Topic Possibilities:

• author and/or literary work of 19th, 20th or 21st century narrative fiction (e.g. novel or short story)
• reputation of a particular author and her/his influence on the development of narrative fiction and/or on later writers
• film adaptation of a literary work of narrative fiction (e.g. of a novel or short story)
• one or more elements of narrative fiction (e.g. plot, character, theme, point of view, setting, symbol, style), and/or interrelationships of selected elements of narrative fiction
• a genre of narrative fiction, or comparison/contrast of two genres of narrative fiction (e.g. novel, short story, film, and/or particular subgenres of narrative fiction such as prose epic, historical fiction, fantasy, spy thriller, etc.)
• key characteristics of 19th- or 20th-century literary period or movement (e.g. Literary Realism or Modernism) important to the development of narrative fiction, or contemporary literary trends in narrative fiction
• commentaries of professional literary critics representing two or more different approaches to interpreting and better understanding an author and/or work of narrative fiction
• a critical research question or issue relevant to study of narrative fiction
  (e.g. What evaluation criteria can we apply to determining what makes a "great" work of narrative fiction--beyond just an individual reader's own personal tastes and preferences?)
• any topic that will demonstrably broaden or deepen your competency in one or more of the ENG 104 Objectives and Learning Outcomes (below) published in the ENG 104 Syllabus.

Selecting Five (5) Useful "Outside" Sources Relevant to your Topic:

• "Useful" means that you can recommend each of the 5 "outside" sources included in your Critical Review as valuable to others seriously interested in study of your selected topic on narrative fiction;
• "Outside" sources are sources that have not been assigned as part of our regular study of narrative fiction in ENG 104 this term - with these clarifications and limitations:
  --You can choose as your topic an assigned author and literary work that we've studied this term, but your 5 "outside" sources cannot include any articles from our Charters' textbook nor any of Cora's assigned ENG 104 (paper or online) handouts;
  --If you choose an unassigned author or literary work from our Charters' textbook, you may use a maximum of two articles from Charters on that author or literary work for your Critical Review;
  --You can use in your Critical Review a maximum of two articles from Cora's Online Reserve Articles relevant to your topic.
• Of the five (5) "outside" sources (relevant to your topic) included in your Critical Review . . .
  --at least one source must be a book (or relevant chapters or selected sections from a book-length study relevant to your chosen topic) or an article from a reputable reference work (i.e. a general or specialized encyclopedia - NOTE: many articles included in Cora's Online Reserve are from specialized literary reference works that count as "reputable reference work,"  like Gale's Contemporary Authors, Contemporary Literary Criticism, and Dictionary of Literary Biography );
  --at least one source must be an article from a reputable print or online periodical
  (NOTE: many articles included in Cora's Online Reserve are from reputable periodicals available from COCC Library subscription periodical databases like Gale Literature Resource Center and EBSCOhost Academic Search Elite or Academic Search Premier );
  --no more than two sources may be World Wide Web pages or sites that are freely available to all internet users (NOTE: this restriction does not apply to COCC Library subscription-restricted online sources available only to authorized users such as COCC students & staff).

Where to find useful "outside" sources relevant to your selected topic:

• Cora's Online Reserve (password-restricted: access information given in class):
  Home Page: http://web.cocc.edu/cagatucci_articles/
  ...including some targeted ENG 104 sources: http://web.cocc.edu/cagatucci_articles/#ENG104
  ...ENG 104 Index: http://web.cocc.edu/cagatucci_articles/eng104/index.html
• COCC Library - Go in person, or conduct research via COCC Library Online:
  Home page: http://campuslibrary.cocc.edu/
  Ask a Librarian: http://campuslibrary.cocc.edu/Library+Services/Ask/default.aspx
  Includes hours when COCC Library staff are available to help answer questions at the Information Desk (main floor) of the COCC Campus Library.
  Research Tools index: http://campuslibrary.cocc.edu/Research+Tools/default.aspx
    --Library Catalogs: Books & More:
  http://campuslibrary.cocc.edu/Research+Tools/Catalogs/default.aspx
    --Online Reference Sources:
  http://campuslibrary.cocc.edu/Research+Tools/Online+Reference/default.aspx
    --Online Journal Collections:
  http://campuslibrary.cocc.edu/Research+Tools/Online+Journals/default.aspx
    --[Periodical] Databases: Articles and More
  http://web.cocc.edu/library/newlibrarypage/researchtools/databases/index.html
       *Humanities Databases, include links to Gale's Literature Resource and EBSCOhost Academic Search Premier:
  http://web.cocc.edu/library/newlibrarypage/researchtools/databases/humanities.html
• Search the Web (COCC Library):
  URL: http://campuslibrary.cocc.edu/Research+Tools/Search/default.aspx