The English Research Guide is your portal to the different resources you will need to complete the various types of papers and other research based assignments you'll tackle in your English courses at USC Aiken. In this guide, you will find resources for:
- Contemporary Issues: If you're writing a paper where you have to take a position on a debatable topic (argumentative essay, persuasive essay, opinion essay, position paper), this guide will introduce you to resources to discover and explore various debatable/controversial topics, as well as resources where you can find sources to support your argument. Courses most likely to use this guide are ENGL 101 and ENGL 201.
- Literary Criticism: If you're writing a paper on any work of literature, this guide will provide resources for finding literary criticism, as well as resources that will allow you to explore the historical and cultural context of the literary work being discussed. Literature focused courses are most likely to use this guide, including ENGL 102.
- The Research Process: This guide walks you through the steps of the basic research process and at each step provides resources necessary to complete that step. The research process is adaptable to all different types of college research assignments and is useful for any beginning researcher.
- Cite Your Sources: MLA is the primary citation style used in the Humanities disciplines, including English. This guide will provide resources--including a quick reference guide and videos--to help you appropriately cite sources used in research assignments completed for your English classes.
