Brainstorming for
Research
An exercise
Your question
Does history imitate literature or does
literature imitate history?
(1) a product of the generation in which it was
written (literature imitating history)
(2)a catalyst for changing the time period in
which it was written (history imitating literature).
BEFORE you research, which
would you say? Use a specific
example from something you
have read in the past to
support your response.
Step 1
Research the history surrounding your
outside reading novel
Major American
literary/historical time periods
 (1) Pre-colonial Literature
(Anything pre-dating 1472)
 (2) Puritanism/colonial
literature (1472-1750)
 (3) Enlightenment (17501800)
 (4) Romanticism (18001855)
 Transcendentalism
 Gothicism
 (5) Realism (1865-1915)
 Naturalism
 Regionalism
 (6) Imagism (1912-1927)
 (7) Modernism (1915-1946);
 (8) Harlem Renaissance
(1918-1930)
 (9) Post-modernism (1945present)
 (10) Contemporary (1945present)
Brainstorm
Write everything you know or think you
know about the time period your book was
written during.
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Realism (1865-1915)
Naturalism
Regionalism
Brainstorm
Write everything you know or think you know
about the time period your book was SET. (this
may be the same, or different; if your time
period is in the future—write everything the
author has revealed to you about that future)
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Romanticism (1800-1855)
Transcendentalism
Gothicism
Step 2
Research the background/biography of
your author
Brainstorm
Write everything you know or think you
know about the author; consider that most
books reveal some of this information on the
cover
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Mark Twain (AKA Samuel Clemons)
Step 3
Research the sociology surrounding
your book
Sociology
The study of social interactions
including social classes, culture,
religion, law, etc.
Based on what you have read
so far, how does sociology
affect my reading of the novel?
Step 4
Research the literary trends of the time
period
Literary trends
What other books were popular
during this time?
How did the critics react to this
novel?
Was the novel well received by
the public?
Step 5
Return to the question: Does history imitate
literature or does literature imitate history?
Finding sources
Once you have established a
specific interest, you should do
some preliminary research to
see if there are enough authentic
sources available.
To do this, you should go to the
West Forsyth’s Library
Homepage.
 Then click on the “Library Resource
Center” link on the left hand side of
the page
We will be using the Library Database
sources most often
You can use
most of these
sources. They
can be effective.
Start in the
resource center
You may find
some useful
things in the
opposing
viewpoints
PW: clem79777
 Try the search bar first; use good search terms




Literary time period
Author’s name
Literary trends in the time period
I DO NOT SUGGEST searching the EQ.
Notice the
drop box as
you search—it
can be very
useful in
locating good
sources
There is a lot to discover
on this page!
Notice the sidebar
Notice the scrolling
options
Don’t overlook
the usefulness
of the sidebars
after you click
on an article
Another useful
site is
NCWiseowl
PW: Wiseowl
Click on “High School Zone”
Click on “High School Zone”
There are a lot of cool resources
here
Click on
“Careers” first
All Resources require the same
password: wiseowl
This is similar to our databases,
but more expansive
Magazines, newspapers, books and encyclopedias are all print resources
You can limit the results here too
You can also narrow the results and
find new keywords/specific interests
Go back to www.ncwiseowl.org
and click on professional zone
We can also use the helpful links for
websources
What is an authentic
source?
“Authentic” means that the source is a
reliable source of information, as free
from bias as possible, and as
accurate as possible.
How do I determine if a source is
reliable?
There a 6 main criteria you should use
evaluate a source before deciding if it is
authentic. Click
on each one for more information
1. Source Information
2. Design
3. Help Documentation and Support
4. Performance
5. Maintenance
6. Audience
 Ask yourself questions about the Web Site’s information
 Who is providing the information?
 Check domain ownership. This tells you if the source is reliable. Who is look-up at Domain
Tools http://www.domaintools.com/
 Read "about us" and author bios. Examine links to and from other Web sites. Discover the
Source's Expertise
Source Info
 Is the source an expert or authority?
 Examine credentials in author bios and "about us" pages.
 Examine grammar and spelling.
 Look for other publications by the author or publisher.
 Determine the Level of Objectivity
 Does the source provide a balanced viewpoint?
 Examine the writing style.
 Is it trying to influence your opinion? If so, it’s a good bet that it is biased.
 Examine the advertising. Does it influence the content?
 Lack of objectivity does not necessarily mean the source provides substandard information. A
persuasive writer intends to win your favor. S/he might use good facts and analysis to do so.
 Examples illustrating objectivity: Check out the differences(#
3 on your
worksheet!!!!)
 Cancer information at the National Cancer Institute (balanced) http://ihr.org/Not Just Another Scare
(biased; undocumented claims) http://www.aspartamekills.com/blayart1.htm
Design
Refers to presentation, navigability, and overall
ease of use.
Ask yourself questions like…
 How does the site look?
 Is it well-organized, easy to follow? If so, chances are it is more
authentic.
 Is the font-size legible?
 If not, it is not very academic
 Are colors and graphics distracting?
 Professional websites should be clean and neat, not too flashy, but
not messy either.
 Are there a ton of advertisements?
 If so, the site probably doesn’t have the academic nature you
crave. .com sites are “commercial” and generally involve money
transactions. .org is an organization and usually is biased toward
one idea or another. .edu is educational
and .gov is government.
Help documentation & Support
The web sit should have readily-accessible
materials that explain how to use the site and
its resources.
Ask yourself questions such as…
 Does the site guide novice users (e.g., "new to the
site?")?
 Are help links available on every page? Are they
easy to find? Does it suggest additional ways to find
related information?
 Is contact information available and easy to find?
Performance
Refers to the site stability and
availability.
Ask questions such as…
 Is there minimal down time?
Do the links works?
 If not, it has not been updated often enough
How fast does it load?
 When a site is slow to load, that can often
mean it is bogged down by too much “flash” not
enough “meat”
Maintenance
closely related to timeliness -- one of the basic
five criteria, this refers to the regular revision of a
site in order to keep links and information up to
date.
Evaluators should consider clearly dated and
labeled archival sites.
 Search out Dates of revisions. If you can’t find one, that
is NOT a good sign.
 Search out an author or organization or institution or
contributors. IF THERE IS NOT ONE, it usually is not
very authentic.
Audience
Look for a target group, including age,
language, reading ability, interests, etc.
Ask yourself questions like…
Is the site appropriate for younger audiences?
Does it target a certain group (e.g., doctors) or
the general public?
What is the reading level?
So, what do you do with this Info?
Create a checklist for yourself, and evaluate
your sources BEFORE you use them!
*REMEMBER* All Web sources must be
validated by you and your teacher or media
coordinator. Your teacher is more likely to OK it
if you fill out an evaluation for the website,
which (incidentally) helps with works cited
information.
What questions do you
have about the research
process?
Write them down for me to address on Thursday.