Chapter 2

Chapter 2 is about exploring your topic and focusing on an issue. Exploring your topic is a series of steps.

1)    Create A Plan To Explore Your Topic

2)    Discuss Your Topic With Others

3)    Conduct Preliminary Observations

4)    Find And Review Sources – do things like: Search your library’s catalog, Browse your library’s shelves, read books, articles in scholarly journals, articles in trade and other professional journals, articles in magazines and newspapers, theses and dissertations, microfilm and microfiche, and other sources, browse newsstands and bookstores, search available databases, search the web and consult web directories, browse electronic mailing lists, newsgroups, web discussion forums, blogs, and wikis, record your search results, and skim your sources

Focusing on an issue also requires steps.

1)    Identify Conversations About Issues In Your Topic – find things like central concepts, repeated in your sources, broad themes discussed in your sources, disagreements among your sources, recurring voices in your sources

2)    Assess Your Interest In The Issues

3)    Choose An Issue – ask yourself questions like: Will selecting this issue help me achieve my purposes as a writer? Will my readers want to or need to read more about this issue? Is this issue appropriate for my project’s context? Is this issue appropriate for the type of document I plan to write? Is this issue compatible with my requirements and limitations? What opportunities do I have if I choose this issue?