Research Blog #2

The Question: This one is fairly open-ended. Discuss the research you have done thus far and what you think you might still need. From where are you pulling research? What have you found that seems particularly useful? Do you have any questions about your research?
(This blog isn't due until the research draft is due; there isn't any reason for you to rush on this one.)

This really has been a fun research project for me so far because I have found so many interesting and juicy pieces for my paper. I love it! I have titled my research paper, “Marxism Weaved into Pride and Prejudice,” and I feel that this title is appropriate as it gives the readers a sneak preview of things to come in my paper. As you could have guessed from the title, I am writing about Jane Austen’s lovely, romantic novel, Pride and Prejudice. It is one of my favorite love novels of all time because at first, the main characters, Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy, abhor each other and cannot stand to be within a foot of one another. However, by the novel’s end, they find it is their differences that have made them fall passionately in love with each other, and they live “happily ever after.” It is a wonderful love story, and what makes it a true classic is that it continues to captivate millions of readers years after its publication. To me, that is what makes an everlasting, solid story! Do you not agree? :-)
As far as my research goes for this particular paper, I am pretty much finished in that aspect. If only my paper was completed! :-) (However, it is getting there – I only have a couple more paragraphs to go, and I am happy with what I have thus far.) When I was doing my research, I searched in a variety of places. I searched for a while in MSJC’s online academic databases (EBSCO, ProQuest, and NetLibrary), I read a few of the articles that Professor Bolaski posted under “Course Materials” for literary theory (I found those to be helpful when I could not locate anything on my own), and then I checked out a couple of excellent books from the library that were perfect for my paper. I actually got two of my sources from our class module (two sources dealing with Marxism). They are excellent and just what I needed for my paper (plus, I could not get any other good sources on Marxism on the academic database). I also used our textbook as another source: in the back of our textbook, it discusses the different schools of literary criticism, and Marxism was one of the schools that were included in the group. It contained an excellent definition of Marxism, so I used that as a source as well. Another source that I found that was extremely helpful to me is an e-book that I found through the MSJC online library, NetLibrary. The e-book is entitled, “Understanding Pride and Prejudice: A Student Casebook to Issues, Sources, and Historical Documents”, written by Debra Teachman. It is one of my favorite sources for this paper, and I could not believe that I found it! The last item that I am using for my research paper is an actual book that I checked out from the MSJC Menifee Valley Campus library. The book is entitled, “Twentieth Century Interpretations of Pride and Prejudice,” and it is edited by E. Rubinstein. It is actually a collection of critical essays that deals with Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. It is a great resource. :-) Overall, it took me about a good two weeks to gather my research for this paper, and to sort through pieces of research that I collected and make a list of things that I wanted to use and things that I did not want to use. When I narrowed down my list, these items made it to my grand, final list. And, come to find out, they are working so far. I believe there are two difficult aspects of a good research paper – that is, gathering the research to the paper, and then actually putting the paper together. So far, I have completed the first difficult task: completing the research. Now, all I have to do is complete the paper to my expectations. :-)
There are a couple of sources that I have found to be particularly useful. The first source is the e-book, “Understanding Pride and Prejudice: A Student Casebook to Issues, Sources, and Historical Documents”, written by Debra Teachman. This is a wonderful resource because it helps students to understand the basic history behind the novel. Pride and Prejudice can be a difficult novel to understand, especially if it is the first time that someone has been exposed to it. And, if students do not understand the customs and laws surrounding women, marriage, and inheritance during the 1800s, then it will be extremely difficult to follow the storyline. However, Debra Teachman offers a wonderful companion to Pride and Prejudice by explaining the detail-by-detail laws and customs that were a part of everyday life in the 1800s. This additional understanding to the novel truly helps the student understand the plight the Bennet family is in with their daughters’ futures, and why. I found this e-book to be a perfect, wonderful resource for my research paper. Another excellent resource that I found for my research paper is the book that I found from the library entitled, “Twentieth Century Interpretations of Pride and Prejudice,” and it is edited by E. Rubinstein. This is another great resource because it is a collection of critical essays based on the novel, Pride and Prejudice. I have looked through a few of the essays in the book, and they are all wonderful; however, because of this, I have not been able to choose one as of yet for my paper. I am still working on that. But, this is another great companion to Jane Austen’s novel, Pride and Prejudice, and another resource that I found particularly useful to my paper.
All of the resources that I found for my paper I found very useful and helpful and was also amazed how easily I could incorporate them into my research paper. That is what I loved the most about my sources! I hate finding sources that look good, and that I know would be beneficial to my paper, but unsure as to how to incorporate them in my paper. However, this was not the case with the sources that I found for this research paper. I made a rough outline of the rough draft of my research paper, and most of these sources fit perfectly in my paper. However, I do have one question about my research. In the prompt of the essay, it says that we have to use some type of criticism in our essay on our chosen text. I found a collection of critical essays on Pride and Prejudice in the library book that I found. The question that I have is how should I apply this criticism to my paper? I am a little bit confused on how we are supposed to do this. Other than that, I get the general idea of what we need to do for our writing assignment.
Searching for our research materials has been a fun and enlightening experience. It has shown me that in order to write a really good research paper, one needs to spend a good deal of time doing the research for the paper! However, if a person invests the proper amount of time into the project, they will reap what they sow: a research paper they will be proud of. :-)