EEBO-TCP
Sample Paper 1

The readings we have done in Unit 1, and those we have started in Unit 2, focus on attempts to describe what the author has "discovered." These discoveries may take the form of different countries or different people. Choose one such descriptive passage from Avril, Dampier, Haklyut, Raleigh, Castell or Busbecq and analyze the way in which the author approaches his subject. You will need to narrow your selected text from the sections read for class. For instance, you might choose Chapter 4 of Hakluyt's description of "The Mongals or Tartars" and within that chapter, identify a particularly evocative pasage. Try to locate a moment in the writing that seems to you paradoxical, contradictory, or that raises questions not easily answered. To locate such a moment in the text, you might want to notice if particular words are used frequently or if two words are often used together, for instance. You can make use of EEBO-TCP's word searching capacity to do this.

Discussion of Paper:This assignment teaches close reading skills to the students. In performing this kind of analysis, they can make use of the unique search features available through TCP to further enhance their consideration of their chosen passages, performing keyword searching and/or proximity searching to identify usage patterns.