This is the moment of truce in your research when looking for information about your topic. First you need to start off with your inquiry question and it is best if "little words" like "on" and "of" are kept out of the sentence.
An example regarding my last post on clothing trends: What might explain why clothing trends change every decade?
Also, words that are good for key searches for later are a good idea to fit in. Such as from above, I could use the words clothing, trends, clothing trends, or different variations in my search.
The next step would be to find a primary purpose in writing. Think of some a questions that you could ask about things that interest you that could help you find answers for your question. For my example I could do more research on what were the clothing trends in certain time periods like the 80's or 90's. I can also ask myself what other hypotheses could I make about my topic that could help me find other claims or thesis. On the topic of clothing trends, I could ask questions on why people follow trends or how people make them. All of those would center around the topic of clothing trends and why they would change. You can also consider any thoughts or assumptions you have on your chosen topic, like the trends I follow myself or what I think of people's clothing in different decades and if I would follow them too.
This process may take awhile to think of your final question but write down as many ideas as you can to get your brain thinking.
Monday, October 28, 2013
Friday, October 25, 2013
Thinking of a topic for an essay can be hard. You might not know where to start or even find anything very interesting. But have you really stopped and taken the time to think about what you might want to write about? A good way to get the creative juices flowing is brainstorming a few ideas off of categories. Start with writing down a few ideas for a few of these categories: places, trends, things, technologies, people, controversies, history, jobs, habits, and hobbies.
As an example:
Trends: Clothing styles, seasonal color schemes, what causes trends, how a trend becomes popular, how they change, why they change, why people follow them.
Technologies: How technology works in different countries, how complex things are created, why do people rely on technology, when the first electronics were created.
Places: What are cultures like in third world countries, what historical things have happened in my home town, what is the most visited place on earth.
People: Domestic violence, relationships, internet dating, instant messaging, friendships, how do different people relate to one another, why do people bully.
After you are done with this then look at the list of words you have created and see if a topic you have written seems interesting. Then ask yourself: does this raise a question that research can help me answer? Does this seem interesting to me? If you can answer these questions then circle the item. Now, write down a list of questions about the topic you choose.
For example: Clothing trends
Why do people follow trends?
How would a trend become popular?
How do trends changed from decade to decade?
How can I set my own trend?
How do celebrities set their own trend?
What are trends like in other countries?
What do people in other countries think of our clothing trends?
As an example:
Trends: Clothing styles, seasonal color schemes, what causes trends, how a trend becomes popular, how they change, why they change, why people follow them.
Technologies: How technology works in different countries, how complex things are created, why do people rely on technology, when the first electronics were created.
Places: What are cultures like in third world countries, what historical things have happened in my home town, what is the most visited place on earth.
People: Domestic violence, relationships, internet dating, instant messaging, friendships, how do different people relate to one another, why do people bully.
After you are done with this then look at the list of words you have created and see if a topic you have written seems interesting. Then ask yourself: does this raise a question that research can help me answer? Does this seem interesting to me? If you can answer these questions then circle the item. Now, write down a list of questions about the topic you choose.
For example: Clothing trends
Why do people follow trends?
How would a trend become popular?
How do trends changed from decade to decade?
How can I set my own trend?
How do celebrities set their own trend?
What are trends like in other countries?
What do people in other countries think of our clothing trends?
Wednesday, October 23, 2013
Exercise 1
Step 1
In this exercise the assignment is to write down whatever comes to your mind when given a topic. In the first exercise the criteria is to choose a statement that I think is false. I chose is to know the thesis before you start.
When writing about a topic I believe that a person should know what topic they are writing about before they begin their paper. I say this in regards to knowing what to write about so you can know what to make your thesis into and what context to have in your body paragraphs. Although I believe that a person should have a topic before they start they do not have to have a thesis going into the paper. Me personally, I usually do not have a thesis when I begin and the introduction paragraph the ideas that I am putting down help me think of what my key points should be focused on. The best ideas come when your mind is flowing and coming up with ideas that break off from others. By doing this in the introduction you are able to come up with a thesis instead of making yourself slap together a thesis that won't help your paper in any way.
Step 2
Step two was to choose another statement that I thought was false and do another fastwrite about it. This time it focused more on the facts and information side of researching. I choose to focus on the big difference between facts and opinions.
When writing a paper you have to be careful about putting in your opinions in with other facts. Facts differ from opinions and can lead someone to the wrong conclusion. Facts are concrete, statements that cannot be argued. Such as that the sky is blue with clouds today. A person can look up and see that there are clouds covering parts of the blue sky but and opinion of this would be different to each individual person. Someone could say that the sky looks best with puffy clouds and another person could say that the sky with gray clouds blocking out all the sun is the best type of day. Neither person is right about anything. These cannot be the right answer because the way someone likes the sky is always different and cannot be proven into one fact.
Step 1
In this exercise the assignment is to write down whatever comes to your mind when given a topic. In the first exercise the criteria is to choose a statement that I think is false. I chose is to know the thesis before you start.
When writing about a topic I believe that a person should know what topic they are writing about before they begin their paper. I say this in regards to knowing what to write about so you can know what to make your thesis into and what context to have in your body paragraphs. Although I believe that a person should have a topic before they start they do not have to have a thesis going into the paper. Me personally, I usually do not have a thesis when I begin and the introduction paragraph the ideas that I am putting down help me think of what my key points should be focused on. The best ideas come when your mind is flowing and coming up with ideas that break off from others. By doing this in the introduction you are able to come up with a thesis instead of making yourself slap together a thesis that won't help your paper in any way.
Step 2
Step two was to choose another statement that I thought was false and do another fastwrite about it. This time it focused more on the facts and information side of researching. I choose to focus on the big difference between facts and opinions.
When writing a paper you have to be careful about putting in your opinions in with other facts. Facts differ from opinions and can lead someone to the wrong conclusion. Facts are concrete, statements that cannot be argued. Such as that the sky is blue with clouds today. A person can look up and see that there are clouds covering parts of the blue sky but and opinion of this would be different to each individual person. Someone could say that the sky looks best with puffy clouds and another person could say that the sky with gray clouds blocking out all the sun is the best type of day. Neither person is right about anything. These cannot be the right answer because the way someone likes the sky is always different and cannot be proven into one fact.
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