Step 1: Choose any one of the authors listed below, from our reading (other authors may be ok, but must be approved by me). You should have a genuine interest in the writer’s lives and their writing, so examine their selections in our textbook before choosing.
Amy Tan Alice Walker August Wilson Henry Miller Emily Dickinson Gwendolyn Brooks Walt Whitman Sandra Cisneros Jamaica Kincaid Neil Gaiman Kate Chopin Raymond Carver E.E. Cummings Anton Chekov Harold Pinter Stephen Graham Jones George Saunders Sophocles Billy Collins
Step 2: Choose Primary Work(s)
A primary source refers to the author’s original work, which must be examined in your research report. While a sample of each of these author’s works is reproduced in Portable Literature, you will have to explore the library for other stories or poems by these writers to be included in your report (the playwrights August Wilson and Arthur Miller are an exception, since we’re not reading their work, you may examine Wilson’s Fences or Miller’s Death of a Salesman from the textbook). Begin this search early, so you can include preliminary selections in the Research Proposal. Choose 2 stories or 3 poems other than those we’ve read in class for your analysis. Read these several times to become familiar with the writing—then you can begin your research.
Step 3: Locate Critical Analyses (secondary sources)
You must find at least five (5), and no more than twelve (12), critical sources examining the author’s work (these are called secondary sources). Look for secondary sources through the internet. Allow for the extra time this process may take by starting your search early for critical sources.
Biography & Context
Include a brief historical biography of the author you’re examining. Contextual analysis will help us understand the effects of time, place, people, and other influences on the author you are examining for this project.
Reader Response
Explain why this writer’s work is important to you. Synthesize all of the information and analyses from your reading of the primary and secondary sources, and explain your own reactions to the reading.
Other Notes
As always, your final drafts must follow MLA manuscript form.
Sample Solution