Overwhelming
I am now almost 10 pages into my research paper, and surprisingly I have found myself a little befuddled. There are a few things I think I can attribute to my confusion:
1. I am finding it difficult to deviate from my original sources and look to new ones. I feel compelled to read an entire book rather than choosing the most interesting/important parts that will help me write my paper.
2. I have found some dissenting points of view and I’m unsure so far as to how to deal with them.
3. I need a better way to organize my information.
Besides being a little overwhelmed, I am enjoying reading more about my topic and am slowly becoming more and more intrigued. After I feel like I have attacked this “chunk” that I’m working on now, I would really like to try to find some more research on how and why fairy tales are used for children’s education. I have a start to this, but I feel like there is probably a lot more information that I haven’t found yet.
Jim replied:
Hi Michelle,
I’m happy to hear that your research is going well! Here are some suggestions:
1. I am finding it difficult to deviate from my original sources and look to new ones. I feel compelled to read an entire book rather than choosing the most interesting/important parts that will help me write my paper.
Perhaps designate some sources as works you will “read deep” verses only skim and close read certain sections?
2. I have found some dissenting points of view and I’m unsure so far as to how to deal with them.
I’d start by summarizing and then categorizing these in a word/googledocs file. Sit on the arguments for a week or two, and then if necessary figure out a way to incorporate (and respond/address) them in the body of your paper.
3. I need a better way to organize my information.
Do you have a Googledocs/Word file that is simply a work/scribble/notes file? A place to cut and paste, rearrange your materials?
October 25, 2009 at 7:55 pm. Permalink.