Research projects have always been a fun thing for me, although the research part of it can tend to get a little annoying. The part I like about it is that you know about the place or thing you are researching and it allows you to write freely and express emotion. Which you may not get to if you were writing about a book.
After reading “Literature Reviews” from UNC Chapel Hill, I found that we will need to summarize and describe the arguments and facts stated within the sources we use and not include other statements. When doing research projects, I always include my own opinion and personal experience, which is maybe something I need to work on. Another tip they suggested was to narrow your topic and in my case, this may be difficult because I could narrow my topic down to multiple ones. I also have a hard time connecting the sources together… maybe this time it will be easier because I can try to lead them all back to the same topic of soulmates or star-crossed lovers, but we will find out.
My organization of research papers has never been good. I throw each source in different paragraphs and make it all confusing. Last quarter I was actually in Anthropology and we had to find a topic to research and write about. Mine was on the relationship of K-9 Officers to their dogs and how each breed is different. This was easier because it was already focused on breeds of dogs and K-9 officers specifically, but I am not sure what to do with my paper. It could be teenager soulmates, water sports, the milky way… ALL OVER THE PLACE.
The last thing I want to note, and I need to work on, is my ability to summarize the sources without adding too much information, and including some of my own. I need to be able to limit the quotations and keep it simple because the readers only want the main facts of the sources in an organized way. Overall, research papers are exciting and fun when you find new information to work with.
Skye Shaffer 