Shakespeare edition: Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo Rowses edition: O Romeo, Romeo! Wherefore are you, Romeo

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Expurgated Texts: Sniffing Out the Smut Richard Wrights Native Son Jonathan Swifts Gullivers Travels Chaucers Wife of Bath

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Corruption of a Text: YWP

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YWP: Corruption of the text Reliable ed: John laughs at me, of course, but one expects that in marriage. Unreliable ed. 1: John laughs at me, of course, but one expects that. Unreliable ed. 2: John laughs at me, of course, but one expects that in men.

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Yellow Wall-Paper: Corrupted Section Breaks

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Yellow Wall-Paper: Publication History

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How do I know my text is authoritative?

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The best way to determine the authority of an edition is to read professional reviews of the edition.

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Editors choice of the copy-text determines the reliability of an edition.

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Julie Docks copy text for the YWP: The New England Magazine in January, 1892.The New England Magazine in January, 1892.

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Authoritative Editions Explain the method used in determining the copy- text on which the edition is based. Cleanse text of corruptions Place the work in context Discuss conventions, styles, traditions Using sound textual principles, scholarly editors:

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Current Authoritative Editions Uncollected primary works Recent scholarship

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Summary Three types of literary sources (primary, secondary, tertiary) Creative works (e.g. novels) generate the flow of scholarly information. Five types of literary editions ( Facsimile, Variorum Authoritative, Mass market/trade, E-text) Authoritative editions are crucial to critical interpretations Locate authoritative editions through scholarly book reviews.

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Types of Literary Scholarship Journal articles Conference papers Essays Books Dissertations

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Who Writes Literary Scholarship? Professors Graduate students Independent scholars