Requirements
Student will work throughout the semester on a project that will end as a small anthology or field guide of a short form of her or his choice. The choice of either an anthology or a field guide will provide students with excellent experience in a particular format as well as the ability to critically engage the definition and selection of literary forms, their material, and possible locations. By the end of the semester, students will achieve the following goals:
The goals of this semester-long assignment:
1) Familiarity with editorial principles that go into creating an anthology or field guide
2) Familiarity with traditional literary classifications
3) Familiarity with media and material based classifications
4) Allow students to gain a level of expertise in their chosen genre
5) Presentation of findings in both oral and written forms
Field Guide or Anthology?
Anthology
An anthology is a collection of similar writings with various methods of categorization. Stemming from the Greek nthos ‘flower’ + -logia ‘collection’ (from legein ‘gather’), these collections of writings have been popular as long as language has been written down. In contrast to a journal, diary, or commonplace book, anthologies are more intentional in that they require a selection process, organization, editing, and raison d’etre.
Field Guide
A field guide is a scientific book designed to help a reader identify an object or practice (human, plants, animals, rocks, etc.) in its natural habitat. The field guide is to be taken out into the “field” and includes key features to use for identification purposes. Field guides can be for experts and general audiences.