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 How
to Write a Term Paper
 Evaluate
Your Thesis and Sources
Identify a Variety
of Information Sources
Courtesy of Thomson Gale - www.gale.com
This guide is designed to support you as you use
electronic and print resources to:
Evaluate
Your Thesis and Sources
1. Remember, like your
hypothesis, your thesis is not carved in stone. You are in
charge. If necessary, revise it during the research process.
2. As you research,
continue to evaluate both your thesis for practicality,
originality, and promise as a search tool, and secondary sources
for relevance and scholarliness. The following are questions to
ask during research:
a. Are there many
journal articles and entire books devoted to the thesis,
suggesting that the subject has been covered so thoroughly
that there may be nothing new to say?
b. Does the thesis
lead to stimulating, new insights?
c. Are
appropriate sources available? Is there a variety
of sources available so that the bibliography or works cited
page will reflect different kinds of sources?
d. Which sources
are too broad for my thesis? Which resources too
narrow ?
e. Who is the
author of the secondary source? Does the critic's background
suggest that he/she is qualified?
3. After crafting a
thesis, consider one of the following two approaches to writing
a research paper.
a. Excited about
your thesis and eager to begin?
1) Return to
the primary source to find support for your thesis.
2) Organize
ideas and begin writing your first draft.
3) After
writing the first draft, turn to the authorities for
their support of your ideas. In the appropriate
places, cite these sources.
4) Document
facts and opinions from secondary sources.
5) Remember,
secondary sources are no substitute for original thought
b. Confused about
where to start?
1) Use your
thesis to direct you to appropriate secondary sources.
2) These
secondary sources will help you clarify your position
and find a direction for your paper.
3) Keep a
work-in-progress bibliography. You may not use all the
sources you record, but you cannot be sure which ones
you will eventually discard.
4) Create a
working outline as you research. This outline will, of
course, change as you delve more deeply into your
subject.
Identify a Variety
of Information Sources
"A mind that is stretched to a new idea never returns to its
original dimension."
-Oliver Wendell Holmes
Your thesis and your
working outline are the primary compasses that will help you
navigate the variety of sources available.
1. In "Introduction
to the Library" (5-6) the
MLA
Handbook for Writers of Research Papers suggests you
become familiar with the library you will be using by:
a. taking a
tour or enrolling for a brief introductory lecture,
b. referring to
the library's publications describing its resources,
c. introducing
yourself and your project to the reference librarian (5)
2. The
MLA
Handbook also lists guides for the use of libraries
(5). Among them are:
a. Jean Key
Gates, Guide to the Use of Libraries and Information
Sources (7th ed., New York: McGraw, 1994).
b. Thomas Mann,
A Guide to Library Research Methods (New York:
Oxford UP, 1987).
3. Online Central
Catalog
a. Today most
libraries have their holdings listed on a computer.
b. The online
catalog may offer Internet sites, Web pages and
databases that relate to the university's curriculum. It
may also include academic journals and online reference
books.
c. Below are
three search techniques commonly used online:
1) Index
Search: Although online catalogs may differ
slightly from library to library, the most common
listings are by
a)
Subject Search: Enter the author's name for
books and
article
written about the author.
b)
Author Search: Enter an author's name for
works written by the author, including
collections of essays the author may have
written about his/her own works.
c)
Title Search: Enter a title for the screen
to list all the books the library carries with
that title.
2) Key
Word Search/Full-text Search:
a) A
one-word search, e.g., ‘Morrison,' will produce
an overwhelming number of sources, as it will
call up any entry that includes the name
‘Morrison.'
b) To
focus more narrowly on your subject, add one or
more key words, e.g., "Toni Morrison, Beloved,
criticism."
c) Be
sure to use precise key words.
3)
Boolean Search:
a)
Boolean Search techniques use words such as
"and," "or," and "not," which clarify the
relationship between key words, thus narrowing
the search.
b) This
kind of search is described fully in the
Literature Resource Center under Search
Engine Tips: General Tips.
4. Print Resources
(Some may be offered online or on CD-ROM at your library):
a. Gale
Literary Criticism Series:
1)
Contemporary Literary Criticism (CLC):
Authors now living or who died after December 31,
1959.
2)
Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism (TCLC):
Authors who died between 1900 and 1959.
3)
Nineteenth-Century Literature Criticism (NCLC):
Authors who died between 1800 and 1899.
4)
Literature Criticism From 1400 To 1800 (LC)
and
Shakespearean Criticism (SC):
Authors who died between 1400 and 1799.
5)
Classical And Medieval Literature Criticism (CMLC):
Authors who died before 1400.
6) Drama
Criticism (DC): Dramatists.
7)
Poetry Criticism (PC): Poets
8) Short
Story Criticism (SSC): Short story
writers.
9) Black
Literature Criticism (BLC): Black writers
of the past two hundred years.
10)
Hispanic Literature Criticism (HLC):
Hispanic writers of the late nineteenth and
twentieth centuries.
11)
Native North American Literature (NNAL):
Native North American writers and orators of the
eighteenth, nineteenth, and twentieth centuries.
12)
World Literature Criticism, 1500 to the Present
(WLC): Major authors from the Renaissance to
the present.
b. MLA
International Bibliography
1) MLA
publishes two books yearly that provide
bibliographic information concerning literary works.
The first book lists works in five areas: literature
in English, literature in other languages,
linguistics, general literature and related topics,
and folklore. The second book is a subject index of
the first (Gibaldi 13).
2) Obtain a
list of the periodicals in the library's collection.
Check titles in the MLA International
Bibliography against the library's holdings.
This precaution will save you the frustration of
searching for periodicals that are not available.
5. Electronic
Resources:
a.
Literature Resource Center (LRC): Many of the
above mentioned Gale Series are available within the
Literature Resource Center's searches listed below.
1)
Author Search
2) Title
Search
3) Genre
Search
4)
Literary Movement/Time Period Search
5)
Literary Themes Search
6)
Essays on Publishing Companies
7)
Essays on Literary Topics
8)
Custom Search
b. Gale
Literary Databases: The following databases
available on GaleNet. (http://galenet.gale.com) LRC
incorporates databases 1-3
1)
Contemporary Authors: Provides complete biographical
and bibliographical information and references on
approximately 100,000 U.S. and international
authors.
2)
Contemporary Literary Criticism Select: An extensive
collection of critical essays on contemporary
writers — each entry also contains a
biographical/critical introduction, a list of
principal works and sources for further study.
3)
Dictionary of Literary Biography: Documents the
lives and careers of authors from all eras and
genres — provides biographies, critical studies,
bibliographies and sources for further reading.
4)
DISCovering Authors Modules: A student-focused
source for biographical, bibliographical and
critical information on 1,260 of the world's
most-studied novelists, poets and dramatists,
including significant coverage of multicultural,
popular and genre authors.
5)
DISCovering Most-Studied Authors: A
student-focused source for biographical,
bibliographical and critical information on the 380
authors most frequently studied in North American
high schools and colleges, including significant
coverage of key novelists, poets, dramatists and
short story writers.
c. MLA
International Bibliography, available online and on
CD-ROM (Gibladi 13):
1) This
source includes citations from 1963 on, adding new
records ten times per year; approximately 45,000
records annually. (http://medusa.prod.oclc.org)
2) The
standard way to search this database is through
author, title and subject (Gibaldi 14).
3) Ask a
librarian for a list of the periodicals available in
your library. You will want to be sure the journal
is available before beginning a search through the
library"s periodical collection.
d. Free Sources
on the Internet
1) Library
of Congress: "LOC offers a wide variety of online
databases and Internet resources. In addition, the
LOC provides an easy-to-use gateway for searching
other institutions online catalogs and extensive
links to resources on the Internet"
Library of Congress Research Tools.
2) There
are many Web pages devoted to individual authors.
Some are unofficial fan sites and as such may not be
appropriate resources for a scholarly paper, but
they may contain ideas for topics and provide
interesting information about your author. For
example, a web page on Toni Morrison includes her
views on the possible impeachment proceedings of
President Clinton. While these views are not
pertinent to the writing of a paper on Beloved,
they do offer insights into Morrison's view on
contemporary politics. Try entering an author's name
on any of the popular search engines, such as
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