Research Paper Assignment
This assignment will require a certain amount of research. First, choose one of the texts below:
The Periodic Table Arcadia
Locate at least 3 scholarly, peer-reviewed articles on the chosen text, using the databases available through the library's website. Their focus may be literary, psychological, historical, etc. The articles may discuss your chosen text as one of several, but its discussion on your text must be substantive.
Read the articles closely, highlighting salient points (thesis, analysis, support).
For the paper:
Part 1: Summarize each of the articles, including its title, the author's name, and its main argument, focus, or thesis. What is the support offered for this argument? Is it credible? If you can, identify the type of criticism - historical, biographical, psychological, feminist, ideological.
Part 2: How has your reading of the original text has been influenced by the articles you have read? To do this, first you will have to evaluate the individual articles a) by themselves and b) in comparison with each other. Then consider how the articles have altered/affected/informed your reading of the play/memoir.
Think of the second part of this paper using the outline below (you certainly don't have to use the exact words):
• When I first read this play/memoir, I thought . . .
• Then, I read these critical articles. My reaction to [article A] was . . . My reaction to [article B] was . . . My reaction to [article C] was . . .
• Looking back at the original text, I now find . . .
Your discussion of the critical articles as well as the text you are analyzing should be amply supported by specific textual references.