We'll use the discussion of the course description on the Forum as the basis for an oral clarification of whatever still needs to be clarified. I've assembled all the responses into one file for easier reading, and I'll put that up on the screen to talk about.
Location, location
We're going to move to EC 124. It's not a lot smaller, but it's more flexible. That's where we'll meet starting Friday morning.
The "stake in the sand" survey of where we all are
The survey has been transcribed, and it's on the course Web site, anonymously. You should have a look at it, probably before you start on the assignment.
For next time, we're going to start by doing what I'd do if I were at the beginning stages of trying to find out about the theatre of the Restoration and eighteenth century -- I'd begin with some resources that are really designed as introductory, and start looking into them to see what I could find out. Right now we're trying to begin building a general picture of the territory we're going to be exploring. if you're starting up the Amazon, it's not going to be useful at this point to find a guide to the Latin names of obscure plants, or a treatise on the anatomy of the alligator: you want general maps, tourist guides, journalism. How do you find it?
It's not obvious, mainly because most of the scholarly resources of the library and the Internet are focused on serious, narrow research. If you want to know what Spanish playwrights Dryden had read, that's easy; but if you want to know who Dryden was, it's much harder. We'll begin in two steps; between now and Friday we'll do one, and over the longer period between Friday and Wednesday we'll start on the other.
The first one is "the Internet." If you wanted to find out about the Restoration and Eighteenth Century and its theatre, how would you start on the internet? Give it a go. There's much to be learned. Yes, of course, you don't want to cite blogs, wikis, etc., in scholarly contexts -- but can you learn about something that way? Let's see.
So, between now and Friday, see what you can find out about the Restoration and Eighteenth Century and its theatres. Spend a couple of hours at it.
But here's the trick: keep a detailed record of everything you do -- what resources you use, what search terms, what you find and what you don't. Keep track of blind alleys, questions that didn't work, strategies that came to nothing (as well as strategies that helped you find something).
We'll profit as much by a clear record of what didn't work as of what did.
For Friday, bring two piece of writing (on separate pages) to class: (1) a research diary (step by step, what you did), and (2) a report for the rest of us of what you learned that you didn't know before about the period and its theatre.