Tré's Research Process for AP Literature Research Paper

  • Assignment Received and Topic Chosen

    Assignment Received and Topic Chosen
    Today we received our assignment from Ms. Turner to write a research paper about an author we've read this year and their body of work. After looking back through the texts we've read, I decided to do my paper on Oscar Wilde.
  • Beginning Research

    Beginning Research
    To start off my research, I revisited the notes we took when we studied Oscar Wilde and read his work The Picture of Dorian Gray. I also looked back at the AP essay I wrote that quarter about the book to refresh my memory on that particular novel.
  • Research, research, research!

    Research, research, research!
    Part of my process is researching Oscar Wilde so I can decide what exactly I want to say about him as an author, so I will be spending a few days using the school library, the public library, and the online databases to find information.
  • Annotations

    Annotations
    Now that I've acquired a good amount of research to get started, I'm going to go back through and annotate to see what I would like to include. I've decided to focus on Oscar Wilde and how his work was influenced by the culture and politics of the time, so I will be color coding to help separate my information.
  • Writing!

    Writing!
    I always forget how difficult the writing stage of a paper can be! But I've been using class time and stopping by the Writing Center to work with Ms. Smith and have found that making an informal outline for myself was super helpful. Two pages down and five more to go!
  • Writing and Revising and Revising and...

    Writing and Revising and Revising and...
    Once I finished my full 7 pages, I jumped right into the revising process. I took my finished paper to the Writing Center and got feedback that will help me make my paper stronger!
  • Formatting and Citations

    Formatting and Citations
    Now that I've finished the revising of my content, I spent today double checking my formatting and citations are in MLA format as the assignment required. I know that in the future I'll be using APA format, but this was good practice using another style.
  • Presentation Decision

    Presentation Decision
    Now that my paper is finished, I need to decide what I'm going to do to present my paper to my class. My usual go to is Google Slides, but I want to make my presentation a little more theatrical so I think I'll use Prezi instead...now to figure out how Prezi works :)
  • Prezi is...going?

    Prezi is...going?
    One of my goals with this project was to try a new method of presentation and I'm learning that one of the reasons I always used Google Slides was because of how easy it is! Prezi gives you more freedom but with that freedom comes more work, haha!
  • Prezi is...DONE!

    Prezi is...DONE!
    Now that my Prezi is done, I'm going to spend the weekend practicing it before I present on Monday. At the moment, I feel really confident about my presentation only because I know my research so well after spending so much time looking into Oscar Wilde and his work.
  • Overall...

    Overall...
    I learned a lot about Oscar Wilde as well as the research process. This project was a great way for me to practice using some of the tools and skills I will need in the fall when I start college. I also feel like I understand the importance of spacing out the work with a big project like this because trying to do all of this at once would definitely have been overwhelming.