Writing Workshop Reporting Literary Research Assignment Prewriting Choose and Narrow a Research...
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Writing WorkshopReporting Literary Research
AssignmentPrewriting
Choose and Narrow a Research TopicConsider Purpose, Audience, and ToneMake a Research PlanGet an Overview and Find SourcesNote SourcesResearch and Take NotesAnalyze Research InformationWrite a Thesis StatementMake an OutlineDocument SourcesPractice and Apply
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Assignment: Write a formal research paper of six pages on a topic that links literature and historical investigation.
Literary research involves the study of literary works and the sources that shed light on them.
How do you think researching the history of a period might help you understand a literary work, its author, and the culture that produced it?
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Reporting Literary ResearchAssignment
Reporting Literary ResearchPrewriting: Choose and Narrow a Research Topic
Consider the plays we’ve read and what you know about Shakespeare and the time period during which he lived and worked.
Do some preliminary research (textbook, general reference works, the Internet).
Reporting Literary ResearchPrewriting: Choose and Narrow a Research Topic
Choose a general literary topic.
Decide on your historical approach.
how Shakespeare’s life influenced his writing
how the plays reflect the culture of Renaissance England
Shakespeare’s comments
on life in his time
Prejudice in the plays
Themes in the plays
Women in the plays
Marriage in the plays
Reporting Literary ResearchPrewriting: Choose and Narrow a Research Topic
Narrow your topic.
broad topic: Shakespeare’s plays and medieval culture
What interests me about Shakespeare’s portrayal of English culture?
how he portrays women in society
What interests me about the women in the plays?
Limited topic: how the complex female characters in Shakespeare’s work reflect the conflicting ideas about women’s roles at that time
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Purpose: to inform
Reporting Literary ResearchPrewriting: Consider Purpose, Audience, and Tone
Your research paper will be an original synthesis of ideas and information:
Audience: teacher and classmates
Tone: objective and formal (but not stuffy)
information you gather from research
+conclusions you draw from that information
your own insights into the topic
+
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Use the 5W-How? method to make a list of research questions:
Reporting Literary ResearchPrewriting: Make a Research Plan
did blahbedy blah blah blahHow
Why
Where
When
Who
What
are the female characters in the plays?
are their personalities like?
did Renaissance women get involved in business?
did Renaissance women spend their leisure time?
were women’s activities restricted?
did men treat women during Shakespeare’s time?
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Reporting Literary ResearchPrewriting: Get an Overview and Find Sources
Search for answers to your research questions.
• Look at general reference works to get an overview of your topic.
• Then look for sources with more specific information.
• Explore both print and nonprint resources.
Reporting Literary ResearchPrewriting: Get an Overview and Find Sources
Search for answers to your research questions.
Some specific places to start:
online encyclopedia
school or local library’s subscription
databases
museums or historical societies
film or TV documentaries
periodical indexes, such as the Readers’ Guide to Periodical Literature
Reporting Literary ResearchPrewriting: Get an Overview and Find Sources
Include a balance of primary sources and secondary sources.
Primary sources
Secondary sources
Reporting Literary ResearchPrewriting: Get an Overview and Find Sources
A letter Shakespeare wrote to his wife
A journal article analyzing “Macbeth”
Identify each of the following sources as primary or secondary.
primary
secondary
A video of an interview with a Shakespeare scholar
A historical document stating that Shakespeare was under King James, patronage
secondary
primary
Reporting Literary ResearchPrewriting: Get an Overview and Find Sources
Reliable, valid sources are usually those published by universities or respected publishing companies.
To make sure a source is reliable and valid, ask:
• Are the facts accurate?• Are the ideas presented objectively?
Reporting Literary ResearchPrewriting: Get an Overview and Find Sources
Cover all relevant perspectives, or points of view.
women characters in Shakespeare’s plays
Literary critics
Shakespeare biographers
Other writers from the 1500s
Sociologists
Renaissance historians
Experts in women’s studies
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Reporting Literary ResearchPrewriting: Note Sources
a source card, or bibliography card, for each source.
each source. (You’ll use these handy numbers as shorthand when you’re taking notes.)
the publishing information for your Works Cited list (see the Writing Workshop for this collection in your text).
Keep a record of your sources.
an annotation—a short note about the contents of the source.
the call number or location of the source.
Noodletools will simplify this process for you.
Make
Record
Number
Add
Include
Reporting Literary ResearchPrewriting: Research and Take Notes
the source number and the page number(s).
a separate note card for each main idea.
Take notes on information that will help answer your research questions.
a heading showing the main idea.
Use
Include
Write
the note to make sure you understand it.Re-read
Record each piece of information either as a direct quotation, a paraphrase, or a summary.
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Reporting Literary ResearchPrewriting: Analyze Research Information
Divide your notes into categories based on their headings. Then subdivide each set based on relevant aspects of the category.
Prioress
Appearance Interests
French Animals
Fine foreheadJewelry
Rosary Gold brooch
Reporting Literary ResearchPrewriting: Analyze Research Information
To analyze your notes, ask:
Is the factual information consistent?
Do different sources interpret factual information differently?
If two sources conflict in their presentation of the facts, determine which source is more reliable and valid, and use the information from that source.
If two sources differ on an interpretation, consider logic, common sense, and different perspectives, and then explain the different interpretations.
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Assert yourself. Write a thesis statement stating your topic and your conclusion about it.
Reporting Literary ResearchPrewriting: Write a Thesis Statement
Chaucer’s complex, often inconsistent female characters reflect the changing roles of women in fourteenth-century England.
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Reporting Literary ResearchPrewriting: Make an OutlineOrder, please. Think about the most effective order for presenting your ideas. (You’ll probably use a combination of organizational patterns.)
• chronological order—the order in which events occur
• logical order—related ideas are grouped together
• order of importance—most important idea to least important, or the reverse
Reporting Literary ResearchPrewriting: Make an OutlineMake a formal outline.
I. IntroductionA. Overview of researchB. Thesis statement
II. The PrioressA. Appearance
1. Fine forehead2. Jewelry
a. Green-beaded rosaryb. Gold brooch with
mottoB. Interests/pleasures
1. French language2. Animal lover
major divisions of your paper
secondary divisions
supporting examplesspecific details
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Plagiarizing is a form of cheating. Make sure to document all sources in your paper to avoid taking credit for others’ work.
Reporting Literary ResearchPrewriting: Document Sources
how to document sources
what to document
See the examples in your textbook.
Every direct quotation
Any original theory not your own
Data from studies and interviews
Anything you’re not sure of
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Use the preceding instructions to
Reporting Literary Research
• select a topic for your literary research paper,
• locate and record information from primary and secondary sources,
• write a thesis statement, and
• plan your paper’s documentation.
Be sure to follow the guidelines for making source cards and taking notes.
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The End