Research/Reflection Paper
11AP Language and Literature – Ms. Thoreson
Choose a topic/theme which is common to a number of works we have read this summer and in the class so
far. You will be exploring your topic as it appears in a variety of sources from a variety of time periods.
You will be looking for shifting ideas on your topic and connections among the sources you have chosen,
looking for more insight into ways of understanding your theme. The paper includes both research and
reflection. The research component is drawing examples from a number of different sources; citing those
sources properly using MLA style; and fitting the sources into their places in history. The reflection part,
which is the more important part of the paper, will be exploring what you believe the various sources seem
to be expressing about your chosen theme. You should also arrive at an articulation of your own personal
beliefs about the theme.
For SOURCES you must use:
a. TWO of the following: The Wave, The Day of the Triffids, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, the nonfiction book you read for the J&H paper, The Scarlet Letter
b. THREE of the essays we have read in class (e.g., Montaigne, Smith, etc.)
c. ONE excerpt from the Bible
For ADDITIONAL SOURCES select at least TWO of the following:
a. A personal anecdote
b. A piece of advertising
c. Information delivered via print or broadcast media (news, not advertising)
d. A reference to popular media (movies, t.v. shows—not advertising)
e. An additional book or article not listed above
The structure of your essay and the connections you make will be organic to your content—you must
struggle to find the right structure to make the best connections. Your essay should be approximately 5 to 7
pages in length. You should cite your material and include a works cited page using MLA format. Your
essays will be due Tuesday, October 9. It will be worth 200 points.
Examples of themes:
Views/attitudes towards nature
Gender roles in society and/or relationships between men and women
Search for meaning in an individual’s life – including, but not limited to, importance of religion
The individual and his or her relationship with society
Utopias and Dystopias: The best and worst in human nature
Views of the outsider, the stranger, the “other”
Other themes are encouraged but must be approved by the teacher