Objective • Develop a research plan that includes a focused, manageable topic; an identified audience; and a research question What’s in it for me? Understanding how to plan ahead can improve your diet, budget, grades, and social life. Planning ahead is also essential to proper research, something that can improve your life and your career. Directions: In this activity, you will examine an imaginary writing assignment and practice creating a research plan using that assignment. Use all the resources available to you, including the Introductory Skills Lecture, the eWriting search engine, the library, and your own brainstorming. Section I: Research Paper Prompt Imagine that you are assigned a four- to five-page essay due in three weeks. The teacher hands you the following writing prompt: “Scientists have successfully cloned animals like Dolly the sheep. Some people hope that cloning techniques will be used to clone humans someday, while others strongly oppose this use of technology. What is your position on cloning humans? Write a persuasive essay articulating your position on the cloning of humans. Use specific examples and details to support your views.” Since you’ve already studied how to plan for research, you won’t panic. Instead, what will you do first? Section II: Identify a Topic First, review the assignment to see if a topic has been identified for you. What is the topic given by the example writing prompt in Section I? Take out a sheet of paper or pull up your eNotes and start taking notes. The topic given by the writing prompt in Section I is . Next, identify (on a sheet of paper) a list of potential subcategories or issues that you could potentially cover in this imaginary essay. (Seriously, do it.) Brainstorm at least five ideas. For those five ideas, consider each carefully to see if you can break them down into even more specific subcategories or issues. Finally, use the topic evaluation checklist to choose the perfect topic from your list. What are the requirements of any topic you choose to write about? Hint 1 If this were an actual assignment, what would your chosen topic be? Write your chosen topic on the sheet of paper below your list of subcategories and issues. My chosen topic is . What would you do next? Section III: Brainstorming Brainstorm to come up with ideas for your paper. Photo by Katrina Nicole “Thank goodness that’s over,” you say? Well, you’re right. Choosing the topic can actually be one of the most time-consuming and difficult parts of writing a research paper. After you choose your topic, the most creative part comes next: brainstorming. Write about your topic on your sheet of paper nonstop for two to four minutes. If you’re having trouble, write about how you’re having trouble thinking of ideas. Write about why you chose that topic over the others, why it interests you, and what you suspect you’ll find once you research it. STOP! After two to four minutes of brainstorming, it’s time to move to the next part of brainstorming. What do you think that might be? Section IV: Research Enter a few keywords into a search engine or cruise on to your local library. Check out a couple of sources on your topic. That’s right, you don’t have to record the sources right now. You don’t even have to question the authorship or credibility of those sources. This is your time to explore your topic with abandon, with a bit of recklessness even, and let those creative juices flow. Most importantly, write down your ideas and discoveries. If there are any particularly juicy discoveries, bookmark the website or borrow the book for further review later. For now, what’s important is your brain and your passion about this topic. Do your research! Photo by Stewart Butterfield Section V: Select a Topic Did you take notes? If not, this section is going to be pretty boring. Seriously, if you didn’t do the activity, writing a research paper is going to be the pain it was before. Go back and do the work! If you did do the work, great! Re-read your sheet of paper. Star, circle, or highlight ideas that might interest you to write about or research further. Keep this paper in your writing journal. If you ever have to write a paper about cloning, know that you’ve done the brainstorming work and have a topic. For other research assignments you may be assigned in the near future, rinse and repeat. Into what genre does the excerpt from Section I fit?