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Guide To Conducting Literary Research

Guide to Conducting Literary Research

Because the Literature Resource Center (LRC) offers a wealth of information that includes criticism, biographies, bibliographies, work overviews and explications, Web sites, periodical articles, compare and contrast pages, full-text author's works, and reading lists, it is an invaluable electronic library for you, the student of literature.

This guide is designed to support you as you use the LRC as well as other electronic and print resources to:

choose a topic

identify a variety of information sources

use parenthetical documentation

craft a thesis

take efficient notes

prepare a Works Cited page

evaluate thesis and sources

begin and organize a research paper

draft and revise a research paper

For additional information on citing GaleNet sources, you may also want to see How to Cite InfoTrac and GaleNet Sources.

All steps of the research process will be illustrated by examples that follow the creation of a research paper exploring Toni Morrison's novel Beloved. You will be able to track the development of a thesis from initial questions asked during the reading of Beloved to the documentation of material researched to develop that thesis.

First, a definition of terms:

1. Research

a. "The purpose of research is not simply to retrieve data, but to participate in a conversation about it" (Brent 109). In addition to being a scholarly investigation, research is a social activity intended to create new knowledge.

b. Because your purpose is to create new knowledge while recognizing those scholars whose existing work has helped you in this pursuit, you are honor bound never to commit the following academic sins:

1) Plagiarism: Literally "kidnapping," involving the use of someone else's words as if they were your own (Gibaldi 6). To avoid plagiarism you must document direct quotations, paraphrases, and original ideas not your own.

2) Recycling: Rehashing material you...