For your research assignment in this class, you'll need to compile a bibliography of five sources that demonstrate a critical approach to a text, author, or literary movement covered in the course.

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

• Browse key journals for scholarship related to French literature and culture
• Search a subject database, such as the MLA International Bibliography 
• Search Primo for print and ebooks related to your topic

If you're not sure yet what you're interested in, or you're interested in so many different aspects of French literature that you can't decide where to focus, you might want to just browse through scholarly journals to see what catches your eye. These journals contain articles related to French and Francophone literature, history, and culture.

Collins Library, like most academic libraries in the United States, uses Library of Congress Subject Headings to describe the content of books. If you are researching an author about whom much has been written, you can use Library of Congress Subject subheadings to help pinpoint your search.
Here are several examples of the various ways you can use LCSH to help pinpoint what you need:

Marie, de France, active 12th century ​

Marie, de France, active 12th century -- Criticism and interpretation​

Flaubert, Gustave, 1821-1880

Flaubert, Gustave, 1821-1880 -- Criticism and interpretation

French literature -- To 1500 -- History and criticism

French literature -- 19th century -- History and criticism

Classicism -- France

Decadence (Literary movement) -- France

Depending on the database, there are a few strategies to find resources written in French:

You can:

• conduct your search in English and then, once you have a list of results, click on the Search Options and then from the Language list, select French. 
• search using French search terms.
• locate the Thesaurus or Subject Terms and appropriate French terms.

Be aware of databases that auto correct French words to similar English words.

Like most other disciplines, scholarship related to French Studies can be found in several subject-specific databases. Subject databases index scholarly materials (books, chapters in books, scholarly articles, dissertations) that will be of interest to researchers within that discipline. 

For this assignment, you'll want to limit your results to just articles or books. Click on the "check for full text" link to see if Collins Library has the journal or you need to order it through interlibrary loan.

Additional Subject Databases:

In most cases, you'll be better served by searching MLAIB or the subject databases above. However, if you have a topic that is very multidisciplinary, searching these electronic journal collections might be useful.

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 this 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.