Literature
Sprecher PART 2 - Spring 2025
Generate Search Terms
Use the Search Strategies worksheet to brainstorm any keywords that you might use to perform a search on your topic in a database. Focus on choosing nouns and verbs, and try to come up with any potential synonyms!
- Worksheet - Search strategies - keywords + 3 magic wordsBrainstorm keywords and search terms. Apply strategies to compose an advanced search.
Find It!
- Open the Find It! document.
- Claim a table by typing your name in the first box.
- Search for resources on your topic using the keywords and advanced search strings you brainstormed.
- Paste in the MLA citation for each source you find, and make note of how you plan to use the source in your paper.
Generate Search Terms
Use the Search Strategies worksheet to brainstorm any keywords that you might use to perform a search on your topic in a database. Focus on choosing nouns and verbs, and try to come up with any potential synonyms!
- Worksheet - Search strategies - keywords + 3 magic wordsBrainstorm keywords and search terms. Apply strategies to compose an advanced search.
Find It!
- Open the Find It! document.
- Claim a table by typing your name in the first box.
- Search for resources on your topic using the keywords and advanced search strings you brainstormed.
- Paste in the MLA citation for each source you find, and make note of how you plan to use the source in your paper.
Sprecher - Spring 2025
BEAM it!
In this activity, you and a partner will review the sources used by the authors of a literary criticism sample. You will get a printed copy and a bag of highlighters to work on. Use the provided online versions of the article to help you find all the in-text citaitons.
- Skim the article to find and highlight the in-text citations for the sources assigned to you.
- Determine how the authors are using each source assigned to you and label each as B-E-A-or-M. A single source may have more than one label.
- Be prepared to share your findings with the class.
Narrative Analysis Group Brainstorm
In this activity, you will form a small group with other students who are researching the same story as you. Together, you will discuss your reading to brainstorm and record the story's underlying themes, patterns, and meanings by looking at the structure, content, and context of the narrative.