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Literary Research

Literary Research.

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Literary Research

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  1. Literary Research

  2. “Critic Kenneth Burke describes it as an engagement in a conversation that may stretch back thousands of years and include any number of other scholarly voices. You contribute to that conversation by making yourself an informed participant in it. You become not just a careful reader of the text in question, but a historian of that text’s life.You know when it was born, who its friends and enemies were, what it accomplished for better or for worse, and how it has been remembered by those who came after it. In knowing those things and contributing to the conversation about the text, you keep it alive—not just the text, but the conversation, which is probably even more important. --Geoff Baker, English professor, CSU Chico

  3. What could I write about? • Analysis of characters • Comparison to other works (literary, artistic) • Reading based on a critical perspective • Study of historical events that inspired it • Analysis of an image, theme, etc. • Study of the context in which the work was written

  4. Where should I start? • Read the primary text carefully • Develop a working hypothesis • Phrase it as a research question

  5. Where does “research” come in? Types of secondary sources • Background and context • Literary criticism • About the work • About the author • About other authors or works • Sources from other relevant fields of study

  6. Where should I look? • Library databases • LIRN / Literature Resource Center • Gale Virtual Reference Library • WorldCat (books) • Google • Google Scholar* • Google Books* * Source not in full text? Request it via interlibrary loan!

  7. What am I looking for? • Arguments • Close readings (especially of passages you’ve highlighted) • Patterns in the critical reception

  8. What do I do with it once I find it? • Make your argument • Give evidence from the primary text • Where appropriate, introduce secondary source information to support your interpretation • Draw conclusions and explain the significance of your argument

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