Strongly recommended during the first semester of graduate study. I. Students are introduced to the mindset and investigative habits requisite to the conduct of literary scholarship, employing such texts as Joseph Gibaldi's collection, Introduction to Scholarship in Modern Languages and Literature. Students explore various types of literary scholarship, including the major critical schools operative in modern scholarship, used to make up the discipline of English language and literature studies.
Students learn how to use research and reference sources pertinent to literary study.
Students are introduced to the use of computers as an aid in the conduct of literary scholarship, computerized storage and retrieval databases pertinent to literary scholarship, and the latest developments in technological aids to literary research. V. Students learn how to manage the research task, to collect data, and to store it in a responsible, efficient manner. Technological tools for research data management are explored in this connection. Students learn what constitutes graduate level work in English studies, and what further scholarly measures are necessary to make a work publishable. Close study of the current MLA Style Manual aids in this endeavor.