The Nickel Boys

Monday, November 30

You are required to prepare a research project for this course. This project will account for twenty percent of your grade in the course. Consult the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers when you integrate your research into the actual paper. Please review the sample paper because the proper use of in-text citations and the Works Cited page account for a large part of your grade. You will be penalized if you do not write your paper according to the guidelines listed in the style manual.

Your final paper should measure at least six pages in length, excluding the Works Cited page. It should be typed and double-spaced. I also require a font size of ten or twelve. Do not include a cover page. Your first page should include your name, the course title, and the date in the upper left-hand corner. Next, you should create an illuminating paper title. Conclude your document with a Works Cited page, and on that page, you should list at least five to seven sources. Internet sources are not permitted, but you are allowed to access articles and books from Coleman Library’s databases. Your quest is to arrange a roster of books, journal articles, and other documents that will serve as supports for your argument on a specific topic related to the novel. Your primary text, The Nickel Boys, should not be counted as a source, but it should be listed on your Works Cited page.

The best papers will investigate and develop a theme in Whitehead’s novel. As you organize your thoughts and create your research document, focus on one of the following topics:

ancestor/elder figure​oral tradition​trickster narrative
social justice​​quest/journey motif​symbols
Southern sensibility​character analysis​home
conflict​appearance versus reality​trauma
class​race​history
“place”/displacement​visibility/invisibility​education
“P/plantation” ​identity​violence
folk culture​double consciousness​biblical allusion
Willie Lynch (letter)​Jim Crow South ​black masculinity​ For more information on The Nickel Boys read this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Nickel_Boys