proposal

Clover’s Major Project Proposal for ENG401

Clover3 Comments

“Text to Speech: An Annotated Selection of Autistic Poetry”

My aim for this project is to explore the poetic work of autistic poets, synthesize and catalogue their texts by larger themes and concepts, and provide some biography for each author in the context of my selections. I will include my own bookbinding, illustrations and print for the final anthology, though it may be published digitally as well. I will also include a foreword/afterword in which I break down some of the larger literary themes (e.g. the inner world, communication, etc.) I have observed in autistic poetry, explain why I chose each poem as representative of its category, and perhaps tie back to some of our earlier readings on disability studies. The current title I chose because one of my largest themes thus far in researching autistic poetry is ‘translation’, but that may change.

2) Central Question 

What are the rhetorical and literary parameters of an “autistic” genre of poetry? What themes occur often? What are the common style elements (e.g.  free verse, first person), and where is most poetry being produced (at an academic or personal level)? What effect does this have on the literature, and why is that important? I’ll also be looking for the rhetorical boundaries of autistic poetry that I’ve noticed in my research.

3) Product Design

Product: A hand-bound, hand-curated and illustrated annotated anthology of autistic poetry.

Design: Poems will be categorized into sections by observed thematic elements, ranked by frequency (perhaps this could manifest as section headers, i.e. ‘Communication’). Each section will have an introduction with the results of my research in it. Each poem will have an artwork to the left of it, and a rhetorical analysis and biography on the back of the right page where it sits. All my images will be drawn without reference from the imagery of the poem I am working on. This will be a variety of media; fabric arts, collage, painting, etc. So, the final product will be very multimedia. I plan to do between 20-50 poems.

4) Production Plan

How will you go about creating this product? What are the steps you have in mind? The big dates to keep in mind:

  • From November 1st to November 8th, I will be gathering poems, observing trends, categorizing poetry I find and making my selections for the anthology.
  • I’ll share what I find with Andrew so he can give me some pointers during conferencing between November 8th and 19th, and in this time I will begin to bind my blank book and afterwards I will begin to block sections and draft thumbnails of my art ideas for each poem.
  • Between November 19th and 29th, I will be drawing, painting, printing, etc. I will show Andrew my biographies, artwork, and analyses to see what he thinks. I’m a poetry student so this is very familiar to me by now, though; I’m mostly looking to streamline and do my final curations of the project’s material.
  • From December 1st through 8th, I will finish my introduction, conclusion, and section headers to paste in the book.
  • I will present the product before December 8th.

5) Consultation

  • I would prefer to meet with Andrew early on in the process, around November 5th or so, so I can get his opinion on my identification of genre parameters, and what I’m observing across gross categories.
  • I would also like to meet with Andrew midway through, for some help with rhetorical analysis of the poetry and including relevant biographical detail. Perhaps I can give some details of my introductory and concluding portions here to make sure that I’m staying on track.
  • Besides that, I feel as prepared as I could be at this point!

6) Citations

  1. https://the-art-of-autism.com/the-art-of-autisms-third-annual-art-poems-for-peace-initiative/ 

“The Art of Autism”’s annual Poems for Peace, a selection of art and poetry by autistic youth and adults. This is an excellent source to draw from.

  1. https://www.autism.org.uk/advice-and-guidance/the-spectrum/poems

The “National Autistic Society”’s autstic poets’ digital library. Again, very impressive library, most of what I need to begin my search is here.

  1. https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/44776034-stim

The GoodReads page for Lizzie-Huxley Jones’ Stim: An Autism Anthology, which I have ordered. Not sure exactly what will be in the book, but it can’t hurt.

A Major Proposal Monster

DellFrog2 Comments
  1. Title: The “Monster” Within: An Analysis of Disability as “Monstrous” in Literature
  2. Central Question: In early literature, monsters or monstrous figures were often caricatures of disability. These caricatures led to generalizations of disability that when replicated led to widespread misunderstandings of how disability is experienced and perceived. How did early literature characterize disability and what are the modern repercussions?
  3. Product Design: I will be creating the beginnings of a thesis essay, estimating 15-20 pages of research and analysis of literary works and modern interpretations. Many of the literary works will come as a result of the analysis portions, provided by the Disability Studies Quarterly journal and academic essays published by universities.
  4. Production Plan: This product will be a result of hours of research and culminating analysis which will have to be done over a long stretch of time. I plan to meet with the professor on either the 10th or the 17th to present initial findings and the general structure of the essay. The work-in-progress will hopefully be the second or third draft of the thesis, with only minor adjustments and citations to be added.

Proposed Schedule:

November Week 1: Outline and First Draft of Sources

November Week 2: First Draft of Content -perfect citations

November Week 3: Second Draft of Content: After meeting with professor and finalizing Chicago Style sources at the RWS

November Week 4: Third Draft and Final Edits

  1. Consultation: I will hopefully be in contact during several points of the essay, but mostly using the professor as a touchstone of major ideas. I tend to get carried away with either too much research or too much analysis, so getting feedback on whether I am finding a good balance will be helpful. This will likely come after the first draft of the essay.

Special Questions: Thinking of formatting of research and analysis, I think that it is best to go via topic vs. via source (ie: multiple sources on the topic of mobile disability vs. analyzing Shakespeare, then Hugo, then Wordsworth, etc.) Would this be preferable for an academic paper? Is it considered too “passe” if my “modern perceptions of disability” look at how Disney has taken literary stereotypes and morphed them further? Or should I just be looking at how the stereotypes are repeated in modern literature?

  1. Citations: I have about 20 gathered right now, not that I will use all of them. But these are some I have come across.

Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, Disability, and the Injustice of Misrecognition https://dsq-sds.org/article/view/7109

Aesthetic Traces in Unlikely Places: Re-visioning the Freak in 19th-Century American Photography https://dsq-sds.org/article/view/613 

Disabling Imagery and the Media: An Exploration of the Principles for Media Representations of Disabled People https://disability-studies.leeds.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/40/library/Barnes-disabling-imagery.pdf 

Disabled Literature—Disabled Individuals in American Literature: Reflecting Culture(s) https://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu/bitstream/10125/58432/1/574.pdf