Public Domain
Activity 1
In preparation for the next phase in building your essay, we are going to pause in the writing process and focus on how to do research for a literary essay. Remember that your final essay will include one primary source and at least one secondary source that will support your thesis. These sources must be academic and taken from the BMCC online library. Do not use Wikipedia or any dot.com sources from the internet. Please review this quick review of primary and secondary sources.
Activity 2
Take this short quiz (for fun; not graded) on primary and secondary sources.
Activity 3
Public Domain
Your secondary source for the final research essay will be either a literary article (often known as a literary critique) or a biographical/informational article. If you are ambitious, you may use both kinds of secondary sources. First, let’s look at literary critiques. Scholars write literary critiques to present new ideas or interpretations about literary works. These articles/critiques are published in academic journals, which can be found in the BMCC library databases.
Click this link to read a literary critique of the short story “A White Heron” by Sarah Orne Jewett. The thesis of this critique is that Sylvia, the protagonist, fits the classic archetype of the hero. This critique, among others about the story, is located on the BMCC database, Literature Resource Center.
Activity 4
The BMCC library contains many other literary databases aside from Literature Resource Center. Click this link for a guide to finding literary articles in the online college library.
Public Domain
Activity 5
Now let’s look at biographical and informational databases in the BMCC library, which contain articles that can also be used as secondary sources. For your essay, please be sure that the biographical or information material you use is relevant to your thesis. Basic details about the birthplace and date of birth of an author or the name of his or her parents are probably not going to help support your thesis.
Biography in Context is a great database that offers one-stop shopping for information about authors. Click this link to access the BMCC library database Biography in Context. Then, in the search bar type in the name of the author you want to write about. You will suddenly be brought to a page with numerous articles, critiques, and biographies about this author, which you can use as your secondary sources. (Keep this database in mind when doing research for other classes as well).
For example, if you type James Joyce in the search bar, you will be taken to this page. Scroll down and you will find a wealth of information about James Joyce, including 2 websites, 8 biographies, 51 academic journals, and 89 magazine articles, 344 news items, and a website.
Here’s what happens if you type in Langston Hughes, author of “Salvation.”
Activity 6
Research Summary due: Sunday, April 11, 11:59 p.m.
This week you will be locating the secondary source for the essay you have been building since Week 2. Your assignment is to follow directions to complete a three-paragraph research summary report.
All essays, including this one, must adhere to MLA format. Before submitting any written work, please review the following guides to formatting. Only correctly formatted essays will be eligible for a grade of A. Click here to see a sample research summary.
Activity 6
Click this link for the Week 9 discussion board.
Activity 7
Midterm Quiz: This is a 25-question multiple-choice test that covers all material from Week 1 through Week 8. Special emphasis is on conventions of ancient Greek theatre and identification of literary terms in examples from readings. (See Weeks 5 and 6 pages).
Test will be available from 9:00 Monday, March 22 until 5:00 Friday, March 26. Students have 90 minutes to complete the test, which must be done in one sitting. Once the test has closed, it will become unavailable and unviewable to students.
To access the quiz, please navigate to your Blackboard course. On the black navigation panel, click “Links to Quizzes.” Then click the link to Midterm Quiz.
