Where do I start? Choosing a research topic To gather useful information for a research project you need to develop a focused research topic. When you choose your topic, consider the steps: Choose a topic Prepare before you search What's the assignment Brainstorm for topic ideas Read general background information Focus in on your topic Identify concepts Define your topic as a focused research question Research and read more about your topic Formulate a thesis statement Need to do some research? Anxiety: How do I start this project? It's normal to feel any or all of these reactions. Your past success or failure at research Your general knowledge about how to do research Your familiarity with the sources available to you. Prepare before you search Good news - you are invited to a party! Do you hop in your car and start driving, hoping to find it by sheer luck? No-if you want to get there in time, you will probably want to focus your search with a map and some instructions. What is the Assignment?
What is a thesis? Attributes of a Good Thesis///Thesis Equation///Thesis Brainstorming/// Five Tests///Proficient vs. Advanced///Is it a Thesis?///Thesis Resources What is a thesis? A thesis statement declares what you believe and what you intend to prove. A good tentative thesis will help you focus your search for information. The thesis statement is typically located at the end of your opening paragraph. Remember, your reader will be looking for your thesis. Attributes of a good thesis: It should be contestable, proposing an arguable point with which people could reasonably disagree. Simple equations for a thesis might look something like this: Specific topic + Attitude/Angle/Argument = Thesis What you plan to argue + How you plan to argue it = Thesis How do you know if you've got a solid tentative thesis? Try these five tests: Does the thesis inspire a reasonable reader to ask, "How?" If you cannot answer "YES" to these questions, what changes must you make in order for your thesis to pass these tests?
Research 101 -- Topics -- Using A Topic to Generate Questions Research requires a question for which no ready answer is available. What do you want to know about a topic? Asking a topic as a question (or series of related questions) has several advantages: 1. 2. 3. Developing a question from a broad topic can be done in many ways. brainstorming noun: 1. The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000 Brainstorming is a free-association technique of spontaneously listing all words, concepts, ideas, questions, and knowledge about a topic. concept mapping noun phrase: 1. You may create a concept map as a means of brainstorming; or, following your brainstorm, you may take the content you have generated and create your map from it . Combining brainstorming and concept mapping (brainmapping, if you will) can be a productive way to begin your thinking about a topic area. <<previous pg. | next pg
Creative Writing Prompts Write a scene that includes a character speaking a different language, speaking in a thick accent, or otherwise speaking in a way that is unintelligibe to the other characters. (Note: You don't necessarily need to know the language the character is speaking—be creative with it!) Describe a character's reaction to something without explaining what it is. Write a story or a scene about one character playing a prank on another. Writing Prompt: Write a story that involves confusion over homonyms (words that have the same spelling but different meanings) or homophones (words that sound the same but are spelled differently). For World Storytelling Day, share the best story you've ever heard or told by word of mouth, or have a fictional character recount their favorite story. You're making your way down a cobbled street when a stocky, red-bearded man beckons you into an alley. Pick an item from each column in the chart to create a simile.
Brainstorming Research Questions- CRLS Research Guide /** * Simple encryption to hide email addresses from crawlers in webpages. * This code is Free Software provided under an MIT License. * Written by Diego Doval: bnaeQ0bvPXOnZQYgaZqp1ZQO * */ CRLS Research Guide Brainstorming Research Questions Tip Sheet 10 Ask these questions: What is it? It is the process of thinking up and writing down a set of questions that you want to answer about the research topic you have selected. Why should I do it? It will keep you from getting lost or off-track when looking for information. When do I do it? After you have written your statement of purpose, when you will have a focused topic to ask questions about. How do I do it? You will be making two lists of questions. Asking factual questions: Assume your reader knows nothing about your subject. Make a list of specific questions that ask : Who? Asking Interpretive Questions: These kinds of questions are the result of your own original thinking. A. B. C. D. E.
Short Story Ideas and Creative Writing Prompts Here are lots of short story ideas that you can use as writing prompts. Use these story starters on their own or to get ideas for the CWN online writing courses. You'll also find links to more creative writing prompts at the bottom of the page. Any of these ideas can be used either humorously or dramatically... or you can try both. Have fun! Do you like this page? Story ideas - three elements Choose a set of three elements and write a story that contains all three of them! Extreme challenge: combine three of the elements with one of the other short story ideas on this page. A stolen ring, fear of spiders, and a sinister stranger. More short story ideas Challenge: 4 stories in 4 weeks using these short story ideas. Extreme challenge: Why not write a book of short stories? A babysitter is snooping around her employer's house and finds a disturbing photograph... Even more short story ideas Your character starts receiving flowers and anonymous gifts. And still more short story ideas
Assignment Research Calculator - Step 2F: Is Your Topic Too Narrow or Specific? If a topic is too specific you will not find enough material for your research. Example: How does teenage pregnancy among minorities affect grades and dropout rates in Fresno high schools? Use Academic Search Premier in different search interfaces to help broaden your topic. Another possibility is to use the cloud feature of Quintura: Seek and Find to manipulate your topic and see what you can find on the web. Encyclopedia Britannica MLA Formatting and Style Guide Summary: MLA (Modern Language Association) style is most commonly used to write papers and cite sources within the liberal arts and humanities. This resource, updated to reflect the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers (7th ed.) and the MLA Style Manual and Guide to Scholarly Publishing (3rd ed.), offers examples for the general format of MLA research papers, in-text citations, endnotes/footnotes, and the Works Cited page. Contributors:Tony Russell, Allen Brizee, Elizabeth Angeli, Russell Keck, Joshua M. Paiz, Purdue OWL StaffLast Edited: 2012-05-09 07:17:57 Please use the example at the bottom of this page to cite the Purdue OWL in MLA. To see a side-by-side comparison of the three most widely used citation styles, including a chart of all MLA citation guidelines, see the Citation Style Chart. You can also watch our MLA vidcast series on the Purdue OWL YouTube Channel. General Format MLA style specifies guidelines for formatting manuscripts and using the English language in writing.
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