Alexander I: The Russians or Typhus which hurt Napoleon more?
* Research that item on the internet so you have a general idea of who or what that person, thing or event is about. The information you find and write up should include:
1. The actual event(s) that happened (or what the individual accomplished or was done to him)
2. The causes of why it (they) happened (or why he did what he did)
3. The results of what happened (or what he did).
Write this up in 2-3 pages. Pinpoint a specific focused topic that you can describe clearly in 2-3 pages.
Go to EBSCO multi-search (in the Touro Library electronic data bases section).[1] You may log in from home. Enter the key words about the event, person, or object. Specify “peer reviewed journals” and “full text articles.” Conduct a Boolean [computer] search.
1. Locate TWO articles written by three different authors that focus on this person or subject. If you have a problem finding articles broaden your search terms or consult with me.
2. Read the articles comparing the different authors’ point of view on the subject. Examine the similarities and differences. Keep this short. (one to two pages)
3. Account for their differences or agreements. (one-two pages for this section—including all the items listed below) This is the most important part of the paper!
4. Possible reasons for differences (or agreements) might be:
1. approach of the author (a political, economic, social, religious, literary or psychological perspective [See what kind of information s/he brings.])
2. where and when s/he lived and who his/her professors were (Often you can find this information on Wikipedia.)
3. the time and place in which the article was researched and written (An earlier article might not have had certain sources available, or the second author might not have had access to certain sources that the other author possessed.) [Compare the sources in the footnotes.])
4. languages each author used in conducting research (Check the footnotes. Were they in the primary languages? [If the author does not know a crucial language, that could hamper his research.])
5. thoroughness of each author’s research (What was the number [& quality] of primary and secondary sources?)
6. apparent perspectives or prejudices (liberal, conservation, communist, fascist, religious [to mention only a few)] that might have influenced the authors’ points of view
7. logical nature of the article based on the available documents (and/or earlier research)