Guides: ENGL 5020: Chaucer: Major Works: Writing Resources

Close Reading

Close Reading a Text and Avoiding Pitfalls
Writing about a story or novel can be difficult because fiction is generally very complex and usually includes several points or themes. To discover these interwoven meanings, you must read the work closely. Below are three techniques for reading fiction actively and critically. Close reading takes more time than quick, superficial reading, but doing a close reading will save you from a lot of frustration and anxiety when you begin to develop your thesis.
Poetry: Close Reading
Once somewhat ignored in scholarly circles, close reading of poetry is making something of a comeback. By learning how to close read a poem you can significantly increase both your understanding and enjoyment of the poem. You may also increase your ability to write convincingly about the poem

Sources

Early English Books Online.
Early English Books Online (EEBO) covers many subject areas, including: English literature, history, philosophy, linguistics, theology, music, fine arts, education, mathematics, and science. Starting with the first book published in English through the age of Spenser and Shakespeare, this is an electronic collection of 125,000 titles listed in Pollard & Redgrave's Short-Title Catalogue (1475-1640) and Wing's Short-Title Catalogue (1641-1700) and their revised editions, as well as the Thomason Tracts (1640-1661) collection and the Early English Books Tract Supplement Dates of Coverage: Varies by publication
Oxford reference online
Oxford Reference Online Provides full text access to numerous dictionaries and encyclopedias by Oxford University Press as well as selected titles from the Oxford Companion series. Dates of Coverage 2002 - Current
Oxford dictionary of national biography
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography a record, including images, of men and women who have shaped British history and culture, worldwide, from the Romans to the 21st century. The Dictionary offers concise, up-to-date biographies written by named, specialist authors. Dates of Coverage: 2004- current
Gale Virtual Reference Library
Gale Virtual Reference Library Selected reference ebooks on Business, environment, history, literature, medicine, multicultural studies, religion, science, and social science. Includes Cambridge Guide to Children's Books in English, Encyclopedia of Science & Religion, Encyclopedia of Science Technology & Ethics, Encyclopedia of Sociology, Gale Encyclopedia of Neurological Disorders, and World of Forensic Science and others. Dates of Coverage: Varies with publication
English short title catalogue 1473-1800.
Comprehensive bibliography that includes items printed in the British Isles, Colonial America, the United States (1776-1800), and Canada; in any language. Also, items printed wholly or partly in English, or other British vernaculars, in any other part of the world.

Medieval Studies Sites

The Middle Ages Online
Try searching for Julian of Norwich and Margery Kemp.
The Medieval Academy of America
These searchable HTML pages provide links to selected digital medieval resources.

Research Paper

A research paper can be argumentative (topic should be debatable or controversial) or analytical (informative research with critical interpretation or sources).

Benefits from the Extended Essay process:

Learn tremendous knowledge about your topic
Learn how to conduct academic research
How to write a formal academic paper
Develop your creative and critical thinking skills

How to strengthen your research:

Your primary and secondary sources give validation to your research. The more sources you have, the broader your understanding of your topic
Remember the type of source you use determines the quality of your information
scholarly source or peer reviewed source

Remember to Scaffold your research by breaking it down into steps. This helps you to stay on track and makes the tasks less intimidating.

An Annotated Bibliography is a great tool for research. It helps you to organize your research. Assess the strengths and weaknesses of the source for your research.

What is the author’s purpose (thesis)? Look at the introduction and conclusion
Who is the author audience? Look at how the information is organized, what are the main sections, what is emphasized, why.
Look at the opening sentence in the paragraphs to get an idea of the main point of the paragraph.
Is this information useful for your paper?

Summarizing, Paraphrasing, and Quoting from Purdue OWL

Sample Essay for Summarizing, Paraphrasing, and Quoting from Purdue OWL
This handout compares and contrasts the three terms, gives some pointers, and includes a short excerpt that you can use to practice these skills.

Summarizing	Paraphrasing	Quoting
Must reference the original source The text is much shorter than the original text. (For example, one may write a single page to summarize a four-page article.) Must use your own words, usually with a very limited use of quotations.	Must reference the original source The text produced may be shorter or longer than the original text Must use your own words	Must reference the original source The text produced is the exact length of the original text quoted (unless ellipses are used) Use the original author’s exact words Put quotation marks around the original author’s exact words Include the page number of the original source from which you borrowed the author’s original language.

[ProfessionalTraining]. (2015, Dec 21). Table of Contents in Word 2016 [Video File]. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/Y5kFdH31k-g

[StaceyRoshan]. (2016, Mar 15). Google Docs: Table of Contents, Headers, & Outline Tool [Video File]. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/HV-gj06nd5g

Canterbury Tales

The Canterbury tales of Chaucer Modernis'd by several hands, publish'd by Mr. Ogle
Gift: John Carver Estate, June 2001.
ex. coll. John Carver.
Pictorial bookplate of John Carver inside front cover of each volume.
In each volume ffep shows faint imprint from olderbookplates now under Carver bookplate. Carver bookplate in v.3 has been partly detached to reveal armorial bookplate of Thomas Cherry B.D. "Merchant Taylors School", which matches marks in other volumes as well.
ex. coll. Thomas Cherry B.D.
The canterbury tales: of Chaucer, in the original, from the most authentic ma
eBook - Unlimited User
Geoffrey Chaucer, -1400
London: printed for the editor; and sold by J. Walthoe, in Cornhill; W. Bickerton, in the Strand; and O. Payne, in Round-Court, M.DCC.XXXVII. 1737
The canterbury tales: of Chaucer
eBook - Unlimited User
London: printed for the editor; and sold by J. Walthoe, in Cornhill; W. Bickerton, in the Strand; and O. Payne, in Round-Court, M.DCC.XXXVII. 1737

There are so many resources in our catalog. Go to Library.unt.edu and select books and more. Enter Canterbury Tales and see your results.

University Libraries

ENGL 5020: Chaucer: Major Works

How to Narrow Your Topic

Citations

Thesis

Outline

Research Paper

Common Writing Assignments from Purdue Writing Lab

Close Reading

Sources

Medieval Studies Sites

Research Paper

Benefits from the Extended Essay process:

How to strengthen your research:

Summarizing, Paraphrasing, and Quoting from Purdue OWL

Table of Contents

Canterbury Tales

ENGL 5020: Chaucer: Major Works

Close Reading

Sources

Medieval Studies Sites

Research Paper

Benefits from the Extended Essay process:

How to strengthen your research:

Summarizing, Paraphrasing, and Quoting from Purdue OWL

Table of Contents

Canterbury Tales

Additional Links