French 226: Introduction

1. Select a starting point 

• Event (e.g. 150th anniversaire de l'abolition de l'esclavage) 
• Person (writer, actor, historical figure, political figure, comedian) 
• Primary source (film, novel, short story, news photograph, art work) 
• ​Secondary source (scholarly article or book) 

2. Think about the voices that you want to hear from

• Participants in events 
• Researchers, Scholars 
• News reporters 
• Public opinion 

Your starting point and the type of sources you are seeking will determine the search tools you use:

• Library catalogs 
• Articles databases 
• Digitized collections 
• Citation databases

For in-depth instruction on formulating a research question and writing, see the Library Writing and Citing Guide

• Your research question should be
  • a substantive question
  • open-ended to enable you to explore broadly 
  • grounded in and connected to research presented/discussed in class
• Sources you seek out should
  • answer genuine questions that arise from your initial consideration of your topic
  • serve to illustrate, extend, demonstrate, and/or inform your argument rather thanmake the argument for you
• Remember that
  • research is an iterative process
  • you are engaging in a conversation that started before you and contributing to it