This guide has been developed to assist you in the research for your ENGL 2322 class. Below you will find a copy of the assignment and important dates to remember.
The "General Literary Criticism Research" tab above contains information about researching in the library subscription databases, which databases to use to conduct literary research and a quick video about using the TCC libraries to conduct literary research.
The "Advanced Literary Criticism Research" tab above contains information and step-by-step instructions on conducting an advanced search in the Literature Resource Center database as well as information on using the Gale Literary Index to search for literary criticism in library reference works.
Under "Evaluating and Citing Sources in MLA Style" you will find information, websites and documents to help you format your work. You will also find information on avoiding plagiarism in your written work.
If you still need additional assistance, look under the "Help!" tab for the Library and Librarian contact info.
Dates:
September 5th
Library tentative identification of writer and literary work
September 15th
Works Consulted ( a list of sources in MLA format/alphabetical order that you may be able to use for your research). Due to Blackboard@11:59 p.m.
British Literature to 1798
Fall 2018
Research Project
The research assignment will focus on one of the goals for this semester. You may
choose one of the following or a variation of it—
1. Identify key ideas, representative authors and works, significant historical or cultural
events, and characteristic perspectives or attitudes expressed in the literature of different
periods or regions by identifying contextual literary influences; distinguishing
sociological forces or;
2. Analyze literary works as expressions of individual or communal values within the
social, political, cultural, or religious contexts of different literary periods by
a. distinguishing universal and period themes;
b. identifying literary movements;
c. categorizing works by movements;
d. giving examples of multicultural traits;
e. differentiating among cultural elements;
f. inferring minority voice.
3. Demonstrate knowledge of the development of characteristic forms or styles of
expression during different historical periods or in different regions by
a. identifying themes and other literary devices;
b. interpreting function of literary elements;
c. explaining authorial style;
d. distinguishing period traits.
We will begin the preliminary work in the library next week with an orientation of the
various resources that are available. You may, over the weekend, think about a writer and a work
or works by that writer you would be interested in researching and arguing. You may choose
from any of the three genres we will cover this semester— poetry, drama, or novel.
Your assignment is to identify a writer and literary work, prepare an annotated
bibliography, write a five page paper, and create a visual presentation ( short film, Prezi,
video…) that demonstrates your knowledge of the literary work and topic you’ve chosen.
This has the potential to be an exciting project and can also be fun as you will learn research
techniques, MLA formatting, and compiling images to create a narrative of your research. The
assignment will be done in stages. This week and next will be spent identifying a writer and
literary work, learning what resources are available to you in the library and gathering
preliminary sources. Ask for help if you need it. We will work in our writing groups with peer
editing and learn how to incorporate your peers’ comments into your work. We will also spend
class time working on the visual part of the project. Please note that particularly for the visual
aspect of the assignment, all completed presentations will be turned in on the same date. This
allows for fairness—you may be scheduled to present at the end of the schedule but may not
have extra time to complete your presentation. During the presentation, the class and/or I may
ask questions. If you are unprepared or do not know your material, you will have problems. You
are the “instructor” and must behave as professionally as possible. You control the discussion/
presentation with your information. If you don’t know it, your classmates will realize this.
Please be prepared to answer. If you need assistance or have questions, feel free to ask in class
or come by during my office hours.