Satrapi - Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood: Your Assignment

You probably already know a little something about this author and literary work, but it's important to find out more in order to write an intelligent research paper. 

Ask yourself:

• What do I know?

• What can I find out?

biographical information
plot overviews
character studies
themes
literary style
critical essays

Understanding Your Assignment

Before you begin looking for information you should make sure you understand your assignment. Some good questions are:

• How many pages?
• How many sources?
• What kinds of sources?
  
  • Books
  • Articles
  • Websites
    
• What format?

Your professor is your best resource to answer these questions.

Research Paper:

The research paper is your final assignment for the semester. It is the biggest essay and is worth the most points. Below are the requirements for this essay:

• The essay must be at least 1600 words. If the word count is not met, you will receive a zero and I will not look it over.
• You must use 4-5 reliable sources. Utilize resources via the Cerritos College Library (online or hard copies). Note that Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis, if cited in your essay, will not count as a source.
• There must be a works cited page. Failure to attach one, or to use enough sources or sources that are not reliable, will result in a non-passing grade. 
• The essay must follow MLA formatting guidelines. Refer to Purdue’s OWL site for help with things like in-text citations. Points will be taken off for any errors.

There are three parts to this paper.

1. Research proposal – this is a plan for research that includes your research question, explanation of why it is important, a brief discussion of your stance, and a list of your main source(s) to be used.
2. Rough draft – you should be familiar with rough drafts by this time. As with all other rough drafts, this will be written in class. Although there will be two peer review sessions, there will only be one in-class essay for the research paper.
3. Peer review (two sessions) – as with rough drafts, you should be familiar with peer reviews by this time. For the research paper, there are two peer review dates scheduled.
4. Final draft – the finished and perfected product that you will be submitting.

Listed below are important dates for this assignment. Dates will also be included on assignment-specific prompts sheets.

•  April 24th – Research Proposal due by 2:59pm on Turnitin
•  April 26th – rough draft for Research Paper (done in class) and first peer review session
•  May 3rd – second peer review session (with a revised draft)
•  May 10th – final draft of Research Paper due by 8:00pm on Turnitin

Keep in mind that, as with all other essays and assignments in this class, I will not accept late work, or emailed or hard copies, of your research papers.

Objective Your objective for the research paper is to come up with a research question related to one of the themes discussed in Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis. The two main themes are modernity vs. traditionalism, religion in life, and war. Other themes include gender issues and social classes. Consider these options, and any others that may not be listed here, and ask yourself: Which theme interests me? What is important about this theme? What do I feel about this theme? Remember, a research paper is, essentially, an argument essay—you will decide on your question and your response to it, find reliable sources to support your argument, and attempt to sway readers to agree with your point of view.

Literary Criticism is discussion, analysis or appraisal of a literary work- whether a novel, poem, play, short story or essay.

As a literary critic, you will read and study a piece of literature and attempt to:

• describe
• analyze
• justify
• interpret
• evaluate
  

The guide will help you find biographical and critical information about authors and their works.

Breaking Down The Research Process  

The following outline gives a simple and effective strategy for finding information for a research paper and documenting the sources you find. Depending on your topic and your familiarity with the library, you may need to rearrange or recycle these steps. Adapt this outline to your needs. We are ready to help you at every step in your research.

1. Choose a topic - or have one assigned
2. Understand your topic
   • Background reading
     
   • Consider a main focus
   • Refine your topic
   • Make a list of your keywords and concepts
     
3. Search Sources
   • Find Books
   • Find Articles
   • Find Websites
4. Write your paper - Informative, Analytical, Argumentative, Critical
5. Cite your sources

Monica's Contact Info:

mmlopez@cerritos.edu  

To chat with me, use the chat box below. If I'm offline, another librarian will help you if it's during our open hours.

Need Help 

The Cerritos College Librarians can help you with your research in a variety of ways:

• In person
• By email
• By phone
• Chat

Librarians are available during library hours to answer your questions by phone or chat.
(562) 860-2451 x2425