Syvannah Boland
After reading this section of the book, it made me realize what I was doing right and what I was doing wrong in the past when I researched things. I had always followed the basic rules, such as making lists of topics, doing preliminary research, etc. What I had never thought to do that the chapter suggested was things like talking to other people, free writing, and mind mapping. The pictures that they provided made these strategies seem very useful and effective. I also agree with their suggestion to avoid topics that are too "out there" because those can be hard to write about objectively. When I was reading, I was either agreeing with points they made because they were things I already do when researching, or taking mental notes on new tricks to implement the next time I do. Something I never really thought about that the book mentioned was if I actually enjoyed the topic myself. I've always chosen topics that I thought were scholarly and sophisticated rather than topics I was truly interested in. I also like how they support changing the wording of the research question as you work, making it more relevant, and more specific. It shows that there is room for fixing errors and gave me some relief that I'm supposed to be changing things as I go to improve.
After reading this section of the book, it made me realize what I was doing right and what I was doing wrong in the past when I researched things. I had always followed the basic rules, such as making lists of topics, doing preliminary research, etc. What I had never thought to do that the chapter suggested was things like talking to other people, free writing, and mind mapping. The pictures that they provided made these strategies seem very useful and effective. I also agree with their suggestion to avoid topics that are too "out there" because those can be hard to write about objectively. When I was reading, I was either agreeing with points they made because they were things I already do when researching, or taking mental notes on new tricks to implement the next time I do. Something I never really thought about that the book mentioned was if I actually enjoyed the topic myself. I've always chosen topics that I thought were scholarly and sophisticated rather than topics I was truly interested in. I also like how they support changing the wording of the research question as you work, making it more relevant, and more specific. It shows that there is room for fixing errors and gave me some relief that I'm supposed to be changing things as I go to improve.
I always have never thought to change the way I research prior to reading this chapter. Next time I do a research project, I am going to try something other than just searching on Google. So like free writing, and mapping.
ReplyDeleteI also never thought to talk to others about my topic, free write, or mind map. Similarly, I also would stick to topics that sound more scholarly, but now I will definitely try one I am genuinely interested in.
ReplyDeleteI am also going to try out free writing and mapping for my future papers because I have never tried to do this before and feel as if it will be very helpful. I also never ever thought to talk to others about a topic and I will start doing so because sharing ideas and thoughts with other people can be helpful.
ReplyDeleteI agree that this chapter gives good advice on how to approach a paper, and I plan to use strategies like free writing, mind mapping, and talking to others to excel in future writing.
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