Critics Tools: Textual Evidence Use to determine or support the
truth of a claim.
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Emily Dickinson Did Dickinsons seclusion from society inform
her poetry?
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Possible Supporting Evidence Correspondence Biographies Poems
Critics analyses OED
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Post-Postmodern Evidence Text messages YouTube Tweets Email
Digital Archives Poetry slams Blogs
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Categories of Evidence Primary Secondary Tertiary
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Primary sources AND
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Secondary Sources Critical articles Book reviews Biographies
Dissertations Conference Papers
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Secondary Sources Critical Analysis: Catherine Goldens article,
Marking Her Territory: Feline Behavior in "The Yellow Wall-Paper,
published in the periodical American Literary Realism, 2008. Book
Review Janet Beers review of Goldens book The Mixed Legacy of
Charlotte Perkins Gilman appeared in the October 1, 2002 issue of
Modern Language Review Biography Ann J. Lanes To Herland and
Beyond: The Life and Work Of Charlotte Perkins Gilman, published by
University of Virginia Press in 1997.
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Tertiary Sources Literary dictionaries Encyclopedias Spark
Notes OED
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Tertiary Sources: Examples
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Flow of Literary Evidence
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Unpublished manuscript (ms)
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Charlotte Perkins Gilman. Image: The Forerunner
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Flow of Evidence: Yellow Wall-Paper
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Primary Sources: Types of Editions Facsimile Variorum
Authoritative Mass market/trade E-text
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Authoritative Editions The authoritative edition is a
fundamental tool in literary studies.
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Authoritative Editions The reader is given what the author
intended.
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The purpose of a scholarly edition is to present a reliable
text.
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Incompetent editors, proof-correctors, and publishers.
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Editors Misreading of Robert Southwells Letter to Samuel Pepys
Authoritative edition: [I] lost my health by sitting many years
near an inck bottle. Unreliable edition: [I] lost my health by
sitting many years near a sack bottle.
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Robert Louis Stevensons Corrupted Editions box becomes fox
cottage becomes cabbage bloody becomes beastly bugger becomes
beggar
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A.L. Rowses Corrupted Text of Romeo & Juliet Authoritative
Shakespeare edition: Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo Rowses
edition: O Romeo, Romeo! Wherefore are you, Romeo
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Expurgated Texts: Sniffing Out the Smut Richard Wrights Native
Son Jonathan Swifts Gullivers Travels Chaucers Wife of Bath
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Corruption of a Text: YWP
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YWP: Corruption of the text Reliable ed: John laughs at me, of
course, but one expects that in marriage. Unreliable ed. 1: John
laughs at me, of course, but one expects that. Unreliable ed. 2:
John laughs at me, of course, but one expects that in men.
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Yellow Wall-Paper: Corrupted Section Breaks
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Yellow Wall-Paper: Publication History
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How do I know my text is authoritative?
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The best way to determine the authority of an edition is to
read professional reviews of the edition.
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Editors choice of the copy-text determines the reliability of
an edition.
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Julie Docks copy text for the YWP: The New England Magazine in
January, 1892.The New England Magazine in January, 1892.
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Authoritative Editions Explain the method used in determining
the copy- text on which the edition is based. Cleanse text of
corruptions Place the work in context Discuss conventions, styles,
traditions Using sound textual principles, scholarly editors:
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Current Authoritative Editions Uncollected primary works Recent
scholarship
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Summary Three types of literary sources (primary, secondary,
tertiary) Creative works (e.g. novels) generate the flow of
scholarly information. Five types of literary editions ( Facsimile,
Variorum Authoritative, Mass market/trade, E-text) Authoritative
editions are crucial to critical interpretations Locate
authoritative editions through scholarly book reviews.