Research Critique Guidelines
Defining a critique as “a detailed analysis and assessment of something” (New Oxford American Dictionary, 2001), in which you express an opinion about a significant aspect of a literary work, write a critique about a reading on the syllabus.
Since this unit has a ‘research’ component you will need to consult an outside (secondary) source, which should be in-text cited (either by way of short quote or paraphrase) in the body of your critique, with it being clear how your secondary source added to your understanding of the reading (primary source).
Your critique should have, at the end, a Works Cited section, including entries for your primary and secondary sources, both of which you should have quoted or paraphrased within the body of your text (in text citation). You should consult either a grammar or MLA guides (can be found in libraries or online) for the appropriate models for documenting various kinds of sources.
The secondary source must be one (or more) of the sources listed at the back of the Norton Anthology, just after the numbered pages, in the Selected Bibliography section, where you will find books about your primary source under the name of the author, alphabetized according to period.
So, for example, if your primary source is Hamlet, you will find secondary sources, books about it, under Shakespeare in “IX. Europe and the New World ” (page A 13. Vol. 1). Many can be accessed physically at Cuny Libraries, but do check for hours and conditions of entry, while the pandemic is still with us; also many of the sources and resources are available online; while rare would be the one not available in the Brooklyn or New York Public Library systems, now open, where books either circulate or can be consulted in the research divisions.
Consult pages 10-14 of syllabus for ‘model papers’ on two of the authors we read this semester, for content, format and documentation purposes, for form and content (not necessarily length):
