Create a new thread in the “Beginning to learn to research” forum and present an article (a secondary source) that includes information or interesting evidence you want to use in your essay to inform your thesis and support one of your ideas/points.
You should find ONE ARTICLE from: The New York Times, The Guardian, The Chronicle of Higher Education, Inside Higher Education, The New Yorker, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, The LA Times, Scientific America, and The Atlantic.
Engaging in the Research Process for Your Essay:
- First think about your topic. What are you writing about? What’s your thesis? Think of some key words or terms that apply to your thesis/argument (e.g. education, race and education, income inequality and education, experiential learning, etc.).
- Then go to Google and look for one of the approved publications (secondary sources) listed above and go to their website.
- Find the search feature and look up your key words or terms and see what articles come up.
- Skim the titles that appear and think about which articles might be appropriate for your essay.
- Narrow it down and choose an articles to read.
- Read and annotate the article carefully and completely. Decide if the article has useful information (an interesting perspective, statistics, data, a discussion of an experiment, a study + findings, etc.) that you think fits with your essay. Highlight and annotate any sections of the text which you might want to use in your essay. It will be easier for you to find these sections and the information you need later on, if you make a note to yourself while you read.
- Jot down down notes at the end discussing why this article will be useful for your essay.
After you complete the research process, write a paragraph (150 – 200 words) following the instructions and questions below.
1. Introduce the article (title and author formatted according to MLA guidelines posted above) and tell your reader what the author is arguing in the article, and then state at least 3 main ideas/main points raised in the article.
2. Link the article, so I can review it and approve it.
3. Continue the response by explaining why you think this article will be useful for your Essay:
- What is your thesis?
- How does the article, or the main ideas discussed in the article, enhance, complicate, relate to, or support your thesis?
- Describe one specific supporting detail or example from the article (their perspective, a fact, a statistic, data, a discussion of an experiment, a study + findings, etc.) that you believe fits into your essay.
- Explain how why you chose this supporting detail. What point does it help you make? Why is this supporting detail important?
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