really stressing out about TESC lib arts capstone, in progress

[davewill]

I'm taking the course now. I think you need to ask for clarification. My mentor specifically said that past students have had good success with an historical figure as a topic. I think you're misunderstanding the requirement for primary research. It doesn't mean that you have to conduct the research, it just means you have to reference the results of primary research as compared to someone else's analysis of it. In fact, from the module one description:

Overview of Methodology:
How do you expect to proceed in order to answer your sub questions? These sub questions answer the major question for you.
Note: If you are thinking about using surveys or questionnaires, check first with your mentor. Only 10% return is typical and the time it takes to devise such instruments combined with the amount of time it will take to received them back and analyze the results might not give you enough time to complete your project by the end of the semester.

It seems clear that they don't think you'll have time for that sort of research. In the case of an historical figure, I'd try to either reference the figure's own writings, or at least some sources contemporary with them.