For your research assignment in this class, you'll need to identify, read, analyze, and respond to 3-4 scholarly (peer-reviewed) articles or book chapters that demonstrate a critical approach to your primary text.

Not sure where to start?  Here are three broad strategies that you can try:

• Browse key journals for scholarship related to science fiction, literature and culture of the African Diaspora, and Afrofuturist works
• Search a subject database, such as the MLA International Bibliography or Literature Criticism 
• Search Primo for print and ebooks related to your text and topic

These journals contain articles related to science fiction and fantasy studies, African American literature, and more, including theory, history, and criticism.

When you find an item that seems relevant, look at its subject terms to find similar items. To do this, check the "Item Details" and simply click on one of the subject headings listed in the record for the book; the next screen will list all the books that share this subject term.

To find the library location of a book's call number, check the library map.

Try these subject search terms in Primo:

Afrofuturism

American literature -- African American authors -- History and criticism

Butler, Octavia E -- Criticism and interpretation

Race in literature

Science fiction -- History and criticism

A sampling of potentially relevant books is listed below. 

Like most other disciplines, English has several subject-specific databases. The MLA International Bibliography and Literature Criticism are two examples. Subject databases index scholarly materials (books, chapters in books, scholarly articles, dissertations) that will be of interest to researchers within that discipline. MLAIB is the key database for literature, linguistics, and related areas.

Depending on your primary text and your angle, you may wish to search these additional databases. 

Texts that interpret literary works are usually persuasive texts. Literary critics may conduct a close reading of a work, critique a literary work from the stance of a particular literary theory, or debate the soundness of other critics' interpretations. 

During the preview phase, you'll want to concentrate on these key elements:

• Abstract (if available)
• First paragraph (sometimes the second paragraph, too):  What is the writer’s central claim? What research question is the author asking?
• Evidence:  What kind of evidence does the writer use to support their claim? Are there quotations from the text(s)? From other critics/scholars? From theorists?
• Scholarly conversation:  What are the other scholarly works (secondary sources) the author uses? Does the author acknowledge counter-arguments? How does their interpretation connect to your own close reading of the text?
• Conclusion (typically the last paragraph):  How does the author tie the evidence together to answer the research question? What is the significance of this research?

Once you've selected the article, you can actively read for content, argument, analysis and evaluation. 

Tip: Read the article more than once!  It may help to print out a copy so that you can make notes.

If your article is not available at Collins Library, you've got another option for getting it. Use Tipasa, our interlibrary loan service.

Tipasa is linked to your library account so you'll need to log in to use it.

Once you are logged in, either go directly to Tipasa and manually enter the information, or, if you're using a database, look for a shortcut link to automatically fill out the form:

Allow at least a week for the article to come. If your article is delivered in electronic format, you'll receive an email with a link to follow as soon as it's arrived.