Assignment Prewriting Choose and Narrow a Research Topic Consider Purpose, Audience, and Tone Make a...

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Assignment Prewriting Choose and Narrow a Research Topic Consider Purpose, Audience, and Tone Make a Research Plan Get an Overview and Find Sources Note Sources Research and Take Notes Analyze Research Information Write a Thesis Statement Make an Outline Document Sources Practice and Apply Feature Menu

Transcript of Assignment Prewriting Choose and Narrow a Research Topic Consider Purpose, Audience, and Tone Make a...

Page 1: Assignment Prewriting Choose and Narrow a Research Topic Consider Purpose, Audience, and Tone Make a Research Plan Get an Overview and Find Sources Note.

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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Page 2: Assignment Prewriting Choose and Narrow a Research Topic Consider Purpose, Audience, and Tone Make a Research Plan Get an Overview and Find Sources Note.

Assignment: Write a formal research paper of at least 1,500 words 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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Page 3: Assignment Prewriting Choose and Narrow a Research Topic Consider Purpose, Audience, and Tone Make a Research Plan Get an Overview and Find Sources Note.

Reporting Literary ResearchPrewriting: Choose and Narrow a Research Topic

Scan your textbook for intriguing works and authors.

Do some preliminary research (textbook, general reference works, the Internet).

Jot down a few possibilities.

Page 4: Assignment Prewriting Choose and Narrow a Research Topic Consider Purpose, Audience, and Tone Make a Research Plan Get an Overview and Find Sources Note.

Reporting Literary ResearchPrewriting: Choose and Narrow a Research Topic

Choose a general literary topic.

Decide on your historical approach.

how Chaucer’s life as a civil servant influenced his writing

how the tales reflect the culture of fourteenth-century England

Chaucer’s comments on religious life in the Middle Ages

The Canterbury Tales, Geoffrey Chaucer

themes in Charles Dickens’ novels

Le Morte d’Arthur, Sir Thomas Malory

the poetry of Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Page 5: Assignment Prewriting Choose and Narrow a Research Topic Consider Purpose, Audience, and Tone Make a Research Plan Get an Overview and Find Sources Note.

Reporting Literary ResearchPrewriting: Choose and Narrow a Research Topic

Narrow your topic.

broad topic: The Canterbury Tales and medieval culture

What interests me about Chaucer’s portrayal of medieval English culture?

how he portrays women in medieval society

What interests me about the women in the tales?

Limited topic: how the complex female characters in The Canterbury Tales reflect the conflicting ideas about women’s roles at that time

the fact that they are not stock characters

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Page 6: Assignment Prewriting Choose and Narrow a Research Topic Consider Purpose, Audience, and Tone Make a Research Plan Get an Overview and Find Sources Note.

Purpose: to inform and to argue your thesis

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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Page 7: Assignment Prewriting Choose and Narrow a Research Topic Consider Purpose, Audience, and Tone Make a Research Plan Get an Overview and Find Sources Note.

Use the 5W-How? method to make a list of research questions:

did blahbedy blah blah blahHow

Why

Where

When

Who

What

are the female characters in The Canterbury Tales?

are their personalities like?

did medieval women get involved in business?

did medieval women spend their leisure time?

were women’s activities restricted?

did men treat women during Chaucer’s time?

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Page 8: Assignment Prewriting Choose and Narrow a Research Topic Consider Purpose, Audience, and Tone Make a Research Plan Get an Overview and Find Sources Note.

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.

Page 9: Assignment Prewriting Choose and Narrow a Research Topic Consider Purpose, Audience, and Tone Make a Research Plan Get an Overview and Find Sources Note.

Reporting Literary ResearchPrewriting: Get an Overview and Find Sources

Search for answers to your research questions.

Some specific places to start:

bound or online encyclopedia

school or local library’s databases

museums or historical societies

film or TV documentaries

periodical indexes, such as the Readers’ Guide to Periodical Literature

Page 10: Assignment Prewriting Choose and Narrow a Research Topic Consider Purpose, Audience, and Tone Make a Research Plan Get an Overview and Find Sources Note.

Reporting Literary ResearchPrewriting: Get an Overview and Find Sources

Include a balance of primary sources and secondary sources.

Primary sources

Secondary sources

Page 11: Assignment Prewriting Choose and Narrow a Research Topic Consider Purpose, Audience, and Tone Make a Research Plan Get an Overview and Find Sources Note.

Reporting Literary ResearchPrewriting: Get an Overview and Find Sources

A letter Chaucer wrote to his wife

A journal article analyzing “The Wife of Bath’s Tale”

Identify each of the following sources as primary or secondary.

primary

secondary

A video of an interview with a Chaucer scholar

A historical document stating that Chaucer was a member of Parliament

secondary

primary

Page 12: Assignment Prewriting Choose and Narrow a Research Topic Consider Purpose, Audience, and Tone Make a Research Plan Get an Overview and Find Sources Note.

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?

Page 13: Assignment Prewriting Choose and Narrow a Research Topic Consider Purpose, Audience, and Tone Make a Research Plan Get an Overview and Find Sources Note.

Reporting Literary ResearchPrewriting: Get an Overview and Find Sources

Cover all relevant perspectives, or points of view.

women characters in The Canterbury Tales

Literary critics

Chaucer biographers

Other writers from the 1300s

Sociologists

Medieval historians

Experts in women’s studies

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Page 14: Assignment Prewriting Choose and Narrow a Research Topic Consider Purpose, Audience, and Tone Make a Research Plan Get an Overview and Find Sources Note.

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

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.

Make

Record

Number

Add

Include

Page 15: Assignment Prewriting Choose and Narrow a Research Topic Consider Purpose, Audience, and Tone Make a Research Plan Get an Overview and Find Sources Note.

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.

See notes at http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/563/01/

Page 16: Assignment Prewriting Choose and Narrow a Research Topic Consider Purpose, Audience, and Tone Make a Research Plan Get an Overview and Find Sources Note.

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

Page 17: Assignment Prewriting Choose and Narrow a Research Topic Consider Purpose, Audience, and Tone Make a Research Plan Get an Overview and Find Sources Note.

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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Page 18: Assignment Prewriting Choose and Narrow a Research Topic Consider Purpose, Audience, and Tone Make a Research Plan Get an Overview and Find Sources Note.

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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Page 19: Assignment Prewriting Choose and Narrow a Research Topic Consider Purpose, Audience, and Tone Make a Research Plan Get an Overview and Find Sources Note.

Order, 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

Page 20: Assignment Prewriting Choose and Narrow a Research Topic Consider Purpose, Audience, and Tone Make a Research Plan Get an Overview and Find Sources Note.

Make 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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Page 21: Assignment Prewriting Choose and Narrow a Research Topic Consider Purpose, Audience, and Tone Make a Research Plan Get an Overview and Find Sources Note.

Plagiarizing is a form of cheating. Make sure to document all sources in your paper to avoid taking credit for others’ work. how to document sources

what to document

See the examples in the model on Schoolwires. Use Purdue OWL. http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/

Every direct quotation

Any original theory not your own

Data from studies and interviews

Anything you’re not sure of

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Page 22: Assignment Prewriting Choose and Narrow a Research Topic Consider Purpose, Audience, and Tone Make a Research Plan Get an Overview and Find Sources Note.

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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Page 23: Assignment Prewriting Choose and Narrow a Research Topic Consider Purpose, Audience, and Tone Make a Research Plan Get an Overview and Find Sources Note.