SHERLOCK HOLMES
ENG 1510
Writing and Rhetoric I
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Instructor: Dr. Benham
INVESTIGATIONS
CASE OF THE MUTILATED MIDDLEMARCH
For this project, you will rewrite a scene from either The Sign of Four or the Sherlock episode we analyzed with Sherlock inhabiting a subject-position other than his customary upper-class, cisgender, heterosexual, able-bodied white man. Your rewrite should be 6-7 pages long, though there is no penalty for a longer story. This project will also include a 2-3-page reflection that explains your rhetoric choices and reflects upon your thoughts and feelings during the assignment.
ESSAYS
FINAL PROJECT
You will write two analysis essays: a Textual Analysis essay on The sign of Four and a Visual Analysis essay that examines an aspect of the Sherlock episode or a comparison of the novel and the episode. These essays will be thesis driven and will demonstrate your close-reading abilities as well as your essay-writing skills (which we will teach first).
​This project gives you a chance to practice your skills of observation and deduction. A classic Victorian text, Middlemarch by George Eliot, has been found mutilated on the second floor of the library. The librarians have requested our assistance in helping them solve this case. There are six suspects - some of whom were the last to see the book alive and well - and others who clearly had a grudge against this book. Students will interview the suspects, verify the suspect's claims through independent research, and then collaboratively make a report stating why their suspect is or is not the villain.
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