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Guiding Research Paper Topic Selection

Guiding Research Paper Topic Selection. To Kill a Mockingbird. How do I develop a topic?. Read the novel with a questioning mind An idea starts with a puzzling observation about something that you want to understand

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Guiding Research Paper Topic Selection

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  1. Guiding Research Paper Topic Selection To Kill a Mockingbird

  2. How do I develop a topic? • Read the novel with a questioning mind • An idea starts with a puzzling observation about something that you want to understand • An idea can come from something in the text that does not seem to fit together • An idea answers a question

  3. Questions To Ask and Answer When Formulating a Topic • What is the problem that you intend to explore? • What is original about your topic? • Are you looking at characters who have been overlooked? • Does your topic have enough sources available for the research? • What is it about this project that interests you? • Why does your project matter?

  4. Additional Considerations Primary Sources: texts written in the time period when Lee composed the novel, including—letters, articles, essays, laws, etc.; you must use at least two primary sources Examples: To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee; http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0325.html#article Secondary Sources: texts written by twentieth and twenty-first century authors, including—books, articles, critiques, etc.; you must use at least six secondary sources Examples: “The Redemption of Atticus Finch” from the journal Southern Cultures; Freedom’s Children: Young Civil Rights Activists Tell Their Own Stories by Ellen S. Levine Primary and Secondary Texts

  5. Additional Considerations Your paper must include at least one close reading. Close readings focus on a particular passage of the text. According to Patricia Kain of Harvard University, the goal of a close reading is “to notice all striking features of the text, including rhetorical features, structural elements, cultural [and historical] references.” Step-by-Step Process: (1) Write the passage out on a piece of paper that you can mark with a colored pen (2) Look for and underline patterns, repetitions, similarities, or contradictions, along with any interesting word choices (3) Ask questions about what you notice, specifically “why” and “how,” and then write these questions in the margins of the paper (4) Write down any conclusions you have made from this text at the bottom of the paper Close Readings

  6. Themes and Issues in the novel

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