locate a minimum of five secondary scholarly sources relevant to the topic and questions included in your Essay Proposal. You may include among your sources one or more of the scholarly works we read for class. Each source should provide critical support for your analysis of the primary text and/or enhance your understanding of the broader contexts (social, cultural, political, historical, economic, etc.) in which texts appear, especially as related to the course’s themes. Read each source, taking careful notes. Write an MLA-style citation for each source, and follow each citation with a brief descriiption of the source’s contents and its relevance to your project.
General guidelines
When conducting research, consider the role a source might play in your project. Search for sources that:
Provide relevant historical, cultural, and/or biographical background for your selected texts; both primary and secondary sources may be of value.
Explain pertinent literary techniques, styles, and/or language choices; for example, if you are discussing a gothic novel, it would be a good idea to know something about the general characteristics of gothic literature.
Present interpretations and analyses (i.e., literary criticism) of the specific texts you plan to discuss; this criticism may support or contradict your own claims.
Revise and refine your search terms as you explore sources.
Evaluate each source by considering its author’s credentials, medium of publication, publisher, date, and relevance.
Emphasize scholarly/peer-reviewed sources; e.g., student posts to high school English class blogs do not count as legitimate sources.
Keep track of bibliographic data for your works cited list: author, title, publication details, etc.
Include complete, properly formatted Works Cited information for each source.
Avoid plagiarism in your annotations; make sure to include in-text citations and distinguish between your ideas and those of your sources.
