Assignment 2

Use this worksheet to:

1. Select a topic from the list;

2. Brainstorm until you narrow your topic

TOPIC INVENTORY--BRAINSTORM

Narrowing Your Topic

Narrowing your topic is about going from the general to the specific.

Go over your Topic Inventory and highlight items that were of interest to you. Pick one of your highlighted items.

Example: Fascination of vampires

Now spend 10-15 minutes brainstorming a list of questions about the topic you’ve chosen that you’d like to answer in your research. Make the list as long as possible.

Topic:

Questions I would like to answer:

After you are finished, look over all your questions and highlight the one question that interests you the most.

Next, decide what the purpose will be for your paper. Is it to explore your topic, to argue your point of view about your topic, or to analyze your topic?

· To explore – You are posing a question because you are not sure of the answer and wish to discover it in the process of your research;

· To argue – You have a very strong conviction or hunch about what the answer to your research question might be, and you want to influence your reader’s thinking about it as well;

· To analyze – You begin with a theory about your question and then test it by collecting data, and then examining it and determining how closely it conforms to what you originally thought to be true

Step 3: Formulating a focus question and research proposal

Part 1

Go back to the question you highlighted at the end of Step 2 and copy it below. This is your focus question.

Focus Question:

Next, you will need to come up with a claim or theory about your topic. The claim or theory is your position /understanding about your topic and what you will explore, argue or analyze in your paper.

How do you come up with a claim/theory about your topic? Simply answer your focus question. The answer to your question will be the claim or theory you are making about your topic, otherwise known as your thesis.

Claim/Theory:

You are now ready to formulate your Research Proposal using your focus question, your purpose, and your claim/theory.

Research Proposal:

1. Focus Question:

2. Purpose:

3. Claim/theory:

Step 4: Composing the Thesis Statement:

An effective focus question has enough depth to help you to develop a thesis, which is the main idea or claim that you are making in your paper. Your thesis must include your topic and your claim which you will then analyze, explore or argue according to 3-5 criteria that you establish. You may need to revise your thesis as you do your research and discover new ideas.

Topic:

Title:

Focus Question:

Thesis statement (answers my focus question with 3-5 points):

Step 5: COMPILING YOUR WORKING BIBLIOGRAPHY

Next, I will take each of my criteria and begin searching for sources to compile my WORKING BIBLIOGRAPHY.

Using your each of your criteria, choose a search engine (PROQUEST, GOOGLE SCHOLAR, or any of the EU search engines or any of those listed in your text) and REVIEW as many potential sources as you can and then come up with 3-5 sources that you will possibly use in your paper for each of your CRITERIA. Make a citation for each of the sources you choose (see: “how to compose source cards”)

Criteria 1:

Criteria 2:

Criteria 3:

Criteria 4:

You do not have to submit this worksheet. It is only for your use.