Bibliography of Sources / Further Reading for Game Players

All of the paper-backed cards in the deck of Cards of the Humanities (i.e. those with images of old sheet of paper on the back, rather than those with images of a book cover on the back) represent the result of student research into the history and theory of literary genre. 

To see the sources we used for this information, and if you want suggested readings to learn more about these literary genres, please see our bibliography.

User Testing!

On the last day of class, we played our game using two decks of cards designed by students and produced by Make Playing Cards. We chose to get the cards produced in tarot card size in order to accommodate the amount of text some of them contain. 

Here is student feedback on the experience of playing the game for the first time:

Pastoral Poetry - Primary Sources

It's interesting because my first instinct as far as getting primary sources was to request from the stacks a lot of books titled pastoral poetry. There were the usual pastoral poetry, Victorian pastoral poetry,  17th Century pastoral poetry - even a title called The Use of Nostalgia: Studies in Pastoral Poetry.  Yet none of them were really answering the questions/assignment posed by the professor-

Neo Slave Novel - Primary Sources

Finding primary sources was a lot easier and a lot less stressful than finding secondary sources. Thanks to Professor Morgan, an English professor who's classes focus on African American literature, culture and political/social movements, I was able to find some really awesome primary sources. Because Professor Morgan is an expert in the field of African American literature, I trusted her opinion on what she claims are the most important and accurate examples of neo slave novels. She named Kindred, Beloved, and Dessa Rose. I was excited to hear these three titles because I had actually encountered them during my search for secondary sources. Additionally, I'm actually already reading Beloved for another English class I'm taking right now so it has been fun to view it in the context of this classroom and also in my other class in which we are focusing on gender and sexuality.

Frontier Romance- Primary Sources

I felt that finding the primary sources may have felt harder than finding the secondary sources because I did not know what to look for. I had to go through the same process I did with the secondary sources. I did this and found a couple of novels that I thought looked right however they were not even close to what I needed. That is why it took me a while to post, I was looking for something I already had. When I found my secondary sources I had not realized that within those sources were my primary sources. 

Spiritual Autobiography- Primary Sources

I found the search for primary sources to be much easier than the source for secondary sources and, consequently, far more enjoyable. The genre of spiritual autobiography is widespread and far-reaching, covering works from the seventeenth century as well as contemporary pieces. What I found most interesting about this portion of my research was the fact that many of the central themes to spiritual autobiographies have remained constant over time, but the context and style of writing has changed quite a bit. The primary sources I referenced were each a sort of generative, evolutive piece, as they walked the reader through the author's course of development and encouraged her invited her to participate in the author's exploration of the inner-self.

Unexpected Encounters Within the Epistolary Genre

I was extremely excited to begin my search for primary sources after understanding the gist of epistolary fiction. It was most interesting to find various novels written in epistolary form for such different audience members. I came across an unexpected text written for middle school children and, moments later, I found a complex epistolary novel told by a woman undergoing ceaseless abuse which was more for adults. Besides the ability to cater to readers of different ages, I found it astounding how this novel continues to be a successful genre.

Court (Not Courtroom) Drama - Primary Sources

During my search for primary sources in English court drama (and not courtroom drama like I had initially - and mistakenly - understood the prompt), I found some rather interesting works. There are several notable authors within the sub-genre, but those whose works I found most intriguing were those of John Heywood, Thomas Middleton, and - I would argue, at least - William Shakespeare.

Testimonio - Primary Sources

Finding my primary sources actually turned out to be a relatively simple task.  I think that there are a few main reasons why this was the case.  According to my secondary sources, the genre of testimonio is fairly new.  The piece that many people agree to be the first testimonio was written in 1966.  With this said, there has not been nearly as many testimonios written in comparison to genres that have been around for centuries.  Furthermore, among the extant testimonios, I found that there are only a handful that are largely considered to be representative of the genre.

Graphic Memoir - Primary Sources

Doing research for the primary sources was actually a lot easier than for the secondary. Because the genre of graphic memoirs is so relatively new, most scholarship I was finding concerning the genre itself also heavily discussed many of the most prominent works. It was interesting, because while one might assume that what unites graphic memoirs is the autobiographical aspect, there is also a pretty strong continuity of theme throughout most of the works I saw discussed. Most of the memoirs I encountered dealt with trauma (whether personal, national, physical, or mental) and many were darker, "coming of age" stories.

Gothic: Primary Sources

    While searching for primary sources within the Gothic sub genre, I decided that one of the most important aspects would be that of time. The height of the Gothic novel is proposed as extending from 1764 - 1820 however the genre was still vibrant for many years. As a result I have chosen primary sources from the 18th, 19th, and 20th century. These texts clearly show the evolution of the genre, as well as the general changes in writing style over the centuries.

Farce- Primary Sources

Due to the expansive nature of farce in drama, it was hard to narrow down the list of primary sources that I could use to accurately represent the subgenre and its evolution through time. Since one of the most intriguing aspects of farce is the history of rejection and acceptance from literary critics throughout its existence, I've decided to select farcical plays from its rise in popularity in the 17th and 18th century, as well as the early and late 20th centuries. The plays I've selected are France, from which the word "farce" originated, England,  the next country to adopt the farcical tradition, and America, the more contemporary version of the subgenre.

Masque - Primary Sources

Most of the primary sources I found were through my research of secondary sources. As Masque was only popular in 17th century England, there were limited options. Masques were typically performed for the royal elite and reflected English nationalism and pride in the royal family. However, from my research with primary sources I saw that while this was true, many Masque performances also reflected political and social dialogue between the crown and the people. In addition, as Masque plays reflected English elitist pride, they also promoted white, Christian identities and values.

Slave Narrative- Primary Sources

My primary source search actually helped me a lot in revising a few of my searches for secondary sources. After examining a number of texts I felt like I knew a bit more about the genre and it felt easier to weed through the numerous journals on the subject.

Epic Poetry - Primary Sources

During my search for primary sources of epic poetry, I first established a few of the classic, canonized epic poems worth including, not only because they are "well-known" but also because they are often attributed with setting the precedent for what we as readers tend to expect from an epic poem. However, information on epics outside of those written by white male authors in a Western literary landscape - such as reception, background context specifically relating to the author - is sparse. Because more contemporary epics from the 20th and 21st century are much more experimental, it was also difficult to pick poems that both adhere to the traditional structure while also creating something new with the existing form.

Lyric Poetry - Primary Sources

LYRIC POETRY

Primary Sources - Eureka!

After consideration of both the topic in general and comments made on my previous post regarding the large gap in timeline, I did a little digging in the Scandinavian/Norman/Celtic department and felt much better about that so-called gap. 

Melodrama Primary Sources

Finding primary sources for melodrama was more challenging than I expected. Identifying the most famous and influential works was easy; it was already done for me in a lot of the secondary sources I had found. Actually finding out information about their plots and critical reception was a lot trickier.

Gothic: Secondary sources

I will be focused on the sub genre of Gothic. In my secondary source research of this genre I did not have any issues finding sources of value. Even within the Santa Clara library there are numerous books on the subject. As a result, and the many different sub genres within the Gothic framework, I found that my research would need to be more focused than just attempting to understand the breadth of the sub genre. As such I have chosen to focus on the origins of the genre as well as the sub genre of Southern Gothic which evolved in the United States.

Frontier Romance: Secondary Sources

Hi all!

I will be focusing on frontier romance which is a sub genre within the novel category. I am going to be honest, I knew absolutely nothing about this sub genre before this class. We will both we learning something new.  From the research that I have done so far, I came to the conclusion that frontier romance talks specifically about the romanticized version of a country’s history. It can also focus on the positive aspects of land rather than the negative.

Court Drama – Society On Trial

During my search, I found a lot of information on theory, but little on history. So, my main concern moving forward is to find more on the history of the genre. Most of what I was able to discover was rather contemporary, though there was one major exception to that which I will get into in a moment.

Autobiography: Spiritual Narrative, Secondary Sources

As I was searching for my secondary sources, I had a bit of a difficult time defining what exactly I was looking for. Many of the sources I found offered criticism of specific spiritual autobiographies, which I initially assumed would be unhelpful since I had not read the pieces the authors were referring to. However, as my research progressed, I decided to explore some of these specific types of criticism to see if they could offer anything helpful. To my surprise, it was still advantageous to read secondary sources that referred to texts I had not read, because by doing so, I was able to develop a feel for how scholars tend to talk about this genre. Although these types of sources did not offer me much concrete information, they helped me take note of what sorts of patterns and themes tend to emerge in discussions of spiritual autobiography, and they helped me compare and contrast the various angles scholars take when discussing works in that genre.

Autobiography Slave Narrative Secondary Sources

When I chose to focus on Slave Narrative as my sub-genre, I had a decent idea of what to look for as I was pretty familiar with at least a few of the aspects that make it up. However, before research even really began, the class reading that was an autobiography by Occum and the followed group discussion made the genre broaden in my mind. Though the text was by no means a "slave" narrative in the typical sense of the word, it contained a few of the aspects usually associated with it.

Neo Slave Novel - Secondary Sources

I was really excited to have the opportunity to focus on "neo slave novels" within my genre group (novels). I've always been interested in the history of slavery and through my time at Santa Clara have taken many classes that have expanded my knowledge of the subject (African American Literature, Theater from a Black Perspective, History of Malcolm X, etc). Although I was able to read many accounts of slavery through these classes, I never really took the time to differentiate the different genres that they encompassed. Through my recent research I've begun to understand some of the most important differences and how they work to make the neo slave genre powerful and effective.

Catharsis Through Epistolary Fiction- Secondary Sources

I initially chose the subgenre epistolary fiction because a group member informed us that it was a form of writing through letters. Through research I found that epistolary novels are not limited to the form of letters but can also be written as diary entries, blogs, or as a series of documentations. The letter form is the most common way to write an epistolary novel but amongst the various forms I found a single commonality; epistolary novels provide a sense of release and intimacy as a result of the subgenre’s form.

Graphic Memoir - Secondary Sources

I jumped at the chance to focus on graphic memoirs for this genre project. I grew up reading Calvin and Hobbes and a variety of manga series. I’d never read Maus, but it’s always been a favorite of my dad’s, and I absolutely loved reading Persepolis for my CTW freshman year. Of course, I knew it might be difficult to find sources (and it was), but I figured the effort would be worth it.

Testimonio - Secondary Source Experience

Before I began my formal research on testimonio last week, I had a basic knowledge of what this genre is from exposure in past English classes.  However, it was interesting to get a more in depth understanding of testimonio as well as to learn a thing or two about the history of the genre.

Epic Poetry - Secondary Sources

In researching for secondary sources on epic poetry, the main difficulty I faced was finding sources that would provide a comprehensive look at the subgenre, while simultaneously narrowing these sources down so as to not be so overwhelming. Balancing out the two proved especially hard because the tropes and frameworks for epic poetry have such an expansive history, involving nearly every continent and across centuries - from the Ancient Mesopotamian epic The Epic of Gilgamesh to American modernist poet William Carlos Williams's Paterson in 1946. Picking and curating excerpts from these works is not only hard because there are simply so many, but also because I am faced with the task of choosing to include or exclude certain epics based on their perceived "importance" by critics. And the notion of an "important" epic is a loaded one.

Pastoral Poetry - Secondary Sources

Pastoral Poetry

As the title suggested, I am in the poetry group, researching more on the sub genre of pastoral poetry.  One of the main hurdles for me was the box I automatically put myself in with the genre.  Seeing the word "pastoral" and then trying to find more focused searches on it, there was a great temptation to try to just look into country based resources or just look into possible religious resources.

Farce- Secondary Sources

Still prevalent today, farce, or comedy involving ridiculous situations, mistaken identities, satirical critiques of society, and other techniques of exaggeration to entertain the audience, has long outlasted its creators. The term farce, meaning "stuffed" in French, was first applied to work produced in the Middle Ages, however, plays with farcical characteristics date as far back to Ancient Greek theatre. Additionally, the titling of  a work as farce has been received differently throughout time. For these reasons, secondary sources detailing the history of this subgenera's development  are inconsistent.

Masque - Secondary Sources

Masque - Drama

Secondary Sources



Masque is often a subgenre of drama that is often overlooked or forgotten about. My research of secondary sources allowed me to learn about a prominent and unique art form in 16th and 17th century Europe.

Melodrama - Secondary Sources

I knew barely anything about melodrama before researching my secondary sources, so I definitely learned a lot about the genre over the last week. I initially thought of melodrama as something that was overdone to the point of ridiculousness, and that calling something a melodrama was a pejorative remark. But my research definitely changed this perception.

Lyric Poetry - Secondary Sources

LYRIC POETRY

Secondary Sources - Timeline Gaps
2/5/17

Throughout my research into the history of lyric poetry via both the school library, the internet, and my own poetry collection I have found some interesting aspects pertaining to the timeline of sources available.

Lyric poetry is derived from an ancient form of Greek verse, that was usually sung, and traditionally accompanied by a stringed Lyre instrument (hence Lyric, Lyre-Lyric...you get it). From there the word lost a concrete definition but became associated heavily with the use of strong rhythms, pronounced sense of meter, and an emphasis on the self in all forms of poetry. As such, the lyric poem can be found in all types of poetry from around the world. Due to the more contemporary view of the lyric as primarily a rhythm designator, it has found useful application in even very different types of poetry like an epic or a villanelle.

How to Play Our Game

Cards of the Humanities will include the following types of cards in the complete deck:

Who We Are and What We're Doing

We are the members of English 14: Introduction to Literary History and Interpretation at Santa Clara University in Winter quarter 2017. For a unit on literary genre, we are conducting research for and engaging in collaborative design of a card game that aims to reflect and share our learning about the history and theory of various literary genres and subgenres.