Exploring and focusing your topic is crucial. This will allow you to define a point of view
and narrow your research giving your paper an end result of a clear and concise
argument. Some ideas on how to first explore
your topic are to create a list of people you can discuss the subject with and questions
to ask them, events to attend to observe your topic in action, as well as the
more traditional options of library and internet searching. As you gather pertinent research, it is
important to make note of your sources, not only for bibliography and works
cited purposes, but also in the event that you would like to go back at a later
date to learn more from that particular source.
This is because your point of view on your topic is ideally in constant transformation
as you become more and more informed. To
help gather as much information as possible in a time efficient manner,
skimming is an excellent technique. As
you skim through your articles, by scanning headlines, focusing on opening and
closing paragraphs, and noting captions, it is a good idea to be constantly identifying
and recording recurring conversations, themes, and central concepts about your
chosen topic.
The portion where the text illustrates how to skim a source, I found really helpful. I'm a pretty slow reader so becoming a good "skimmer" will be really beneficial for me. It will help me cover more material quicker, finding exactly what I'm looking for. I also really like how the the author makes a point to keep an open mind about about focus and main point within your topic, as it could be influenced and change as you learn more. Although I feel I already have a topic and defined viewpoint, I'm really going to try to keep open for other focuses that could be interesting and more appropriate.
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