An Astonishing
Presentation
on the subject of
Really Known As Preliminary Bibliography Cards
11th Grade Honors English
Basics Of The Research Paper
Assignment
• Final paper will be 8-10 (+?) pages
• Paper will be word-processed and formatted
according to all instructions
• Paper will 1. Contain a thesis of your own 2.
Contain arguments of your own 3. Will frequently
refer to your main work 4. And will be supported
by evidence from your secondary sources: there
MUST be a minimum of seven (7) outside sources
in the paper
The Steps: An Overview
• Select main work (primary source)
• Do a preliminary bibliographical survey to see what secondary sources
are available based on a starting, formula thesis
• Take notes on both main work and the secondary sources using the
formula thesis as a guide
• Revise the thesis as often as necessary, upon mutual agreement
• Create an outline
• Write the rough draft
• Write and turn in the final paper
Materials Needed
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
3 x 5 index cards
4x 6 index cards
Toner, disks, paper, etc.
A fanatic’s organization skills
A saint’s patience
A writer’s desire for challenge
A scholar’s insight
Some Useful Terminology
• Primary source=the MAIN WORK (novel, play,
poetry) you have chosen to write about
• Secondary sources=comments by literary critics,
book reviewers, others, ABOUT your main work
or about issues related to it
• Anthology=A book that has an editor who has
selected many secondary sources for you and
packaged them in one book for you. That is, the
book contains 10-15 critical essays.
• Critical essay= An article, book review, in which a
professor, reporter, etc., gives his/her theories
about the main work or the author
What’s A Bibliography Card?
• Just a 3 x 5 index card
• But it contains all of the information
necessary to find a single book, magazine,
online page, etc., when you take notes
• And the information needed to write an
entry in the final Works Cited List of your
paper
• In other words, these cards are “keepers”-you will add to them and use them through
the whole process
Why Do Bib Cards
Now?
•To search
NOW so that
you can
concentrate on
the notetaking
later
• To know NOW if
there’s enough
information available
about a work you are
considering making
your project
• To become familiar with
what’s out there--all
scholars do a literature
search first
• To evaluate if there will
be too much
competition for
materials
What’s An “Illegal” source for
our purposes?
• Any source your instructor bans!
• Cliffs/Spark Notes or its kin (Pink Monkey,
etc.)
• Another research paper, online or otherwise
• Encyclopedia articles
• Gale Literature Resource Center
Overviews, but full Gale articles are fine.
Basic
Book
Format
Main
work
Sample Bib Card
Location
Personal Copy
Author
Title
City, Pub,
Date, medium
(Not always
needed)
Bib Card #
1
1/20
Anderson, Sherwood. Winesburg, Ohio.
New York: Penguin Putnam, Inc., 1992. Print.
Basic
Book
Format
Sample Bib Card
Location and Call #
PHS Library
Author
Title
Bib Card #
1/20
832.05 J
Jacobs, Wilbur R.
8
Benjamin Franklin, Philosopher Or Materialist.
City, Pub,
Date,
medium
(Not always
needed)
Chicago: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, 1998.
Book
with two
or more
authors
Sample Bib Card
Location and Call #
LCCC
Author
Title
Bib Card #
2/20
920 S
Smith, Carl and John Weber. Exploring Gothic
Literature. Bloomington: Indiana UP, 1985.
City, Pub,
Date,
Medium
(Not always
needed)
Book in a
series with
numbered
volumes
Sample Bib Card
Location and call #
Bib Card #
9/20
PHS
Editors
Title
City, Pub,
Date,
Medium
Marowski, Daniel G. and Roger Matuz, eds.
Contemporary Literary Criticism, Vol. 52.
Detroit: Gale Research, Inc., 1989. Print.
Book in a
series with
titled
volumes:
critical
anthologies,
for example
Sample Bib Card
Location and Call #
Card #
PHS/Access
Editor
3/20
Bloom, Harold, ed. Nathaniel Hawthorne.
Title
Modern Critical Interpretations series.
Series Title
New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1986.
City, Pub,
Date,
Medium
Other Series That May Be Useful
•
•
•
•
•
Twentieth Century Interpretations Of
Twentieth Century Views
Modern Literature monographs
Twayne’s U.S. Authors
Contemporary Authors In Christian
Perspective
• Major Literary Characters (Bloom)
• Critical Essays on American Literature
• Modern Critical Views
Other Books That May Be Useful
• Books discussing British/World literature in
general (thematically or historically). For
example, Leslie Fiedler’s Love And Death
In The British Novel
• A literary dictionary or two (for definitions
of terms such as “realism”
• Magill’s Survey Of series (Poetry, Drama,
Science Fiction) Look here for info about a
genre--sci fi, gothicism, etc.
• Critical editions of your main work
• “Back Door” sources such as a psychology
text (for facts about literary theory, for
Book with an
edition
number
Sample Bib Card
Location and call #
Card #
Cedar Crest
5/20
Editor
555.61
Abrams, M.H., ed. A Glossary Of Literary Terms,
Title/edition
6th edition.Fort Worth: Harcourt Brace
Publishers, 1993.
City, Pub,
Date,
Medium
Book with an
edition
number
Sample Bib Card
Location and call #
LCCC
Editor
Title/edition
6/20
Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Scarlet Letter, Critical
Edition. ed. Carlos Mayo New York: Harcourt
Brace Publishers, 1993.
City, Pub,
Date,
Medium
Card #
General
Circulation
Magazine/
Newspaper
Article
Sample Bib Card
Location
Bib Card #
Cedar Crest
Author
Smith, John.
Title
“Honest, Pocahontas Did Save My Life.”
Name
Early Time.
March 2, 1609: 30-35. Print
Date
Pages
Medium
15
Previously
Published
Essay
Reprinted in
a Collection
Original
Author
Essay
Title
City ,Pub,
Date, Page
Title
Editor. Vol. #
City ,Pub,
Date, Page,
Medium
Sample Bib Card
Location and call #
Bib Card #
PHS
7/20
Roberts, Sheila. “A Confined World: A
Rereading of Pauline Smith.”
World Literature Written in English.
New York: Marshall Cavendish, 1980.232-238.
Rpt. In Twentieth Century Literary Criticism.
Ed. Dennis Poupard. Vol. 25.
Detroit: Gale, 1988. 399-402. Print.
Professional
Magazine or
Scholarly
Journal
Article
Sample Bib Card
Location and call #
Bib Card #
PHS
Author
4/20
Schulten, Katherine.“Huck Finn: Born To
Title
Trouble. ”English Journal 89(November 1999):
Name/
55-59.
Date/
Pages,
Medium
Other Useful Journals
•
•
•
•
•
Modern Novel
Modern Fiction Studies
College English
PMLA
Lots of others--see Ebsco
Online
reference
service
Sample Bib Card
Location
Bib Card #
Online
Author
Title
Original pub
information
Service
Date of
Access
8/20
Bruner, Belinda. “Pedagogy of the Undressed:
Sherwood Anderson’s Kate Swift.“Studies in
Short Fiction 36.4 (1999): 361+.
Literature Resource Center. Web. 23 Feb. 2012.
Your Assignment
• Date due__February 11, 2013______
• Find at least 20 potentially useful and
available sources of information for your
paper and create a bibliography card for
each
• At least one card MUST be a card for your
main work (primary source)
Assignment Continued
• You may enter one biography of your
author
• You may enter one literary dictionary
• The rest should be cards to books,
magazines, newspapers, or approved online
sources such as Gale (At least 7 must be
print resources)
• Cards may include trial websites you
believe will be useful and want permission
to use
Congratulations!
You have completed
another step of
your research paper