McAuliffe~AP Literature & Composition

Assignment.  Find a topic that derives from something we have studied this year. Choose a major work or an author we have read, a novelist, playwright, or short story writer.  Or choose a poem or poet we have studied.  Consider literary theories, such as New Criticism, Reader Response, or any that have derived from Deconstruction Criticism. The topic should be suitable for a 5-7 page research paper using a minimum of three legitimate outside sources.  Your paper must follow MLA guidelines for manuscript format and citation conventions.

Getting Started.  Begin with a topic that interests you. Then follow a “true inquiry” process: ask a difficult question, offer a hunch or hypothesis, test it and ask, What else do I need to find out? Then visit a school-sponsored site (e.g. Bloom or Gale Group) or begin with a book or article.  The topic may be one that you have already thought about  (female characters in Hamlet), or it may be a question you have not yet considered ( How did a particular closed form – e.g. villanelle – develop over time?)

Read pages 2179-2184 in your textbook.  This will give you an overview of what this kind of paper entails.  It also addresses important issues like internet reliability and plagiarism.

Review the hand out, “Sample Research Topics.”  This will give you some idea of suitable topics for this assignment.  It may also stimulate ideas of your own.  Whatever topic you choose must be related directly to this course; it should not derive from a class you took previously (e.g., A.P. Language, 11 H, or 10H).

Work will be submitted through Turnitin.com. Some will be done in school, though you will have to do much of the drafting on your own time.  Steps along the way will be graded. These grades* will count for Quarter 4. 

Suggested Information Resources:

• Bloom's Literature (located under the VRC's Literature & Language)
• Gale Literatue Resource Center (located under the VRC's Literature & Language)
• ProQuest Learning Literature (located under the VRC's Literature & Language)
• WMHS Library eBook Collection (if you need a copy of a work you have read) View & checkout eBooks using your school username & password. Access at GoFollett.com
• WMHS Destiny Library Catalog for print copies of a work you have read (example: The Things They Carried, Hamlet, Song of Solomon, Jane Eyre, etc.)