How can I find "scholarly" research articles, with the aim of looking at what the researcher's objectives and methods were?

Universities and colleges have subscriptions (or a general subscription) to 'scholarly' (or 'academic') journals. In some cases, the journals will be available as paper copies in the college library, but all should be available online via the online research portal to which the college subscribes. Ask your lecturer or tutor how to access this.

If you are not in an academic institution, you can search on Google Scholar (scholar.google.com).

Some research papers listed on Google Scholar are free to download in full. Others will just have the 'abstract' (summary) available to view, and perhaps some other details. In the case of those that aren't freely available in full, a small payment is usually required to download the entire paper. If you identify a paper that looks like the sort of thing you are looking for, it is possible to search for the authors on the internet and email them for a private copy of their paper. They may take some time to respond, however.

If the summary (usually called the 'abstract') of the paper is written in a detailed enough way, you might be able to determine the research objectives and methods from that alone. That would be the quickest most efficient way to choose between papers.

Articles, or research papers, fall into two general categories: review papers and new studies. Review papers review previous papers about the topic of interest and summarize the opinions and findings in those papers in a critical way. Papers about new studies are based on collected data from various sources. This could be numerical data or survey data. The study would have a research question it is investigating. The researchers would identify what resources or data they could examine and collect to investigate that question. Based on what they have observed, researchers then draw conclusions to try to answer the original question.

If you are expected to criticize the paper you choose to look at, the things to look at would be

• how sensible the original research question is


• whether the resources collected are adequate and unbiased for asking that question (for example, are they collected at random from the target population of interest?)


• whether the conclusions are accurate and appropriate (was the best method used for analyzing the data, and was the analysis carried out correctly?)


• whether the strength of the conclusions is justified based on the amount of data examined


• whether the results are of practical interest (that is, the effects observed are large enough to be important)

Bear in mind that if the paper has been published in an academic journal, it should achieve all of the above, otherwise (hopefully) it would not have been published. Papers are usually 'peer reviewed' by other researchers and experts in the same or a similar field to ensure the paper is of good quality. Even so, many badly conducted studies slip through the net.

The typical format for an academic paper (particularly in the hard sciences) is

1. hypothesis (research question)


2. method (how the data, once obtained, will be analysed)


3. results


4. conclusions (meaning of the results and an acknowledgement of the results' quality and relevance)

Finally, many research projects find their original hypothesis was wrong. This is still useful, however, because something has been learned from the data. Many researchers also find they did not collect enough data to conclude anything definite regarding the question asked (research in this situation is known as a 'negative' or 'under-powered' study). Under-powered studies in particular suffer from 'publication bias' in that they are not published because they failed to say anything of interest or anything exciting. This is unhelpful because lack of information is still, in its own way, information, but it is understandable because researchers who repeatedly fail to find anything interesting are unlikely to receive a lot of financial support or resources for later work.

What disturbs Lockwood and makes him get out of bed in Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights?

Toward the beginning of Wuthering Heights, a raging snowstorm strands Mr. Lockwood at Heathcliff's estate, forcing him to spend the night. Already disturbed by the strange goings-on at Wuthering Heights, Mr. Lockwood sleeps fitfully and experiences a series of strange dreams. He gets up during his last, particularly creepy nightmare. In the nightmare, Lockwood hears a noise at the window, rousing him from his slumber to investigate the disturbance. To his horror, he encounters...

Toward the beginning of Wuthering Heights, a raging snowstorm strands Mr. Lockwood at Heathcliff's estate, forcing him to spend the night. Already disturbed by the strange goings-on at Wuthering Heights, Mr. Lockwood sleeps fitfully and experiences a series of strange dreams. He gets up during his last, particularly creepy nightmare. In the nightmare, Lockwood hears a noise at the window, rousing him from his slumber to investigate the disturbance. To his horror, he encounters the ghostly form of a girl begging to be let inside. The child says she is Catherine Linton, and Lockwood desperately tries to keep her out of his room. This occurrence is not only absolutely terrifying, but also serves as a brilliant example of foreshadowing. The ghostly apparition immediately puts us on our guard and encourages us to expect some truly dramatic history to be revealed, and we're not disappointed. Indeed, the ghostly child who disturbs Lockwood on a stormy night immediately sets the tone for the rest of the novel, as it tells the reader that the plot will be both dramatic and disturbing.   

In Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart, is Okonkwo a hero figure that represents the community and carries with him it's hopes and fears?

Okonkwo is both representative of the values of his community and a rebel against them at different times in the novel. The obvious point in the novel when Okonkwo's role and position in his society change is when he is exiled by the tribe. 

Before his exile, Okonkwo is a leader and a well-respected man of the tribe. He is renowned for his hard work, as noted in his success in growing yams; his physical strength, beginning with his famous wrestling victory over Amalinze the Cat; and his respect and reverence of most of the beliefs and traditions of the tribe. Okonkwo does set himself apart a couple of times, though. For one, he beats his wife during the Week of Peace. The narrator notes that the beating was a result of Okonkwo's "justifiable anger," but the tribe's tradition does not allow for violence of any kind during the Week of Peace. Even more importantly, Okonkwo's actions are called into question when he kills Ikemefuna with his machete. Ikemefuna was destined to be killed by the tribe, as required by the Oracle. However, other respected leaders see Okonkwo's actions as too extreme and as violating the tribe's beliefs about family.

Finally, the act that results in Okonkwo's exile is seen as going against the values and practices of the clan. At the mourning rites for an elder tribesman, Okonkwo fires a gun and accidentally kills one of the dead man's sons. The narrator says that "nothing like this had ever happened." Clearly, Okonkwo's actions do not represent the values of his community. Thus, he is exiled for a span of seven years; his crime as seen as even worse because it was accidental and, so, a female crime. The Umuofia believe in a fundamental difference between masculinity and femininity and as a leader of the tribe, it would be expected that Okonkwo be a pillar of masculinity. 

During Okonkwo's exile, missionaries infiltrate the villages, and when Okonkwo returns, he sees it as his duty to reestablish the older traditions of the clan in the face of this new religion (Christianity). However, too many of the people have converted and the missionaries have had too great an influence. When Okonkwo acts violently against these men, whom he considers usurpers, he knows he is not supported by his community and he commits suicide. This is also a shameful practice in his clan.

One could say that over the course of Things Fall Apart, Okonkwo reflects the values, hopes, and fears of his community less and less. 

In "Lumber Room" by Saki, how does the aunt try to prevent Nicholas from entering the gooseberry garden?

In “The Lumber Room” by Saki, the aunt spends her day attempting to keep Nicholas out of the gooseberry garden.

The aunt had many other things to do that afternoon, but she spent an hour or two in trivial gardening operations among flower beds and shrubberies, whence she could watch the two doors that led to the forbidden paradise.

After Nicholas outwits the adults, he is left at home with his cousins’ aunt while the...

In “The Lumber Room” by Saki, the aunt spends her day attempting to keep Nicholas out of the gooseberry garden.

The aunt had many other things to do that afternoon, but she spent an hour or two in trivial gardening operations among flower beds and shrubberies, whence she could watch the two doors that led to the forbidden paradise.

After Nicholas outwits the adults, he is left at home with his cousins’ aunt while the other children are treated to an expedition to the beach. The aunt is intent on teaching Nicholas a lesson, but her plans backfire. As part of the punishment for being “in disgrace,” Nicholas is forbidden from entering the inner walls of the garden. To insure he does not find his way into the garden, the aunt guards both of the garden doors by doing simple outdoor tasks. 

Nicholas has no intention of entering the area, but he tricks the aunt into thinking his intent is to defy her ultimatum. She stays vigilant until Nicholas seems to disappear. He is in the house exploring “The Lumber Room.” Eventually, she realizes he is gone, and thinks he scaled the garden wall. She runs into the garden and falls into the water trough.

In the end, who is punished, Nicholas or the aunt?

In Chapter Nine of Animal Farm, how does Orwell present Communism through Boxer's death?

In Chapter Nine of Animal Farm, Orwell uses Boxer's death to present Communism as a betrayal of the working class. This is shown through the murder of Boxer when Boxer (and the other animals) believe that he is going to see a vet, but, in fact, he is sold to a glue manufacturer called Alfred Simmonds. What is most important about this betrayal is that Boxer and the other animals do not realise what...

In Chapter Nine of Animal Farm, Orwell uses Boxer's death to present Communism as a betrayal of the working class. This is shown through the murder of Boxer when Boxer (and the other animals) believe that he is going to see a vet, but, in fact, he is sold to a glue manufacturer called Alfred Simmonds. What is most important about this betrayal is that Boxer and the other animals do not realise what is happening until it is too late. We see this through the reaction of Benjamin, who is the first to notice:

"Fools! Fools!" shouted Benjamin, prancing round them and stamping the earth with his small hoofs. "Fools! Do you not see what is written on the side of that van?"

Through Boxer's death, then, Orwell presents Communism as a bad idea for the working classes. While, at first glance, Communism appears to offer hope and prosperity (like Boxer's trip to the vets), it is nothing more than a ruse to keep the working classes in a position of submission.

What figurative language does Andrew Marvell use in "To His Coy Mistress"?

Marvell's narrator uses hyperbole or exaggeration in this poem to try to persuade his beloved to sleep with him. He refers to his beloved as coy, meaning shy, but with the added twist of faking the shyness, of holding back to play games with him. He uses exaggeration to indicate how much time he would love spending wooing her—if that amount of time existed:

A hundred years should go to praise 

Thine eyes, and on thy forehead gaze; 

Two hundred to adore each breast, 

But thirty thousand to the rest;

The narrator uses this instance of hyperbole to suggest to his beloved that, as mortal human beings, we do not have all the time in the world before we grow old and die. Hyperbole—two hundred years to praise each breast—is meant to showcase to the beloved how ridiculous she is being in holding out on him. Of course, he does not literally expect (or want) to spend centuries praising her body—this is figurative speech. 

The narrator uses figurative language to describe death in order to persuade his beloved to seize the day. He paints a vivid picture of the beloved in death. He never uses the word death, instead relying on imagery to describe it: her "marble vault," will be silent, and worms will crawl through her corpse:

Nor, in thy marble vault, shall sound 

My echoing song; then worms shall try 

That long-preserved virginity

Finally, he personifies the sun, which stands for time in this poem, saying we will "make him run."

What was the purpose of the Viking voyages?

The primary purpose of the Viking voyages and exploration was for trade.  Viking society depended heavily on trade.  Viking merchants sought to trade with people in both existing areas and new areas.  They traded a large variety of goods, especially with other merchants in Asia.  Ships sailed by Viking merchants traveled to many places in the world, both east and west.  Vikings had developed seaworthy ships, so they were able to travel farther than other...

The primary purpose of the Viking voyages and exploration was for trade.  Viking society depended heavily on trade.  Viking merchants sought to trade with people in both existing areas and new areas.  They traded a large variety of goods, especially with other merchants in Asia.  Ships sailed by Viking merchants traveled to many places in the world, both east and west.  Vikings had developed seaworthy ships, so they were able to travel farther than other explorers in that time.  This gave them an advantage in both trade and exploration.  

Some historians believe that the Viking explorers were also looking for more land to house some of their expanding population back home.  Evidence of Viking settlements can be found in many places today.  

Some Viking explorers wanted to discover new lands.  The Vikings explored Iceland, Greenland, and Newfoundland.  These were areas previously unexplored by Europeans.