We had fun with Tracy Kohl’s 12th grade AP English Literature class on Wednesday, January 18! They are working on a project that involves choosing a well-known fairy tale, such as Cinderella or The Little Mermaid, and analyzing it by considering a variety of theoretical perspectives. Students used SBU’s databases that index scholarly articles on literary analysis, which was challenging! It was easy to find sources about the fairy tales themselves, but it became tricky when students wanted to find sources applying a particular / exact theoretical framework to the fairy tale they were interested in. They used some new searching techniques to give them more control over their search results. Students also learned that they might not find the “perfect” article, but they can learn from specific paragraphs or sections of partially relevant articles to help them better understand their topic, and also to find new sources and new perspectives.
Here are some student thoughts on what they took away from the experience:
“Though I was familiar with the databases that our school provides us, I was very intimidated about having to work with a University’s database. I came in feeling as if this would be too overwhelming to understand but realized that it really isn’t hard, especially if you have an expert there to help you. I enjoyed Christine’s encouragement to always ask for help and feel better prepared for the day I have to do my own research.”
“On the SBU trip I enjoyed learning about the different databases that were used. There was so many and they were fun to explore and mess around with to see what I was able to find. I also loved how the campus looked and it felt really nice to get a feel of how college will be like.”
“After SBU’s trip I felt like I was more informed about how to use a database, and the techniques and tricks to get the best results. Although I struggled in the beginning trying to get the results I desired, when I asked for help they were eager to assist. Now I’m aware of how influential an asterisk can be!”
