English Assignment on a Literary Theme, Genre, Author or Work

Purpose: To improve students’ ability to find suitable information resources by doing research for a paper, using Library print reference sources and online sources.

Assignment: After you have had your research paper topic approved by your course instructor, the entire class will be attending a workshop in the Rosenberg Library to learn about several research tools that will help you do your research. The following assignment is due one week after the library workshop.

Name ________________________________

Approved Research Question/Thesis Statement

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1. Literary Research Tools in the Reference Collection

a. Which of the biographical, literature encyclopedias, or literary criticism sources did you use for your research question/statement?

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b. Briefly summarize some information you obtained that you feel will be useful for your paper:

2. Online Research Tools

a. List the online research tools you used. Include the specific name(s) of the databases you used.

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b. If you used the online catalog, list below one useful book you found. Provide the bibliographic information you will need for your paper’s bibliography using the MLA format for books.

c. For the periodical or reference databases you used, list below two useful sources you found. Provide the bibliographic information you will need for your paper’s bibliography using the MLA format.

d. If you used a Web search engine or evaluated Web subject directory, list below one useful Web page/site, providing the information you will need for your paper’s bibliography using the MLA format.