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I’m a university student in a Wikipedia Education class, and I’m currently learning how to contribute to Wikipedia.
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Associated WikiProjects: edit
My article titled “The Adventures of Rivella” intends to provide an encyclopaedic summation on the publication and contents of the novel The Adventures of Rivella (1714) written by Delarivier Manley. Accordingly, it could be associated with the following three different WikiProjects:
1. WikiProject Literature: (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:WikiProject_Literature) . It is associated with this WikiProject because its subject could be classified as part of “general literature subjects, literary terms or genres”.[1]
2. WikiProject Novels: (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:WikiProject_Novels) . It is associated with this WikiProject as The Adventures of Rivella is a work of “narrative fiction that exhibit(s) novel-like structure, regardless of (its) length and genre”.[2]
3. Wiki Project Women Writers: (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:WikiProject_Women_writers) . My Article is associated with this WikiProject as it concerns itself with a published work written by the 18th Century Female Author Delarivier Manley.
Article Description: edit
The Adventures of Rivella (1714) is a semi-autobiographical fictional novel written by English writer Delarivier Manley.[3] The work details the events and incidents incurred by the fictional character ‘Rivella’ as told through a conversation between two male protagonists, being Sir Lovemore and Sir D’Aumont.[4] The fictional narrative includes various events that Rivella encounters including her early life, marriage, and prosecution in two separate legal cases. Through its narrative, the novel presents semi-autobiographical story that addresses literary questions regarding conventional equations of female writers in England during the eighteenth century, as well as the distinction between sexual abstinence and moral virtue.[5] The novel has been best described as frame-narrative, which presents what Fidelis Morgan (1986) claims to be, a preeminent source for information about the life of its author Delarivier Manley.[6]
Titles of Sections: edit
1. Plot Summary
This section’s purpose aims to provide an encyclopaedic summation of the novel’s narrative characters and events, as they chronologically appear in the novel. Subsequently, it will describe sections of the novel under sub-sections, which will be ordered in correspondence with the chronological progression of the novel’s plot, to make sure all information is situated in the appropriate context of the narrative. Possible sub-headings include:
i. Opening
ii. Rivella’s Marriage
iii. Rivella’s Court Appearances
iv. Conclusion
(Note: these sub-headings are subject to change if more descriptive chronological sub-headings are applicable).
2. Sources
This section will aim to explain the developmental history of The Adventures of Rivella as well as describe its origin as a fictional, autobiographical work that represents the life of Delarivier Manley.
3. Themes & Analysis
The purpose of this section is to lay out a thematic description of the novel’s major themes and issues, focusing on those themes, which have been the subject of discussion by academic literary critics (i.e. scholars).
4. Publication History
This section will recount the novel’s publication origins and lineage, including the year and location of publication, publisher name, and any major republications up to the present date.
5. Literary Significance & Reception
The purpose of this section is to provide a description of the work’s initial reception and legacy based on the work of literary critics and commentators over the years. It may also include a list of any awards or significant nominations Manley’s work received, as well as a brief description of any adaptions of the novel’s fictional narrative.
Sources & Annotations: edit
Manley, Delarivier, and Katherine Zelinsky. The Adventures of Rivella. (Broadview Press, 1999).
This book will be primarily used in the “Plot summary”, “Sources”, and “Themes and Analysis” sections of the article. It provides a detailed preface and revised edition of Manley’s original novel edited by Zelinsky, which will prove integral to summating the novel’s content, and developmental history. Essentially, it would be impossible to write a verifiable and notable article about the novel without having articulate references to the narratives literary details and contents, which this source provides. Comparatively, this source provides ‘significant coverage’ of the articles topic by essentially being a published secondary source’ that contains an edited version of The Adventures of Rivella.
Morgan, Fidelis. A woman of no character: an autobiography of Mrs. Manley. (Faber & Faber, 1986).
This publication is a secondary source that provides a scholarly review of Delarivier Manley’s life as depicted in her fictional works The New Atlantis (1709) and The Adventures of Rivella (1714). As this source is ‘independent of the subject’ of my article It will be used mostly within the “Themes & Analysis” section of the article for its literary critique of the novel’s form and contents. However, it could also be referenced in the “Literary Significance & Reception” section as the source provides a detailed reaction to Manley as a female writer, and to the novel’s reception as a fictional description of Manley’s life.
Barash, Carol L. "Gender, authority and the ‘life ‘of an eighteenth-century woman writer: Delarivière Manley's adventures of Rivella." In Women's Studies International Forum, vol. 10, no. 2, pp. 165-169. Pergamon, 1987.
This academic journal article is a published secondary source that is ‘independent of the subject’ of my article, and provides a discussion on how The Adventures of Rivella is characterised by the structures of representation that grow out of women’s social and economic situation in the early eighteenth century. Subsequently, it will be used in the Themes & Analysis” section of the Wikipedia article for ‘significant coverage’ of the novel’s narrative and themes through its literary critique.
Carnell, Rachel. "The Adventures of Rivella as Political Secret History." In New Perspectives on Delarivier Manley and Eighteenth Century Literature, pp. 33-47. Routledge, 2016.
This secondary source provides a significant amount of information regarding the literary and socio-economic significance of The Adventures of Rivella at its time of publication. In its form as a journal article it remains ‘independent of the subject’ whilst elaborating and explaining key moments in the novel’s narrative in relation to Delarivier Manley’s political position. This article will be a beneficial and reliable source when writing both the “Themes & Analysis” and “Literary Significance and Reception” sections due to it being part of a published book on the subject of my article.
Temple, Kathryn. "Manley's “Feigned Scene”: The Fictions of Law at Westminster Hall." Eighteenth-Century Fiction 22, no. 4 (2010): 573-598.
This article will be used alongside it’s for mentioned counterparts to contribute to the ‘notability’ of the “Themes & Analysis” section. Written by an author who is ‘independent of the subject’, this article will provide great insight into the novel’s relationship with socio-politically historic events that occurred during the eighteenth century in England. Essentially, this article provides ‘significant coverage’ of the novel and its author, whilst maintaining its ‘reliability’ as a secondary source that has been published in a peer-reviewed journal.
Reference List edit
1. Manley, Delarivier, and Katherine Zelinsky. The Adventures of Rivella. (Broadview Press, 1999).
2. Morgan, Fidelis. A woman of no character: an autobiography of Mrs. Manley. (Faber & Faber, 1986).
3. Temple, Kathryn. "Manley's “Feigned Scene”: The Fictions of Law at Westminster Hall." Eighteenth-Century Fiction 22, no. 4 (2010): 573-598.
4. Carnell, Rachel. "The Adventures of Rivella as Political Secret History." In New Perspectives on Delarivier Manley and Eighteenth Century Literature, pp. 33-47. Routledge, 2016.
5. Barash, Carol L. "Gender, authority and the ‘life ‘of an eighteenth-century woman writer: Delarivière Manley's adventures of Rivella." In Women's Studies International Forum, vol. 10, no. 2, pp. 165-169. Pergamon, 1987.
[1] See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:WikiProject_Literature
[2] See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:WikiProject_Novels/ArticleTemplate
[3] Morgan, Fidelis. A woman of no character: an autobiography of Mrs. Manley. (Faber & Faber, 1986).
[4] Manley, Delarivier, and Katherine Zelinsky. The Adventures of Rivella. (Broadview Press, 1999).
[5] Manley, Delarivier, and Katherine Zelinsky. The Adventures of Rivella. (Broadview Press, 1999).
[6] Morgan, Fidelis. A woman of no character: an autobiography of Mrs. Manley. (Faber & Faber, 1986).