Research paper..

[BookW0rm]

I need to do a research paper about a book, comparing it with the author's life and literary criticism about the work. It would be better to read the author's book first right?

I'll post further questions below. Thanks in advance for anyone that replies! :p

[JBI]

Yes, read the core text before the criticism. Always. read the criticism second, re-read the text, then re-read the criticism. That way you have an initial read for personal thoughts, a read to incorporate other thoughts, and another read of criticism to create a synthesis.

[BookW0rm]

Yeah that sounds like the best route to go but I this report is due Mon. for me. Right now I'm reading the text (approx 140 pgs) and I'm taking notes in the process. Should I continue to take notes (on main characters, themes, style, etc.) or try to formulate them after I read the book and criticisms?

The instructions say to compare and contrast the criticism and my views. So would formulating my opinions first be "off-topic"?

I'm just the type of person who doesn't want to reread, and who doesn't want to forget the information the first time (so I take notes). I haven't really experimented with other methods. Any suggestions? Thanks. :yawnb:

[JBI]

What book, first of all, second of all, it is only 140 pages, and you have two days. It is easily doable if you push yourself.

[BookW0rm]

Yeah, but I tend to take a lot of breaks lol. I'm reading That Was Then, This Is Now by S. E. Hinton

[BookW0rm]

Can someone help figure out what is wrong here?

Two cops pick up a drunken teenager (underage) and take him to a hill, beat him up, and leave him there.

This is clearly against the law right? Did the cops do this just to exert their authority and power. Power + contempt/unscrupulousness = abuse of authority?

[BookW0rm]

Hey guys, if you need to compare and contrast literary criticsms and your opinion in a research paper, should you use the pronouns "I" and "me" or should you never use those pronouns in a formal research paper? How would my teacher be able to differentiate between my own ideas and that of other evaluators?

You're suppose to only quote lines that you don't paraphrase/summarize right? Thanks

[Hank Stamper]

never use those pronouns, use 'we' if you have to

if you are using somebody else's ideas then you need to reference them, most people use the harvard system (author, date, page number)

[BookW0rm]

Oh yeah, my teacher told me to use parenthetical citation (Author Page). She also told us to cite ourselves if we put our own subjective ideas in the paper. So would we just cite ourselves without page numbers?: like (Name). My teacher had us write down a page number, but I think that was a mistake because we really don't have work to cite for ourselves right?

Thanks guys.

[JBI]

Use one, not we. Always make it third person, so use one, the reader, the critic, etc.

[BookW0rm]

I have another question on parenthetical citations. Please help me here.

Say you have a paragraph with sentences that are referenced to different pages of a book. Is it correct to cite it once and put: (Author pg#-pg#) or do you need to cite every sentence separately?

Thanks.

[Hank Stamper]

yes at the end you put p.76 - p.99 or whatever

and yes sorry JBI is right, use the third person

I come from a journalism background and 'we' is preferred over the third person

[bej6s]

I was engrained with a formal background, so yes, one is the best way to go for these things, usually. Although sometimes the sentence can be reworded without any personal pronouns.
Also, just a suggestion for the future: I have met, as much as this baffles me, professors who criticize me for not using enough personal pronouns or being too formal?? It is always a good idea to clarify with the professor what s/he prefers as I don't believe there is just one standard anymore.

[JBI]

Look at the wording of the question. If it says "describe what you:, or mentions the word you, or personal responses, chances are it should be written in the first person. If it asks you to do something else, like give a detailed account of why something happened, or to outline the plot, always use 3rd person. Generally 3rd person is better for everything that is backed up by evidence, and not purely an opinion, though some other works may be written in first person if the question specifies.

[slobone]

In a paper like this, don't use any pronouns that put you into the picture. You're writing about what the author says, and what the critics say. Any statements that don't refer to either of these are assumed to be your own conclusions, and don't need to be labeled as such.

The closest you can come would be something like, "It would seem obvious that..." but that sounds pompous in a school paper.

"S.E. Hinton's That Was Then, This Is Now is the story of a young man, just out of college, whose father's ghost appears to him and orders him to kill his stepfather...

There are interesting parallels to Hinton's own life: although the man she married didn't have an insane first wife locked in the attic, he was in fact the guardian of two orphaned children who claimed to have seen an apparition of their deceased governess and a sinister manservant...

Most critics have focused on the theme of guilt and redemption in Hinton's work. F.R. Leavis said, "What a load of bollocks this book is," while Harold Bloom was more charitable, only mentioning in passing that most of the plot is stolen from the book of Ezekiel...

In conclusion, it seems safe to suggest that, although TWTTIN has gone from neglected masterpiece to multi-culti cliché in an astonishingly short time, there is little doubt that the critical battles will continue to rage for the foreseeable future."

[jgweed]

Slobone's comments are spot on. A research paper may support an perspective based on the reading of the text and scholarly discussion, both of which are documented by citation, but should not be a discussion of the writer's opinions or "feelings." One is not researching oneself.
Cheers,
John