Doing Research

A Step-by-Step Guide
 Step 1. Choose a topic
Your paper will be informative, argumentative, or both informative and
argumentative

Think of the context:

• Marxist Criticism ( New Historicism, Feminist, Black, Identity, and Post-Colonial criticism)
• Psychological Criticism (Freudian criticism/psychoanalytic approach, Archetype/Myth criticism)
• Linguistic Criticism (Formalism, New Criticism, Structuralism, Post-Structuralism)
• Reader –Response Criticism
 Step 2. Search for related information in primary
sources and secondary sources

Primary Sources:
Works written by the writer you study, such as autobiography, memoir, letters, and essays on different topics,
etc.
Secondary Sources:
Online databases, such as JSTOR (https://www.jstor.org), DergiPark (https://dergipark.org.tr), Project Gutenberg
(https://www.gutenberg.org), Library Genesis (https://libgen.yncjkj.com), Google Scholar (
https://scholar.google.com), Academia (https://www.academia.edu), and ResearchGate (https://researchgate.net),
 Step 3. Create the Works Cited List
The entries must be presented in alphabetical order

How to cite a journal article from a database and How to cite a printed book and a chapter in an
an article on a website anthology
• Example of a journal article from a database: • Example of a printed book:
Shanley, Mary Lyndon. ‘‘Collaboration and
Commodification in Assisted Procreation: Hutchins, Ross E. Insects. Prentice-Hall, 1966.
Reflections on an Open Market and Anonymous
Donation.’’ Law and Society Review, vol. 36, no. 2, pp.
257-84. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/1512177/. • Example of a chapter in an anthology:
• Example of an article on a website: Ehrenreich, Barbara. ‘‘Serving in Florida.’’ 2009.
Harrison, Casmira. ‘‘Deputies: Woman Arrested After Setting
Everybody’s an Author, edited by Andrea
Boyfriend on Fire.’’ The Daytona Beach News Journal, Lunsford et al., W. W. Norton and
GateHouse Media Inc., 24 July 2016, www.news-
journalonline.com/news/20160724/deputies-woman- arrested-after-
Company, 2013, pp. 761-774.
setting-boyfriend-on-fire/1.
 Step 4. Write Your Paper
Introduction-Body-Conclusion
• Introduction: It includes the thesis statement.
• Body: It elaborates on the thesis statement. All paragraphs must be related to
and support the thesis statement. Don’t forget! Include primary and secondary
sources with in-text citations to support your ideas and arguments.
• Conclusion: It restates the key points of the paper.