Read This, by Paolo Freire. From The Pedagogy of the Oppressed published in 1968.
We will talk about this, and GR Chapters nine and 10 on Tuesday.
Thursday, October 23, 2008
The Research Process Part 3
The Research Process Part III
Critical Reading and Critical Writing
We are finding sources. They are coming from journals and books, but what now? Oh my, look at all this stuff!
Look, the truth is you have to develop a strategy to effectively analyze your sources in a timely fashion. We are not working on our Post-doc fellowship here, we don’t have five years to do this research, our papers are due in a few weeks and we need to get a move on. To do that, we need to chop this stack of papers in half and make sense of what we have left.
Reading critically is one of the most important aspects of this entire process. In order to write your own analysis of a subject and to add your voice to the larger cultural and academic debate, you have to understand the information before you.
As we grow as readers and writers, we develop our own methods of doing this. However, across these, I think the following advice holds up.
• Read with the intent to understand, to decipher, to make sense of this
• Take breaks
• Read slowly
• Print or make photocopies of articles or book passages and mark them up
• Don’t give up
My advice is to break this practice into two parts: Initial Appraisal of the Text, and Context Analysis.
A. Initial Appraisal: This entails your first approach to the text wherein you discover if it has any value to you and your paper. We start by looking critically at some of the physical characteristics of the text, without delving too deeply into the text. Remember, our job here is to determine usefulness. Start by flipping through the text. Look at:
I. Author: Is this author credible. Will including his words in my paper help my ethos or will it make my paper seem unwontedly slanted or biased (for example, what happens if your papers is full of Rush Limbaugh quotes?)
Does this author have the necessary authority and expertise so that his ideas can serve as evidence in your argument? If no, ditch the article.
II. Date: Is the publication date of this source current enough to meet the demands of your topic? Be reasonable. If I am writing about meatpacking, sure, it won’t hurt to throw in an Upton Sinclair quote from The Jungle, but I can’t rely on that for evidence. I need information that pertains to meat packing plants now. If it’s not timely enough, if it is out-of-date, ditch it.
III. Relevance: Occasionally, I have found a really interesting article that I enjoyed reading and want to use in my paper. The problem, it has nothing to do with my topic. I can either change my topic to fit this in, or ditch it. Quickly analyzing a document’s worth to your own ends takes practice, but remember, in the end doing this saves you time in the long run.
Research III, page 2
So How? My first impressions of a book/article and its material come from browsing. Read the Table of Contents, the Abstract, the introduction, discussion or conclusion. Read any tables or graphs or appendices you find. Look at how the chapters of sections of the text move from beginning to end. Look at the work’s cited. If you see any titles there that might be helpful go find them. Mostly, use this initial analysis to determine if the text before has worthwhile information that will help YOUR argument.
B. Content Analysis: You hooked a nice source, now you have to get it into the boat. To do this, you have to sit down and make some sense of it. Reading complex material can be not unlike reading something in a foreign language that you don’t speak well. Here, read to decipher. To understand. Piece together meaning. Read slowly. Take notes. Look at:
I. Make a Rhet. Precis if the article is argumentative. Look at the Author’s Intentions. Find the thesis of this argument. Analyze the evidence. Examine the author’s purpose.
II. Mark possible passages you may want to use in your paper. Mark them so that you can find them later. Write what it is and why you can use in the margin. Example: “This is a good counter argument to smoking is bad for ducks.”
III. Take notes. Write on sticky notes. Scribble on your articles. You have to organize this information so you can quickly access it later.
IV. Ask yourself, as library.cornell.edu does, if “the work update other sources, substantiate other materials you have read, or add new information? Does it extensively or marginally cover your topic? You should explore enough sources to obtain a variety of viewpoints” (http://www.library.cornell.edu/olinuris/ref).
V. Contextualize. Dive into text. Separate fact from opinion. Opinion from propaganda. Is the information here well researched? What assumptions does this author rely upon? Is she in line with the others arguments you’ve encountered on this topic? Is she in line with the others, adding to their points, furthering a bit passed over by most. Does this use primary or secondary sources (try to find both)? To do this, you should read everything TWICE.
Mostly, all I can say is this is never an easy process. It gets less painful, however, the more you practice. The good side to this is this process can and should lead to new source material and improved ideas as you go along.
Also, remember that this process is recursive. Reflect on what you are doing often. Fiddle with your topic as need be. Go back and redo. That’s the name of the game.
Critical Reading and Critical Writing
We are finding sources. They are coming from journals and books, but what now? Oh my, look at all this stuff!
Look, the truth is you have to develop a strategy to effectively analyze your sources in a timely fashion. We are not working on our Post-doc fellowship here, we don’t have five years to do this research, our papers are due in a few weeks and we need to get a move on. To do that, we need to chop this stack of papers in half and make sense of what we have left.
Reading critically is one of the most important aspects of this entire process. In order to write your own analysis of a subject and to add your voice to the larger cultural and academic debate, you have to understand the information before you.
As we grow as readers and writers, we develop our own methods of doing this. However, across these, I think the following advice holds up.
• Read with the intent to understand, to decipher, to make sense of this
• Take breaks
• Read slowly
• Print or make photocopies of articles or book passages and mark them up
• Don’t give up
My advice is to break this practice into two parts: Initial Appraisal of the Text, and Context Analysis.
A. Initial Appraisal: This entails your first approach to the text wherein you discover if it has any value to you and your paper. We start by looking critically at some of the physical characteristics of the text, without delving too deeply into the text. Remember, our job here is to determine usefulness. Start by flipping through the text. Look at:
I. Author: Is this author credible. Will including his words in my paper help my ethos or will it make my paper seem unwontedly slanted or biased (for example, what happens if your papers is full of Rush Limbaugh quotes?)
Does this author have the necessary authority and expertise so that his ideas can serve as evidence in your argument? If no, ditch the article.
II. Date: Is the publication date of this source current enough to meet the demands of your topic? Be reasonable. If I am writing about meatpacking, sure, it won’t hurt to throw in an Upton Sinclair quote from The Jungle, but I can’t rely on that for evidence. I need information that pertains to meat packing plants now. If it’s not timely enough, if it is out-of-date, ditch it.
III. Relevance: Occasionally, I have found a really interesting article that I enjoyed reading and want to use in my paper. The problem, it has nothing to do with my topic. I can either change my topic to fit this in, or ditch it. Quickly analyzing a document’s worth to your own ends takes practice, but remember, in the end doing this saves you time in the long run.
Research III, page 2
So How? My first impressions of a book/article and its material come from browsing. Read the Table of Contents, the Abstract, the introduction, discussion or conclusion. Read any tables or graphs or appendices you find. Look at how the chapters of sections of the text move from beginning to end. Look at the work’s cited. If you see any titles there that might be helpful go find them. Mostly, use this initial analysis to determine if the text before has worthwhile information that will help YOUR argument.
B. Content Analysis: You hooked a nice source, now you have to get it into the boat. To do this, you have to sit down and make some sense of it. Reading complex material can be not unlike reading something in a foreign language that you don’t speak well. Here, read to decipher. To understand. Piece together meaning. Read slowly. Take notes. Look at:
I. Make a Rhet. Precis if the article is argumentative. Look at the Author’s Intentions. Find the thesis of this argument. Analyze the evidence. Examine the author’s purpose.
II. Mark possible passages you may want to use in your paper. Mark them so that you can find them later. Write what it is and why you can use in the margin. Example: “This is a good counter argument to smoking is bad for ducks.”
III. Take notes. Write on sticky notes. Scribble on your articles. You have to organize this information so you can quickly access it later.
IV. Ask yourself, as library.cornell.edu does, if “the work update other sources, substantiate other materials you have read, or add new information? Does it extensively or marginally cover your topic? You should explore enough sources to obtain a variety of viewpoints” (http://www.library.cornell.edu/olinuris/ref).
V. Contextualize. Dive into text. Separate fact from opinion. Opinion from propaganda. Is the information here well researched? What assumptions does this author rely upon? Is she in line with the others arguments you’ve encountered on this topic? Is she in line with the others, adding to their points, furthering a bit passed over by most. Does this use primary or secondary sources (try to find both)? To do this, you should read everything TWICE.
Mostly, all I can say is this is never an easy process. It gets less painful, however, the more you practice. The good side to this is this process can and should lead to new source material and improved ideas as you go along.
Also, remember that this process is recursive. Reflect on what you are doing often. Fiddle with your topic as need be. Go back and redo. That’s the name of the game.
Monday, October 20, 2008
Revised Syllabus/Schedule
Below is the revised schedule for the remainder of the class. Also, a new points break down. Not much has changed here, there are more points available now (for those that need it).
Here are the points, nothing new:
Story---------------------30 pts
Topic Proposal------------30 pts
Analysis of Controversy--100 pts
Annotated Bibliography---100 pts
Rough Draft-------------- 50 pts
End Comments--------------30 pts
Research Paper-----------300 pts
Homework------------------15 pts a piece
Attendance----------------50 (-5 for each absence, no more than 6 absences allowed)
Here are the points, nothing new:
Story---------------------30 pts
Topic Proposal------------30 pts
Analysis of Controversy--100 pts
Annotated Bibliography---100 pts
Rough Draft-------------- 50 pts
End Comments--------------30 pts
Research Paper-----------300 pts
Homework------------------15 pts a piece
Attendance----------------50 (-5 for each absence, no more than 6 absences allowed)
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Styles of Argument/Rhetoric: Satire
First, your analysis paper is due on Tuesday 10/21 and is worth 100 points. Bring it to class, typed and ready to turn in.
Now, we turn our attention to the way people make arguments in our society (in and beyond the Academy).
We start with one of my favorites--satire and other creative modes for making one's point.
Read: Bachelder's "A Soldier Upon A Hard Campaign" From The Believer. Oct. 2004.
Read: "Bush Calls For Panic". From the The Onion, Oct. 15, 2008.
Read: Vonnegut's "Harrison Bergeron" from the West Valley College website.
And Watch this and this.
Now, we turn our attention to the way people make arguments in our society (in and beyond the Academy).
We start with one of my favorites--satire and other creative modes for making one's point.
Read: Bachelder's "A Soldier Upon A Hard Campaign" From The Believer. Oct. 2004.
Read: "Bush Calls For Panic". From the The Onion, Oct. 15, 2008.
Read: Vonnegut's "Harrison Bergeron" from the West Valley College website.
And Watch this and this.
The Research Process Part 2
The Research Process Part 2
(General Guidelines For Building a Good Paper)
Focusing Your Topic
By this point you know a lot about what you will be writing about. You’ve done background research—reading about the history of the topics, discovering who some key players are in this debate and mapping out the various positions held in the controversy. Now, you are ready to add your opinion to the larger academic discussion about this topic.
But why?
Failing to focus a topic is a common mistake students make. When the topic is too broad, there is too much to cover, which results in a paper that feels superficial or shallow. If you topics is too narrow—i.e. “what are the psychological effects of 7 am classes on CCD students with brown, well kept hair…” you won’t be able to find enough evidence to support your points.
What does this mean?
Focusing a research topic (or occasionally broadening it) is narrowing your topic (and choosing to focus on specific parts of it) so that you can demonstrate your
Let’s say you like animals. Developing a focus for your paper (and your research) means you start here:
Animals have feelings
And go here:
The use of dogs in the United States Military is useful, but at what cost?
This isn’t necessarily your thesis, but it has narrowed your interests into something you can work with. The point is with the later you have specific research needs; you are working with a specific type of animal in a specific situation—something you can tackle in 10-15 pages.
Note: You will not immediately know what your focus should be. It will come to you, most likely, through trial and error, through reading a lot articles and other literature that you will not ultimately use. Realize, you are shaping your thinking on this topic and as you learn more, your thoughts will change.
Start by defining your terms. How can your terms be broken down?
Example:
War is wrong
Defining the terms:
"War": What type (self-defense, aggressive preemptive strikes, rooted in ideology…)? By whom? What commonalities do you see in the wars you think are wrong?
"Wrong": How so? Results in unnecessary bloodshed? Has a drastic effect on the economy? Fail to foresee and plan for the complexities on the ground?
Focused:
In American history, wars that are rooted in ideology often have dire consequences for the economy.
You can always define again, and again, if need be. Do you see how this is putting the proper restraint on the topic? How you can now find specific examples and evidence to support this idea?
Try focusing on:
A specific location: Colorado’s community colleges have the best students.
Age group: Violence on television begets violence among pre-Kinder kids.
Species: While testing cosmetic products must be done, Chimpanzees should be spared because…
Ethnicity: What are the effects of our current immigration laws on Mexican-American families in the US?
Do Not Merely Restate Terms. War is bad because it’s war. No. Don’t do it.
Most of all, this is the moment to consider your approach to the subject. Are you writing about a specific element of smoking (marketing to children in Third World Countries) or about its more general elements (Smoking is still a big problem among today’s youth). You have to figure out where to go and how to get there.
Test your topic early. The night before a draft is due is a poor time to discover your topic is still too broad. The research process is a recursive one. You will need to come back to your topic time and time again if it isn’t working out. A lot of this is Goldilocks and porridge. You have to try a lot to find what is just right. Remember—Writing takes time.
(General Guidelines For Building a Good Paper)
Focusing Your Topic
By this point you know a lot about what you will be writing about. You’ve done background research—reading about the history of the topics, discovering who some key players are in this debate and mapping out the various positions held in the controversy. Now, you are ready to add your opinion to the larger academic discussion about this topic.
But why?
Failing to focus a topic is a common mistake students make. When the topic is too broad, there is too much to cover, which results in a paper that feels superficial or shallow. If you topics is too narrow—i.e. “what are the psychological effects of 7 am classes on CCD students with brown, well kept hair…” you won’t be able to find enough evidence to support your points.
What does this mean?
Focusing a research topic (or occasionally broadening it) is narrowing your topic (and choosing to focus on specific parts of it) so that you can demonstrate your
Let’s say you like animals. Developing a focus for your paper (and your research) means you start here:
Animals have feelings
And go here:
The use of dogs in the United States Military is useful, but at what cost?
This isn’t necessarily your thesis, but it has narrowed your interests into something you can work with. The point is with the later you have specific research needs; you are working with a specific type of animal in a specific situation—something you can tackle in 10-15 pages.
Note: You will not immediately know what your focus should be. It will come to you, most likely, through trial and error, through reading a lot articles and other literature that you will not ultimately use. Realize, you are shaping your thinking on this topic and as you learn more, your thoughts will change.
Start by defining your terms. How can your terms be broken down?
Example:
War is wrong
Defining the terms:
"War": What type (self-defense, aggressive preemptive strikes, rooted in ideology…)? By whom? What commonalities do you see in the wars you think are wrong?
"Wrong": How so? Results in unnecessary bloodshed? Has a drastic effect on the economy? Fail to foresee and plan for the complexities on the ground?
Focused:
In American history, wars that are rooted in ideology often have dire consequences for the economy.
You can always define again, and again, if need be. Do you see how this is putting the proper restraint on the topic? How you can now find specific examples and evidence to support this idea?
Try focusing on:
A specific location: Colorado’s community colleges have the best students.
Age group: Violence on television begets violence among pre-Kinder kids.
Species: While testing cosmetic products must be done, Chimpanzees should be spared because…
Ethnicity: What are the effects of our current immigration laws on Mexican-American families in the US?
Do Not Merely Restate Terms. War is bad because it’s war. No. Don’t do it.
Most of all, this is the moment to consider your approach to the subject. Are you writing about a specific element of smoking (marketing to children in Third World Countries) or about its more general elements (Smoking is still a big problem among today’s youth). You have to figure out where to go and how to get there.
Test your topic early. The night before a draft is due is a poor time to discover your topic is still too broad. The research process is a recursive one. You will need to come back to your topic time and time again if it isn’t working out. A lot of this is Goldilocks and porridge. You have to try a lot to find what is just right. Remember—Writing takes time.
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Research Process Part 1
What is research? Why do we do it? While we all know we need it—for papers, to win arguments, to be better people—how to do it, and where to even start, is often difficult.
The problem is so often we are just told, “do research.” We know there’s a library and some fancy databases, but that doesn’t always help us. For most us, we don’t sit down with a thesis statement ready to go, we just have a vague idea of something we are interested in (which is why we do research to begin with).
The first goal of any researcher is to become familiar with the topic. This means doing background research and building our expertise on the subject. We may not know what we want to write about, but we are interested in food production. Our background research will help define what under the subject of food production we are interested in. The following is more of a guide than a science, but here are some ideas on process:
Step 1:
Find a good, meaty topic. You need something you can sink your teeth into, but this is easier said than done. There are plenty of places to turn for ideas. Check out:
• Speakout.com
• Google, “controversial topics” see what turns up
• Nytimes.com—op eds, et.
• Procon.org
• Dir.yahoo.com/society_and_culture/issues_and_culture
• Where are some places you turn to find topics?
Step 2:
Turn your topic into a question. For example, if you are interested in finding out about food production, pose the question, “What are the effects of food production?” However, just these questions won’t suffice. What are some other questions you need to ask? “What effect do food additives have on nutrition?” “How is food produced and delivered to consumers?” Already, we are spinning our wheels. Depending on your topic, you may need to develop a list of questions you want answered. Just by doing this we are getting into the topic further. As you look around, more questions will pop up.
Develop some questions based on your own topic.
Step 3:
Find background info. Develop your expertise on the topic. You will never write a good paper if you don’t know what you are writing about (just like you will never speak beautifully in Korean if you don’t first learn the Korean language).
Places to go for background info:
• Reference works. Encyclopedias. Online—Wikipedia (keeping in mind it can be biased), encyclopedia.com, etc—or the good old fashioned kind. Dictionaries. Overviews of topics, people, places, events.
• Subject encyclopedias. Ency. on specific subjects. Ie: Ency of Bioethics, Ency. of Sociology, Int. Ency. of Higher Ed.
• Current Issues research. Look in newspapers (nytimes.com), procon.org, yahoo. Etc.
• Heck, google.com. But be weary, just because it’s on the internet doesn’t mean it is any good.
Now what:
You have already done a lot, but you are just starting. Now you should know enough to start focusing your topic. New questions have emerged.
Important—start keeping track of your information. Print it out. Start a word document and paste all your sources in there with a summary of what they are good for. Do what you need to do to help yourself remember this stuff later (to save you time).
Remember:
Research is pealing potatoes, not garnishing a Coq Au Vin. (If you want to see what Coq Au Vin looks like, click here and while you are there, epicurious.com is a good place to figure out what to make for dinner). There are many steps, some will not be productive, some will. But you have to do it or you will suffer later. So get to the computers, go to the library and research!
The problem is so often we are just told, “do research.” We know there’s a library and some fancy databases, but that doesn’t always help us. For most us, we don’t sit down with a thesis statement ready to go, we just have a vague idea of something we are interested in (which is why we do research to begin with).
The first goal of any researcher is to become familiar with the topic. This means doing background research and building our expertise on the subject. We may not know what we want to write about, but we are interested in food production. Our background research will help define what under the subject of food production we are interested in. The following is more of a guide than a science, but here are some ideas on process:
Step 1:
Find a good, meaty topic. You need something you can sink your teeth into, but this is easier said than done. There are plenty of places to turn for ideas. Check out:
• Speakout.com
• Google, “controversial topics” see what turns up
• Nytimes.com—op eds, et.
• Procon.org
• Dir.yahoo.com/society_and_culture/issues_and_culture
• Where are some places you turn to find topics?
Step 2:
Turn your topic into a question. For example, if you are interested in finding out about food production, pose the question, “What are the effects of food production?” However, just these questions won’t suffice. What are some other questions you need to ask? “What effect do food additives have on nutrition?” “How is food produced and delivered to consumers?” Already, we are spinning our wheels. Depending on your topic, you may need to develop a list of questions you want answered. Just by doing this we are getting into the topic further. As you look around, more questions will pop up.
Develop some questions based on your own topic.
Step 3:
Find background info. Develop your expertise on the topic. You will never write a good paper if you don’t know what you are writing about (just like you will never speak beautifully in Korean if you don’t first learn the Korean language).
Places to go for background info:
• Reference works. Encyclopedias. Online—Wikipedia (keeping in mind it can be biased), encyclopedia.com, etc—or the good old fashioned kind. Dictionaries. Overviews of topics, people, places, events.
• Subject encyclopedias. Ency. on specific subjects. Ie: Ency of Bioethics, Ency. of Sociology, Int. Ency. of Higher Ed.
• Current Issues research. Look in newspapers (nytimes.com), procon.org, yahoo. Etc.
• Heck, google.com. But be weary, just because it’s on the internet doesn’t mean it is any good.
Now what:
You have already done a lot, but you are just starting. Now you should know enough to start focusing your topic. New questions have emerged.
Important—start keeping track of your information. Print it out. Start a word document and paste all your sources in there with a summary of what they are good for. Do what you need to do to help yourself remember this stuff later (to save you time).
Remember:
Research is pealing potatoes, not garnishing a Coq Au Vin. (If you want to see what Coq Au Vin looks like, click here and while you are there, epicurious.com is a good place to figure out what to make for dinner). There are many steps, some will not be productive, some will. But you have to do it or you will suffer later. So get to the computers, go to the library and research!
Writing about the death penalty
Monday, October 13, 2008
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Schedule Change (revised): Due Date Analysis of Controversy
Assignment: Analysis of the Controversy
Due 10/21
Pts: 100
This a 2-5 page paper that shows you know the field you are writing about and its literature. You will discuss the background of the subject (people started disagreeing about this when....for example, Matthew Shephard’s violent death brought to light the extreme violence many gays are faced with. Since then other topics of gay rights have moved to the forefront of our culture, including gay marriage. In 2004, Massachusetts made it legal to..."
Some points to consider:
* what “events” turned this issue into a controversy in the first place
* who this controversy affects
* how the outcome of the controversy might affect that population
* why it’s important to others (why should anyone else care?)
You will not make an argument here, but summarize what each side of this debate say. AGAIN. YOU ARE NOT PROVING YOUR SIDE OF THE ARGUMENT. YOU MIGHT NOT EVEN HAVE A SIDE YET. This is just a summation of all the preliminary research you have done on a topic. For the various positions/stances in controversy, look at:
* the reasons offered in support of these positions
* the persuasive styles not directly linked to “logical reasons” (appeals to emotion or the author’s credibility, etc. This could be a Pastor making an argument FOR gay marriage and using the bible as his evidence. He has ETHOS.)
* common rhetorical figures (metaphors, metonymies, analogies, etc.) utilized in making the persuasive case
* what’s at stake in upholding this position (who are the winners and losers—including any secret beneficiaries? What will be won or lost? etc.)
You assignment here, to be clear, is to accurately summarize your topic (not your argument) and present a Wikipedia-like discussion of it--broken down into sections that point out its important elements, important scholars working in this area, and what people disagree about in regards to this subject. Map the various positions held, and explain what they stand for.
Also, look and how some of these debates can be focused into topics that you can write about (ie if you are writing about the debate of sex education, you could add a section that explains
You will need to cite your source material. To do so, use your Hacker handbook and follow the instructions for MLA citation style.
Due 10/21
Pts: 100
This a 2-5 page paper that shows you know the field you are writing about and its literature. You will discuss the background of the subject (people started disagreeing about this when....for example, Matthew Shephard’s violent death brought to light the extreme violence many gays are faced with. Since then other topics of gay rights have moved to the forefront of our culture, including gay marriage. In 2004, Massachusetts made it legal to..."
Some points to consider:
* what “events” turned this issue into a controversy in the first place
* who this controversy affects
* how the outcome of the controversy might affect that population
* why it’s important to others (why should anyone else care?)
You will not make an argument here, but summarize what each side of this debate say. AGAIN. YOU ARE NOT PROVING YOUR SIDE OF THE ARGUMENT. YOU MIGHT NOT EVEN HAVE A SIDE YET. This is just a summation of all the preliminary research you have done on a topic. For the various positions/stances in controversy, look at:
* the reasons offered in support of these positions
* the persuasive styles not directly linked to “logical reasons” (appeals to emotion or the author’s credibility, etc. This could be a Pastor making an argument FOR gay marriage and using the bible as his evidence. He has ETHOS.)
* common rhetorical figures (metaphors, metonymies, analogies, etc.) utilized in making the persuasive case
* what’s at stake in upholding this position (who are the winners and losers—including any secret beneficiaries? What will be won or lost? etc.)
You assignment here, to be clear, is to accurately summarize your topic (not your argument) and present a Wikipedia-like discussion of it--broken down into sections that point out its important elements, important scholars working in this area, and what people disagree about in regards to this subject. Map the various positions held, and explain what they stand for.
Also, look and how some of these debates can be focused into topics that you can write about (ie if you are writing about the debate of sex education, you could add a section that explains
You will need to cite your source material. To do so, use your Hacker handbook and follow the instructions for MLA citation style.
What Should I Be Doing...Research!
I didn't have enough time in our shortened class to talk about this much so here are some research strategies that I recommend to all of you.
1. Reread the assignment (hint: it is attached below. You have to click "older posts" until you see it.). See your Hacker handbook for some advice if you don't understand it.
2. Begin some preliminary research. Your goal is to become an expert on the subject you are writing about. Search the databases, yes, but also look for some good general information (magazine articles, wikipedia, yahoo directory, etc) that will give you the background info. on the topic.
3. Do more research (you are going to hear this phrase a lot). Begin to focus your topic. Log on to owl.english.purdue.edu and do a search on research. This will really help. Also, go back to the Hacker, to Ch. 16 & 17 in your Good Reasons book.
More later.
1. Reread the assignment (hint: it is attached below. You have to click "older posts" until you see it.). See your Hacker handbook for some advice if you don't understand it.
2. Begin some preliminary research. Your goal is to become an expert on the subject you are writing about. Search the databases, yes, but also look for some good general information (magazine articles, wikipedia, yahoo directory, etc) that will give you the background info. on the topic.
3. Do more research (you are going to hear this phrase a lot). Begin to focus your topic. Log on to owl.english.purdue.edu and do a search on research. This will really help. Also, go back to the Hacker, to Ch. 16 & 17 in your Good Reasons book.
More later.
Monday, October 6, 2008
Reminder
Tomorrow's class is in the Enhanced Learning Center in the Library, as announced on the syllabus.
Those of you who turned in proposals will get them back with my comments.
Be ready to do some research on your prospective topic.
Those of you who turned in proposals will get them back with my comments.
Be ready to do some research on your prospective topic.
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