Please Base this assignment on Little Women by Louisa May Alcott Historical Context Introduction Write approximately one paragraph that identifies the historical context you’ve chosen and how it relates to the literary work you’ve chosen (½ -1 page, double-spaced). Include the who, what, when, where. Annotated Bibliography → Sources: Include 1 background/secondary source (like an article you find from an academic encyclopedia, reference source, or scholarly journal, which you should find through the Hunter College databases – or one of the public databases on the Research Guide geared towards academic audiences) .
The background source should provide you with general information about your topic and perhaps with leads for primary sources. Include 3-4 primary sources. REMEMBER: A PRIMARY SOURCE COMES FROM THE SAME HISTORICAL TIME PERIOD (AND PLACE) AS THE LITERATURE YOU ARE FOCUSING ON. SO, IF YOU ARE FOCUSING ON LITTLE WOMEN, YOUR PRIMARY SOURCES SHOULD DATE FROM THE MID-NINETEENTH CENTURY. Please note: you must find at least 3 primary sources that we did not use in class. Your primary sources should come from at least two different databases. → Annotations In each annotation, include: 1) a short summary of the source (including the who, what, when, where, why, how) in full sentences 2) some of your observations about it 3) connection/s to at least one other source on the bibliography 4) a connection to the literary work you’ve chosen Please see the Purdue Owl’s Guide to Annotated Bibliographies (we are using MLA style): Annotated Bibliographies // Purdue Writing Lab Make sure to look at the sample annotations (but please follow the directions for the annotations for this specific assignment above): Annotated Bibliography Samples // Purdue Writing Lab Synthesis: Write two paragraphs that explain what you’ve learned about the historical context from your primary source research. Your goal is to generate some more ideas than what you could find out from the background source alone (1 – 1½ pages, double spaced). Conclusion: Write approximately one paragraph that outlines some ideas and questions you might pursue if you were using this research as a lens through which to read and write about the literary work (which you may be doing in your final paper). Important Note: Your final publish should follow these steps exactly. It should not look like a traditional essay
– this assignment focuses on your research. I have posted an excellent example of a former student’s work on Blackboard, attached to the assignment itself. Research Guide for Primary and Secondary Sources Background Research (also see secondary source research) General Author Information and Reference (access online through Hunter College Library): Dictionary of Literary Biography Oxford Encyclopedia of Children’s Literature (Jack Zipes, Editor) Oxford Encyclopedia of British Literature Oxford Encyclopedia of American Literature Oxford Companion to Children’s Literature (Daniel Hahn, Editor) Cambridge Companion to Children’s Literature (M. O. Grenby, Editor) Cambridge Guide to Children’s Books in English (Victor Watson, Editor) You can find these sources through the Hunter Library. You can also search for reference sources in these ways: E-Book and Reference Book Databases
– Search Basics (skills guide) – LibGuides at CUNY Hunter College Use OneSearch on the Hunter College Library Homepage Use the filter Resource Type → Reference Entries to find encyclopedia or dictionary entries Use the filter Limit to → Peer-Reviewed Journals to find scholarly journal articles The Gale Virtual Reference Library database (From the Hunter College Library Homepage → databases → G → Gale Virtual Reference Library). Primary Source Research General searching of primary source databases through Hunter: (Hunter College Library Homepage → databases → browse by type → primary source databases) Here are some databases for Primary Sources (access through Hunter Library): 17th and 18th Century Burney Collection 18th Century Collections Online ARTstor Early English Books Online Early American Newspapers English Historical Documents Online Gale Primary Sources: Nineteenth Century Collections Online The Illustrated London News Digital Collections available to the public (some are full collections and some are digitized exhibitions) Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library (Yale University) (especially for Alcott and Twain) Boston Public Library
– Digital Commonwealth British Library: Discovering Literature – The British Library Online resources – The British Library Childhood and children’s literature – The British Library Discovering Children’s Books – The British Library Cotsen Children’s Library (Princeton University): Online Exhibitions | Cotsen Children’s Library CURIOSity Digital Collections (Harvard University) Digital Public Library of America Hidden Lives Revealed: A Virtual Archive – Children in Care 1881-1981 Library of Congress Digital Collections Children’s Literature – Digitized Print Materials (Rare Book and Special Collections Division New York Public Library Digital Collections, Articles, and Online Exhibitions: NYPL Digital Collections The Black Experience in Children’s Books: Selections from Augusta Baker’s Bibliographies – NYPL Digital Collections Louisa May Alcott | The New York Public Library The Morgan Library and Museum’s Online Exhibitions: Alice: 150 Years of Wonderland | The Morgan Library & Museum Mark Twain: A Skeptic’s Progress | The Morgan Library & Museum Drawing the Curtain: Maurice Sendak’s Designs for Opera and Ballet | The Morgan Library & Museum Strong Museum of Play Online Exhibits
– The Strong National Museum of Play Online Collections The Tar Baby and the Tomahawk: Race and Ethnic Images in American Children’s Literature, 1880-1939 (University of Nebraska, Lincoln) University of Connecticut Maurice Sendak Collection Maurice Sendak Collection Digital archives: https://collections.ctdigitalarchive.org/islandora/object/20008:SendakCollection Victorian Women Writers Project- Home (Indiana University) NOTE: There is an in-person exhibition at the NYPL at which you can find primary sources: Polonsky Exhibition of The New York Public Library’s Treasures (There is an entire section devoted to Children. Tickets are free!) 19th Century (and early 20th century) Juvenile Magazines (find them through Hunter Library): You can Google the titles to see if they interest you. American: The American Boy The Juvenile Miscellany St. Nicholas Magazine Youth’s Companion The Slave’s Friend Merry’s Magazine (Louisa May Alcott edited in 1863 – and other years I think) British: Aunt Judy’s Magazine Boys’ and Girls’ Magazine, and Fireside Companion The Boy’s Own Annual (Boy’s Own Paper) Girl’s Own Annual (Girl’s Own Paper) Google Books is another amazing resource for free digitized books and other materials published before 1925, as is Internet Archive and Children’s Library :
Free Books, Project Gutenberg, and Google Arts & Culture for all kinds of things, including inspiration for final creative projects. Secondary Source Research (you can also find leads for primary sources in these secondary sources) Some databases for Secondary Sources (use these to find scholarly articles; these databases can be accessed online for free through the Hunter Library): Gale Literary Sources Project Muse JSTOR — this is for secondary sources, like scholarly articles (not for primary sources) Scholarly Journals (the following journals can be accessed through the database, Project Muse): Children’s Literature Children’s Literature Association Quarterly The Lion and the Unicorn [UPSELL_BEGIN] digital_copies_of_sources_used = 0 plagiarism = 0 pref_writer = 0 urgent_writer_assign = 0 version = 4; Technical line. Don’t touch! [UPSELL_END]
