NU Library: Modern & Classical Languages: SPA 305

From Topic to Research Question

Historic Comprehension

Research (Facts)

Find:

primary sources
- artifacts
scholarly articles
books

Evaluate:

Who is the author?
What is the source?
Who was involved?
What happened?
- Where/when?
What led to this?
What happened because of this?
What historical questions does it answer?

Tools to Use

MLA International Bibliography with Full Text

From the Modern Language Association (MLA) , this resource combines an extensive collection of full-text journals with the definitive index for the study and teaching of language, literature, linguistics, rhetoric, writing studies, folklore, film, theater, and other dramatic arts.
ProQuest
This multidisciplinary database system provides access to magazines, journal articles, newspapers, ebooks, videos, theses, and dissertations. ProQuest features general databases, plus disciplinary specific collections.
Wiley Online Library

One of the largest and most authoritative collections of online journals, books, and research resources, covering life, health, social, and physical sciences.
EBSCOhost
EBSCOhost offers a variety of databases that index journals, periodicals, and other resources from several different academic disciplines. These databases range from general reference collections to subject-specific databases such as business, education, and the humanities.
NoodleTools
Integrated tools for note-taking, outlining, citation, document archiving/annotation, and collaborative research and writing.

Example

Third of May, 1808 by Francisco Goya

Historical Analysis

Cause & Effect (Interpretation)

What does it mean?:

Why was it produced or created?
What was the culture of the period in which it was made?
- political,
- economic,
- and social aspects
Did the meaning/perception of it change over time?
- compare perspectives from multiple views

Objective Summary

NOT influenced by feelings or opinions.

Shows you deeply understand
Details, but just the important ones
Does not include personal interpretation

Examples given by the professor:

Your professor has expressed the importance in the creation of "How does a particular cultural product represents/exemplifies/relates to a bigger cultural phenomenon?" or "focus on a particular aspect of the theme and examine its impact on/relationship to another aspect of Spanish culture."

The relationship of Gaudí’s modernism, or maybe even one of his structures like the Sagrada familia, and Catalan Nationalism. Paper could discuss modernism, his works in general, and then go more into one of his specific works, and then analyze how that work exemplifies/relates to Catalan nationalism.
Catalan Nationalism: Not simply a report about the history, but in fact, a brief synopsis of the history to a more specific example of it and examine its relevance in contemporary Catalonian culture.
Picasso: Guernica and its' social impact or focus on cubism and what it meant in Spain at the time that it emerged.
Third of May, 1808: How did that painting represented the unique nature of the Spanish war of independence against the French?