Irvine Valley College:  Online Literature Study of the School of Humanities and Languages

Literature 110 - Popular Literature

Spring 2013 - Ticket #62740 // Marjorie Coverley Luesebrink, MFA, Instructor

Overview of the Process

A research paper can be exciting and enjoyable instead of just the usual chore!  The difference between awful and awesome is in thinking ahead about what you are going to do!

First, you want to choose an author that interests you.  This takes a little exploring.  No matter when you start, it's important to review the topics we are covering in this class so that you have a good idea of the range of possibilities open to you.  [See Lecture Notes]

Your choice of an author can come from several sources.  First, you might want to think about books you have read that you liked a lot.   A second possibility is that you may already have an idea of an author that you would like to read but have not gotten around to yet. Finally, you might want to just begin with one of the general topics that we are covering in the class [such as Horror or Romance] and begin to narrow your research focus from there. 

After you have found a author that interests you, you will want to get a list of books of that author that will be the basis of your research.  This step is really important, and we will be talking about it on the Discussion Boards during the early weeks of class.  

Once you have an author and a selection of books, you can begin to do some background investigation about your author.  When did your author live and in what environment?  What time period did the author write about?  What specifically characterizes this author's work as "Popular Literature"?  Most of this kind of research can be done without buying or borrowing any books, as there is very extensive material about Popular Writers on the WWW.  

When you have a good idea of the background of your writer, the way that your writer's works fit into Popular Literature, and the scope of these works, you are ready to read the works you have selected.  Then, when you have read these works, you are ready to narrow your topic into a working Thesis Statement. 

Those students who are comfortable with writing research papers may not need help with writing structure and organization.  However, for those who have not written a paper in a while, the next step is to review the features that make a workable, sturdy frame to hold your information.  

Finally, while the actual formatting of your paper is the last step, it's always a good idea to review the basic elements of documentation so that you copy the right information from your sources! 

Planning ahead will make your Research Project fun and interesting - and these pages should help with the rough parts!

I have done a unit on the Research Paper for my Fable and Folktale class.  It takes students through all the steps of the Research Paper.  If you need more information, please visit:  

Research Paper Help Site

The Mechanics:

Subject:  Each of the Lectures in our course relates to a genre area in the study of Popular Literature.   Your Final Research Paper will focus on ONE author that interests you and how that author's works relate to the characteristics of the genre that we have studied!  Your thesis should be focused - and approved - as you go forward with your planning and research.

Mechanical Requirements:  This paper will be 10-12 Text pages and have both a footnoting system (as Works Cited) and a Bibliography.  The paper may be submitted in hard copy (paper) form or e-mailed to me.  If you submit an electronic version, it should be in Microsoft Word document [.doc] form and mailed to my school e-mail address:  mluesebrink@ivc.edu.  

Due Date:  

Monday, May 20, 2013

(you can e-mail this to me by midnight on Monday night - mluesebrink@ivc.edu)

If you have questions about how these assignments contribute to your grade in the class, please see Grading Policies.