Week 8 Research Assignment – Primary Source Corpus
Week 8 Assignment Due–Building a Corpus of Primary Sources
An exercise in finding primary sources that might serve as the basis for a future research paper
Using our proprietary research databases, build a corpus of primary sources on a particular topic. Present these sources in a bibliography with a descriptive title for the project. Provide one or two sentences that explain the topic.
By a “corpus” (Latin for “body) of sources, I mean a collection of primary sources on a single topic that might be the starting point for a strong research paper. What does this entail? Well, for the research paper itself, you will need something equivalent to about 25-50 pages, something like a ten short news articles or broadcasts or three long news reports or one or two long magazine articles. For this assignment, I’m happy if you include a smaller number of sources for each set or corpus, such as three newspaper articles or three radio or tv broadcasts or two magazine articles or one pamphlet
You do not need to annotate each source. I simply ask for one or two sentences that explain the topic
All news sources must have been published or broadcast before 2015. I’d suggest you try include some sources from before 1900 and some non-print sources – just to see what is out there on similar topics
If you have multiple topics in mind, feel free to include sources that could serve as the basis of research for more than one topic.
Extra credit for using your foreign language skills
Save pdf’s of your sources in a folder in your OneDrive class folder
List your sources in bibliographical format. Follow the models from Mary Lynn Rampolla. Simplify capitalization. Use stable URL’s or database names to indicate the database you’ve used, rather than pasting in a long and messy (and unstable) URL. You don’t need a long annotation for each source. This is about building your corpus. For example:
“Spring to See Greatest Migration in History.” The Chicago Defender. February 21, 1925: 9. In Proquest: Historical Newspaper Collections.
“Birth Control Pill.” CBS Evening News. September 4, 1969. 3:00. At Vanderbilt Television News Archive.
Double space throughout
Note: This assignment prepares the way for your third paper, which will be a primary source analysis, and your final research paper. If you can find a set of sources that you want to write about, you are well along your way! (Oh, and if you decide you don’t like this topic or you want to shift gears, that is ok as well).
Due by midnight before class (Thursday night, Friday morning)
