The assignments for this course are designed to give you practice doing research in the Pollack Library and on line. They are also designed to familiarize you with the MLA Handbook and A Manual for Writers. There will be five research assignments, each of which will require you to perform some tasks, like citing sources or finding information, or comparing methods of finding information. Because we will be meeting formally only once a week, most of your work will be done either in the Library or in cyberspace; therefore, your first task is to identify a research project. Once you have identified your project, then you should begin the assignments. My intent is for you to relate the assignments to the specific subject you're working on.
You do not have to do these assignments in precise order. In fact, I have put the Scavenger Hunt before assignment number 1 in the order of due dates. Some of the work you can do from home, if you have access via the net; you can, for example, research our libarary and order materials via e-mail, as you will find out.
When you complete each assignment, post it to me by e-mail (if by e-mail, use the 'enclosure' feature so that you don't lose your formatting) or by fax.
| Assignment #1 Pollack Library | Assignment #2 Scavenger Hunt | Assignment #3 Ellipses, Parens, etc |
| Assignment #4 Citing Sources | Assignment #5 Using Quotations | Assignment #6 Theory Presentation |
| Assignment #7 Annotated Bib. | Assignments #8 & 9: Web Page | Assignment #10 Seminar Paper |
After the tour of the Library, begin a preliminary search of the general topic that you have decided upon. For example, if you are taking a Shakespeare seminar in the fall, you will want to start narrowing a topic immediately. I would suggest that you focus upon one play. Then begin to search through the sources--cd roms, indexes, OPAC, etc. You will then have to decide upon a subject suggested by, say, Hamlet, and begin to narrow your field. You will need to have some formatted disks with you, so that you can download files from the Library's computers; it is much cheaper than printing everything. Or, better yet, you can e-mail most of your research to yourself; however, there are some journals and indexes which do not allow you to e-mail yourself, so be prepared with a floppy or two.
You should collect quite a large number of potential sources. After you have obtained a substantial list of possibilities, you'll have to go to the stacks and go through books and journals in order to select the most useful sources.
Assignment #1 Part I: Requesting materials
1. As part of your research, search the online resources of the CSUF Pollack Library. When you find possible sources for your project, e-mail the references to yourself.
2. Request a book or an article from the library via e-mail.
3. Use interlibrary loan to request a source you cannot get in our library.
4. Make use of our document delivery system and request at least one article that you cannot find in our library.
Assignment #1 Part II: Comparing Journals
While you are in the library, find two journals which contain at least one article pertaining to your larger, general topic (Hamlet, for example). Locate those journals in the library, compare them, and then write a two-page, double-spaced comparison/contrast of the journals.
You will want to compare such things as editorial staff, publication information, types of articles, examples of typical articles, submission requirements, specific thematic purpose, if any.
I: Scavenger Hunt
Search the web for the following items. Choose one of the search engines that Netscape offers and type in the search term you wish to find. I like Lycos, Hot Bot, and Google, but you may want to experiment with all of them so that you get a feel for what each can or cannot do. When you find the page, copy its address into your file, and, when instructed to do so, complete the directions given:
A. Resources: (The following are actual web sites, so use the titles when you type in the search terms.)
1. The English Server
What sorts of resources are available at this site?
2. Literature Resources
What sorts of resources are available at this site?
3. On-Line Literary Resources
What sorts of resources are available at this site?
4. Search Engines
Identify at least three search engines. Using the same subject, do a search on each one of them. Which one or ones give you the most help?
Then find Google.
Type in "Santa Evita"--find an article in Spanish and click on the "Translation" button. Print out the translation, then read it. Do you think the translation service provided by Google is helpful? Why? Why not?
Compare and contrast, very briefly, the types of resources you found at all three sites. Which ones appear to be the most useful to you as a graduate student and potential or present teacher?
B. Libraries:
1. The British Library--go to the St. Pancras page.
What very important events are scheduled this month at the British Library?
Find the floor plan.
Go to #5 on the floor plan. What room are you in?
Copy the British Library's address into your file.
2. The Library of Congress
Find the Baseball Cards Home Page.
Find the Christy Mathewson baseball card.
Who was Christy Mathewson?
Copy the Library of Congress' address into your file.
3. The Bibliotheque Nationale de France
Find the picture of the old entryway to the old Bibliotheque.
Find the Richelieu Collection; what does it contain?
Locate the "Access to the BnF on the Internet" page.
Copy the "Access to the BnF on the Internet" address into your file.
4. Dartmouth Library
Find the Dartmouth Dante Project.
What is its purpose? What can you get from it?
Copy the Dartmouth Library address into your file.
5. Find two other libraries which interest you. Describe briefly what makes them of special interest.
C. Museums and Archives: (Use these terms when searching.)
1. Find WebMuseum.
Take a small tour of Paris.
Find the Musee d'Orsay.
Find "Parc Monceau" by Monet.
2. Find World War I Trenches on the Web.
Find the German postcard entitled "The First French Prisoners."
Where is this site housed?
D. Literary Web Sites:
1. Shakespeare
Locate 5 different Shakespeare pages.
Find the International Globe Center. What's playing at the Globe right now?
Find the virtual tour of the Globe.
Copy the web addresses into your file.
Find the Oxfordian pages. Who are they?
2. ECLAT
What is it?
What topics are covered by this site?
Copy the web address into your file.
3. Prometheus Unplugged
What is the subject of this site?
What is the reference to Prometheus?
Copy the web address into your file.
4. The Blake Multimedia Project
What university houses this page?
Copy the web address into your file.
5. Literary Women of the Left Bank
What is Shakespeare and Company?
Copy the web address into your file.
6. Virginia Woolf Web
How many hits did you get when you searched for Virginia Woolf?
Copy the web address into your file.
7. The Milton-L Home Page
What university houses this page?
Copy the web address into your file.
8. Voice of the Shuttle
What particular subjects does this page cover?
What university houses this page?
Copy the web address into your file.
E. Academic Dishonesty:
1. Type in 'school sucks' in the search blank.
2. How many possible hits did you get?
3. Now look at the site School Sucks.
4. Copy its address into your file.
Congratulations!!! You have completed your scavenger hunt, and you have found some very interesting places to explore on your own time. You have not begun to scratch the surface of the Net, but you have some ideas about places to go and things to see.
1. Review the rules on the proper use of ellipses in quotations in both MLA and Turabian. Then provide an example of each type, quoting from one of your sources.
2. Review the rules for using parentheses in both MLA and Turabian. Then provide an example of each type.
3. Review the rules for using brackets in quotations in both MLA and Turabian. Then provide an example of each type, quoting from one of your sources.
For this assignment, you will need MLA Handbook and A Manual of Style.
A. End Notes and Footnotes:
1. Read the appropriate sections in MLA and Turabian.
2. Note the differences between the two systems.
3. Create three end notes in each style.
4. Create three footnotes in each style.
5. When does one create end notes or footnotes if one is using parenthetical references?
B. Parenthetical Citations
1. First read "4.1 Documenting Sources" in MLA; then read "Parenthetical References in the Author-Date System" 10.2 in Turabian.
2. Note the differences between the two citation systems.
3. Briefly describe the differences (you’ll be doing this in more depth when we get to the section on documentation; here, you just need the basics).
C. Creating Works Cited lists
1. Read the rest of Chapter 4 in MLA and Chapter 9 in Turabian. Pay very close attention to the differences in details for entries between the two.
2. Make a list of the major differences between entries in MLA style and Turabian style. (These differences are very important, so don’t overlook them.)
3. Now create a trial works cited list comprised of at least 10 entries. Use the preliminary sources that you have found in your research project. Do this twice; once in MLA style and once in Turabian style. Make sure that you have a variety of entries—you should have books, periodicals, cd roms, and even material from sources like the New York Times on-line archives.
In this assignment, you will practice using quotations in your text. I hope that you will employ the materials that you are working with in this one, too. Compose a two to three page selection on your research project in which you:
Make sure that you include the following in your use of quotations:
Assignment #6: Theory Presentation
Early in the semester you will choose one of the schools of theory or major figures in theory from the following list:
New Criticism
Structuralism
Psychoanalytic Theory--Freud, Jung, Lacan
Russian Formalism
Feminism--French, Anglo-American
Reader-Response Theory
Deconstruction
Marxist Theory
New Historicism
Post-Modernism
Post-Colonialism
Queer Theory
Ecocriticism
You will then prepare a lesson in which you will teach the class the essential elements of your chosen topic. You will need to use The Johns Hopkins Guide to Literary Criticism and Critical Terms for Literary Study in preparing your lesson as well as some other sources which you will have to search out for yourself.
Assignment #7: Annotated Bibliography
As part of your research for your seminar paper, you must prepare an annotated bibliography of no less than 20 items. The purpose of the bibliography is to show that you are familiar with the research in your topic; you might not actually use all of the items in your annotated bibliography in your seminar paper, but you must know what is out there. An example of annotation can be found in both MLA and Turabian.
Annotated Bibliographies
1. Examine the entries for Annotated Bibliographies in A Manual for Writing (in the future to be referred to as ‘Turabian’) and the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers (MLA). Note the similarities and the differences.
2. Write two annotated entries—one in MLA style and the other in Turabian style—using one of your sources which illustrate the similarities and differences between the two.
3. Compile your formal Annotated Bibliography which contains at least 20 items.
Over the semester, you will be creating a Web Page which contains many of the elements of research that you will be collecting for your research project. You will be evaluated on the complexity, design, and relevance of your web page.
Assignment #9: Presentation of research and web page
You will make a formal, 20 minute, presentation of the results of your research, launch your web page in the browser, and answer questions about your seminar paper. Your presentation should include an evaluation of the materials you obtained via the web. Were the materials of good quality? Were they more or less reliable that materials found in the library or through library online research? How valuable to your research project was the creation of your web page? What did you learn that you would not have learned? What would you do differently if you had it to do again?
Assignment #10: Seminar Paper
A week before your presentation of your research and web page, your seminar paper is due. You will make enough copies of the complete, finished paper for each of your colleagues and me. We will read the paper and prepare discussion questions for you to address during your presentation. I will return your paper to you with comments and any corrections that I find you need to make. You may revise the paper, if necessary, and re-submit it to me before the end of the semester.
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