1. Literary Research Project

2. Independent Reading Tuesday’s log: Think of a book you’ve read whose character you have identified with on some level. Write about that connection. Wednesday’s log: Who is the most interesting/disturbing/confusing character you’ve encountered in a book? Write about that character. Thursday’s log: Insert yourself as a new character in the novel you are reading now or one you have read this year. Explain what role that character would play in the plot and in relation to the other characters.

3. Literary Research Learning Targets I can: evaluate the validity of sources collect scholarly research and incorporate it into original analysis develop a complex and debatable thesis create an outline of claims, supporting evidence and analysis follow MLA format to write a literary analysis cite sources correctly using MLA format think deeply and critically about a specific topic of interest in a work of literary merit

4. Select a Work of Literature List of Major Works Studied in High School 1984Odyssey FrankensteinNight Invisible ManHuck Finn OthelloWomanWarrior Hamlet Persepolis Great Gatsby Candide Eyes Were Watching God Romeo and Juliet Twelve Angry Men

5. Possible Topics of Interest From the Texts We’ve Studied Use of black/dark humor in Grendel Motif of invisibility in Invisible Man Decay of the Southern family in The Sound and the Fury

6. How to Find a Topic Look for a text you have connected with Look for a topic that interests you and think of a text that focuses on that topic (i.e. supernatural = Hamlet; existentialism = Grendel; ethics in science/medicine = Frankenstein; interracial relationships= Othello) Look for a setting that interests you (Deep South = The Sound and the Fury; the 1920’s = The Great Gatsby)

7. Read What the Critics Say The secondary sources you will use must come from academic search engines. (These cannot be found by googling the book title.) Academic search engines include: Infotrac (http://opac.libraryworld.com)http://opac.libraryworld.com EBSCO Host, Student Research Center and Grolier Online which can all be accessed through KY Virtual Library (see handout in your packet to access these sites)