In the past, I have written a few research papers and sometimes finding a topic can be the hardest part for me. After reading reading about picking topics in the book, it seemed like a big brainstorming process. I never really considered picking a topic to be a process, to me I thought it was just pick something you want to write about that you can do a good amount of research on. However, I enjoyed the example given by Sharon Freeman. She first started out with a few broad topics, then for each she developed arguments for each topic. In the end she ended up picking germs to write about so she made a list of questions she could free write to. Once she finished her free write she was able to pick out specific questions that she could use to research germs, such as what a germ is. I think this method could really help me pick a topic because it helps me compare all my potential topics to one another and then pick whichever one I think will be the best to write about.
Sophia Fundora The text "Really Responding" surprised me in the way that Richard Straub claimed that putting forth maximum effort when peer reviewing someone else's paper could make you an even better writer. He emphasizes the importance of writing comments within the margarines and summarizing the paper in your own words. I believe that this strategy mentioned could be very helpful not only for the person who's paper your reviewing but for yourself as well. It helps the writer see how the audience would perceive their paper and what they need to work on. It helps the reviewer by enhancing their comprehension skills and applying their own comments on their own paper as well. I also believe his strategy of taking the stage of drafting in to consideration when peer reviewing could be very helpful. For example, Straub mentions how if it's a first or rough draft, try not to deal with all the editing at once but instead focus on the large picture like the focus, con...
I also liked the free writing example because I thought that was only useful when figuring out your topic sentences and thesis, but I like how it was used to help choose a meaningful and narrow enough research question at the beginning of the writing process.
ReplyDeleteSame, I never really go into depth when I pick a topic when I write, but after reading this article, I think it would help tremendously. Her example was seemed like it was difficult to come up with but it definitely gave her a good starting point.
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