Hi everyone, remember that this week your primary objective is to research. You won’t be able to know if a source works well for your argument unless you read it (or at least part of it), which will take time. As a measure of keeping on a collective timeline, you should be able to confidently answer most if not all the questions in the Research Proposal by the end of the week.
Remain flexible in the research process, so that you can honestly present what you find—and abandon what you don’t find.
However (and this is the NUMBER ONE thing that comes up with students in this class), don’t abandon a topic too early. Make sure you have truly fully explored your sources. The most common expression I hear from students about research: “I can’t find anything.” And then we find things. Be flexible with the search terms/keywords you use, where you look, and what you look for. Be willing to explore sources that are related to your topic but don’t exactly answer your questions at first. And be willing to review sources that you don’t ultimately use.
Here’s what you need to do this week:
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- Fill out the Mid-Semester questionnaire if you haven’t already.
- Read sections IV, V, and VI of “The Case for Reparations.” Write a blog post where you examine how, as of this point in this long piece, does Coates make his “case?” What are some of the different kinds of evidence he offers to support his argument? Write your post by Wednesday, 11/4 at noon. Comment on 2 peer blog posts by Thursday, 11/5 at 5PM.
- Start working on the Research Proposal. Copy and paste the questions from this document into your own document, and upload your completed version to your working group folder by Sunday, 11/8 at 11:59PM. You have the choice to answer these questions as they are listed, in numbered order, or in paragraph form, as long as you address each question.
- Research! Review the Research Process Tip Sheet on the class site. If you’re having trouble finding sources, try shifting around your research question: either broadening or narrowing its scope. Ask each other for help on Slack and reach out to me if need be.
- Work on your Annotated Bibliography, which is due Wednesday 11/11 on Blackboard.
- Leave a funny meme in the #Random channel on Slack (this is by no means mandatory). Because after talking so much about research, and in preparation for Election day tomorrow, we all need to laugh.
I’ll send out your working group assignments by Wednesday, and give you a little bit of specific instructions at that time.
Here’s some more Research tips:
Here’s a video by my colleague Professor Seth Graves which explores the process of conducting research online. It’s pretty long, and definitely covers some of the same stuff we looked at in class today, but I still think it’s extremely helpful and necessary watching. Please watch! (side note: if you ever get the chance to take an English class with Prof. Graves, don’t sleep on it, he’s wonderful).
Here’s a short video about determining the credibility of your sources. Also a must-watch. Notice how the video emphasizes how you earn your own credibility by incorporating other credible sources.
Remember I’ll have a Zoom office hour open this Wednesday from 10-11:30AM.
Good luck this week and have fun!