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