1. Writing Workshop Reporting Literary Research
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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

2. Reporting Literary Research Assignment
Assignment: Write a formal research paper of six pages 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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3. Reporting Literary Research Prewriting: Choose and Narrow a Research Topic
Consider the plays we’ve read and what you know about Shakespeare and the time period during which he lived and worked.
Do some preliminary research (textbook, general reference works, the Internet).

4. Reporting Literary Research Prewriting: Choose and Narrow a Research Topic
Choose a general literary topic.
Decide on your historical approach.
Women in the plays
how the plays reflect the culture of Renaissance England
Prejudice in the plays
how Shakespeare’s life influenced his writing
Themes in the plays
Shakespeare’s comments on life in his time
Marriage in the plays

5. Reporting Literary Research Prewriting: Choose and Narrow a Research Topic
Narrow your topic.
broad topic: Shakespeare’s plays and medieval culture
What interests me about Shakespeare’s portrayal of English culture?
how he portrays women in society
What interests me about the women in the plays?
Limited topic: how the complex female characters in Shakespeare’s work reflect the conflicting ideas about women’s roles at that time
[End of Section]

6. Reporting Literary Research Prewriting: Consider Purpose, Audience, and Tone
Purpose: to inform
Audience: teacher and classmates
Tone: objective and formal (but not stuffy)
Your research paper will be an original synthesis of ideas and information:
information you gather from research
conclusions you draw from that information
your own insights into the topic + +
[End of Section]

7. Reporting Literary Research Prewriting: Make a Research Plan
Use the 5W-How? method to make a list of research questions:
Who
are the female characters in the plays?
What
are their personalities like?
When
did Renaissance women get involved in business?
Where
did Renaissance women spend their leisure time?
Why
were women’s activities restricted?
How
did men treat women during Shakespeare’s time?
did blahbedy blah blah blah
[End of Section]

8. Reporting Literary Research Prewriting: 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.

9. Reporting Literary Research Prewriting: Get an Overview and Find Sources
Search for answers to your research questions.
Some specific places to start:
online encyclopedia
school or local library’s subscription
databases
museums or historical societies
film or TV documentaries
periodical indexes, such as the Readers’ Guide to Periodical Literature

10. Reporting Literary Research Prewriting: Get an Overview and Find Sources
Include a balance of primary sources and secondary sources.
Primary sources
Secondary sources

11. Reporting Literary Research Prewriting: Get an Overview and Find Sources
primary source: firsthand, original information, such as letters, autobiographies, works of literature and art, speeches, and historical documents
Othello and Macbeth, by William Shakespeare
[SE p. 214]

12. Reporting Literary Research Prewriting: Get an Overview and Find Sources
secondary source: information from or about a primary source, including biographies, documentaries, history books, literary criticisms, and interviews with historians
[SE p. 214]

13. Reporting Literary Research Prewriting: Get an Overview and Find Sources
Identify each of the following sources as primary or secondary.
primary
A letter Shakespeare wrote to his wife
A journal article analyzing “Macbeth”
secondary
A video of an interview with a Shakespeare scholar
secondary
[SE p. 113]
A historical document stating that Shakespeare was under King James, patronage
primary

14. Reporting Literary Research Prewriting: Get an Overview and Find Sources
To make sure a source is reliable and valid, ask:
Are the facts accurate?
Are the ideas presented objectively?
Reliable, valid sources are usually those published by universities or respected publishing companies.

15. Reporting Literary Research Prewriting: Get an Overview and Find Sources
Beware: Information on Web sites is not held to the same standards as most books and journal articles.
Be especially careful in evaluating Internet sources.
Web sites produced by educational, governmental, or professional institutions are usually reliable.

16. women characters in Shakespeare’s plays
Reporting Literary Research Prewriting: Get an Overview and Find Sources
Cover all relevant perspectives, or points of view.
Renaissance historians
Other writers from the 1500s
Literary critics
women characters in Shakespeare’s plays
Sociologists
Shakespeare biographers
Experts in women’s studies
[End of Section]

17. Reporting Literary Research Prewriting: Note Sources
Keep a record of your sources.
Make
a source card, or bibliography card, for each source.
Record
the publishing information for your Works Cited list (see the Writing Workshop for this collection in your text).
Number
each source. (You’ll use these handy numbers as shorthand when you’re taking notes.)
Add
an annotation—a short note about the contents of the source.
Include
the call number or location of the source.
Noodletools will simplify this process for you.

18. Reporting Literary Research Prewriting: Note Sources
Source Card
source number 3
publishing information
Hallissy, Margaret. A Companion to Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales. Westport: Greenwood Publishing Group, 1995.
annotation
An introduction to the tales and characters. Has a guide to the language and a bibliography.
[SE p. 208]
call number
821.C393h

19. Reporting Literary Research Prewriting: Research and Take Notes
Take notes on information that will help answer your research questions.
Use
a separate note card for each main idea.
Include
the source number and the page number(s).
Write
a heading showing the main idea.
Re-read
the note to make sure you understand it.
Record each piece of information either as a direct quotation, a paraphrase, or a summary.
[End of Section]

20. Reporting Literary Research Prewriting: Research and Take Notes
Direct Quotation
source card number 3
Structure of The Canterbury Tales
“Structurally regarded, The Canterbury Tales is a kind of Human Comedy. From this point of view, the Pilgrims are the Dramatis personae, and their stories are only speeches that are somewhat longer than common.”
heading
note (quotation)
[SE p. 209]
page 130
page number

21. Reporting Literary Research Prewriting: Research and Take Notes
Paraphrase
source card number 3
Structure of The Canterbury Tales
heading
The Canterbury Tales is structured much like a dramatic play. The Pilgrims are the characters, and they deliver their stories as long speeches.
note (paraphrase)
[SE p. 209]
page 130
page number

22. Reporting Literary Research Prewriting: Research and Take Notes
Summary
source card number 3
Structure of The Canterbury Tales
heading
Much as a character in a drama might tell a story in a soliloquy, each of the Pilgrims tells his or her story in a long speech.
note (summary)
[SE p. 209]
page 130
page number

23. Reporting Literary Research Prewriting: Analyze Research Information
Divide your notes into categories based on their headings. Then subdivide each set based on relevant aspects of the category.
Prioress
Appearance
Interests
Jewelry
Fine forehead
Animals
French
Rosary
Gold brooch

24. Reporting Literary Research Prewriting: Analyze Research Information
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.
[End of Section]

25. Reporting Literary Research Prewriting: Write a Thesis Statement
Assert yourself. Write a thesis statement stating your topic and your conclusion about it.
Chaucer’s complex, often inconsistent female characters reflect the changing roles of women in fourteenth-century England.
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26. Reporting Literary Research Prewriting: Make an Outline
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

27. Reporting Literary Research Prewriting: Make an Outline
Make a formal outline.
Introduction
A. Overview of research
B. Thesis statement
II. The Prioress
A. Appearance
1. Fine forehead
2. Jewelry
a. Green-beaded rosary
b. Gold brooch with motto
B. Interests/pleasures
1. French language
2. Animal lover
major divisions of your paper
secondary divisions
supporting examples
specific details
[End of Section]

28. Reporting Literary Research Prewriting: Document Sources
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
See the examples in your textbook.
Every direct quotation
what to document
Any original theory not your own
Data from studies and interviews
Anything you’re not sure of
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29. Reporting Literary Research
Use the preceding instructions to
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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30. The End