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Research Project Guidelines 1. Choose a literary criticism on one of your summer reading selections. The article is typically between 4 – 15 pages in length and is a criticism on some theme or opinion by a critic on the novel. The article cannot be a summary of your novel or play. 2. Read your article thoroughly and highlight important ideas and points. You will probably have to read it more than twice to fully understand the author’s theme. a. Make a copy of your article to take home with you. b. Write down the citation information about your article. 3. Make sure you have the following citation information: -author -volume (if a reference book) -article title -city of publication -book, magazine, journal or series -publisher -editor -year -total pages of article 4. After you have read and highlighted your article, summarize each paragraph of your article into one sentence that makes sense to you. (Some paragraphs are easier than others.) 5. Determine the thesis statement for the article. Your thesis should be, “According to Joseph Critic, …” 6. Choose about 7 – 10 quotes that accurately represent the content and spirit of the article. Choose no more than one extended (more than 4 lines) quote. DO NOT USE QUOTES FROM YOUR NOVEL. You are summarizing the article not the novel. 7. Begin your rough draft. Your objective for this project is to summarize the article in the THIRD PERSON PRESENT TENSE in two to three typed pages using the quotes (with the framing) that you chose as the most important. Use #12 font, Times Roman Numeral, one inch margins, etc. (see sample paper). 8. Frame the quotes with introductions and analyses (explanation). Remember to use THIRD PERSON PRESENT TENSE throughout your paper. 9. Constantly refer to the author of the article. For example, “According to (Critic)…, as (critic) points out…, (critic) indicates that…, (critic) states… 10. Put it together and write your conclusion. Stay focused on your thesis. Use transition words and phrases that make your paper logically progressive. 11. Have someone PROOFREAD YOUR WORK and don’t forget to compile your WORKS CITED (see step 2&3). Write an outline LAST to make sure it accurately reflects the paper.
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