English 156: Children’s Literature
Research Paper: The Book with No Pictures
Length and Format: This essay must be a minimum of two pages typed and double spaced in 12
point, Times New Roman font. The essay also needs to have a title.
Topic: The Book With No Pictures is a funny read-aloud experience for young children that may also inspire readers to rethink the power of the written word and the nature of the children’s book itself.
The questions The Book with No Pictures implicitly asks include:
•How do children’s books work?
•Is it surprising to read a book with no pictures at all? •Why was this book able to be funny even without pictures?
Your research question: Is The Book with No Pictures an innovative and effective modern children’s book. Why or why not?
Your research paper should consist of five parts:
1.
2.
3.
Introduction: Your introduction should prepare the reader for what’s to come and follow all the conventions of a standard introduction, including an overview of the general topic, an explanation of the research question, and your response to that research question.
Review of the Literature: You must review three critical articles provided to you from The New York Times, Children’s Writer’s Guild, and The Guardian in your review of the literature. A good review of the literature provides an overview of what others have said about the topic, but in your own voice and your own words. The review of the literature prepares your reader to make sense of your own original argument.
Close Reading Analysis: The close reading analysis is the most important part of your research paper. This is your own original interpretation of the primary text, The Book with No Pictures, to make your larger point about whether The Book with No Pictures is or is not an innovative and effective modern children’s book. In literary criticism, close reading is the careful, sustained interpretation of a brief passage of a book. A close reading emphasizes the particular over the general through close attention to individual words, sentences, pictures, and fonts, and the ways in which the those words, sentences, fonts, and images unfold ideas. At this point, you should draw your analysis entirely from The Book with No Pictures, without any reference to outside sources. If this is your first time doing close reading, I recommend you read this short primer: https://writingcenter.fas.harvard.edu/pages/how- do-close-reading
English 156: Children’s Literature
Bronx Community College of the City University of New York
4.
5.
Conclusion: Your conclusion should follow all the conventions of a standard conclusion, reiterating your thesis, summarizing your main points, and making a final statement on The Book with No Pictures.
Works Cited: You must cite the four sources you are working with (The Book with No Pictures and the three critical articles from The New York Times, Children’s Writer’s Guild, and The Guardian) in proper MLA style at the end of your research paper. For a refresher on MLA style, see https:// owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/mla_style/ mla_formatting_and_style_guide/mla_formatting_and_style_guide.html
•For books, MLA style is:
Last Name, First Name. Title of Book. City of Publication, Publisher, Publication
Date.
•For journalism, the MLA style is:
Last Name, First Name. “Title of Article.” Title of Periodical, Day Month Year.
Drafting and Submission Requirements:
✓ You must:
o compose the essay yourself, in your own words, and with a clear thesis statement. o use quotes and parenthetical citations when incorporating the words of others.
o have an introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion.
o document your sources in MLA style.
o proofread.
o complete the assignment on time.
o submit the final draft digitally via Blackboard.
