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BBG pgs 261-276

Kirstyn Marsh
ENC2135

     Previously, I thought I knew pretty much all of the basics on deciding which topic would be great for research, however, after reading the Bedford Book of Genre's section on "Choosing a Topic Through Basic Research," I realized that I wasn't utilizing all the tools available to me in order to pick the most well thought out topic. I was used to doing preliminary reading online, talking to people about my topic and brainstorming but I didn't take advantage of freewriting, creating mindmaps, or asking myself questions to really narrow down what exactly I desired to answer. On past research papers, my research topic was often so vague and bland that I either had too much to talk about, didn't know where to start, or know how to organize it. Using the tips in this book will help me to decide what I am most curious about while ensuring that I make a strong argument.

Comments

  1. UnknownJanuary 31, 2018 at 3:52 PM

    I agree with the under-utilization of the tools we have in front of us. It is so easy to miss these things when we have a predisposed way of always writing a research paper and it was very helpful to see them used as examples in the chapter.

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  2. UnknownJanuary 31, 2018 at 5:26 PM

    I agree that this book presented many tools to use when researching that many students oversee. I was also used to the basic brainstorming and preliminary researching, but never free-wrote or created mind maps, like you mentioned.

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  3. Carissa NguyenJanuary 31, 2018 at 6:04 PM

    I agree, I used to just do online research about a topic that interested me. However, I never did any brainstorming or free writing.

    ReplyDelete
  4. UnknownJanuary 31, 2018 at 6:34 PM

    I used to think I knew about picking topics as well, but this reading gave so many new ways to find a topic. I think these ideas will also help with writing papers in the future.

    ReplyDelete

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