English

Research Essay

RESEARCH ESSAY (25%)

Following the steps for this assignment and doing your own work will provide you with skills essential to upper-level English courses, and possibly to non-English courses that require critical thinking and research. It also gives you practice in the types of projects you would do in English graduate degrees or other professional programs.  Using ChatGPT or other AI programs to complete these steps will prevent you from acquiring these skills (and lead to a failed grade or other penalties related to plagiarism or unreliable research). 

The completed assignment is due on Wednesday, December 3, but some components will be done in class, and you will be expected to submit a research plan and annotated bibliography (worth 5% of final grade) to D2L no later than November 19.

Here are also the steps and assignment-related activities that needed to be completed in order for you to be well prepared for this assignment.

Step One: Attend the library session on October 22 (the librarian will come to our class). Ideally, you will find some or all of the research sources you need for this article. (You can go back to the library for other sources if needed).

Step Two: On October 29, bring to class a print copy of at least one research sources that you found at the library. Attend the in-class session on how to read and use a research source in your research project.

If you miss these first two steps, you will lose attendance grades for the missed classes and also lose an opportunity to get started on your project.  (You should contact me to do make-up work if illness or an emergency prevents your from attending these important steps as they are essential to the success of your assignment.)

Step Three: Proposal and annotated bibliography (5%) to be submitted no later than November 19). 

A. Using one of your “burning questions” as a starting point, formulate it as a research question that can be answered through a combination of the following:

1. a close reading and analysis of one of the primary texts covered this term and
2. integration of at least two secondary peer-reviewed sources that can help you answer your question and illuminate the work.  (Your secondary sources will be briefly described in  annotated bibliography, and you will cite and document them correctly in MLA style within your research paper.  Important: These sources should be a selection of the following:

• scholarly peer-reviewed articles,
• scholarly peer-reviewed book chapters or essays,
• peer-reviewed books. 

Do not submit review articles, encyclopedia articles, unrefereed web pages as part of your annotated bibliography. You can use these in addition to the two peer-reviewed sources, but they should not be the main material that you base your research paper on. All sources that you quote, summarize, or paraphrase in your essay must be cited correctly.

B. Along with your proposal, provide annotated bibliographies (150-200 words each) for two secondary sources that you plan to engage with/employ in your project. (You must provide a correct DOI, for your sources: if one is not available, attach a pdf copy of the at least the first two pages of the  article/book chapter, etc. that you are using.    Follow this model for the annotated bibliography (scroll down on the webpage to see MLA 9^th edition and sample entry) but also explain how the source will be relevant/useful to your assignment. Use MLA format for your bibliographies.

I will return the bibliography with feedback: please make any suggested corrections before completing your essay.

Step four: Research Essay (20% of grade)  1800-2000 words (approx. 8 double-spaced pages).

Using one of your “burning questions” as a starting point, formulate it as a research question that can be answered through a combination of close reading and analysis of one of the primary texts covered this term and integration of secondary peer-reviewed sources that can help you answer your question and illuminate the work. 

The introduction to your research paper should explain clearly why you feel this is a burning question.  You can use personal pronouns, personal opinions, your own reaction to reading the work or any personal circumstances or interests that led to your engagement with the question and the work.  You should also briefly summarize any secondary sources that have either helped you answer your question or challenge or expand your understanding of the work. (Research articles will provide you with helpful examples of how authors engage with other critics).  You should end this introduction with a thesis statement that clearly identifies how you will answer your question using literary analysis and secondary sources.

In the body of your essay, use a combination of literary analysis and historical context, illuminated by the information, ideas, theories, etc. taken from your research sources that help you explain and support your interpretation of the work.  

Useful tips:

• Start thinking about this essay NOW, not the night before the paper is due. 
• Even if we have not yet covered the topic that you are interested in during class, find out what material is available at the MRU library and public libraries and make a note of what might be relevant.
• Sometimes it is difficult to find information on a specific work, but often you can find a great deal of general work published on an author.  This work, even if it discusses different texts, can provide useful general information and context for your work.
• Start your research in the library. Many journal articles are easily accessible through library databases, including MLA, JSTOR, etc.  The library home page can direct you to these sources. The subject librarian at MRU can help you with this.
• This paper requires at least two good-quality secondary sources: that is, refereed (peer-reviewed) sources such as journal articles or books.  Writing about literature and literary criticism by authors of the primary texts (e.g. essays about poetry by Wordsworth) are also acceptable.  If you are not sure if a source you found is appropriate for this assignment, ask me.
• Stuff randomly pulled from Google or Wikipedia will not be considered an appropriate secondary source.  You should check to see if the source comes from a peer-reviewed source, such as a refereed on-line or print journal.   However, all material that you consult and then use in your paper must be acknowledged and credited.  Just remember that if you feel compelled to cite something you found on Wikipedia, or a general-knowledge webpage, you must find more academically-acceptable sources as well.  (The reference list at the end of a Wikipedia article might lead you to good sources). 
• An essay that uses research is not a patchwork quilt of other people’s ideas.  You need to devise a thesis that you are confident that you can prove.  The research material you find, like the quotations from the primary source, provide evidence and illustration for YOUR interpretation of the work. (You are always welcome to discuss your proposed thesis with me).

The work should be written in a semi-formal style (referring to yourself and your opinions but avoiding slang, colloquial phrases, unclear or awkward writing) that reveals your engagement with and attention to the work.  It should be very specific, with frequent examples and quotations from the primary text and specific support from secondary sources. You should avoid broad or vague generalizations about the work, unproven statements, and bland, impersonal, uncommitted language. Writing that reads as if it has been cranked out by a machine rather than a real engaged and curious human being will receive no more than a D.

• Annotated Bibliography (MRU Student Learning Services Handout)

• How to write an annotated bibliography (SFU Library)

• Writing an annotated bibliography - Memorial University Libraries

• Annotated bibliography guide - University of Toronto

• Annotated bibliographies - OWL@Purdue 

   

Conducting Academic Research With LibrarySearch 

LibrarySearch is MRU Library's one-stop search interface/catalogue that brings together resources across format, time, and subject. 

We have millions of e-resources and 221,000 physical resources in our collection, and LibrarySearch searches across those.

Things to remember when using LibrarySearch:

1. Sign in to save searches, items, and to request materials.

2. Use the pin icon to save books and articles to your Favorites for future reference.

3. Use the filters on the right. You will use Availability, Resource Type, and Date filters most often. Filter settings can be "locked in" so that you don't have to reapply them to every search that you make.

4. Some items may not be available, however, you can request unavailable items using what is called interlibrary loan.

5. When viewing an item record, scroll down to the Get it (for hardcopy/physical items) or Access options (for electronic items) section to get access to the item.

Helpful Search Operators to Use in LibrarySearch

You can use what are called search operators to search in a way to combine or omit different terms by telling the search engine exactly what you want and this can help you save some time (and frustration!)

• Use quotation marks to keep specific phrases together:

  • "Wuthering Heights"

  •  "Victorian period"

• Use AND to combine search terms (LibrarySearch automatically creates an AND when you write terms one after another, but it can be good practice to use an AND to help you understand the searches that you build) (AND narrows your search):

  • "Wuthering Heights" AND gothic

• Use OR to connect two or more similar terms (OR broadens your search):

  • weather OR environment

  • criticism OR analysis OR commentary

• Use wild cards/truncation to substitute a letter or suffix with a symbol:

  • romantic* (in this example, the search romantic* will search for records that contain strings such as romantic, romantics, and romanticism)

• You can combine these techniques in a single search:

  • Bronte "Wuthering Heights" gothic (weather OR environment*)

Conducting Academic Research With Google Scholar

Google Scholar

Google Scholar is another great way to find high quality resources.

Besides providing links to resources in MRU databases, Google Scholar links to online repositories that contain articles the author has been allowed to upload.  Academia.edu and ResearchGate are among the repositories searched by Google Scholar.

By clicking on the Settings icon, you can select library links to show library access for up to 5 libraries (type in Mount Royal and click on save).  If you are logged into MRU library, links should automatically populate if you are running a Google search in another window. 

Google Scholar has a nifty citation chaining function. The Cited by function will forward you to indexed scholarly material that has cited a resource that you may be interested in. The Related articles link will direct you to similar articles that may have the same metadata or keywords. 

Helpful Search Operators to Use in Google Scholar

Google Scholar's Advanced Search is found by clicking the menu icon in the top left.

You can also add search operators to Google Scholar searches to build your own custom advanced searches in similar ways to LibrarySearch:

• Use quotation marks to keep specific phrases together:

  • "The Castle of Otranto"

• Avoid using AND to combine search terms with Google Scholar, as the search engine automatically creates ANDs between concepts and sometimes adding an additional AND can confuse the search syntax.

• Use OR to connect two or more similar terms:

  • "epistolary novel" OR "epistolary fiction"

• Avoid using wild cards to substitute a letter or suffix with a symbol—instead write out the complete words and connect with an OR

  • allusive OR allusiveness OR allusion OR allusions

Databases

• MLA International Bibliography

   

  An index of journals, books and dissertations covering literature, language and linguistics, folklore, dramatic arts, printing and publishing, rhetoric, and composition.
• Literature Criticism Online

   

  Compilation of literary commentary covering centuries of analysis, both scholarly and popular commentary. Includes the series Children's Literature Review, Classical And Medieval Literature Criticism, Contemporary Literary Criticism, Drama Criticism, Literature Criticism From 1400-1800, Nineteenth Century Literature Criticism, Poetry Criticism, Shakespearean Criticism, Short Story Criticism, and Twentieth Century Literary Criticism

• Literature Resource Center

   

  A literary reference database which provides users with a broad spectrum of reference information from antiquity to the present day.
• Project MUSE Premium Collection

   

  Provides full text of a growing number of scholarly journals in the arts and humanities.
• JSTOR Collection

   

  Digital library of academic journals, ebooks and primary sources. Includes content across the humanities, social sciences, and sciences.

Reference Works

• The Cambridge Introduction to the Short Story in English by Adrian Hunter

   

  ISBN: 9780511504082

  Publication Date: 2007-01-01
• The Edinburgh Companion to Twentieth-Century Literatures in English by Brian McHale (Editor); Randall Stevenson (Editor)

   

  ISBN: 9780748627103

  Publication Date: 2006-01-01
• Gothic Literature by Andrew Smith

   

  ISBN: 0748647414

  Publication Date: 2013-03-31
• Handbook of British Romanticism by Ralf Haekel (Editor)

   

  ISBN: 9783110393408

  Publication Date: 2017-09-11
• A Historical Companion to Postcolonial Literatures in English by Prem Poddar (Editor); David Johnson (Editor)

   

  ISBN: 0748636021

  Publication Date: 2008-06-24
• The Routledge Companion to Victorian Literature by Dennis Denisoff (Editor); Talia Schaffer (Editor)

   

  ISBN: 0429507720

  Publication Date: 2019-11-11
• The Seventeenth-Century Literature Handbook by Marshall Grossman

   

  ISBN: 9781444390100

  Publication Date: 2010-11-18

Figure 1

Peter Steiner's Famous 1993 New Yorker Cartoon Illustrating an Issue Central to Information Evaluation

Note. From "On the Internet, nobody knows you're a dog" [Cartoon], by P. Steiner, 1993, Wikimedia (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/f8/Internet_dog.jpg).

Evaluating Information

It is good to find lots of search results, but, in order to use information skilfully, you need to know how to evaluate that information to determine whether a specific resource is appropriate to use in a specific use case (i.e. for a specific assignment).

The phrase "evaluating information" actually stands in for a wide range of judgments that we make about information in many different contexts, whether those judgments are about relevance, timeliness, quality, etc.

Librarians have developed several different acronyms to help people remember useful criteria to use in information evaluation. One of my personal favourites is RADAR!

RADAR stands for

Relevance

Authority

Date

Accuracy

Reason for Creation

We can ask the following questions to help us assess each criterion:

Relevance:

• Does this source fit my topic?

• What is this source's intended audience?

  • Is that intended audience appropriate for my use case in this assignment?

Authority:

• Is/are the creator(s) of this source clearly identified or known to us?

• How important is it in this use case to trust the source's creator(s)?

  • If it is important, why should we trust the source's creator(s)?

  • Is the source's creator credentialed or an expert in their field?

Date:

• Is the creation or publication date of this source identified or known to us?

• Is this source too old?

Accuracy:

• Do this source's facts "check out"?

• Does the source have references of its own?

Reason for Creation (take your best guess at this question using judgments from earlier criteria):

• Why was this source made?

• Was this source made to sell a product or service, to inform/educate, to entertain, etc?

(Adapted from Mandalios, J. (2013). RADAR: An approach for helping students evaluate Internet sources. Journal of Information Science, 39(4), 470-478. https://doi.org/10.1177/0165551513478889)

Primary vs. Secondary Sources

Primary Sources

The literary work itself, such as a novel, poem, story, play, essay, or a collection of these works.

Secondary Sources

Research and scholarship about the primary source work, or about the author/creator of the primary source.

Articles and Books - your best option

• original research appears in peer reviewed journal articles, books, or individual book chapters

• in-depth analysis, criticism, and commentary

• may explore a literary work or set of works, or an author's works as a whole, or a particular literary theme

Reference Works

• sometimes called background sources, includes encyclopedias, handbooks, or companion guides

• only basic or introductory information on a topic or person

• may describe and criticize a work, author, theme, etc., but is not comprehensive literary research or criticism

Book Reviews

• generally written within two years of the time the book was published

• published in journals, trade and popular magazines

• may describe and criticize a work, author, theme, etc., but is not comprehensive literary research or criticism

Scholarly vs. Popular Sources

A scholarly publication contains articles written by experts in a particular field. The primary audience of these articles is other experts.

Many of these publications are also referred to as "peer-reviewed," academic, or "refereed." They all mean essentially the same thing and refer to the editorial and publication process in which scholars in the same field review the research and findings before the article is published.

Some Helpful Questions for Identifying a Scholarly/Academic Article

1. What are the author’s credentials? Was it written by an expert?

2. Was it published in a journal (is there a DOI?)? (If you are not sure if a source is a journal article, you can enter the title of the publication into Ulrichs Web to check.)

3. Does it use academic or more technical language?

4. Does it includes a reference list of sources that it is citing?

5. How long is it? (Scholarly articles are typically longer than popular or news articles.)

6. Does it have a "Received" and "Accepted" date on it?

7. Is it an actual article? (Sometimes other types of content are included in scholarly publications, such as editorials/opinion pieces and book reviews. Make sure you are looking at an article.)

 Add / Reorder 

Activity: Is It Scholarly?

To make sure we are all on the same page, let's put our knowledge to the test.

Skim the following resources available through the links keeping in mind the characteristics we have discussed in class (for example: what is this information and where did it come from? Was it written by an expert? Where is this source published?).

Vote whether you think this source is Scholarly or Not Scholarly.

Source 1

Source 2

Source 3

Source 4

Source 5

Source 6

Source 7

Source 8

Citation Help

• Use the "cite" feature in most search tools to get you started with most resources (you will need to review and correct the citation).

• Cite Sources: Learn the correct way to cite sources by using these guides, tutorials, and videos.

  • MRU Guide to MLA style for Academic Work (2025-2026)

  • MRU Guide to Formatting Your MLA Paper (2025-2026)

  • MLA Handbook Plus

    • The go-to resource for writers of research papers and anyone citing sources. MLA Handbook Plus includes the full text of the ninth edition of the handbook.

• Academic Success Workshops: Academic Success Workshops are 75 minutes long and are offered both in-person and online. Registration is required.

• Appointments: Personalized online or in-person 30-minute appointments with a Learning Strategist at Student Learning Services located on the 2nd floor of the Riddell Library & Learning Centre.

• Use the Service Desk on the 1st floor of the RLLC for assistance as well as the library chat feature on the library website for quick citation questions.