Assignment Author
CWRL Assignment DatabasePedagogical Goals of the Assignment
Critical thinking, textual analysis and close reading

Assignment Author
CWRL Assignment DatabasePedagogical Goals of the Assignment
Description: This is a web research and short writing assignment (3-4 pages) designed for an E314J Lit and Film class or literary contests and contexts. While reading Pride and Prejudice, we examine fan web sites devoted to Jane Austen and her work. I then ask the students to peruse these sites and works of fan fiction that utilize characters from Pride and Prejudice, and to consider how those sites influence their perceptions and interpretations of Austen and Pride and Prejudice. Students research examples of fan sites and fan fiction, formulate a thesis, and then prove that thesis by using evidence from Pride and Prejudice and the selected web site.

Assignment Author
CWRL Assignment DatabasePedagogical Goals of the Assignment
Throughout the semester, my class has considered how letters in anthologies are “packaged” and “framed.” I have challenged my students to go beyond thinking of letter writing as a private act or one that strictly involves pen and paper. Now that many letters are archived online and many more will be scanned and transcribed, technology provides an ideal way for looking at the many different ways to archive material.
I have consistently found that students produce lively and creative work when they design their own project assignments. After a semester of discussing writers and readers in relation to letter writing, I gave my students a final assignment that would not only examine the relationship between readers and writers but would also challenge them to look at communication in their own lives.