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ENG 103 - Critical Thinking / Argument Writing - Watership Down - Professor Walker: Your Assignment

Watership Down by Richard Adams

What Do You Know?

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
charatcter studies
themes
literary style
critical essays

What You Need to Know

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.

image of student with her hand raised

Research Basics - Step by Step

Breaking Down The Research Process  

  research process image

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

            The Proposal

            The proposal will be a 250 minimum and 300-word maximum MLA document that elaborates an idea of what you are proposing your paper will discuss. It will identify the topic and theme from Watership Down by Richard Adams, the ideas you are looking to explore, and a working thesis. You must have these four elements in your proposal.  

            What would you tell an audience about your upcoming essay?  What would make the audience interested to hear more about your ideas?

            Keep in mind that during the process, there can and will be changes.  The proposal is a starting point.  As you research, select your articles and think about your paper, you might uncover something you did not think of earlier.  The proposal can and will change as you discover more in your research.

            I will be grading on the four elements:

            • 25%     Word count between 250 – 300 words
            • 25%     Identification of topic and theme including name of text
            • 25%     Ideas looking to explore stated
            • 25%     Working thesis

            A proposal with less than 50% will be returned for revision and be capped at 75%. You must have an accepted proposal to complete the research module. Think of your proposal as being similar to a very rough draft of an introduction paragraph, but instead of guiding your essay, your proposal will guide your research.

            Possible Themes

            Possible Themes:

            • Leadership 
            • Power structures in government
              • Cowslips warren
              • Efrafa
              • Watership Down
              • The original warren
            • Community 
            • Freedom or Agency
            • Otherness and Accessibility
              • Fiver
              • Silverweed
            • Immigration / Pioneers / Colonizer / Diaspora
            • Prophecy / Premonitions / Vision
              • Role of religion or prophet
            • Gender roles
              • Feminism
              • Strength in leadership
            • Destruction and Development
              • Gentrification pg 157
              • Recreation
              • Social Spaces
            • Culture
              • Trickster tales/ fables/ oral poetry
              • Respect for previous generations
              • Mannerism/ protocols

            Research Essay

            As you now know, Watership Down is not just a fluffy bunny story.  While we are emersed in a world where the main characters are rabbits, the themes are all too human. 

            For your final research essay, you will expand on your ideas from your accepted proposal and support those ideas with the research you have completed from your annotated bibliography.

            Your final essay should be a 2,000 word approx.

            8-page MLA structured research essay that discusses the theme with both textual support and academic research that support your argument.

            A successful essay will:

            • Identify author and text
            • Identify the topic and theme
            • Explore an original idea through research
            • Have an introduction that explains the topic that you will explore in your essay and clearly states your perspective on the topic
            • Have multiple body paragraphs with each paragraph containing one supported idea
            • Arguable statements that support your perspective
            • Specific examples from the text (you need to use quotes from the novel or paraphrase/describe the scenes that you are responding to)
            • Have a minimum of 5 peer-reviewed articles from the Cerritos Library
            • Specific examples from the text (you need to use quotes from the novel or paraphrase/describe the scenes that you are responding to)
            • Analysis that explains how the examples from the text and articles support your claim(s)
            • Have a conclusion that closes your argument. This should not be a repetition of your introduction
            • MLA format 12-point font; 1” margins all around; double spaced
            • Must have a Works Cited page in MLA format with a complete MLA citation using a hanging indent

            Internet Archive - Open Library to eBooks

            Create a free Internet Archive account to access eBook

            Watership Down is the compelling tale of a group of wild rabbits struggling to hold onto their place in the world—soon to be a BBC and Netflix animated miniseries starring James McAvoy, Nicholas Hoult, and Oscar and Grammy award-winning Sir Ben Kingsley.

            Watership Down Streaming Video from Kanopy

            With this passion project, screenwriter-producer-director Martin Rosen brilliantly achieved what had been thought nearly impossible: a faithful big-screen adaptation of Richard Adams's classic British dystopian novel about a community of rabbits under terrible threat from modern forces.

            Find a Literature Guide

             

            Click below to see if there's a research guide on your author or literary work.

            What is Literary Criticism?

            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.

            Your Librarian - Monica Lopez

             

            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.

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