[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
secondary text; most importantly, however, they provide the dates
and references you need for the successful retrieval of secondary
literature (which can either be essays or book-length studies). In the
example above, the title (TI) of the essay ( Margaret Atwood s The
Handmaid s Tale: A Contextual Dystopia ) is mentioned first, then
the name of the author (AU) of the essay (Ketterer, David), followed
by the name of the journal or anthology (SO) where the essay was
published (Science-Fiction Studies) together with the year, volume
and page numbers of the journal (1989 July; 16 (2 [48]):209 17). For
book publications, the place of publication and the publisher are listed
too. In addition, the field Descriptor (DE) provides brief information
concerning the contents and topic of the secondary text. These key-
words offer a first quick insight into the relevance of a secondary text
to your own research.
Most libraries subscribe to the online version of the MLA
Bibliography covering the years from 1963 onward. If it is necessary to
consider secondary literature published prior to 1963, you will have
to consult the printed edition for the time span not included in the
computerized system. The annual Subject Index of the printed
bibliography permits you to search for secondary literature on a
variety of topics, including subjects such as feminist literary
106 WHERE AND HOW TO FIND SECONDARY LITERATURE
criticism, detective fiction, or utopias. The annual Author Index is
divided into national literatures and periods, listing the secondary
literature which has been published on individual literary texts in the
course of a certain year.
For example, in order to search for scholarly texts published before
1963 on the novel Mrs Dalloway (1925) by the English author Virginia
Woolf, you have to look up the section English literature and the
further subdivision Contemporary in the individual annual volumes.
Under the author s name, you will find a list of secondary sources
published in that year on Woolf s respective literary works. Here is a
sample search result from the 1956 volume:
Baldanza, Frank. Clarissa Dalloway s Party Consciousness.
MFS, 11, 24 30.
If you need a complete list of secondary literature about an author or
text, it is necessary to consult all annual volumes by repeating the
process described above. As the MLA International Bibliography goes
back to the year 1921, this can become very time-consuming. In our
example, you would have to check the volumes from 1925 onward, as
Woolf s Mrs Dalloway was published in that year.
Although the MLA International Bibliography is the most
comprehensive reference work for modern languages and literatures
and is usually sufficient for the needs of the beginner, it does not, of
course, list all published items of secondary literature. Therefore,
many university libraries offer facilities which grant the researcher
additional access to extensive international, computerized databases
and bibliographies. This complex search method is of little interest to
the beginner and probably only worthwhile in the context of a larger
research project, such as a thesis or dissertation.
An easy and fast way to find book-length studies on a specific topic
that were published before 1963 and are therefore not included in the
online version of the MLA International Bibliography is to use the online
catalogues of large research libraries such as the Library of Congress
or the British Library. Most universities also provide links to
catalogues like Online Public Access Catalogue (OPAC) or Online Computer
Library Center (OCLC) which is also referred to as OCLC WorldCat. These
networks allow you to screen a large number of international library
WHERE AND HOW TO FIND SECONDARY LITERATURE 107
catalogues simultaneously by simply filing one search. The program
then systematically checks the different library holdings for the
requested keywords.
For larger research projects that require complete or nearly so
lists of secondary literature, it is indispensable to consult other printed
or computerized general bibliographical sources or reference works
which specialize in certain areas. The best guide book to these sources
is James L.Harner s Literary Research Guide: A Guide to Reference Sources
for the Study of Literatures in English and Related Topics, 3rd ed. (New
York: The Modern Language Association, 1998); 900 pp.
Once references to secondary literature have been found in the
MLA Bibliography (or any other standard reference work), the search
for this material in the departmental or university library begins. If it
is necessary to use books or journals which are not available at the
home institution, there is the option of ordering them at the main
university library through the interlibrary loan system. Moreover,
certain articles which you come across during your research may be
available in the form of online publications. In such cases, you should
definitely make use of these sources and cite them in your paper as
electronic documents. How these and other types of secondary
material are documented correctly in a scholarly paper will be the
focus of the next chapter.
108
6
HOW TO WRITE A SCHOLARLY
PAPER
To write a successful seminar paper or scholarly essay in the field of
literature, you should observe a few conventions. Apart from the
requirements of an accurate critical apparatus, which will be discussed
later in this chapter, these basic rules mainly concern the structural
organization of your research paper. Most importantly, it has to be
logically organized and contain an introductory paragraph, a main
part, and a conclusion.
The first or introductory paragraph fulfills several functions:
the initial sentence or sentences should lead the reader to the topic by
moving from more general statements on the overall subject matter to
the actual focus of the paper. A feasible strategy is to depart from
what is commonly known to the reader and then highlight the new
and particular aspects which the paper will contribute to the state of
research in the field. These original contributions are pointed out in
the so-called thesis statement, which should be part of the
introductory paragraph and serve the reader as a first orientation
concerning content, methodology, and structure of your paper.
One part of the thesis statement has to briefly define the specific
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]