Research skills 1 How to find reliable sources How to use them meaningfully Read

Reliable sources This advice is limited to A Level. At university, you will have access to more sources, e.g. published theses and journals Slides 2-9 = 10 minutes

What is a reliable source? Books from library or EN4 (academic books within the relevant discipline), e.g. Cambridge Companion Google Scholar Google Books specialist magazines or newspapers of agreed high repute, e.g. emagazine

recorded TV or radio programmes to which reputable figures within the discipline have contributed, e.g. In Our Time (Radio 4) primary sources such as original letters, diaries, novels, plays or poetry Based on http://writesite.elearn.usyd.edu.au/m2/m2u2/m2u2s2/m2u2s2_1.htm

Rules for sources: Check to see whether the author has written other reputable academic publications Omit the source altogether if you have real doubts about its authenticity or validity If you are in any doubt whatsoever, ask your teacher before you use a source

4 most pertinent sources for A Level Books from library or EN4 (reliable, as rigorously peer-reviewed and edited) Google Scholar (reliable, as full text or metadata of scholarly literature) Google Books (reliable, because sources are provided by publishers, libraries and authors) emagazine (reliable, as rigorously peer-reviewed and edited)

Tips Books from library or EN4 Read selectively across books (not all books are useful for your coursework: a small number used well is best) Read selectively within a book (Cambridge Companions are good, as are books with clearly delineated chapters)

Tips Google Scholar and Google Books Select search terms with care (see example) Read source with a critical eye Cite it properly if you use it Beware: whilst these are both reliable, they are not perfect

Tips emagazine search both for your text(s) and other useful articles, e.g. on genre, theme or topic, or general comparison advice look at who wrote the article (professional academic? Teacher? Student?) TIMECHECK: 10 minutes

Navigation of emagazine https://www.englishandmedia.co.uk/e-magazine/emag-login username: alcestergrammar password: english NB These login details must not be shared with any other person, as we pay a subscription to access Slides 10-12 take 15 minutes to go through these slides, then to explore what’s available for a coursework text on the website (e.g. 1984) and have a skim read of a couple of the articles to see the range of sources available. This is one of the most popular sources for coursework criticism

Left hand side narrows results Right hand gives more options

EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED KEEP AN OPEN MIND Hold on… EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED KEEP AN OPEN MIND Two 1984 results from search term ‘dystopia’ An example of being observant with search results and looking carefully for alternative sources TIMECHECK 25 minutes

Navigation of Google Scholar and Google Books https://scholar.google.co.uk/ https://books.google.co.uk/ Slides 13-16 take 5 minutes to explore what’s available for a coursework text (e.g. 1984) and the limited amount of information available, depending on results – case study Harold Bloom

No preview = no use Google Books example

Scroll down a little – a useful result Harold Bloom = renowned literary critic Follow link to explore https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=jzEncIezSwkC&printsec=frontcover&dq=1984&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiw7566sc3ZAhWBA8AKHZIfAI0QuwUIQDAE#v=onepage&q=1984&f=false

Google Scholar can be very hard to navigate: you don’t have to use it! NB As can be seen here, Google Scholar can be VERY HARD to navigate. Google Books may serve students better TIMECHECK 30 MINUTES

2. How to use them meaningfully Worked example using emagazine article as critical source, and two coursework texts not yet covered The Kite Runner A Thousand Splendid Suns Slides 17 to end = 30 minutes, much of which is independent work

The Task… By the end of your final session of week 4, you will need to have produced a mini coursework task in which you clearly compare and contrast two texts based on the key themes and ideas within them. Comparison of your chosen coursework texts begins in crafting the title itself. With this in mind, at the centre of your question must be a thematic focus. You should use the theories discussed to make analytical readings of the text. Questions must also allow scope to explore different perspectives and interpretations. Finally, they should be evaluative e.g. ‘how far do you agree…’, ‘to what extent...’

emagazine article on narrative viewpoint: https://www.englishandmedia.co.uk/e-magazine/articles/15699 For future reference: https://www.englishandmedia.co.uk/e-magazine/articles/27426 Hand out article to students Read and absorb. Discuss carefully how generic article might be applied to coursework texts (5 minutes?) Hand out both novel openings to students Read and absorb. Discuss carefully relevance of article to each (10 minutes?) Student make brief notes on connections between articles and novel openings, perhaps highlighting pertinent quotes, writing questions or annotating techniques used to convey particular viewpoints (15 minutes?)

Next session: emagazine article on the opening of The Kite Runner: https://www.englishandmedia.co.uk/e-magazine/articles/15025 Further discussion points, such as: Is this article useful? How would it work with the first article? What points of comparison are there between the articles and the novel openings? Independent work