English 4 DC: World Literature Research Project

Transcription

1 Overview of the Assignment English 4 DC: World Literature Research Project In this semester-long assignment, you will (1) select a piece of short literature either from our course calendar of readings or from volumes D, E, and F of The Norton Anthology of World Literature, (2) perform close reading and literary analysis of the chosen poem or short story, (3) conduct investigative research, (4) synthesize your research to support an original thesis or argument, and (5) write a paper that discusses your findings and conclusion and documents your research. This project is composed of multiple assignments and grades, including research proposal with literary analysis, thesis statement, and well-documented 5-7 page paper with works cited page. See below for due dates. The Research Proposal with Literary Analysis Due: (Project grade) To get started on this project, use the following criteria to select an appropriate piece of literature: make it short (less than 20 pages), give yourself something to work with so stick to poetry and short fiction (avoid nonfiction, such as essays and biography or autobiography), make sure it comes from this semester s textbooks, and feel free to shop around and be choosy about your selection. After you have made your selection, read it closely and carefully perform literary analysis. This is part of a major grade, so use the attached guidelines to make your analysis thorough and relevant. This typed document will be attached to your research proposal. Next, what direction will your research take? Are you left with any big questions after having read and analyzed the piece? Research is best conducted to answer a question. This question, your research question, can be simple, but the answer (your thesis) should be relatively complex and require research to fully develop and support. If you already have a research question, then jump into your research. If you don t, then start with broad research of scholarly sites and databases. What literary/social/political aspects of your selection do other scholars seem interested in? What about it are you interested in? What can you add to the scholarly discussion on this particular piece of literature? You need to find at least two sources to complete your research proposal. In your proposal, include the following: Title and author of selected piece Research question to be answered through research; the eventual answer is your thesis. Research Plan is a brief statement ( words or 1-2 concise paragraphs) in which you indicate the idea or subject you wish to explore, why you chose this subject, and how you plan to proceed in your research. Annotated bibliography of at least 3 items: the primary source and two secondary sources useful for your paper. Use MLA format to document your sources. Your annotations should be brief (1-2 sentences) that both summarize the source and comment on its usefulness.

2 The Working Thesis Due: (Quiz grade) As you conduct your research, remember to focus on scholarly sources. Books from university and trade presses, journal articles (printed or online), and other scholarly materials (especially recent ones) are helpful to include. Materials that should be avoided include textbooks, with the exception of the primary source and a good critical introduction to the piece, and most websites, which have not been evaluated by reputable scholars before publication. As you progress in your research, your argument should begin to come together, and you should be able to answer your research question with a single sentence. This is your working thesis, which must be submitted prior to the writing of your paper. This document must be MLA-formatted and printed before class on the due date indicated above. Be sure to include your topic (author and title of literary selection), original research question, and working thesis (your topic plus your major point about or slant on that topic). Also, be sure that your thesis is expressed in a single, clear, concise, complete sentence. The Research Paper Due: (Project grade) After you ve conducted research and crafted a brilliant thesis, the only thing left to do is give your argument structure and support by molding it into a paper. As you do, make sure that you incorporate plenty of secondary sources to support your argument about your primary source. Plagiarism, either intentional or unintentional, will result in a grade of zero. If you are unclear on what constitutes plagiarism, see me! Do limit yourself to no more than two long or block quotes in your paper. Also, be sure to employ MLA-formatting to both the paper and the works cited page. The paper needs to be between 5-7 pages long, excluding works cited. (No cover page is necessary for this assignment.) me your paper and works cited page as a single attachment (save paper as initials-classperiod-abbreviatedtitle, for example BDR-2-WaterInRivers) before class on the above due date and bring a printed copy to class to class to turn in. Listen up! This goes without saying, but I will say it nonetheless Plagiarism, however brief and unintentional, jeopardizes the academic integrity of your work, and at no part in this project is it acceptable or appropriate. Don t risk your grade for sloppy documentation!

3 Overview of the Assignment English 4 AP: World Literature Research Project In this semester-long assignment, you will (1) select a piece of short literature either from our course calendar of readings or from Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing by X.J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia, (2) perform close reading and literary analysis of the chosen poem or short story, (3) conduct investigative research, (4) synthesize your research to support an original thesis or argument, and (5) write a paper that discusses your findings and conclusion and documents your research. This project is composed of multiple assignments and grades, including research proposal with literary analysis, thesis statement, and well-documented 5-7 page paper with works cited page. See below for due dates. The Research Proposal with Literary Analysis Due: (Project grade) To get started on this project, use the following criteria to select an appropriate piece of literature: make it short (less than 20 pages), give yourself something to work with so stick to poetry and short fiction (avoid nonfiction, such as essays and biography or autobiography), make sure it comes from this year s textbook, and feel free to shop around and be choosy about your selection. After you have made your selection, read it closely and carefully perform literary analysis. This is part of a major grade, so use the attached guidelines to make your analysis thorough and relevant. This typed document will be attached to your research proposal. Next, what direction will your research take? Are you left with any big questions after having read and analyzed the piece? Research is best conducted to answer a question. This question, your research question, can be simple, but the answer (your thesis) should be relatively complex and require research to fully develop and support. If you already have a research question, then jump into your research. If you don t, then start with broad research of scholarly sites and databases. What literary/social/political aspects of your selection do other scholars seem interested in? What about it are you interested in? What can you add to the scholarly discussion on this particular piece of literature? You need to find at least two sources to complete your research proposal. In your proposal, include the following: Title and author of selected piece Research question to be answered through research; the eventual answer is your thesis. Research Plan is a brief statement ( words or 1-2 concise paragraphs) in which you indicate the idea or subject you wish to explore, why you chose this subject, and how you plan to proceed in your research. Annotated bibliography of at least 3 items: the primary source and two secondary sources useful for your paper. Use MLA format to document your sources. Your annotations should be brief (1-2 sentences) that both summarize the source and comment on its usefulness.

4 The Working Thesis Due: (Quiz grade) As you conduct your research, remember to focus on scholarly sources. Books from university and trade presses, journal articles (printed or online), and other scholarly materials (especially recent ones) are helpful to include. Materials that should be avoided include textbooks, with the exception of the primary source and a good critical introduction to the piece, and most websites, which have not been evaluated by reputable scholars before publication. As you progress in your research, your argument should begin to come together, and you should be able to answer your research question with a single sentence. This is your working thesis, which must be submitted prior to the writing of your paper. This document must be MLA-formatted and printed before class on the due date indicated above. Be sure to include your topic (author and title of literary selection), original research question, and working thesis (your topic plus your major point about or slant on that topic). Also, be sure that your thesis is expressed in a single, clear, concise, complete sentence. The Research Paper Due: (Project grade) After you ve conducted research and crafted a brilliant thesis, the only thing left to do is give your argument structure and support by molding it into a paper. As you do, make sure that you incorporate plenty of secondary sources to support your argument about your primary source. Plagiarism, either intentional or unintentional, will result in a grade of zero. If you are unclear on what constitutes plagiarism, see me! Do limit yourself to no more than two long or block quotes in your paper. Also, be sure to employ MLA-formatting to both the paper and the works cited page. The paper needs to be between 5-7 pages long, excluding works cited. (No cover page is necessary for this assignment.) me your paper and works cited page as a single attachment (save paper as initials-classperiod-abbreviatedtitle, for example BDR-2-WaterInRivers) before class on the above due date and bring a printed copy to class to class to turn in. Listen up! This goes without saying, but I will say it nonetheless Plagiarism, however brief and unintentional, jeopardizes the academic integrity of your work, and at no part in this project is it acceptable or appropriate. Don t risk your grade for sloppy documentation!

5 AP/DC English 4 Research Project: Proposal & Analysis Research Proposal Consider the following example as you work on your own research proposal. While yours may be slightly different in content, the format and general appearance will be the same. While you need to outline your plan for research, also briefly explain your choice of topic or interest in the topic. You will have 3 sources here: the primary source and 2 secondary sources. Be sure to annotate each source on your research proposal. See below for an example. Dawahare, Anthony. Langston Hughes s Radical Poetry and the End of Race. MELUS: Poetry and Poetics 23.3 (1998): JSTOR. Web. 9 Feb While much of this article focuses on race in various Hughes s poems, Dewahare does specifically address race and social, political, and spiritual disenfranchisement in The Negro Speaks of Rivers. He clarifies several of the religious images in the poem and digs into Hughes s symbolic use of the Mississippi and Euphrates Rivers.

6 Literary Analysis This typed document must be MLA-formatted and address each the following areas (according to the type of literature you selected) in a thorough paragraph written in complete sentences, providing quotes (with page numbers cited parenthetically) to support your responses and assertions. Literary Analysis of Poetry: TP-CASTT Title: Examine the title before reading the poem. Consider connotations or implied meanings. Paraphrase: Translate the poem into your own words (literal/denotation). Resist the urge to jump to interpretation. A failure to understand what happens literally inevitably leads to an interpretive misunderstanding. HINT: Look for syntactical units (complete sentences) rather individual lines. Connotation: Examine the poem for meaning beyond the literal. Consider diction, imagery (especially metaphor, simile, and personification), symbolism, irony (paradox, understatement, and oxymoron), allusion, and effect of sound devices (alliteration, onomatopoeia, assonance, consonance, and rhyme). Attitude (or Tone): Examine both the speaker s and the poet s attitudes. Remember, don t confuse the author with the persona. Look for speaker s attitude toward self, other characters, and the subject, attitudes of characters other than the speaker, and poet s attitude toward the speaker, other characters and finally toward the reader. Shifts: Note shift in speaker and attitude. Consider occasion of poem (time and place), key words (but, yet), punctuation (dashes, period, colons, etc.), stanza divisions, changes in line and or stanza length, irony (sometimes irony hides shifts), and effect of structure on the meaning. Literary Analysis of Stories and Short Fiction Characters: List and describe the protagonist and antagonist and any other significant characters, possibly including foils, stock characters, and caricatures. Setting: Describe the setting in full detail using support from the text. Plot: Categorize events from the plot as they fit in the 5- part plot diagram: exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution. What conflict(s) exist in the work? Support with examples from the text. Tone: What is the author s tone? Are there any shifts? If so, where and how can you tell? Why is the author writing this and how do you know that? Support your answer with examples from the text. Mood: What is the mood at the beginning of the work? Support your answer with examples from the text. How does imagery affect mood? List five examples of imagery in the text and the associated sense. Point of View: What is the point of view? Give an example to prove it. How does this affect the meaning of the work as a whole? Theme: Describe what the theme of the work is based on your understanding of it. Support you answer with the material from the text. Remember, theme must be expressed as a complete sentence. Title: Examine the title again, this time on an interpretive level. Theme: First list what the poem is about (the subject or subjects), then determine what the poem is saying about each of those subjects (theme). Remember, theme must be expressed as a complete sentence.