Davis A. Havens ENC 1102 Ms.

Jacobs April 20, 2013 Roman Fever, Feminism, Plot, and Setting Annotated Bibliography

Bowlby, Rachel. "'I Had Barbara': Women's Ties and Wharton's 'Roman Fever.'." Differences 17.3 (Oct. 2006): 37-51. Rpt. in Short Story Criticism. Ed. Jelena O. Krstovic. Vol. 120. Detroit: Gale, 2009. Literature Resource Center. Web. 17 Apr. 2014.

The author does an amazing job at drawing in all the feministc pieces the are involved with Edith Whartons Roman Fever. Discussing everything from how the two women are alike, how they are different, how their two daughters will grow up to be just like them, how the older generation aunt had somewhat of the same story as them, and even pointing out that there are no male characters involved in the storyline, other than Delphin who is not alive. Bowlby also discusses the dramatic words and their strength in the line I had Barbara. She explains to her readers how important the word choice is in that, and how it ties the whole story into a whole. After spending time reading Bowlbys article I really felt as if I had learned so much about the story that I had previously not noticed or been interested in. She really does a great a job of showing the reader the specific details that the two women portray to build up the tension, leading into the dramatic twist at then end. As a source this is an amazing start to the wealth of information on Roman Fever, and I think some of this information would be of great use to me.

Drabble, Margaret. "Wharton's Sharp Eye." Atlantic Monthly 288.1 (July-Aug. 2001): 166-170. Rpt. in Short Story Criticism. Ed. Jelena O. Krstovic. Vol. 120. Detroit: Gale, 2009. Literature Resource Center. Web. 17 Apr. 2014.

Margaret Drabble does such an amazing job of describing Whartons ability to make such sharp details in all of her stories. This article does not solely focus on Roman Fever, but Whartons other works as well. These include All souls, The Marne, and of course Writing a War Story. Giving so much backstory and detail to tension it gives us the ability to enjoy Whartons plot and story even more. The article talks about how Wharton uses her internal feelings to write about things as if she were really there and not just making up a story. Giving the reader the same amount of knowledge about the plot as the characters themselves. As I look back after reading such an amazing article, I would love to involve some of this information in my essay. Focusing particularly on plot and detail, I will be able to express even more to the reader after being able to see how Wharton meant something to be interpreted, instead of just written. I really cant wait to get started righting about plot. I feel like after this article plot will be my strongest point of the whole essay.

Phelan, James. "Progressing toward Surprise: Edith Wharton's 'Roman Fever.'." Experiencing Fiction: Judgments, Progressions, and the Rhetorical Theory of Narrative. Columbus: The Ohio State University Press, 2007. 95-108. Rpt. in Short Story Criticism. Ed. Jelena O. Krstovic. Vol. 120. Detroit: Gale, 2009. Literature Resource Center. Web. 17 Apr. 2014.

This article like the previous one is concerning plot. James Phelan draws us in from the very beginning with very deep and concerning detail pertaining to the story line in Roman Fever. He starts right at the beginning and dives into the setting and rising action. He discusses how the setting begins the tension a way long while before there is even any conflict. The setting sun gives the reader a feeling as though something bad is on its way. Things like that I never would have thought of. This will definitely be a great asset to my essay, and I am glad that I could find Mr. Phelans literary criticism on Roman Fever. This is my second source on plot, so I will only need to find one more source on the other literary component that I choose. Phelans article will really help me to gain literary credit and show the reader that my ideas about the plot are actually backed up by other credited authors.

Selina, Jamil S. "Wharton's 'Roman Fever.'." Explicator 65.2 (Winter 2007): 99-101. Rpt. in Short Story Criticism. Ed. Jelena O. Krstovic. Vol. 120. Detroit: Gale, 2009. Literature Resource Center. Web. 17 Apr. 2014.

Jamil provides me with a short, but interesting source on just a basic research paper of Roman Fever. She discusses the things that I too would like to discuss in my piece such as Woman ties, setting, and plot. She gives just a brief breakdown of how all things tie together into the story line, and provides a great summary of the short story. This article will be great for me to look back on when I get stuck and get some new ideas for things to write about. Jamil has basically layed out all of the hidden details, foreshadowing, and play on words that some unintelligent readers and myself may miss sometimes. This source will give me even more information to provide to my own reader.

Wharton, Edith. Roman Fever. The Norton Introduction to Literature. 11th Edition. Mays, Kelly. London, New York. 2013. Pg. 121-129

As you may guess, this is the actual textbook that I will be using to get my story from. The story has not been edited in any way by the textbook author/editor. This is however not the original copy, and has been printed in the book. It gives almost no real background information to the book author than a short bibliography of the author and how she got into writing the stories that they write today.

This will really help me because it will give me the opportunity to find information for myself, instead of relying on my textbook. That is actually the main point of this assignment, to find and correctly city the information we find online that will help us to create a great research paper with credible sources. I am very excited to get started on my essay and submit it to finally finish my ENC 1102 credit.