Sunday, September 30, 2012

The Literary Research Paper

Writing a research paper over a short story you've read requires that you first read the stories; in this case, you'll need to read "Young Goodman Brown," and "The Things They Carried."  We'll discuss "YGB" in class, then "TTTC."

Following our discussion, you'll receive the topics for research and choose one for which you will create a thesis statement and support from details in the story AND from available resources. The critical essays will come directly from the Literature Resource Center, available online, via Galileo Scholar:
Literature Resource Center

There will be three essays on each story; thus, you will read those essays and use information to support your work. While you are welcome and ENCOURAGED to locate, review, and use other reference material for your research, you will be REQUIRED to use information from each of the critical essays that have been pre-selected.

PLEASE NOTE: The amount of information available on either of these stories or authors can be overwhelming; I have chosen 3 essays on each short story that I believe you can actually use in writing your paper, rather than requiring you to sift through the abundance of sources.  I will also explain anything in those essays you do not understand; however, it will be up to YOU to carefully select and incorporate information into your paper.

We will begin "Young Goodman Brown" in class, Monday, Oct. 1. It is a story altogether fitting for October and Halloween. It has even served as inspiration for a short story by Stephen King.

No comments:

Post a Comment