{"id":1313,"date":"2025-11-17T20:36:02","date_gmt":"2025-11-17T20:36:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/fys-pinsker\/?p=1313"},"modified":"2025-12-03T14:53:00","modified_gmt":"2025-12-03T14:53:00","slug":"secondary-source-research-journal-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/fys-pinsker\/2025\/11\/17\/secondary-source-research-journal-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Secondary Source Research Journal"},"content":{"rendered":"

When I first wrote my close reading essays, I spent hours combing through scholarly articles on JSTOR and other databases, reading each work from front to back. Although helpful with producing relevant quotes or ideas to use in my prose, this strategy prevented me from truly researching my poems in depth. I was only scratching the surface on the various arguments in existence. What I learned while researching secondary sources for Thomas Jefferson\u2019s the Declaration of Independence, Emma Lazarus\u2019s \u201cThe New Colossus,\u201d and Walt Whitman\u2019s \u201cI Hear America Singing\u201d was the importance of managing time while researching. Yes, it\u2019s important to find a variety of secondary sources, but it helps to read only the most significant parts of them to save time. That way, more time can be divided between other sources rather than solely focusing on one.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
Cover of Inventing America: Jefferson’s Declaration of Independence<\/em> (Biblio<\/a>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In the essence of saving time, I started my secondary source research by revisiting sources I had previously used in my close reading essays. In Gary Wills\u2019s 1978 book <\/span>Inventing America: Jefferson\u2019s Declaration of Independence<\/span><\/i>, Wills explored Jefferson\u2019s influences when writing the Declaration of Independence. Additionally, Wills argued that the Declaration was not merely a political document, but also a foundational prose of American identity. For researching purposes, I skimmed the chapters of this book that I had previously read and continued reading certain chapters that align with my specific research on American identity. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Besides the Wills text, I struggled with managing time while exploring secondary sources on Jefferson. With a document as famous as the Declaration of Independence, there exists an abundance of articles dissecting its language on databases like JSTOR and America: History and Life. To combat the challenge of wasting time with excessive reading, I really focused on searching with key words to limit the results presented. With this strategy, I was able to find two articles that discussed race and identity in the Declaration, which was a topic I want to delve deeper into for my final essay. Both Edwin Gittleman\u2019s \u201c<\/span>Jefferson’s “Slave Narrative”: The Declaration of Independence as a Literary Text\u201d<\/span> and Peter S Onuf\u2019s \u201c<\/span>“To Declare Them a Free and Independant People”: Race, Slavery, and National Identity in Jefferson’s Thought\u201d<\/span> aligned with the theme I was pursuing.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Similarly, with Emma Lazarus\u2019s \u201cThe New Colossus,\u201d I began my secondary source research by reexamining sources from my close reading essay. I really appreciated Michael P Kramer\u2019s argument in \u201cThe Raison <\/span>d\u2019\u00eatre <\/span>of \u201cThe New Colossus\u201d,<\/span> so I decided to reuse it for my final essay. I felt the same way about M<\/span>ax Cavitch\u2019s \u201cEmma Lazarus and the Golem of Liberty.\u201d<\/span> However, while both sources were great and made my research far more efficient, I felt as though there was much more to be discovered about this poem. Thankfully, due to my efficiency, I had plenty of time to continue my search.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
Bette Ruth Young’s Emma Lazarus in Her World: Life and Letters<\/em> (Internet Archive<\/a>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

While looking for primary sources, I skimmed through every book in the Lazarus section of the Waidner-Sphar Library. Although I failed to find worthy primary sources, I discovered two useful secondary sources. Despite it only being a small portion of the book, Bette Roth Young\u2019s <\/span>Emma Lazarus in Her World: Life and Letters<\/span><\/i> (1995) providedwonderful insight on \u201cThe New Colossus.\u201d<\/span> Another book<\/span>, Emma Lazarus, <\/span><\/i>written by Esther Schor in 2006, provided more detail on the poem and on Lazarus\u2019s views on immigration. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Researching Walt Whitman was by far the most time consuming because of the sheer volume of material <\/span>available<\/span> online. As one of America\u2019s most profound poets, every database had an almost overwhelming amount of content on Whitman. However, to save time, I only looked at articles that discussed Whitman\u2019s views on democracy or industrialization, as those are the two main themes prevalent in \u201cI Hear America Singing.\u201d Jason Frank\u2019s \u201c<\/span>Aesthetic Democracy: Walt Whitman and the Poetry of the People\u201d<\/span>(2007) and Patrick Redding\u2019s \u201cWhitman Unbound: Democracy and Poetic Form, 1912-1931″<\/span> (2010) analyze Whitman\u2019s political views on democracy and the legacy those views have left on literature. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Although researching is an innately time-consuming process, there are several strategies to deploy to maximize efficiency. Through my search for secondary sources, I learned the benefit of being very intentional in the key words I was using to find articles or books as well as the importance of skimming long sources and only reading the most relevant aspects of a source.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Bibliography<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Cavitch, Max. \u201cEmma Lazarus and the Golem of Liberty.\u201d\u00a0<\/span>American Literary History<\/span><\/i>\u00a018, no. 1 (2006): 1\u201328. [<\/span>JSTOR<\/span><\/a>]<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Frank, Jason. \u201cAesthetic Democracy: Walt Whitman and the Poetry of the People.\u201d\u00a0<\/span>The Review of Politics<\/span><\/i>\u00a069, no. 3 (2007): 402\u201330. [<\/span>JSTOR<\/span><\/a>]<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Gittleman, Edwin. \u201cJefferson\u2019s \u2018Slave Narrative\u2019: The Declaration of Independence as a Literary Text.\u201d\u00a0<\/span>Early American Literature<\/span><\/i>\u00a08, no. 3 (1974): 239\u201356. [<\/span>JSTOR<\/span><\/a>]<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Kramer, Michael P. \u201cThe\u00a0<\/span>Raison d\u2019\u00eatre<\/span><\/i>\u00a0of \u2018The New Colossus.\u2019\u201d <\/span>Partial Answers: Journal of Literature and the History of Ideas <\/span><\/i>22, no. 2 (2024): 355-77. [<\/span>EBSCO<\/span><\/a>]<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Onuf, Peter S. \u201c\u2018To Declare Them a Free and Independant People\u2019: Race, Slavery, and National Identity in Jefferson\u2019s Thought.\u201d\u00a0<\/span>Journal of the Early Republic<\/span><\/i>\u00a018, no. 1 (1998): 1\u201346. [<\/span>JSTOR<\/span><\/a>]<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Redding, Patrick. \u201cWhitman Unbound: Democracy and Poetic Form, 1912-1931.\u201d\u00a0<\/span>New Literary History<\/span><\/i>\u00a041, no. 3 (2010): 669\u201390. [<\/span>JSTOR<\/span><\/a>]<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Schor, Esther H. Emma Lazarus. First edition. New York: Nextbook. 2006.\u00a0[LIBRARY]<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Wills, Gary, Jefferson, Thomas, and United States. \u00a0<\/span>Inventing America\u202f: Jefferson\u2019s Declaration of Independence. <\/span><\/i>First edition. Doubleday. <\/span>1978. [LIBRARY]<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Young, Bette Roth. <\/span>Emma Lazarus in Her World: Life and Letters. <\/span><\/i>First edition. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society. 1995. [LIBRARY]<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When I first wrote my close reading essays, I spent hours combing through scholarly articles on JSTOR and other databases, reading each work from front to back. Although helpful with producing relevant quotes or ideas to use in my prose, this strategy prevented me from […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5705,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1313","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-research-journal"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/fys-pinsker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1313","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/fys-pinsker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/fys-pinsker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/fys-pinsker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5705"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/fys-pinsker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1313"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/fys-pinsker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1313\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1321,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/fys-pinsker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1313\/revisions\/1321"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/fys-pinsker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1313"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/fys-pinsker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1313"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/fys-pinsker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1313"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}