Choose one of the following stories, short novels, or plays for your research paper. You may wish to read the introduction to the author and then to read the first few paragraphs of the story, novel, or play to help you make your choice. If you want to know a little more about your selection, let me know. I suggest that you read your primary source (the story, short novel, or play) before looking for commentaries (secondary sources), since you’ll want to experience it as literature with all its interesting details and surprises first. Once you have made your choice, read carefully and take notes, jotting down any questions that occur to you as you read. These questions will be part of your research paper.
Henry James, “Daisy Miller: A Study” (C: 421) , “The Real Thing” (C: 460), or “The Beast in the Jungle” (C: 477)
Katherine Anne Porter, “Pale Horse, Pale Rider” (D: 494)
William Faulkner, “Barn Burning” (D:800)
Ernest Hemingway, “The Snows of Kilimanjaro” (D: 826)
Eudora Welty, “Petrified Man” (E: 52)
Tennessee Williams, A Streetcar Named Desire (E: 93)
Arthur Miller, Death of a Salesman (E: 238)
James Baldwin: “Going to Meet the Man” (E: 423)
Flannery O’Connor, “Good Country People” (E: 445)
Toni Morrison, “Recitatif” (E: 609)
Philip Roth, “Defender of the Faith” (E: 647)
Raymond Carver: “Cathedral” (E: 737)
Sandra Cisneros: “Woman Hollering Creek” (E: 1131)
Louise Erdrich, “Fleur” (E: 1143)
Preparing to Write the Essay
2. Find four commentaries (articles, interviews, overviews, critical essays, etc.) about the story, novel, or play and take notes or highlight the parts that help in your understanding. You should use at least two substantial quotations from each commentary in your paper. I encourage you to use more than four commentaries (sources). Keep in mind that your research should focus on the literature itself, not on the author, though you may find articles in which the author (writer of the primary source) discusses the story, novel, or play, or you may find that the author’s own life is relevant to the story in a very specific way. The primary source (the story, novel, or play) does not count as one of the four commentaries (secondary sources). This means that you will have at least five sources listed in your works cited.
