Urban Literature Reseach Proposal
This assignment was created by students at The City College of New York for the Freshman Inquiry Writing Seminar, Web Discourse. Students are researching a social issue in one of four large topics: Urban Life, Public Health, Immigration, and Education. This will result in a final research paper that explores both how the conversations surrounding the issue are enacted and how a CCNY student may enter that conversation in a meaningful way.
The topic I chose for my paper is urban literature. I have always been interested in urban literature because of the number of African American people that praise the genre. This is an interesting topic to talk about because it deals with a whole bunch of issues that is not written about in other books and if it is mentioned in other books, it is not done so explicitly as in urban fiction novels. I have no clue what I want my thesis to be. There are so many aspects and issues involved in this one subject and I have not the slightest idea of how I will narrow it down and come up with my own thesis. I am focusing towards how black women are represented in urban fiction novels. In this paper I want to explore both sides of the controversy that exist within this topic. I want to figure out the true nature of this genre and see how it has change the world of literature whether it being for the better or worst.
I have already started to do my research for this paper. I found many articles that either praised or bashed the topic. With the scholarly resources that I have found they went into details about the emergence of urban literature and all the elements and characteristics that it consist of. I will research books, encyclopedias and also internet resources to explore this topic to its fullest potential. I found a few great articles but now I need to find some other resources to get some more information and different points of view.
I believe that the most difficult part of this paper would be finding relatable sources and structuring the paper. I am not very good with outlining and since the paper is going to be pretty lengthy that is a fear of mine that I would lose track of my thesis and just go off my topic completely.
Comments
the students city college of new york have done great work
Posted by: Los Angeles Lawyers | October 26, 2009 05:52 AM
Hi Cristy, your paper idea sounds really interesting! I'm not totally clear on what Urban Literature actually is, so definitely devote an early section in your paper to explaining urban lit to those of us who don't know about it. From what I understand, there is a debate over whether or not urban lit is detrimental to african-american society. Is this correct? Also, you say you have no idea what your thesis will be, but you said yourself that you would like to write about how women are depicted in these stories. That sounds like a great specific topic, and I think you could make a very strong thesis either way. Some ideas for a thesis - "women are portrayed in a way that not only demeans their importance, but also enforces negative stereotypes about african-american culture." or you could go from the opposite viewpoint "urban lit helps us understand the truth of what it is to be an african-american woman living in society." For any thesis you end up picking, I recommend that you also look at a specific case in one specific piece of urban literature. This will make for a very focused and interesting analysis. Sounds like a great topic, and best of luck with everything! Email me if you have any questions or want to talk or anything. kdade@stanford.edu
-Kevin
Posted by: Kevin - student at Stanford University | October 26, 2009 09:47 AM
You have chosen a nice topic and you are in right direction. As review of literature is the foremost thing to be done for any research work. All the best.
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Posted by: Okti Ragil Suharno | October 30, 2009 06:26 AM
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Posted by: Web Design India | October 31, 2009 02:41 AM
Hi,
Urban literature is a wonderful topic. I am sure you have some idea about it or to be specific some prejudices for it.
Urban literature is greatly famous among the youth and the main reason is its easy language.
Posted by: FTCE exam | October 31, 2009 10:18 AM
You might look at some of the blaxploitation films made too. Even for just cultural reference in an easy to digest form.
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Urban literature is a wonderful topic. I am sure you have some idea about it or to be specific some prejudices for it.
Posted by: شات | October 31, 2009 11:25 PM
Urban literature is a wonderful topic. I am sure you have some idea about it or to be specific some prejudices for it.
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Posted by: elalval | November 2, 2009 11:10 AM