How do I get started on a literary research paper?In my Latin America class we have a choice to do our literary research paper (It's either on In...

I just wrote and lost a long answer to your question! (That'll teach me to save my work as I go.)

Here's the gist of what I had suggested:

1. You can work from the bottom up by identifying a key passage in the novel that really captures what the work is about. Give that passage a very close reading, connect it to the work as a whole, and then look for critical statements that back you up or that challenge your reading.

Or

2. You can work from the top down by reviewing as many critical statements on the novel as you can find and then developing your own position. A good part of your paper can be a focused and meaningful review of what critics have said about a particular aspect of the work.

Whatever you do, pick something you enjoy!