Discussing and exploring The Rehearsal

At last, the online discussion of The Rehearsal has reached a point where we can work with it. Here's what I propose. I've reformatted the Forum discussion so that it's more readable (I won't use the Forum program in that way again: I hadn't realized how difficult it would be to navigate.

The more readable version of the comments is on line, here. For next Wednesday morning's meeting, do two things: one is very straightforward: pick five or six comments that people make, or issues they raise, that you'd like to talk about in class; make a list and bring it to class.

The second is a bit more complicated. Let's replicate what we did with Etherege: 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 some "starting points" to see what can be found in a couple of hours' worth of work that will help us understand more about The Rehearsal and its place in the theatrical world (most of the books on Villiers specifically seem to have been put "in storage"; I'll see what I can find out about them).

1. Google scholar -- go to scholar.google.ca and search /Villiers rehearsal/ or /Buckingham rehearsal/ or whatever works
2. 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"
3. Reference  works (Literature Online) -- from the library home page, choose "Resources / Collections," then "Top Article & Research Databases," then Literature Online (search for Villiers; 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")
4. Reference  works (MLA Bibliography) -- 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 "Villiers" in the field. Click "find", then tick the box next to Buckingham, George Villiers, 2nd Duke of, which will pop up, and click "add to search." That will take you back to the search page; put "The Rehearsal" into the second slot, and click "search.")
5. 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 Rehearsal 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. As usual, write your report of findings first, save it, and then copy it into the editing window of the Some interesting perspectives on The Rehearsal wiki .

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 the play, its author, and its context. You will probably want to reflect on this in a learning journal entry.