The Research Fixer-Upper

I like studying and I like researching. Every time I tell people this, I get the same reaction: raised eyebrows with confused stares. Yes, I’ve heard that it’s strange, but I love the process of searching through books in the library, settling down in a quiet corner and researching for hours on end. It’s peaceful and near mind-numbing. The library will forever be my happy place.

Source: Giphy

When I’m assigned an essay, the first thing that I do is write down a list of possible topics. Usually, I only get about one or two. In other words, it’s not all that successful. Once I get my meager list, I try to think of sub-points (thank you, third grade English). Once I have a rough list, I’ll search JSTOR, library catalogs, and any other academic database for articles that are even vaguely related to my points. If I find one that hits home, I save it. As I work through the articles, though, I start to see what my thesis could be.

The article that we read as homework, “Beam: A Rhetorical Vocabulary,” was eye-opening for me. I realized as I was reading that my research process was focused on requirements rather than success. I picked the required number of sources and was finished; like many other lazy students (I will admit to occasional laziness) I pick out the “good enough” sources and then find a quote that could fit into my topic.

Yes, sources are supposed to support our argument. Yes, quotes are supposed to be fuel for further arguments. No, I don’t think I’ve accomplished this.

Source: Giphy

I think I finally understand the most effective way of using sources in my papers. The sources that I choose should not be an external connection to another person’s work. If I do it correctly, and this is an if, I should be able to incorporate the source in a way that it intertwines with the pattern that I am weaving. Sounds easy enough, right?

Source: Giphy

Now, to prove I’m not just all talk…