ENG102 In-Person (Fall 2024) Dr. Koh

Assignment #2: Research Paper Proposal + Initial Annotated Bibliography

Thurs, Nov. 14 by 11:59pm @ Google Classroom (12-pt Times New Roman, double-space)

1. Assignment #2 is your Proposal + Initial Annotated Research Bibliography of your 2-part

research project. It is your preparation for your Analytical Research Essay (Assignment #3).

2. Your course research project must focus on ONE of the following short stories:

• James Baldwin’s “Sonny’s Blues”

OR

• Angela Carter’s “The Company of Wolves”

Assignment #2 is not an essay. Then what is it??? → See items #1 + #2 below.

1. A 350-400 word proposal (word count must be provided)

Describe your idea for your research essay and explain possible examples from your chosen

short story that you intend to analyze in your research essay. Which short story will you

choose and why? What topic/s in the story are you curious about? Identify some themes that

are of interest to you. Also, which perspective (historical, gender, or critical race theory

etc.) do you think would best help you understand your chosen story (see Chapter 9 of the

textbook, and class material)? What examples (evidence) from your literary work will you

use to support your idea?

Do NOT provide a summary of the writer’s life, or the story—I do not need this.

Here are some sample general topics that past students have used:

• The role of the blues in “Sonny’s Blues”

• The meaning of the trope of the brother in “Sonny’s Blues”

• The rewriting of fairy tale symbols in “The Company of Wolves”

• The reversal of gender roles in “The Company of Wolves”

These are sample research TOPICS. Topics are general areas of interest; usually, the topics in a text

are obvious and easy to identify.

A topic is different from a thesis. Remember, a thesis is a position that you take on a certain topic

or issue. You DO NOT NEED A THESIS IN ASSIGNMENT #2. Later in Assignment #3, you

will develop a thesis (a specific position) about your chose topic/s in your chosen story. But for

now, do not worry about a thesis for Assignment #2; you’re not there yet in the research process!

2. An annotated bibliography with at least two (2) MLA cited scholarly sources about

your chosen story. Use the library (NOT GOOGLE): https://library.laguardia.edu/ to locate

sources. Word count for annotation must be provided (150-200 words for each annotation).

See sample on pages 4-5.

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Some Reasons for Failing Assignment #2:

1. Failing to fully cite your sources in your annotated bibliography will result in an automatic failing

grade. So DO NOT submit a bibliography with a bunch of hyperlinks.

2. Total word count (proposal + annotations) of significantly less than 650 words may receive a

failing grade, as may proposals of less than 350 words. Each annotation must have 150-200 words.

3. Plagiarism—including copying writing from other sources (internet, hard copy etc.), and/or

presenting ChatGPT/A.I. work as your own writing—will result in at least failure of the assignment.

4. Lack of scholarly sources retrieved from the library research databases.

? WHAT ARE ACCEPTABLE SECONDARY SOURCES ?

• You will access the CUNY library OneSearch engine to access books, and

scholarly/academic articles (NOT newspaper articles or magazine reviews, websites, or

LexisNexis material), and LaGuardia online databases such as EBSCO, Project Muse, JSTOR.

LaGuardia Library: https://library.laguardia.edu/

OneSearch: https://cuny-

lg.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/search?vid=01CUNY_LG:CUNY_LG&lang=en

And if you want to use material from official websites, please discuss it with me first.

• You may NOT use online sources retrieved from internet search engines (→ NO Google or

Google Scholar). Furthermore, Wikipedia may not be used as a secondary source. Therefore,

do not include any websites as part of the 2 required secondary sources.

Reminders:

✓ ** Focus on scholarly articles that specifically analyze your chosen short story (rather than a

general theme).

✓ Please be aware that you may not find all the material the first time you do your search.

Research is a process, and it takes time. So start your work immediately.

Resources:

Library research how-to’s: https://library.laguardia.edu/help/videos/

OneSearch: https://youtu.be/uueoTaXDIGg

JSTOR: https://youtu.be/5JIBGOHYVc0 (apply same method for Project Muse)

Literary Criticism database: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4pzenR9p8Mg

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*Ask a Librarian: https://library.laguardia.edu/help/ask/ *

Structure of Assignment #2: Two Parts

Part I: Proposal (350-400 words; not any more or less) → NO THESIS IS NEEDED!

• Paragraph 1: Identify the writer and the title of the story that you will work on for your

research project. Which short story have you chosen and why?

• Paragraph 2: Identify some themes that are of interest to you. Also, which perspective

(historical, gender, or critical race theory etc.) do you think would best help you understand

your chosen story? (See Chapter 9 of the textbook and class material for options.)

• Paragraphs 3-4: Then, describe your general ideas about these themes (in paragraph #2) by

explaining some examples (details) from your chosen short story you intend to analyze in

your research essay. What potential examples (evidence) from your literary work will you

use to support your ideas?

Part II (on a new page): Annotated Bibliography (MLA Format for Scholarly Articles from

Research Databases)

STEP 1 (bibliographic info.): list each of your 2 secondary sources using the MLA format and

alphabetically according to each writer’s last name. Look at the sample annotated bibliography

below. Important formatting details:

• See how the 2nd and 3rd lines of each entry are indented. Do the same.

• Note how the entries are double-spaced, and that there is no extra space between entries.

• Observe which titles are italicized, and which are in quotation marks.

STEP 2 (annotation/brief write-up): After each entry, provide a 150-200 word description of

each source. Put the word count for each. There should be 2 brief write-ups in total. Include:

a. the thesis of the source

b. the main topics of the source,

c. important examples discussed by the source

d. how this source can support your essay idea

Attention

As discussed in class, unauthorized and unacknowledged use of A.I. or internet sources for this

assignment will be treated as a violation of CUNY’s academic integrity policy. See syllabus.

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Annotated Bibliography [SAMPLE]

Brown, Rose. “Re-thinking the Western in Louise Erdrich’s ‘Dear John Wayne.’” The Midwestern

Literary Quarterly, vol. 29, no. 3, 2000, pp. 200-229. JSTOR,

www.jstor.org/stable/1234568.

Brown argues that Erdrich’s “Dear John Wayne” challenges the traditional Western

narrative by showing a Native American perspective on Hollywood representations

of Native Americans in Western films. Brown focuses on Erdrich’s use of humor and

irony to shine a light on the absurdity of Hollywood's depiction of the cowboy-and-

Indian narrative. She argues that although humor seems harmless, it can subvert the

Western film genre’s dehumanization of Native Americans, and provide useful

insight into the fragility of stereotypes, which need to be repeated in order for them

to work. This article provides a useful discussion of Erdrich’s literary techniques

and the political vision in poem, which will help me understand how the poet’s style

is connected to her politics. Furthermore, Brown also argues that the poem critiques

the construction of white masculinity through the iconic American hero of John

Wayne, who is put in contrast to the “Indians” in the poem. She also shows the ways

in which Erdrich uses war metaphors to convey the way the Hollywood Western

genre works to create stereotypes. Therefore, this article provides a valuable analysis

of the connection between colonialism and gender that I am interested in exploring in

this poem. (196 words)

Kingston, James Hawk. “‘Dear John Wayne’: Who Speaks?” American Indian Studies Journal, vol.

26, no. 4, 2002, pp. 59-68. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1080/00144949709595938.

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Kingston examines the concept of voice in Erdrich’s “Dear John Wayne,” and

analyzes the ways in which the poem reverses conventional notions of authorship

and identity. He argues that the interplay of voices in the poem enables the

possibility of multiple narrators and shifting perspectives. So the poem highlights

and then questions how the Western genre centers the white male colonial

experience in history, and how it celebrates the ideology of Manifest Destiny. The

poem decenters that white gaze, and offers another perspective and voice. Kingston

also suggests that the poem’s engagement with the Western genre can be read as a

form of cultural resistance, even as it uses the Western as its frame. I found this

article helpful because it emphasizes how history misrepresents Native Americans,

and examines how Erdrich’s poetic technique of shifting perspectives helps

challenge the stories of Native Americans that American culture accepts as “true.”

Kingston also explains the concept of “voice” from the perspective of the colonized,

and also helpfully puts “Dear John Wayne” in the larger context of contemporary

Native American literature that aims to center indigenous perspectives on American

history. (187 words)

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