fandomhigh | Literature, Class 11: Period 3, Thursday, November 20

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Literature, Class 11: Period 3, Thursday, November 20

Miss Elizabeth Bennet was waiting in the library when her students filed in. She had also left a note on her classroom door this morning, reminding her students of the change in location, should any have forgotten. She would kindly overlook any who were running late.

"Welcome," Eliza said. "This is, as you know, the school library. Many of you are no doubt familiar with it, and for others, it is very possible that this is your first visit. If I accomplish nothing else in this class, at least I may know that each of you have now set foot in it." There was a very playful smile to accompany this. "So then: why are we here? Several reasons, I confess."

"The first is that it seemed odd to spend an entire semester discussing books, and reading books together, without once traveling here, to where so many books are kept. Very neatly ordered, by numbers and in rows, and free for the borrowing. Libraries are quite marvelous that way. Should you ever find yourself seeking new reading material, I highly recommend coming here. There is something to be said for owning a book, to be sure, but one's funds do not always allow for purchase, and there is nothing saying one can't buy a book once one has read it and found it to be a treasure.

"The second reason is that I felt it was time for us to discuss papers. It occurred to me that many of you may not be familiar with how to write basic research papers. Today's class will teach you how. I'm afraid this does mean that I shall be requesting one from you, for our next class.

"One starts by selecting a topic. In more properly academic settings, the topic may be selected for you, or somewhat narrowed down. As we are learning the process, the end result is less important. Therefore, you may choose any topic you like. If you have difficulty selecting a topic, I would be more than happy to assist you in that matter.

"Once one has one's topic, one searches for works which discuss that topic. Useful here is the card catalog," Miss Bennet explained. "One may search it by keyword, author name, or title. There is a physical card catalog in this library, as well as computer terminals which may search for you. If one's search is unsuccessful, try again with a different term; perhaps 'clam' should have been 'mollusk.' If one finds too many results, perhaps narrow your terms. On the terminal, one may search for additional words. 'Clam' could be accompanied by 'cuisine,' if one seeks recipes, or 'habitat' if one wants to know where it is that clams live. The catalog or terminal then tells one where to find the useful materials, and one wanders the stacks to procure them.

"Another useful starting point would be the reference materials. An encyclopedia entry may give one a sufficient overview of the subject, with ideas of further avenues to explore. Encyclopedias list all subjects in alphabetical order, and are issued in volumes; typically each letter is its own book, though more detailed encyclopedias may require multiple volumes just to cover A."

"The information one finds should be jotted on note cards, with precise detail as to where that particular fact was found. Once one has suficient information, one may begin." Miss Bennet then walked her students through the very basics of creating an outline, using that outline to structure one's paper, forming an introduction and a conclusion, and how to properly cite the works one used.

"I do not expect any of you to complete the paper during our time together," she reassured her pupils. "It is to be returned at our next class, which is in two weeks' time, as next week is an American holiday. As we have a class missing, I'm afraid I have another assignment, though it is much smaller and less rigorous, by far.

"Now we reach our third reason for being here, which is somewhat related to our first. You are surrounded by many works of fiction: some classics in their field, some only popular for a time, some unsung gems to which world at large never paid much attention. A wealth of words surrounds you. Choose one title and check it out from the library. It may be any you like; poetry collections, plays, detective novels, historical romances, satire, anything at all. Read it, or at least, read some of it. If you fight your way through just the first chapter, I shall consider that a success. Next class, you will tell me which book, and whether you enjoyed it or not."

"Please do remember that I have office hours on Tuesday, and I shall be here the entire period, should you need any assistance whatsoever. For now," she smiled. "You have papers to start."

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Miss Bennet has a number (http://www.aacc.edu/library/ResearchTopics.cfm) of (http://www.archives.gov/research/topics.html) handouts (http://www.questia.com/library/literature/literature-topics.jsp) on each table (http://www.questia.com/library/history/history-topics.jsp), with a few suggestions, should any be required.

If none of these suit your fancy, raise your hand and ask, and she (and possibly your classmates) will be happy to help you find one.

Reno stared at the handouts blankly for a while.

He was going to bomb this. He was going to bomb this. He was so going to bo-

"Hey. Alternative energy."

This was going to be a breeze. Uh. Provided he could master grammar in the next two weeks.

"Is that a field in which you are interested?" Miss Bennet asked, encouragingly. "I know nothing of it myself, I confess, but if it piques your interest, I suggest you pursue it."

"It's somethin' I been pokin' at for almost a year now," Reno confessed, looking at the sheets and notes and-- the whole damn mess of it, bemused and confused all at once. "I already kinda got an idea where to start lookin' for things like hydroelectric power and solar and ... cars that run on... corn. An' stuff."

He looked up again. "The info, I can get. That's the easy part, zoto."

Re: Choosing a Topic (LIT-11)

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Re: Choosing a Topic (LIT-11)

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Re: Choosing a Topic (LIT-11)

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Re: Choosing a Topic (LIT-11)

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Re: Choosing a Topic (LIT-11)

clevermsbennet.livejournal.com - 2008-11-21 00:48 (UTC) - Expand

When Annja saw the list of history topics that she could choose from, she was excited.

Literature was the natural topic of choice for Lucas and he perused the handout to figure out just which author he should focus on.

Liz had a look over the handouts but when she saw photography listed she knew that was the topic that she was going to do.

Something about music. Or art. Or maybe combining music and art.

Blair looked through the online catalogue and tried to find a topic that would also work well as part of her application to Yale.

Romeo read carefully through the handouts. He was tempted by the literature suggestions, but chose to look at the French revolution instead.

Ichigo poked at the lists, not immediately seeing something that jumped out at him.

Miss Bennet offered Ichigo a hesitant smile. "Having difficulties?" she asked.

"It's probably a luxury problem," he offered instantly. "My previous teachers usually picked the topics for us, so getting to decide means I'm suddenly drawing a blank."

Anemone read over the handouts carefully, repeating the topics quietly to herself. War photography might be fun, although she wasn't sure if interviewing Stoner would count as a literary citation.

"'Oceanic Exploration,'" she echoed slowly, scratching Gulliver on the head. "Hey Gulliver, if I do that, does it also count as genealogy research?" she joked. "Coralians were aquatic, originally."

Gulliver just burbled and nosed at the page.

"Yeah, okay. Oceanic exploration it is."

"Your people were from the oceans?" Miss Bennet asked, hoping that it wasn't rude that she had overheard the girl's comments. "I confess, I do rather like living this close to the sea. I never have, before."

Anemone blinked and looked up from her book, slightly startled.

"Do you know about coral reefs?" she asked, sketching the motion of a wave with her hand. "Coral are sea creatures, sometimes wee, sometimes bigger ones, that are actually colonies working in concert. Lots of people mistake them for plants or rocks, because of the way they look. Coralians evolved from those creatures, but we retain a lot of the same traits. We have individuals, but we're still part of the same organism."

"Although humans came from from the oceans too, a really long time ago, so we're still kinda-cousins."

Re: Choosing a Topic (LIT-11)

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Re: Choosing a Topic (LIT-11)

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Jess was a little worried at first about writing a report. Then he looked at the handouts, and realized he could write about one of his favorite authors, and he felt a lot better.

Sokka poked at the lists. "Watergate," he decided. "That sounds appropriately... Water-y."

"It does," she nodded. "Though I've no notion what most of these entries are, so I take no responsibility if it's another matter entirely."

"Well, if it's not, then it'll just be a magical surprise!" Sokka decided. "That's what research is all about, right?"

Re: Choosing a Topic (LIT-11)

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Re: Choosing a Topic (LIT-11)

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Liir had a little trouble focusing, but he considered whether she'd let him do something on mythology.

"Are you having difficulties?" Miss Bennet asked, stopping by his desk with a concerned glance.

He smiled at her carefully, looking a bit more pale even than usual.

"No, ma'am."

Rodney glanced through the handouts as he tried to decided if he wanted to research a topic he was already familiar with, or if he'd rather look into an area that would be new to him. Then again, if he'd never been interested in something before, it was probably for a reason.

Sam was having some trouble with this. Part of the problem was that, as he looked through the handouts, he was absolutely certain they meant something very different when they said things like 'hybrid automobiles' and 'cell phone safety.'

'Scientific misconduct' sounded doable, maybe...

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