Designing a Research Topic and Searching the Secondary

Literature

Useful ReadingThere are many useful books and practical guides around now that teach you ‘how to write a thesis’ – consult the reading list for this course. Having looked at a fair sample, I have found the following two titles most helpful:

• Nigel Fabb and Alan Durant, How to Write Essays and Dissertations: A Guide for English Literature Students, 2nd edition (London: Pearson, 2005) – straightforward practical guide, breaks down the process of writing a thesis into its basic phases, offers plenty of useful tips

• Wayne C. Booth, Gregory G. Colomb and Joseph M. Williams, The Craft of Research (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, latest ed. 2003) – a more discursive, ‘philosophical’ approach to the topic; many practical tips but emphasis on the nature and process of research

A caveat

“No single formula can guide everyone’s research: you’ll spend time searching and reading just to

discover where you are and where you are going; you’ll spend time in blind alleys; and you’ll learn

more than your paper requires. In the end, however, that extra work will pay off: not just in a good paper, but in your ability to deal with new

problems more effectively.”

Wayne C. Booth, Gregory G. Colomb and Joseph M. Williams, The Craft of Research

(Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1995, 29)

What is a thesis?• A thesis is a contract: you ask a question and then you

answer it• Your central question can take the form of several

subsidiary questions, or form a sequence of questions, which then make up your argument

• The questions you ask do not have to be ‘big’, but they have to be specific

• You have control over your own questions, but: autonomy comes with responsibility

• Your questions might change in the process of writing• Make sure your thesis answers the questions you are

asking• Ideally, questions should be structured around

intellectual problems, not around ‘gaps’

What any thesis needs:

Topic (specific enough, not too broad)Questions (that guide your research)Problem (that your thesis will solve)

Structure (the form that your argument will take)Evidence (to support your argument)

Topic

• From an interest to a topic Example: film – world cinema – theme of exile

• Narrowing down a topic Example: the visual representation of exile in three Mandarin-language films

• Topics should be neither too general nor too specifictoo broad: World Cinema and the Condition of Exile too specific: The Impact of the Hand-held Camera on the Representation of Exile in one Iranian Film

• How personal should a topic be?

Limit yourself

• Define the boundaries of your topic

• Contexts can expand indefinitely, so find reasonable cut-off points

• Do not digress into areas of little relevance to your central question

• Be specific! Define your terms!

• Less might be more

Another caveat

Don’t expect immediate success. There is no linear or straightforward way of finding a suitable research

topic.

“You will find yourself drafting a summary before you have gathered all your data; you will start formulating an

argument before you have all your evidence; and when you think you have an argument worth making, you may discover you have to return to the library for more

evidence. You may even discover that you have to rethink the questions you have been asking.”

(Booth et al, p. 30)

Questions

• Asking the right questions is key to successful research

• Start with ‘who, what, where, when’ (facts), but move on to ‘how’ and ‘why’ (analysis)

• Question your topic from as many angles as you can think of – questions give your research purpose and direction

• Listening to other people’s questions might help you formulate your own

• There are some questions that have no answers

From a question to its significance – three useful steps:

a) Name your topic: I am working on/studying …

b) Suggest a question: I am working on/studying ... because I want to find out how/why ...

c) Motivate the question/find a rationale: I am working on/studying … because I want to find out how/why … in order to understand how/why …

(Cf Booth et al, pp. 42-5)

The killer question: ‘so what?’

Problem• Your questions should help you solve a

research problem• A problem is something you do not yet

know or understand• Ask yourself why are you asking certain

questions• A problem might be the origin of your

research …• … but you may not be able to formulate

your problem fully at the outset

Structure

• Any thesis needs a clear focus and a mode of argument

• Your chapter outline ideally reflects both• Possible foci: author/s, text/s, generic groupings,

historical issues, theoretical issues, …• Possible modes of argument: revalue a

reputation, analyse an aspect of style, relate text/film to historical/literary/aesthetic context/s, describe/interpret a text/film, take sides in an ongoing critical argument, exemplify critical theories/approaches with reference to a particular text/film, …

Evidence

• All answers must be based on evidence

• What is your evidence?

• Always ask yourself: what is it in the text and/or context that makes me think this is the right answer?

• Always explain: what is self-evident to you might not be self-evident to others

• Always avoid generalizations

Topical Examples

• Here are some titles of MA theses from 2006-07:

Timelessness in Homer’s Odyssey

Forms of Vengeance in Ancient Greek and Shakespearean Theatre

Mrs Dalloway: A Postmodern Pastiche

The History Behind the American Gangster Film

The Beast Within: A Study of Victorian Gothic

From Albatross to Automaton: Depictions of Femininity in Baudelaire

Titles raise expectations but they don’t say anything about the success of the thesis

Selecting texts

• Primary and secondary literature

• Choice of primary literature (possible criteria: representative, best known, unjustly neglected …)

• Choice should be consistent with the overall direction of your argument

• Use the right editions!

Finding secondary literature• Why consult secondary literature? The importance of critical

contexts• Start with random wandering: bookshops, libraries, journals,

newspapers, websites …• Aim: to get an idea what’s out there and what others are currently

working on• The next step is to search systematically: start with bibliographies in

printed books, then move on to specialised bibliographies and databases

• Use the library! Speak to librarians!• Check the departmental webpages for resources (Film, Drama,

Literature)• MLA—the most comprehensive bibliography in literary studies

(incorporated in LION)

Some tips on secondary reading• Be selective: there will always be a lot more to read than you have

time for• First criterion: availability. Is the book in the library, can you get it

through inter-library loan? How long would this take? Check this early, to avoid later frustration

• Survey range of titles in your field and the frequency of certain topics • Read recent books first: they may include useful summaries of earlier

works and debates, plus an up-to-date bibliography you can ransack• How to read the single book or article:

- start with contents page and, if possible, try to construct the book’s argument- read preface/introduction, then look at bibliography and index. What does the article/book include, what does it leave out? - read last page/conclusion of book/article for possible summary - gauge importance of the work against what you already know

• Always keep notes when reading! And from the start, take down the exact bibliographical details—this will save you much time when doing the footnotes at the end

The Secondary Literature Review

This exercise counts for 15% of the course assessment

Due Wednesday 12 December 2007, 4 pm, to Jane Thorp (5A.115)

Creating an initial bibliography is a core component in any research strategy. Books and journals continue to be a vital source of material, but other resources include databases, CD-roms, and websites. Much

web-based information, unlike printed matter, tends to lack any form of editorial control so remember to

be both wary and critical of the sources you use.

The Secondary Literature Review

Your secondary literature review needs to be keyed towards the research of a particular topic. If you

have a dissertation topic in mind, then this exercise will help you along the way. If you have a possible

topic, then the exercise might help you decide whether it’s viable. If you don’t have any idea yet,

then simply choose any feasible topic. You will not be penalised if the topic of the Secondary Literature

Review (SLR) doesn’t become your actual dissertation topic.

The Secondary Literature Review

Your SLR should start with the title for this putative dissertation ( a purely descriptive title is fine).

Follow that with a brief (c. 50 words) description of its scope and a note of the primary texts involved.

These elements are for orientation.

The Secondary Literature Review

The main body of the SLR should consist of between six and twelve entries (six if they all books, twelve if they are all

chapters or journal articles; or any appropriate combination in between those numbers, according to your judgement of what is most relevant for the topic). Each entry should be divided

into: a) content (topic, scope); b) critical/theoretical orientation (what approach is discernible?); c) argument (what sorts of conclusions are drawn?); d) advantages and shortcomings (what might this item offer your project? what might be its

drawbacks?). The purpose, in other words, is not simply to provide a booklist, but a critical/theoretical catalogue with a rationale as to why and how the books and essays you cite

could be used to further the project.

The Secondary Literature Review

The entire word count should be between 2000-2500. Concision and communicability are the keywords –

each entry should not be so short that it can’t be read intelligibly by a third party; not so long that it

becomes an essay in itself.

The bibliographical materials should be presented in the correct scholarly manner according to the style

guide in the MA Handbook.