Research Writing Topic – Prewriting
Narrowing Your Topic
There are numerous prewriting strategies that can help you narrow down your topic and focus your research. Different strategies may work better for you depending on your personality or even the assignment at hand, so try several of them to see which are the most comfortable and effective for you. In this interactivity, you will explore three prewriting strategies for narrowing down your topic: freewriting, clustering, and listing. Click the player button to begin.
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Take a look at your brainstorming list of people who have made a positive impact on the world. Then, try out at least one of the prewriting strategies discussed in the Narrowing Your Topic interactivity. After you have finished brainstorming your topic, reflect on your notes and select a historical figure to serve as the subject of your research paper. Make sure to keep a copy of your brainstorming notes; later you will submit them to your instructor.
Focusing Your Research
Prior to conducting research, it is very important that you take time to develop research questions. These questions will help you focus on the parts of your topic that you need to learn more about before you can draft a research paper. To help you determine what you want or need to know regarding your selected topic, try out one or more of the prewriting strategies in this interactivity. Click each of the tabs to explore strategies for focusing your research. Click the player button to begin.
View a printable version of the interactivity.
Now that you have selected a historical figure to serve as the subject of your research paper, develop a list of research questions to help focus your research endeavors. Use one or more of the strategies mentioned in the Focusing Your Research interactivity to assist you in developing research questions. Make sure to keep a copy of your research questions; later you will submit them to your instructor.
Developing and Refining Your Thesis Statement
The questions you use to guide your research can help you create a central idea for your paper. Before you conduct research, you should develop a working thesis statement. Remember, the thesis statement is the driving force of the paper you will write; it tells the reader why you are writing. Your purpose for writing is not just to write about a famous person. Rather, your purpose is to inform the reader about how that famous person had a positive impact on society or the world.
Also, expect your thesis statement to shift or change over the course of your research. That is why it is called a working thesis statement and not a final thesis statement. For example, suppose you begin the research process with the aim of focusing on Martin Luther King, Jr.'s famous "I Have A Dream" speech. However, as you find more information, you may become more interested in King's letter from Birmingham jail, or perhaps you decide that his nonviolent rallies and protests should be the focus of your thesis. Thus, it is not uncommon for your focus to shift in the prewriting and researching stages of the writing process, especially as you uncover information that you did not know prior. If your research pushes you toward a different area or focus, feel free to embrace the change, but make sure to refine your thesis statement accordingly.
Now that you developed a list of research questions to help focus your research, compose a working thesis statement. If you need assistance on developing a thesis statement, refer to the topic Thesis Statement and Outlining from the MLA module.
Prewriting Review
Now that you have explored several prewriting strategies for narrowing down your topic and focusing your research, it is time to review your knowledge and practice what you have learned. In this non-graded activity, read the set of directions associated with each question and provide your answer(s). Click the player button to get started.