My Research Question

Image via Wikipedia

I almost forgot that I am supposed to come up with a research question this week.  It's hard to think of a way to word it.  I want to know if the Sherlock Holmes in the movie is faithful (for lack of a better word) to the SH in the stories by Arthur Conan Doyle because I think that the character in the film owes a lot to the kind of action heroes you see in movies nowadays.  In fact, there are a couple of scenes that reminded me of other movies, especially the chase on foot at the beginning of Casino Royale.

So, how about:  is the Ritchie/Downey Sherlock Holmes the Arthur Conan Doyle Sherlock Holmes, or is it a serious distortion?

I noticed that the film stresses a lot of the seedier aspects of the stories, but I put that down to the modern love of scandal.  The Victorians probably loved it, too, but I think the average person then didn't know much about how many terrible things were going on.  I could be wrong.  We'll see.

I need a hero!

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I'm sort of inspired today by something that came up yesterday in class, which was the idea of heroes.  In an action film, there's always a hero, right?  And what makes this Sherlock Holmes different is that it is an action film, with Holmes as the hero.  Like I said before, I never thought of him that way, but, as you can see from the picture here, he seems to have always been a hands-on kind of detective without my realizing it.  My dad says that I don't know the stories very well, or I would know that Holmes fights and uses disguises.  (Thanks, Dad.  Actually, I think he may turn out to be a lot of help.)  I think that I may have a research question:  is Sherlock Holmes an action hero?

Dr. Toffee says that in an academic research project, you always wind up researching several things (she calls them components), and I guess she's right, because I can already see that I need to know about Holmes, heroes (specifically action heroes), and I'll  probably have to read some of the stories, too.  I got lucky there; my dad has all the stories plus a bunch of books about SH, which means I won't have to wait for interlibrary loans on them.

So I guess the next thing I need to do is look for background stuff, but I think I'll talk to Dr. Toffee during her office hours and see what she says.  I'll start checking out the short stories today and tomorrow.

What do I really want?

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So, I've been thinking about Sherlock Holmes (the movie, that is), and my father, who grew up on Sherlock Holmes (the stories and the TV series), said that I might want to look at how different the character is in the movie from the stories themselves.  That sounds like a good idea, but I don't want to settle for that right now, in case I think of something better before tonight, when I have to post it to the online discussion for the class.


One idea I had was that the movie was kind of like a James Bond movie.  I'm not sure if I think that because of the plot or because of Holmes being so active.  I always thought he was more of a guy who thinks his way through a mystery than a guy who goes out looking for clues and facing dangerous situations, but in the movie, that's what he does.  I'm not really sure where this could go.  I'm supposed to start trying to come up with a research question, and I think I can do it with this, but how do I know whether or not I'm wasting my time?  What if I do a lot of work on this idea, and it doesn't come through for me?

Here I am at last!

To start with, a few words about me.  My name is Rhonda Rhodes (because my dad-- Robert Rhodes -- thinks that repeating initials are a good idea.  However, he only did this to his daughters, not his sons.  Mom could have stopped him; she won't say why she didn't), and I'm writing this blog for my English 102 class.  It wasn't too hard to get this set up, but I won't be sure if it worked until I finish this post.  For my first entry this week, I'm supposed to try to choose a topic for my research project.  I have no idea what to do.  I did a term paper on global warming for senior English in high school, but from what Dr. Toffee said in class, that kind of thing won't work.  I'm supposed to pick something I'm interested in, it could be something connected with my major, and it has to be ACADEMIC!  What the hell.  I don't have a major yet, and I don't have a clue what it will turn out to be.  I'm just taking my gen ed requirements here to save money, since my folks insisted.  Anyway, I guess I should list my interests.  I love movies.  I like music, but I'm not obsessed with it, like my brother.  I was on the soccer team in high school, but I don't play anymore.  My job is boring-- mostly I fold clothes for the displays and run a register.  I read, but not as much or as high quality as I probably should (no, I'm not a Twilight fan, but I like Stephen King).  I might like to be a teacher someday, since I like kids, but only little ones. 
I wonder if I could do something about a movie.  She said that films are academic.  Maybe Sherlock Holmes?  No, I should probably do one that I can get on DVD.  I don't know when Sherlock Holmes will be released.   But I really liked it, and I think that's what I want to do.  Is this 100 words yet?  I guess I better save it in Word, so I can check for length.  

"Dr. Toffee's" Introduction to Her Own Research Project

NOT my school!  Students at a table in Muscatine Community College courtyard (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I teach first-year composition at a community college in Illinois.  My students in English 102 (the research paper course) have to keep a research journal all term, and I've given them the option of doing this as a blog for a few points extra credit.  Few of them blog, so I got some requests for examples.  Unfortunately, when I searched, most of the research blogs I could find were by experienced researchers, not first-year college students.  I'm kind of surprised by this, since I know instructors all over the world are giving this kind of assignment.  My guess is that most of the students who are blogging on assignment are just doing as much as is required, and they are not going in for frills like pinging Google.  As a result, searches tend to ignore them.

The way this is going to work is that I will be writing as a fictitious student developing an English 102 research project.  Yes, I'll actually be doing the work, which I am sure will be good for me, sort of like eating your vegetables.  At the very least, it'll keep me humble.  I may occasionally add comments as an equally fictitious teacher (hence the "Dr. Toffee" pseudonym) from time to time.  Keep in mind that all opinions expressed are Rhonda's, and she is NOT based on a real person.  Rather, she is a composite of hundreds of students I have taught over the years.

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