Thoughts before finding credible sources to back you up.

When you finally have a topic chosen for a research paper you need a Inquiry question,other questions to help you search for credible sources on your specific topic, what your tentative thesis, and what are your prior beliefs and prejudices. For example: TOPIC: Technology and it's effect on family relationships. INQUIRY QUESTION: What are the effects of technology on family relationship? ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS: What is the difference in our relationships now versus before computers and cellphones. Has technology been used to replace real relationships? Is there any evidence of it being the opposite? (Improving family relationships) How can we balance between the benefits of technology and it's cons. TENTATIVE THESIS: We have progressively improved our communication using new and inproved technology but has it actually strained our relationships by promoting a way to communicate that is impersonal while we ignore the personal side of communication? PRIOR BELIEFS/PREJUDES Technology can distract us by taking time to talk and spend time with family+friends.Technology is a way that teens now relate to other people and so is beneficial in communication. There is a balance between our relationships and use of technology, but it is hard for those of us born into the technology era to relate to those who do not understand our favorite pastimes through technology that can be introverted rather than extroverted activities.

researching a topic using "The Curious Researcher"

 English Composition classes at LBC showed my class how to boil down to a topic for a research paper using "the Curious Researcher" as a guide. Within the textbook, we have exercises to complete to help us achieve a part of the research process. This is my response to such an exercise specifically focusing on picking a topic for a research paper:

#1 Academic Writing Myth + The difference between facts and opinions

Being in College is so different then Highschool. Many of us are living away from home for the first time, learning in an entirely new enviroment, and learning at a completely different level than what we are used to. Reality hit me when I attended my first semester in English Composition class at Lancaster Bible College. The one rule in acedemic writing you always hear your teacher telling you in Highschool is, "do not write the word "I" in your papers." In my English Comp. class, I was given a textbook called, "They Say I Say" and it teaches the contrary. Many of you would probably be thinking right now that either I am misinformed or that my College is teaching English class incorrectly, but using the word "I" in academic writing is not only looked favorably upon it is expected in order to write efficently. They reason, and I quote, "To be sure, writers can resort to various circumlocutions--'it will here be argued,''the evidence suggests,''the truth is'--and these may be useful for avoiding a montonous series of 'I believe' sentences. But except for avoiding such monotony, we see no good reason why 'I'should be set aside in persuasive writing. Rather than prohibit 'I,'then, we think a better tactic is to give students practice at using it well and learning its use, both by supporting claims with evidence and by attending closely to alternate persecptives--to what 'they' are saying." So in this way if what we read is true using the word "I" can strengthin your paper by supporting a claim or adding new ideas to another writer's thoughts.