The Story of My Research Paper

In the beginning of my writing process, I knew that Troilus and Cressida was a story about lovers, so I wanted to explore the idea of love and the ancient Greek culture. However, I realized that the play was about jilted love--and in most people's opinions (according to Goodreads and Twitter), very depressing. It was helpful to get an opinion of what the general public though of the play because it helped me come up with my final idea. In my first post, I had several theses, but I was intrigued that Troilus and Cressida was an "anti-tragedy." In these preliminary stages, I had some trouble finding adequate sources, but as I explored the Twittersphere, I gained a clearer understanding of "anti-tragedy." In my preliminary draft, I spent too much time proving that the play wasn't a tragedy and not enough time explaining the implications. The feedback I received from fellow students was helpful, and my video post also defined my argument. As I wrote my paper, I realized that Troilus and Cressida not only resists tragedy, but of all genres. I tried to make my paper scholarly because I wanted to submit it to several publications. Knowing that my paper was going public helped me produce a final product that I would (almost) be comfortable submitting to Criterion. However, as I have revised my paper, I have come to an even greater understanding of my topic and of the play. Writing my paper has been a journey enriched by multiple social circles.

Troilus and Cressida: Less of a Problem Play and More of a Promise Play

Well, here is my final paper! https://docs.google.com/document/d/1xUBXvTGtDI8hPC0ANP-BzgXeVAqzhwT6fe4RcDzcNt4/edit

I hope the formatting stayed intact, as I moved it from a Microsoft Word document to a Google Drive document.

I am still interested in submitting to the following venues:

Shakespeare Institute Review--I heard back from them and they said they were looking for "papers that include analysis rather than description, those that have something original to contribute, and work that is thoroughly researched and documented." My paper is long enough, but I will want to double check that I have something with enough analysis (I tried to include mostly analysis, but I may have to revise accordingly) and originality. I also don't know that my paper fits the theme of their current journal, but I'm hoping it will fit with the next one (or I can revise it to fit with the theme).

Criterion--I also am hoping to submit to Criterion. I am a little bit under the minimum word limit of 3,000 words, so I might have to expand my argument for them and make sure it is very analytically-based (as that is what I found many of the essays in this journal were like).

BYU English Symposium-- I presented a paper last year at this symposium, and I am hoping to do the same this year. If I did submit my paper, I would have to write a 200- to 250-word abstract, which wouldn't be too hard since the paper is already written. I would also have to adapt my paper for a speech format, which might involve simplifying some of my points and making sure my arguments are very clear for listeners (as they won't be able to reread what I say).

Hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving, and happy paper reading.

Equality Within Elizabethan Marriage

So I was super stoked because this paper was coming along so nicely.  I sent it to a few friends to have them edit it and they gave me great feedback.  However I came to realize that perhaps this paper wasn't as polished as I originally thought. . . but here is the final draft and I am happy with how it turned out. Equality Within Elizabethan Marriage

As for venues to publish this paper I tried a few conferences but all came back with negative responses so I am working on submitting this to Criterion.  I liked this over all process and hope that you all enjoyed it as well or at least found that it improved some aspect of your writing as it did mine!

The Merchant of Venice, Finally

For publication, I intend to submit my paper to a few different journals just to increase my chances and explore the options out there.
The Valley Review
For this one I will have to change the paper to Chicago style, which shouldn't be too difficult, and I need to increase the length by just a hundred words or so. I will be going back into my original outline to see if there is anything I feel I can incorporate back into my argument to increase the length by just a little. Submissions due Dec 15.
Philologia
For this one I will have to do minor format changes, like make the citations footnote, as well as write a 200 word abstract and cover letter. This one doesn't accept submissions again for a year I think, so I will put it on the back burner, and possibly just consider it for future papers.
Criterion
For this one, too, I will increase the length ever so slightly. I won't have to change much else. My paper relates a tiny bit to the special topic for the upcoming issue. It probably doesn't really fit into the category directly, but it would be related, which I think is cool and would be interesting. Submissions due Jan 18.
Agora
This one doesn't really require much change for my paper. It is supposed to be about great books, so talking about a famous Shakespeare play is very appropriate. Submissions for next issue are due Dec 15.

And, finally, here is the finished product.
The Merchant of Venice as a Non-Racist Text

After reviewing past issues of each of these journals, I am considering writing a more interesting title for some submissions.

More info on Criterion

In looking into Criterion I learned some more particulars. They accept undergraduate as well as masters work. They are interested in a wide range of topics, so it looks like Shakespeare will be right up their alley! The deadline of submissions is the 18 of January so we have time to tweak and perfect our papers! Fun stuff! I'm definitely going for it! I need to get some stuff published if I want to be a professor.
Here is the link to their website.
http://english.byu.edu/criterion/submissions.php

Troilus and Cressida: "Public"ations

In my last post, I talked about The Shakespeare Institute Review. I contacted the journal to find out if they accept undergraduate work (on their website they only mentioned that they accept postgraduate work). I told them about our class and told them we were looking for places to submit our work. I also asked them what topics they prefer to publish. I haven't heard back from them yet, but I'm hoping to hear back soon! One caveat of the journal is that they publish works in British English, which may make submitting to them somewhat difficult, but I'm sure there are only a few items that would need to be tweaked in order to conform to those standards. 

They also accept submissions between 1500 and 3000 words. They just had a submission deadline for the journal, and from what I could gather, they seem to be interested in a specific theme for each journal, but they seem to want a multi-faceted view on that topic. They like seeing historical views, views connected to modern-day interpretations, views on how Shakespeare relates to psychology, politics, religion, and so forth. So if their target theme is something that connects with what you are writing, I am sure they would be interested in it. As I read through one of the older journals, I found that the submissions were very textual. Just another reason to work on our close analysis of a text as we work on our drafts.

Publishing and improvements on Merchant

From the beginning I've been told that I need to spend a little more time in the actual text to make sure my argument is well-grounded in proofs from the actual play. In order to better fulfill that requirement, I've gone through my outline and either removed or edited every main point that I felt could not be sufficiently supported by direct evidence in the text. While doing this I found some new proofs that supported my argument in new ways, but I did have to get rid of some things that I realized were pretty subjective in my argument.
Another improvement I have made is actually including some of the social proofs in the paper itself. Before this, I've just been using the material I've found as idea starters or personal encouragement or things like that, but now I'm planning on including in the paper quotes from a former high school Shakespeare teacher of mine, and an email response from the director of last year's BYU "family" production of Merchant. My former teacher shared her opinion on the racism in the text, how it teaches lessons appropriate for high school classrooms, and she even shared some tips on how she teaches it.

As far as publishing, some realistic options for publication are in the BYU English Symposium or the Criterion. There is also this blog which is accepting guest posts right now actually.
Another thought I have had is the NCTE journals, like the English Education one, or probably just the English Journal.

Criteria for Criterion

I've heard about Criterion before, but I never seriously considered submitting a paper. Never hurts to try! I read through one essay that was excellent, it had some deep analysis which made me want to strengthen my own textual readings. Quick question though, the papers were all submitted with big headings announcing the next section of the paper, which I could do in my paper, however, I don't think Dr. Burton wants it formatted this way. I could always change it after I turn it in. I think the whole class might as well take a shot at submitting a paper to Criterion, because what is the worst that could happen?
http://english.byu.edu/criterion/submissions.php