Research Assignments

General

This series of assignments, as indicated in the course syllabus, requires you to (1) formulate a research problem, (2) develop a "toolbox" (a list of kinds of resources and their purposes) and prepare a basic annotated bibliography to be used in solving the problem, and (3) develop an outline of a solution to the problem. Thus, although you will not actually be writing and submitting the research paper to which this process might normally lead, you will be doing much of the groundwork for such a paper.

Topic limitation: Your project must focus on a work of literature included in our textbook (The Norton Anthology of English Literature, 8th ed., volumes A and B [or equivalent]) that we have not studied for class. With my written permission (request such permission by e-mail, please), you may select a work we have studied in class so long as you identify an issue ("problem" or question) we have not treated in class.

All documentation for these assignments must be prepared using correct MLA documentation style. The most current description of this style is Gibaldi, MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, 6th ed. This book will also provide basic guidance on resources for your research. A more specialized and extensive guide to literary research tools is Harner, Literary Research Guide: An Annotated Listing of Reference Sources in English Literary Studies, 4th ed. (See Works Cited for full citations.)

Assignment 1: Find and Formulate a Problem.

Due date: March 29, 2006

Your written work for this assignment will comprise (1) a statement of the problem, posed as a question; (2) a discussion of what the problem entails; and (3) an explanation of why the problem you have identified is a "good problem."

For the purposes of this series of assignments, a "good problem" is one that meets the following criteria:

• It is interesting in some sense to the researcher.
• Solving the problem (answering the question) will add something to the understanding of the work in question.
• The problem is limited enough to allow some resolution, at least a preliminary or tentative one. (Final resolutions—ones that are, verifiably, the "last word" on an issue—are notoriously rare. There's almost always something more to learn about an issue.)
• The problem cannot reasonably be solved by an ordinary reader's unaided analysis of the work in question. That is to say, the problem's resolution (the question's answer) will depend to some extent on information discoverable by research (e.g., facts, informed opinion, expert analysis) added to a careful reading of the text of the work in question. Discoverable information may, of course, be drawn from many different domains (linguistics, history, science, theology, religion, philosophy . . .) and still be relevant to an understanding of a literary work.

 

Assignment 2: Assemble a Toolbox and Prepare an Annotated Bibliography

Due date: April 10, 2006 April 12, 2006

Your written work for this assignment will comprise two lists, appropriately elaborated and documented: (1) a list of the kinds of tools you will use to solve your problem (kinds of "finders" [bibliographies, etc.] and kinds of "providers" [sources that provide the information you need]) and (2) an annotated bibliography, each entry supported by a copy of the first page (for essays in journals or online essays) or the title page (for books).

The bibliography must include at least five items and both books and essays/articles, no more than two of which may be Internet based. The annotation for each item must indicate the contribution the source will make to the solution of your selected problem (your question). Annotations should be written as paragraphs (use complete sentences, be coherent, and so forth).

Resources for answering literary questions should not necessarily be limited to strictly literary analyses or literary studies and reference works. For example, if my problem relates to the use of a color in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (the green and gold associated with Bertilak in his Otherworldly guise, say, or the red and gold associated with Gawain himself), I would of course want to know what literary scholars have to say about green and red (and gold) in medieval works. But I would also want to ask (if my literary sources didn't take me there already) what these colors signify in a number of extra-literary contexts: heraldry, medicine, alchemy, the visual arts, etc.

Assignment 3: Outline a Solution to the Problem.

Due date: April 19, 2006 April 26, 2006

Your written work for this assignment will be the outline of a proposed solution to your selected problem. The outline will be prefaced by a paragraph indicating the extent to which you have satisfied yourself in solving the problem (answering the question) you posed in Assignment 1. The outline should use normal outline conventions and, in appropriate places in the outline, indicate where the resources you identified in Assignment 2 would contribute to the solution. If any of the resources identified in Assignment 2 ultimately do not contribute, a paragraph at the end of the outline should so state and explain why.