ENG 102 - A Raisin in the Sun

3. Search Tips

Once you've done some initial background reading on A Raisin in the Sun, it's time to narrow down your topic to what you really want to focus on. Having a narrowed down topic will help you come up with keywords for your search.  Remember your assignment requirements and consider what you've read thus far.

Ask yourself:

What aspect of A Raisin in the Sun do I want to focus on?

What interests me about the A Raisin in the Sun?

What do I want to write about?

As you start to narrow this down into a topic/thesis, you'll want to continue to look for more sources. As you research, you might tweak or adjust your topic/thesis.  In order to help you find more related sources about your topic, you'll want to identify keywords to help you search.

Keywords

As you think about what concepts you want to write about in your play, think about what particular words might be in a good article about the concept. Below are some ideas for keywords you could use to search each of the topics.

To find articles about these topics related to A Raisin in the Sun in the databases, search "A Raisin in the Sun" AND add an additional keyword. Using AND will tell the database that you are looking for a specific concept related to A Raisin in the Sun.

Keywords work best by trial-and-error. Never do only one search. Some keywords will work better than others, and some keywords may lead you to different articles than you found in your first search.  Search the databases with the keywords you selected to find relevant articles. And remember to ask a librarian if you need assistance coming up with keywords or looking for sources.