Seminário de Orientação e Escrita (not translated) - 2nd semester
Objectives
a) The goal of the seminar is the creation of methodic advanced research habits, adapted to the intelectual preferences of each student and flexible regarding the several domains of expertise that require literary competence.
b) To support the student who is about to start his or her writing assignments at a post-graduate level, namely the final dissertation. The basic rules of academic essay writing, beggining with a good subject choice and the critical evaluation of the state of the art, will be given particular emphasis, allowing for the clear identification of a problem that will sustain a well-developed and articulate program for critic and scientific research.
c) To help students to get familiar with technical and practical aspects of academic writing, such as the organization of indexes and bibliographies, the application of rules for text quotations, the composition of footnotes and endnotes, etc.
d) To enhance the power of getting full advantage from libraries and other archives, namely those presently available at FCSH-UNL, as well as from important database such as Porbase or b-on.
General characterization
Code
722091140
Credits
10
Responsible teacher
Gustavo Rubim
Hours
Weekly - 4
Total - Available soon
Teaching language
Portuguese
Prerequisites
None.
Bibliography
BARTHES, Roland. Por onde começar?, Escritores, Intelectuais, Professores e outros ensaios.
Presença, 1975, p. 109-125.
BOOTH, Wayne C. / COLOMB, Gregory G. / WILLIAMS, Joseph M. The Craft of Research. 3rd
edition: The University of Chicago Press, 2008.
ECO, Umberto. Como se Faz uma Tese em Ciências Humanas. 13ª ed.: Presença, 2007.
GEORGES, Robert A. / JONES, Michael O. People Studying People: The Human Element in
Fieldwork. University of California Press, 1980.
GRAFF, Gerald / BIKERSTEIN, Cathy. They Say I Say. The Moves that Matter in Academic
Writing. Norton, 2006.
Teaching method
Open discussion around academic texts that can be either submitted by the instructor or brought to the seminar by the students, according to the research works they are conducting.
Practical sessions of small essay writing, bibliographical organization, on-line research or library and archive research.
Evaluation method
Mid-term short essay (6 pages), that must be either the close reading of one text, or the comparative analysis of two texts. 25% of the final grade.
Final paper (10-12 pages long) combining a clearly defined topic and the commentary on a set of texts directly related to the topic. 50% of the final grade.
Class participation. 25% of the final grade.
Subject matter
1. Choosing a subject, containing it within the limits of a corpus, circumscribing our problem.
2. Deciding about the research model and the kind of framing.
3. Plannification, first sketches, revising, definition of an idea.
4. Organizing arguments and previewing counterclaims.
5. Interpretation and specific problems concerning the interpretation of interpretations.
6. Commentary, description, narration, hypothesizing, exemplification, emphasizing.
7. Trying theories, risking unheard-of concepts or metaphors.
8. Introductions, conclusions, digressions.