Research Paper Options

Hi Guys,

So you have three choices for reseach...All will require 20+ sources, an annotated bibliography and a length of 10-20 pages. By Tuesday of next week(3/10), you need to submit a 1 page typed proposal letter than explains your choice of topic, why you chose it, and what resources you have already considered.

1. Mr. Gallagher's cool assignment on a contemporary artist. See here for his complete assignment (read from the bottom first) with sample essay and suggested artists.

2. An author or genre study that involves reading at least two longer works and a significant amount of criticism and background or biographical information...I would suggest some contemporary writers. Here's a link to a great article about the contemporary novelist Ian McEwan - it's both the kind of resource you would use and a great model for an author study. Notice the writer's extensive knowledge of McEwan's work and life and how his work has been received...You won't probably get to go hiking with your author, but you will get to know him/her pretty well.

3. An original biography of someone you know. Here's the complete assignment:
: A fully researched and documented biography of someone you know. This biography should not merely tell the story of your person’s life; rather, it should attempt to find patterns and constants in his/her life and show how they are developed. Or perhaps that person was very much a product of his or her time – your job as biographer is to show how he/she fit into his/her time period. Good biographies don’t just tell the story; they analyze the life, much as one might examine a work of literature. They also attempt to find some kind of truth about the person they examine. Good biographies have a thesis.

Your sources: You must have a bare minimum of 25 primary sources. What, you may ask, is a primary source? A primary source is first hand information. What qualifies?

1. Letters/interviews from people who knew your subject talking about events they personally witnessed.
2. Documentary evidence, which includes college transcripts, report cards, letters from the person at various points in his/her life, letters to that person, job evaluation, diplomas, awards, work that he/she produced, and photos. You must use a variety of documentary evidence – i.e., you can’t use 25 photos.
3. Interviews with your subject.

You also must have 5 secondary sources. Secondary sources are peripheral materials and/or second hand information.
1. Letters/interviews from people describing things they heard about.
2. Books/articles/media from the historical period and place in which your subject lived; also, information about the town they grew up in, the college they went to, etc.

Your essay has a minimum length of 20 pages. It must have a complete works cited page and a complete bibliography for the primary and secondary sources. It also should include some illustrations, either photographs or artwork. Also, obviously, a title page, with a real title.

How do you acquire all of this information? You ask for it. You write letters to people who knew your subject. You call them on the phone. You visit your subject’s old home and interview the neighbors. Go to his/her school and talk to the teachers. Rifle old boxes of photos. Gather everything you can. BE SURE TO ANNOTATE ALL OF YOUR NOTES WITH THE TIME AND PLACE THE INFORMATION WAS LOCATED. As much of your primary source material as possible should be handed in with the essay, either in original or in copies. And yes, you guessed, another notebook. Same format.

For your secondary source material, you have the library. The internet. You get the idea.

Round Two of Poem Critiques

Here's your space for our second round of poetry critique....