3. Theory in Practice Essay (titled, approximately 7 pp., excluding Works Cited page, double-spaced, 12 pt, Times New Roman, 1-inch margins, MLA format)—explains your understanding of some aspect (interpretive problem and analysis of the novel's strategies of representation, for example) of The House of Mirth in relation to "theory." This coordination among interpretation/analysis/theory should demonstrate your developing understanding of a way or ways of making sense of "literature" in relation to and informed by one or more of the theoretical and critical texts under study (that is, essays on the novel as well as our studies in literary/critical theory).

The primary aim of the assignment, then, is to engage with literary theory in practice by identifying interpretative/epistemological problems (problems of understanding/knowing), developing claims and arguments, and enriching your literary understanding, interests, and commitments—again, this focused pursuit occurs via particular theoretical perspectives and specific interpretative practices and questions (that is, by making specific claims about what The House of Mirth means and how it means). While this essay explores Wharton's novel, an equally important emphasis and strategy for your essay is 'theoretical': to produce an inquiry and analysis that is thoughtful and reflective and questioning, and so reflects upon and reveals something about your interpretive assumptions and strategies (this occurs, for example, in every essay or article about the novel, in our edition and in the essays on Bblearn). In other words, this assignment explicitly takes up or keeps in view the theoretical premises that underlie interpretive practice, so that as you illustrate such issues via your analyses and theses about the novel, the essay's provisional 'thesis' also is likely to be about the nature of a problem of theory, just as it is about an interpretation of Wharton's novel and its critical reception--hence, your essay's method of exploring that thesis will reflect on the problem of interpretation itself, or on some other aspect of 'theory' that we have been considering.

You are expected to consider the reading to date to explore what premises and ideas seem most productive, useful, problematic in order to assemble an essay, for example, that begins implicitly to review/summarize/consolidate key notions/ideas about literature and theory that are of particular interest to you. Important in all this is trying to engage with some concept or issue that has to do with understanding literature, language, culture, knowledge, and identity. As you prepare to write the essay, you also might ask yourself: (1) What is the philosophical value/utility of the theory/concepts (perhaps in relation to some other or prior perspective, theory/concept); (2) What argument and point of view (what is at stake) forms the theory and elicits or prompts your essay? (3) What assumptions and practices get called into question by the theory/concept? In general terms for any critical essays, see these views and advice: Advice and Resources on Writing Critical Essays

There is some leeway for degrees of emphasis or balance between focus on analyzing some aspect of the novel versus foregrounding your theoretical perspective--some students may focus on the novel and are clear about how theoretical premises support their interpretation and analysis; others may analyze the novel but keep the emphasis and focus on a problem of theory, with their analysis of the novel in illustration and support of their discussion of theory.

The objectives for the assignment include prompting you to learn to incorporate and draw upon secondary criticism to deepen your analysis (in this case, at least one essay on Wharton's novel from our edition and one article from those posted on Bblearn) and to be quite conscious in foregrounding and thinking about how your analysis and interpretation have theoretical dimensions/premises at work that shape the mode of analysis/inquiry. Put differently, how do you make sense of Wharton's novel at this point in the course?

As mentioned above, in addition to citing/drawing upon at least one of the essays in the Bedford edition of The House of Mirth, plan to read and to draw upon at least one of the following essays, available via a content folder on left side menu in the course site on Bblearn:

Blair, Amy L. "Misreading The House of Mirth." American Literature 76.1 (2004): 149-175.

Kassanoff, Jennie A. "Extinction, Taxidermy, Tableaux Vivants: Staging Race and Class in The House of Mirth." PMLA 115.1 (2000): 60-74.

Moddelmog, William E. "Disowning 'Personality': Privacy and Subjectivity in The House of Mirth." American Literature 70.2 (1998): 337-363.

Totten, Gary. "The Art and Architecture of the Self: Designing the 'I'-Witness in Edith Wharton's 'The House of Mirth.' College Literature 27.3 (2000): 71-87.