Online pre-discussion

Locate three current, peer-reviewed full-length academic articles (minimum 8 pages, published within the past 5 years) on any topic related to the works, authors, and/or themes we have studied in the course.  I encourage you to explore an issue you are thinking of writing about for your Paper 2, but you do not need to commit to any topic at this early stage.

Part 1:

For each article:
a) State the author's thesis (the main idea, the debatable claim that makes the essay worth reading).
b) Include a brief quote that you found challenging, surprising, enlightening, or troubling.
c) Include full citation in MLA format.

Part 2:

State your understanding of the purpose of academic research. (Why does writing a college research paper involve starting with the library database, rather than using something you can find more easily on Spark Notes or Wikipedia?)  Of what value is academic research to you, a student in a 200-level literature course?