Introduction to Final Research Project General Overview

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Introduction to Final Research ProjectGeneral
Overview

• Introduction to Assignments 3 and 4
• Distinction between primary and secondary sources
• Exploration of the concept of a representational
  trend (RT) foundational to the Research Project
• Small groups activity Generating Research
  Questions
• Q A

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The Analytical Research Project

• In Major Assignment 3, you will develop a
  working Project Proposal and create an Annotated
  Bibliography of six secondary sources that you
  will use in your final Research Paper.
• The Research Paper is an 8-10 page analysis of a
  representational or cultural trend you have
  noticed and are interested in pursuing as a final
  project for English 110C.01, which you will
  transform into a webpage.

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Representational Trend

• The term representational trend refers to
  patterns of representation at a particular
  cultural and historical moment.
• Example representations of Caucasian women in
  reality television shows in the 1990s.
• The term genre refers broadly to type or kinds of
  texts.
• Example The Apprentice, Survivor, and Big
  Brother would fall into the broad genre of
  reality television programs.
• Note you should narrow the scope of your
  research project to one specific genre of your
  choice.
• Make sure your research is guided by open
  questions not by closed opinions or preformed
  conclusions. A strong analytical research paper
  focuses on an issue or problem that the writer
  wants to understand more fully.
• In analyzing representational trends, you will
  need to pay attention to the ways in which
  representational trend anticipates or responds to
  the perceived needs and values of imagined or
  intended audiences at particular historical and
  cultural moments.

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Representational Trend (cont.)

• Questions to ask yourself after you have
  identified a representational trend
• How does it shape the viewers/readers/listeners
  view of reality, view of himself or herself,
  view of relationships, view of the world, view of
  what is appropriate and what is inappropriate,
  etc.?
• What exceptions and/or contradictions do you
  notice in the trend?
• When does the trend appear? Where does the trend
  appear?
• When does the trend disappear?
• After you have identified the representational
  trend and carefully observed it, you should be
  ready to start formulating an initial central
  claim, which will eventually become the main
  argument of your research paper, about the
  representational trend based on your
  observations.
• Remember spend as much time as possible with
  your primary sources and observing the
  representational trend before actively engaging
  with any secondary sources.

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Primary Sources

• Primary texts are those texts that you will
  analyze in your research paper.
• Films, television programs, magazines, music,
  media coverage, political campaigns,
  advertisements, public speeches, web-sites, and
  photographs are among the text that can function
  as primary sources.
• Primary sources provide the data/site of
  analysis, whereas secondary sources help to
  contextualize and extend the writers
  observations and analysis.
• That is NOT to say, however, that you should not
  approach your secondary sources actively. The
  emphasis in the initial stages of the research
  project should be on generating
  observations/claims based on your primary
  sources, whatever they may be.
• Question to ask yourself about your primary
  sources
• What details do I notice?
• Who would be viewing/reading/listening to this
  text?
• What is interesting/odd/strange about the text?
• Remember you have several analytical tools that
  you can use on your primary sources to generate
  analysis including Notice and Focus, the Method
  (which can be used on visual and audio texts),
  close reading (if it is a written text), etc.

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Secondary Sources

• Secondary sources are those that offer critical
  analysis and commentary on the primary sources
  (trend, phenomenon) under consideration.
• Secondary sources help you contextualize,
  advance, or complicate your analytical claims
  about your primary sources.
• Note ideally you should locate twice as many
  secondary sources as you will use, so you can
  evaluate each one and discard those secondary
  sources that prove to be irrelevant or not useful
  to your research project.

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Secondary Sources (cont.)

• Reliable Secondary Sources
• Most effective secondary sources journal
  articles and scholarly books.
• More effective secondary sources major
  newspapers and magazines.
• Most problematic secondary source websites.
• Evaluating Secondary Sources Questions to Ask
• Is the secondary source understandable?
• Does the secondary source appear to be relevant
  and useful to my research topic?
• Will this secondary source strengthen my argument
  or complicate my argument? (Remember it is
  perfectly fine to use secondary sources that say
  something different than what you are saying, as
  this will force you to refine the central claim
  of your research paper.)

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Secondary Sources (cont.)

• How To Actively Reading Secondary Sources
• Take notes in the margins on the secondary
  source.
• Summarize the secondary sources points.
• Explain the importance of the points that get
  made.
• Compare a point made in one secondary source to
  what another secondary source says about the same
  subject matter.
• Example two scholarly articles that make similar
  (but different) points about representations of
  the working class in Roseanne.
• Search your secondary sources for moments in
  which they comment on your research topic in some
  way or possibly answer questions you have about
  your research topic.

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Part I Research Proposal

• In one paragraph, lay out the parameters of your
  analysis. You should explain the following in the
  opening paragraph
• What the representational trend you wish to
  address is and why it is important.
• How you became interested in this topic.
• Why it is of scholarly interest. (In other words,
  what can analytical attention to the subject
  possibly reveal about it?)
• Why this topic needs additional scholarly
  attention paid to it.
• At the close of your proposal
• List at least 3 analytical questions you would
  like to explore in this research paper. Make sure
  your questions will facilitate an analytical
  response. (In other words, they should not be
  yes or no questions.)
• Respond to each of your questions in 1-3
  sentences by describing how you anticipate
  addressing this question in your final project,
  why you think this question is important, and how
  it will help you identify and analyze a
  representational trend.

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Part II Annotated Bibliography

• List your primary sources using MLA format. You
  will need at least 3 primary sources.
• List your secondary sources (texts that offer
  analysis of the cultural or representational
  trend at the heart of your inquiry). You will
  need at least 6 secondary sources for Assignment
  3, 2 for each of your primary sources. Again,
  possible secondary sources may include newspaper
  articles, scholarly articles, essays, book
  chapters, and Web resources that offer critical
  commentary/analysis on your primary sources.
• Note An encyclopedia is not an appropriate
  source, as it offers description rather than
  analysis.
• You may use one movie or book review, but only if
  the review is primarily analytical in nature.

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Secondary Sources Annotations

• Separate each annotation into a summary" and "
  response" (one paragraph each).
• In the first paragraph, summarize the secondary
  source.
• Your summary should include the following
  information
• The secondary sources main argument or point.
• The evidence the secondary source uses to support
  its argument.
• The importance of the secondary source.
• In the second paragraph, evaluate the secondary
  source and explain its significance.
• Your response should include the following
  information
• An explanation of the importance of this
  secondary source to your research project.
• An explanation of the relevance of this secondary
  source to your research project.

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Secondary Sources Annotations (cont.)

• You may also wish to include sources that were
  not useful that you've encountered during your
  research. Though these secondary sources will not
  count as part of your 6 sources, it will show
  that you have done additional research and put
  forth effort in trying to decide what sources to
  use.

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Framing Questions

• Why has the representational trend or pattern
  gained cultural acceptance or achieved cultural
  prominence at a particular time?
• What cultural or historical factors contribute to
  the visibility and acceptability of such
  representations at this point in time?
• What representations might be considered
  inappropriate considering the prevailing needs
  and values of the audience at that particular
  time?
• What points of view, positions, or arguments does
  the trend depict and with what groups are such
  points of view resonant?

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Roseanne

• Opening Credits Practice Notice and Focus
• What do we learn about the series from the
  opening credits?
• What do you notice?

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Roseanne Analytical Questions

• What cultural references does the show invoke?
  What does the show rely on viewers being able to
  recognize?
• What produces satisfaction in viewers?
• How and why are they (e.g., the producers of the
  show) getting away with this?

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Possible Research Questions

• What stereotypes are represented (and
  subsequently promoted)? How does the show do
  this? What are the possible limitations of this
  representation?
• What sexual roles are represented and how do they
  function in the context of the show?
• How do the roles that the characters in Roseanne
  play make the show culturally acceptable?
• In what ways would the show be less culturally
  acceptable?

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Research QuestionsAudience and Genre

• How does the representation of Roseanne as a
  working class mother compare to other
  representations of mothers on sitcoms in 1988
  (e.g., Elyse Keaton, the mother on Family Ties)?
• To what extent does Roseanne promote and not
  promote unity amongst families?
• How does humor in Roseanne address desires of
  different audiences including the middle-class,
  working-class, males, females, blacks, whites,
  homosexuals, and heterosexuals?

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Research QuestionsThe Method (Binaries)

• How does Roseanne set up and then collapse false
  binaries (masculine vs. feminine, heterosexual
  vs. homosexual)? How does this process
  simultaneously reinforce those binaries?
• To what extent does the show present traditional
  genders roles (masculine/feminine) within the
  family unit?
• What assumptions are made about working-class
  families and children who come from working class
  homes?

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The Analytical Research ProjectRE/formulating
Research Questions

• Initial analysis of small sampling of primary
  text(s) (several episodes of Roseanne).
• Initial Observations/Analytical Claims to test
  (hypothesis).
• Generate Research Questions Keywords for
  Search.
• Continue analysis of primary texts (refine
  research questions as necessary).
• Compare your analysis to observations of
  secondary sources (establish dialogue with
  secondary sources, refine questions, consider how
  thesis might evolve, and so on).

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Past Research Projects

• The Nintendo Difference Female Representation in
  Gaming (examined representation of female
  characters in Super Mario Bros. 3, The Legend of
  Zelda Ocarina of Time, and Metroid Prime)
• Television Portrayals of the Contemporary Lesbian
  (examined representations of lesbians on Buffy
  The Vampire Slayer, The L Word, and Queer As
  Folk)
• Representation of Black Actors On Television
  (examined representations of black actors on Good
  Times, Martin, and My Wife and Kids)
• Representations of Women in Popular Television
  Dramas (examined representations of women on
  Commander In Chief, Desperate Housewives, and Sex
  and the City)
• Beer Commercials Men and Their Beer (examined
  representations of men (and women) in Miller
  Lite, Bud Light, and Coors Light commercials)
• Televisions Portrayal of the Criminal Justice
  System (examined representations of the criminal
  justice system on Law and Order, The Practice,
  and Matlock)
• Representations of Women in Magazine
  Advertisements (examined representations of
  female bodies in Glamour, Elle, and Cosmopolitan)
• Representations of dating on the internet
  (examined e.Harmony.com, Match.com, and
  JDate.com)

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Past Research Projects (cont.)

• Representations of heterosexual romantic
  relationships in film (examined romantic
  relationships between men and women in Gone With
  The Wind (1939), Casablanca (1942), and Titanic
  (1997).
• Representations of business relationships between
  men and women in film (examined the nature of
  formal business relationships between men and
  women in Pretty Woman, Indecent Proposal, and It
  Could Happen To You)