Home - ENGL100 - Pierstorff - Spring 2021 - Research Guides at Modesto Junior College Library

Step One: Familiarize Yourself With Your Text and Your Issue

Begin your project by doing some background reading on your topic. Preliminary reading helps you:

achieve a basic understanding of your issue.
begin to identify interesting specific questions that will form the backbone of your research; and
start to acquire vital search terms you need in order to explore your subject more fully.

Gale eBooks
Use this database for preliminary reading as you start your research. You'll learn about your topic by reading authoritative topic overviews on a wide variety of subjects.

Encyclopedia of Gender in Media by Mary E. Kosut (Editor)
Call Number: eBook
ISBN: 9781412990790
Publication Date: 2012-05-18
The media strongly influences our everyday notions of gender roles and our concepts of gender identity. The Encyclopedia of Gender in Media critically examines the role of the media in enabling, facilitating, or challenging the social construction of gender in our society. The work addresses a variety of entertainment and news content in print and electronic media and explores the social construction of masculinity as well as femininity. In addition to representations of gender within the media, we also analyze gender issues related to media ownership and the media workforce. Despite an abundance of textbooks, anthologies, and university press monographs on the topic of gender in media, until now no comprehensive reference work has tackled this topic of perennial interest in student research and papers.
The Routledge Companion to Media and Gender by Cynthia Carter (Editor); Linda Steiner (Editor); Lisa McLaughlin (Editor)
Call Number: eBook
ISBN: 9780415527699
Publication Date: 2013-12-09
The Routledge Companion to Media and Gender offers a comprehensive examination of media and gender studies, charting its histories, investigating ongoing controversies, and assessing future trends. The 59 chapters in this volume, written by leading researchers from around the world, provide scholars and students with an engaging and authoritative survey of current thinking in media and gender research. The Companion includes the following features: With each chapter addressing a distinct, concrete set of issues, the volume includes research from around the world to engage readers in a broad array of global and transnational issues and intersectional perspectives. Authors address a series of important questions that have consequences for current and future thinking in the field, including postfeminism, sexual violence, masculinity, media industries, queer identities, video games, digital policy, media activism, sexualization, docusoaps, teen drama, cosmetic surgery, media Islamophobia, sport, telenovelas, news audiences, pornography, and social and mobile media. A range of academic disciplines inform exploration of key issues around production and policymaking, representation, audience engagement, and the place of gender in media studies. The Routledge Companion to Media and Gender is an essential guide to the central ideas, concepts and debates currently shaping media and gender research.
Misogyny in American Culture [2 Volumes] by Letizia Guglielmo (Editor)
Call Number: eBook
ISBN: 9781440853814
Publication Date: 2018-10-01
This set surveys American misogyny in all its cultural forms, from popular music, film, and education to healthcare, politics, and business. The work also assesses proposals to confront and reduce such expressions of hatred. The essays contained in this two-volume set explore misogyny within various areas of American culture to demonstrate its pervasiveness and identify common foundations of its many presentations. Beyond a basic definition of misogyny, which includes hatred of women and girls and the ways in which this hatred and distrust influences action, speech, discrimination, policy, and culture in the United States, this project also aims to expand and complicate definitions of misogyny in order to provide readers with a robust introduction to and understanding of the larger topic. Given the current political and cultural climate and the more frequent and widespread use of the term "misogyny" by various media outlets and voters during the 2016 presidential election, this book has the potential both to contribute to ongoing conversations on misogyny and, among its intended audience of advanced high school, beginning college students and the general public, to inform a shift currently unfolding in public conversation on the topic. Engages readers in an exploration of the history and impact of as well as current trends in and responses to misogyny on various areas of American culture to demonstrate its pervasiveness and its common foundations Illustrates the role of digital and social media in both amplifying misogyny and serving as a site for response to and action against misogyny Demonstrates that patterns of misogynistic behaviors and actions are evident throughout US history, with contemporary forms of harassment and violence often replicating those of previous decades and even centuries Provides a chronology of events and an appendix of organizations and agencies involved in confronting and combating misogyny in American society for ease of reference
Encyclopedia of Sex and Gender
Call Number: eBook
ISBN: 9780028659602
Publication Date: 2007-08-23
Addresses issues of sex and gender at the personal and the social level; examines issues of identity, status, class, ethnicity, race, and nation; of sexuality and the body; of social institutions and the structures of representation. Topics include changing conceptions of "the feminine," the family and masculinity, religion, morality, cultural images, medical practice, public health, economy and society and many more.
St. James Encyclopedia of Hip Hop Culture by Thomas Riggs
Call Number: eBook
ISBN: 9781410380821
Publication Date: 2018-01-01
"Examines the history and contributions of hip hop to American and global culture." Look up Misogyny in Rap.

"Policing Masculinities and Femininities" from The SAGE Encyclopedia of LGBTQ Studies
Useful piece on how society reinforces normative constructions of masculinity and femininity.

Step Two: Find, Read, and Reflect on Your Sources

Find sources on the topics that you identified in Step 1.

Do a comprehensive search utilizing all the sources below; leave no stone unturned
Print/save/email the sources you find as you go to avoid backtracking
Read your sources several times, highlighting relevant information and making notes as you go.
If you find sources that will help others in your team, SHARE THEM.
If you have trouble finding the appropriate type or number of sources: MEET WITH A RESEARCH LIBRARIAN-- you can make an appointment in Canvas under Research Help; there are slots available JUST FOR YOU on Mon & Weds nights 5-9 or Fri-Sat-Sun mornings 8-11.

EBSCOhost Databases
Search 22 databases simultaneously that cover almost any topic you need to research at MJC. EBSCO databases include articles previously published in journals, magazines, newspapers, books, and other media outlets.
Gale Databases
Search over 35 databases simultaneously that cover almost any topic you need to research at MJC. Gale databases include articles previously published in journals, magazines, newspapers, books, and other media outlets.
Gale Literature
Formally known as Gale Literary Sources, this database brings together all of Gale's literary databases into one cross-searchable research and study environment. Whether you're researching authors and their works, literary movements or genres, or trying to find book reviews of bestsellers, you can search across all of your library's Gale literary databases to find full text of literary works, journal articles, literature criticism and analysis, reviews, author biographies, and expertly written work overviews.
Literary Reference Center Plus
Contains full text for hundreds of thousands of plot summaries, synopses and work overviews, articles/essays of literary criticism, author biographies, book reviews, classic and contemporary short stories, author interviews, classic texts and much more from major respected reference works, books, literary journals, and original content from EBSCO Publishing
Oxford Music Online
This database includes: Grove Music Online, The Oxford Dictionary of Music, and The Oxford Companion to Music in addition to other Oxford music reference sources. You'll find thousands of articles written by music scholars on a wide variety of music, musicians, and instruments.
Gale OneFile: Fine Arts
Use this database when you want to explore topics related to drama, music, art history, and film making. This collection contains more than 100 full-text publications.
Pop Culture Collection
This Gale collection provides useful information for any researcher in a social science, history, art, or liberal arts course

Step Three: Start Writing a Draft

Make an appointment with writing center staff at least once. They will help you get started, proceed, and/or finish. This is a free service that you should always utilize to maximize your success.
Utilize the MJC Library & Learning Center's FORMAT & CITE page to aid with MLA. A research librarian can provide face-to-face assistance with formatting and citing as well.

In-Text Citation Basics

Cite all direct quotes, paraphrased information, and summarized ideas.

Each in-text citation should link directly to a specific source in the Works Cited list.

Basic entry is author's last name and page number: (Jones 14)

If there is no author, use the "Title" of the source: ("Global Warming" 264)

If page numbers are available, they MUST be listed. This often means examining the pdf version of database articles to locate page numbers.

For most citations, the parenthetical reference is placed BEFORE the punctuation: Magnesium can be effective in treating PMS (Haggerty 42).

Direct quotes longer than 4 lines are indented an extra 1/2 inch, the quotation marks are removed, and the parenthetical comes AFTER punctuation.

If author name or title is used within the text, do NOT list it again within parenthesis. Haggerty notes magnesium is effective at relieving some symptoms of PMS (42).

Works Cited Examples

Citation Examples and Template:

Each citation in your list of works cited is composed of elements common to most works. These are called the MLA core elements. They are assembled in a specific order as shown to the right.