Junior American Literature Research Project

American Literature
Research Project

Background and task
Building on your recent experiences as a critical thinker, you will have the opportunity to decide on the specific topic for your research project. Although your topic need not relate directly to an American author, it does need to focus on some aspect of American culture. Consider what subject areas most interest you (politics, war, music, visual arts, sports, justice, etc.), and then brainstorm more narrow topics in your desired subject area that you could use as your focus. Think of the issues we examined at the beginning of the year: how do we see ourselves vs. how others see us. What is the American Dream, and has it been achieved? What experiences that you have had might provide you with a lens through which you can view the “American experience”? Research in an area frequently reevaluates events, trends, policies, roles of individuals, etc. in order to reveal new perspectives, consequences, or lessons.

As you are considering topics, there is a caveat: keep in mind that you will need to find credible published sources; this may be difficult if you choose a topic that is very contemporary (popular music, for example). Once you think you have some narrow topics in mind, ask yourself how this topic represents some aspect of American society. Your final paper should be 5-7 pages (MLA format, of course!) and should refer to at least 6 credible sources.

Process—early stages
Your first task, once you feel you have discovered your general direction, is to develop an essential question that will help you to guide your research. Your paper should NOT be a rewrite of your research, a stitching together of other people’s thoughts. Instead, you should develop your own ideas, and support them with outside references. Developing an essential question will assist you in developing an argument and, if written correctly and thoughtfully, will ensure that you critically and creatively process the information you find. Be aware that your essential question might change as you conduct your research, as you learn more about your topic or develop new perspectives (and that’s a good thing!). Be willing to revise your question as research leads you to understand your topic in a more informed way.

Developing Essential Questions

As you consider moving from a topic to a thesis for research, consider these “template” questions to help you develop your own thoughtful question to explore. Substitute your topic or person of interest for the blank or italicized words. Try these questions, and see if one works for you.

“How” questions

· How does your topic help us understand ___________ event/issue/aspect of American society?
· How does your topic relate to the American Dream?
· How has your topic led to any societal reforms?
· How did one area of culture lead to this event? (For instance, how did the Reconstruction era influence Mark Twain? How did technology influence Ray Bradbury?)
· How has your topic changed the way Americans perceive themselves?
· How does your topic play a role in the evolution of the ______ century (or decade)?
· How does ________Cultural movement (Realism, Beat Period, Civil Rights, etc.) relate to your topic?


“Why” questions

Why did ________ behave or respond to your event/issue/aspect of American society as s/he did during ____________?
Why did ________ choose to address a particular event/issue/aspect of American society?
Why did __________ choose to use satire/Romance/Realism, etc. to tell her/his story?

Task
Using the prompts above, answer the following statements to help develop a focus for your paper. I will read your ideas and give you feedback. Topics will be finalized by ____________; our first library research day is January 11th.

Briefly describe two or three ideas for your project below:



How will you benefit from each project? What will YOU learn from it? Why do you want to learn more about it? REMEMBER: A research paper should help you to answer questions you have about your topic of interest!



ESSENTIAL QUESTION -