Prof. Sean Curran - ENGL 103 - Composition and Critical Thinking - Research Guides at Hayden Memorial Library

ENGL 103: It's the End of the World as We Know It, and I Feel ...

The following resources support Prof. Sean Curran's ENGL 103 Research Assignment (Fall 2021)

Using your critical thinking skills and your research, develop a thesis-centered argument that answers the following three questions in detail:

1. How do we ethically stay grounded in the face of these threats to the world?
2. What imaginative resources (works of fiction) can we use for the purpose of highlighting the dire nature of these threats or to envision potential solutions? What critical theory helps guide such an interpretation of these imaginative resources?
3. Though ideally all the world-ending threats should be dealt with at the same time, what world-ending threat is shown by experts to be the current highest priority?

Choose a fictional work apart from the Watchmen (though you may also make use of the novel) that will serve as your primary source that will inform your argument. These may include poetry, plays, short stories, novels, or films. Additionally, choose 8 secondary sources that provide additional support for your overall argument.

Search Tips & Key Databases

Search Tips: Use 2-4 keywords or phrases. Use quotation marks around two or more words you want to treat as a phrase. Limit by Subject Terms if applicable.

Suggested Keywords: climate change, environmental justice, global warming, nuclear safety, nuclear energy, nuclear weapons, social justice, disinformation, misinformation, fake news on social media, activism, etc.

Evaluating Sources: CRAAP Test and more

Key Databases: Opposing Viewpoints in Context, US Major Dailies and EBSCOhost

Opposing Viewpoints in Context This link opens in a new window Contains thousands of full-text articles from authoritative sources including pro/con viewpoints, topic overviews, court case overviews, issues. Media includes images, charts, videos, podcasts and streaming audio. Peer reviewed journals also available.
U.S. Major Dailies (ProQuest) This link opens in a new window U.S. Major Dailies provides access to the five most respected U.S. national and regional newspapers, including The New York Times and Washington Post, co-exclusive access to The Wall Street Journal, and exclusive access to Los Angeles Times and Chicago Tribune. The titles offer researchers thorough and timely coverage of local, regional, and world events with journalistic balance and perspective. The content is available by 8am each day and provides archives stretching as far back as 1985. (Expires 6/30/24)
EBSCOhost - Multiple Databases This link opens in a new window Searches three or more of the 29 collections within the California Community College Pkg. For mobile access, download the EBSCO app

Media

Collections

Environmental Sciences Collection - Over 1,200 films about pollution, environmental activism, oil, nuclear power, conservation, climate change and more. (Kanopy)
Environmental Problems and Management Collection - Over 1,100 films about various environmental problems. (Films on Demand)

Suggested Titles

Generation Greta (Kanopy)
Why Climate Change is Unjust (Films on Demand)
After Truth: Disinformation and the Cost of Fake News (Films on Demand)
How to Recognize Fake News - Parts 1 & 2 (Films on Demand)

Critical Theory Resources

Watchmen As Literature: A Critical Study of the Graphic Novel by Sara J. Van Ness (unlimited users)
This work explores the graphic novel's reception in both popular and scholarly arenas and how the conceptual relationship between images and words affects the reading experience.
Ecocriticism by Greg Garrard
Ecocriticism explores the ways in which we imagine & portray the relationship between humans & the environment in all areas of cultural production, from Wordsworth & Thoreau through to Google Earth, J.M. Coetzee & Werner Herzog's Grizzly Man.
Green Shakespeare: From Ecopolitics to Ecocriticism by Gabriel Egan
Ecocriticism, a theoretical movement examining cultural constructions of Nature in their social and political contexts, is making an increasingly important contribution to our understanding of Shakespeare's plays.
Critical Theory Today: A user-friendly guide by Lois Tyson
Incl. chapters on psychoanalytical, Marxist, feminist, new, reader-response, structuralist, deconstructive, new historical & cultural, African American, & lesbian, gay, and queer, & post-colonial criticism
Toward a Native American Critical Theory by Elvira Pulitano
Toward a Native American Critical Theory articulates the foundations and boundaries of a distinctive Native American critical theory in this postcolonial era.