Chapter 11 blog

Seeing as how I already know how to put together a thesis stamen, I found chapter 11 to be yet another review in this book. A thesis statement is your opening comment, it will tell whoever is reading your essay what the essay is about. If the essay is a persuasive essay then the thesis will tell the reader what side you are on and if the essay is a about a general idea then the thesis needs to state what that idea is clearly enough for the reader to understand it. To make a thesis statement you need to have all of your information or enough information gathered to make a general idea of what you are writing about. Develop your topic fully then review your data to get a good picture of what you will write your topic sentence on. The thesis statement should be an attention grabber, it should get the reader to want to read your essay and be intrigued by it. If a thesis statement runs flat or is uninteresting it will affect how the reader feels about the paper as a whole. If the paper is a persuasive essay and the thesis statement is unengaging it will affect if the reader actually gets persuaded by it. If the paper is a general essay or is informing the reader about something, the thesis will decide of the reader even wants to learn what you have to say. All in all the thesis is a big deal and can make or break an essay.

Chapter 10 blog

Chapter the deals with how to conduct a field search, what a field search is, and when you should use one. A field search is a form of gathering data, but it’s the way in which you gather the data that is different from all other types of data gathering techniques. In the instance where you don’t find what you are looking for in books, article, or the internet, a field search is used. A Field search is a search which is heavily based on interviews or data you gather from the “field” of your research. While a filed source is good for gathering current data, it probably will only be used as a fall back for data gathering. The book states that when you do conduct an interview, it is important to have questions already made beforehand. It is also important to have people who fit well with what you are trying to learn. IF what you need to know is very specific then it is best to find someone who is a expert in that particular field. Likewise if you are going for a more general approach you should interview a group of people not just a few or one person. If you are looking for how people feel about a topic then it is best to ask around and get a sense of what the people feel on your topic. Based on the topic I have chosen I think that using a field search might actually be more beneficial for me.

Chapter 8 137- 148

In the first part of chapter 8 you will learn how to properly search the web for research articles, and material that will help you develop your paper. The chapter starts off by telling the reader to review their current research plan and proposal.  By doing this you may be able to find more and better sources to work with and gather information from. Reviewing will also help you find mistakes or counter evidence to what you already have. Next the book states that in a web browser such as Google, to find information on your topic you should write in key words that will help the browser narrow the search. By plugging in key words into the browser it lets your search more easily and systematically roots through any unwanted data. After this the book goes into detail on how to conduct a basic search. What a basic search boils down to is writing in key words or phrases into a search engine and hitting enter. As its name states, this is the most basic type of search, but it is effective and can lead to you learning new things and sets the stage for you to make an advanced search. An advanced search is different in the way that you conduct an advanced search by looking up information using a Boolean operator through a library catalog or database. Boolean operators use key words and ties in words such as And, Or, Not, ADJ, Near, Before and parentheses.  Also an advanced search allows you limit your search to information that has publication dates and the type of document that it is, basically it further narrows your search. Lastly the book states that it is important to get feedback from your instructor. This may seem unimportant or redundant but it is very helpful. If you let your instructor review your research then they can tell you if what you are doing is write or wrong, and the instructor might help you by making recommendations or fixing mistakes. 

Chapter six satirical rant ps it is very satirical...

Disclaimer this entire blog is going to be a satirical rant, you have been warned.

Chapter six is the reason why I rented this book! This chapter must have been the one that made people buy it, I’m gonna buy it now. The title alone sold me, “Managing Information and Taking notes” I had no idea what this chapter was going to be about. There was so much good content and it answered all of my questions. Questions like “Why should I take notes” were answered masterfully. Before this chapter I had no clue what so ever why I should take notes, honestly I never even knew what “Notes” where. Apparently notes are used to keep important documents or information in a written or digital form for later use. The book explains that notes are important to have so that I can have the important information I need on my topic at all times. It also states that taking notes will help me better understand my topic. The more notes I take the more I learn about my topic and thus making me more knowledgeable on it. Now I know why I should take notes, but I don’t know how to take them. The book then cascades down upon me like a holy beam of knowledge delivered form the heavens themselves. The way I take notes will define what I take notes on and could possible lead to me questioning my own notes. It’s like noteception or something. So I shall go through this method step by step. Step one I need to decide on a method of note taking and use this method consistently throughout my notes. (You mean to tell me that there is more than one way to take notes!!! Mind blown.) This may include taking notes by hand, typing them out in word format, writing them in the book or text, high lighting, so on and so forth. I could also go online and look up things like Diigo or other web based note taking things. Step two Quote directly: This means to quote my sources and annotate them, also the book reminds me to give credit for anything that I quote so I can avoid plagiarism. It is also important to spell everything properly. Step three Paraphrase: To do this magical thing in writing, I read from my source then format it in my own words. Again you must remember to give credit to the source. It is also important to understand key ideas of what I am paraphrasing, so I do not loose track of the topic. Sadly due to this being already too long I cannot fully explain this chapter or the other three steps of taking notes. Things like How to create a bibliography and how to save information on a computer I didn’t even touch on. It feels like blasphemy, and a sever insult to this magnificent book of knowledge. All in all this chapter alone is worth the entire price of the book, go out there and go buy this book only for chapter six!!! I cannot express my undying gratitude to this chapter in a blog. Have a nice day.