Prof. Shannon LITR 240-01 20TH CENTURY AMERICAN NOVEL 1
Research Reports/Guide Questions
I. RESEARCH REPORTS:
Value: 20% Length: about 4-to-6 pages Due Date: 2/5.
This semester, I would like everyone to bring some added value to every class. So, in
the spirit of the recent Presidential campaign’s “truth squads,” I’d like to establish a
Literary Resource Center/Wikipedia OED/History Reference Book/Guide Question
squad.
Each student will complete a report from each of the following 5 categories:
1) Wikipedia, 2) Contemporary Authors Database, 3) History Reference Books, 4) The
OED, and 5) Literary Dictionaries.
Hand in one hard copy of your reports on that date. After reports are graded, students
will post corrected copies to Luminis and discuss the reports in class.
But let’s keep it simple:
1) Wikipedia reports, at least one page; 2) Contemporary Authors Database reports, at
least one page; 3) History Reference Books reports, at least one page; 4) OED reports,
at least 1/2 page; and 5) Literary Dictionaries at least 1/2 page.
Each Research Report should be about 4-to-6 pages long total.
1. Find one of the following in a Literary Dictionary:
(For more on Literary Dictionaries, see the Writing About Literature Booklet on my web
page, Section VIII. LITERARY RESOURCES)
Old Southwestern Humorists Stream of
Consciousness
Southern Literary
Renaissance
Historical fiction (or
historical novel)
Modernism Autobiography Naturalism
Postmodernism Bildungsroman Historical Fiction Determinism
Science Fiction Graphic Novel Dialect Harlem Renaissance
Metafiction Novel of Manners Protest Novel
2. Find one of the following in the OED (how were they used during the first
half of the 20 th
century?):
Boss Comic strip Graphic novel Comic book
African-American N*gger Flapper Flapper
Bootlegger Refugee Okie Eugenics
3. Find one of the following in a suitable history reference book that covers your
concept. Students will summarize this material. The library has many dictionaries and
encyclopedias that focus on history. Among them you will find the Handbook of
American Women's History (Howard & Kavenik, eds), Handbook of American Popular
Culture (Thomas Inge, ed.), African American Lives (Gates et al, eds.), Dictionary of
American History (Kutler, ed.) These books offer detailed, highly specialized definitions
of literary terms. (1 page):
Fitzgerald
When did prohibition begin? When did it end?
When did American women get the vote?
How many American men served in WWI? How many died?
