The last prompt said,

Read everything that's posted, finish your own journal if you haven't yet been through the whole play, respond to at least two or three other postings, and make note of questions people ask (there are lots; copy them down to bring to class) that it would be worth finding out about or discussing. They might be immediate, short term questions, like "what's a doublet?" or longer term ones ("is this use of rhyme in a comedy common?") and we'll finish discussing the play and generate some specific questions we might be able to talk about during class on Friday.

• Questions or confusions about what actually happens in the play
• Questions about the production of the play
• Questions about allusions or references to things or events outside the play
• Questions about the way the play fits into the theatrical literature of the time
• Questions about customs and expectations that would affect an audience's understanding or enjoyment of the play

We'll talk about as many of these questions as people raise, and as we have time for. And then we'll have a look, between now and next Wednesday, at the range of views of the play we can find in the critical and historical literature. Here's how we'll do that. As I've done before, I've set up six "starting points" to see what can be found in a couple of hours' worth of work that will help us understand more about Etherege's play and its place in the world. In this case, they're a little different:

1. The library stacks, where books relating to Etherege are stored: that is, LC number PR3432 and nearby.
2. Google scholar -- go to scholar.google.ca and search /Etherege "comical revenge"/
3. Reference works -- from the library home page, choose "Resources / Collections," then "Top e-Reference Materials," then "English" from the pulldown menu, and then, from the lower list of e-Reference Materials, you can search in the Dictionary of Literary Biography, in Literature Criticism Online, and in Blackwell Reference Online (if you open the "Literature" link you can scroll down to "A companion to Restoration Drama"
4. Reference  works -- from the library home page, choose "Resources / Collections," then "Top Article & Research Databases," then Literature Online (search for Etherege; notice the "search from a list" link, which will give you the accurate search term) and JStor Archival Collection (search for "George Etherege" and "Comical Revenge")
5. Reference  works -- from the library home page, choose "Resources / Collections," then "Top Article & Research Databases," then Modern Language Association (MLA) International Bibliography (this one's a bit more complicated; click "Thesaurus," then Personal Names, then put "Etherege" in the field. Click "find", then tick the box next to Etherege, Sir George, which will pop up, and click "add to search." That will take you back to the search page; put "Comical Revenge" into the second slot, and click "search.")
6. The library stacks, where books on Restoration comedy are stored: that is, LC number PR691 and nearby

Bear in mind that in doing this you're not trying to read all that's available in each case, or to write a term paper, but to mine what's there for anything that helps you (and helps the rest of us) to put The Comical Revenge into context, and to understand it better. Choose among the possibilities you uncover from your starting point, and then skim the work to see the sort of thing it is. If it looks useless, go on and find something else. Find some things people say about the play, or its author, or its context, that you think interesting and helpful (please don't just report any information you find; skim till you find something others might be interested in). Summarize and quote, explain how you think it's significant if that's necessary, and give an accurate, full citation for your source or sources. I've provided an example of the sort of thing you might do on the "Some interesting takes on The Comical Revenge" wiki I've set up. As usual, write your report of findings first, save it, and then copy it into the editing window.

Post your report on the wiki before 8:00 Wednesday morning; I'll print them and bring them to class.

As you work, reflect on what you're doing and what you find. These strategies are useful for lots of kinds of research, and it's as important to see how databases work as it is to deepen your understanding of Etherege. Reflect on this in a learning journal entry (and, if you haven't, read other people's journals).