Week 13 Transcript: Weekly Content Overview

Over the past few weeks, you have learned a little about cults, conspiracy theories, and unsolved murders, the three topic choices for your next major writing assignment. Last week we asked you to begin the writing process by scheduling a research plan and by completing an interest inventory. Did you complete both of those tasks? If so, you likely finished last week with a strong idea of which of the three topic choices you were most interested in researching. You also finished the week with individual dues dates for each step in the process, and you know that there is not a lot of time within which to complete a substantial amount of work.

Fear not, folks, because the fun starts this week! This week you will begin your research so that you can propose your narrowed topic by the week’s end.

Remember, the essay you will compose for this Unit does not ask you to speak generally about one of the three topic choices; rather, it asks that you answer a specific “why” question connected to one of those topics, and it asks that you do so by analyzing a specific cult, conspiracy theory, or unsolved murder that you will learn more about via your independent research.

As you begin your research process, we want to stress (again) the importance of finding your own voice and ideas on the topic. Your research will inevitably turn up an array of opinions and viewpoints about your topic, and while you will use those to support (or provide opposition for) your argument and to provide background for the uninformed reader, your essay will not be a simple summary of your research. Remember, your thesis for the research-based argument will offer your informed answer to the why question associated with your topic.

This week is going to be a very important and extremely busy one. To begin with, you will learn about thee very important aspects of research: (1) how to conduct research through the library databases, (2) how to evaluate web sites in order to determine whether or not a web site is appropriate for use in academic research and writing, and (3) how to distinguish between fake and real news.

Your professors will probably always tell you that the best sources for academic research can be found via the library databases, and I would agree with them! Because of this, I will suggest that you allow yourself no less than a full hour to work through all of the content areas on the Library Research lesson page. The other two lessons, on Internet research and How to spot fake news, may only take a half hour or so to complete, but they are no less important.

Thanks to the internet, it is – in fact – easier than ever to quickly find all sorts of information about any topic. However, the accuracy of that information is not always so straightforward. How do you know, for example, which company, organization, political party, or person created and maintains the website you are visiting? I know you are aware that media bias does exist, but have you thought critically about what that bias means, how to recognize it, or how people use the Internet to purposefully spread disinformation? We believe that information literacy, which is the ability to identify, to find, to evaluate, and to use information effectively, is one of the most important skills you will need to be successful not only in college, but in the workplace and in life in general.

I wish you a productive week of research, and I encourage you to keep up with this week’s Writing Process Action Plan! Next week you will complete your research, and draft your thesis and outline!