LITERATURE AND THE SEARCH FOR IDENTITY Research paper and oral report assignment Individual or group project I would like each of you to write a research paper on some topic related to the theme of identity.  My hope is that the topic of your paper will grow out of class discussion and that your paper will go beyond what we have done in class. There are several ways to go about finding a topic.  You might continue an analysis or interpretation that was suggested in class. You might take a completely different tack.  You might research an author, time period or literary style. You might learn more about a concept that is useful in understanding a literary work, film, song (or other art work) that deals with identity. There are several steps in the writing of this paper, each of which is part of the final grade for the assignment. STEP ONE: choose a topic  (due          ) First of all, select a topic having to do with identity  Your experience in the  course so far should give you some ideas.  I will ask you to write down your topic and the questions that seem important to you at this point.  These questions will guide your research. At this point I wil either approve the topic or suggest changes. STEP TWO:  start your research After your topic has been approved, start  looking for sources (books, articles, World Wide Web sites, people to interview, etc.) STEP THREE:  hand in a progress report (due        ) After a few weeks of research, I will ask you to hand in a report on your progress so far.  Tell me what sources you have found, how useful they seem, how much progress you have made in your research.  I will spend a few minutes discussing your progress with you.  Your completed project should include information from at least three sources. STEP FOUR:  write the research paper (due        ) Please do you best to adhere to the Modern Language Association guidelines.  Make sure that you understand what plagiarism is.  Note:  Hand in a photocopy of the source that you use the most (the actual pages that you  refer to in your paper.)  I WILL NOT ACCEPT A PAPER THAT DOES NOT INCLUDE RESEARCH, DOES NOT INCLUDE A WORKS CITED PAGE AND DOES NOT HAVE A PHOTOCOPY OF THE SOURCE ATTACHED. STEP FIVE:  present your research to the class in an oral report (last two weeks of class) ..