This guide will help you with your research assignments for the General Education course, The Detective Novel in the World. If you need help, contact the librarian.
The Crime Fiction Handbook
Whodunit? A Who's Who in Crime & Mystery Writing
Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms
"Wikipedia? It's a great place to start, and a horrible place to end, at least that's what my professor says."
Wikipedia can be a great place to begin finding information on a topic, trend, or issue. You'll need to find additional sources, but Wikipedia articles may help you learn more about your topic. Use the citation list at the bottom of Wikipedia entry pages to lead you to more sources.
Before choosing a topic, make sure you understand your assignment. Read your assignment and look for:
Make sure you understand your assignment’s purpose. Are you supposed to take a side in an existing argument, explain a problem, propose a position, describe a project or process, or do something else?
If you find that you cannot describe what your assignment is about to someone else, either read it again or ask your instructor for clarification.
When you have chosen a topic, it's time to ask some questions.
Applying the 5 W's -- who, what, when, where, why, and how -- to your topic can help you begin to find a more focused issue within that topic that will work well for your assignment.
Try visualizing your topic to explore all of the different angles, ideas, and key concepts related to your topic. This is a good brainstorming exercise and can also help focus your topic into a research question.
The tools below can help you visualize your topic.
