ENGL002: English Composition II

1.2: Preparing for Your Research

• 1.2.1: The Research Process: An Overview

  Before you choose your topic, it is important to get a sense of the overall process you will follow to complete your research paper.

  • Cornell University Library: "The Seven Steps of the Research Process" URL

    Read this article, which introduces you to the research process and includes how to identify and develop your topic, find and evaluate background information (including sources, periodical articles, and Internet resources), and appropriately cite your sources.

    Several of the resources linked to through these pages are available only to students and staff at Cornell University. However, you should be able to use the general catalog information at any library. If you do not have online access to a college or university library, explore your local library's website for information about online access. A librarian at your local library may also be able to help you gain online access or answer questions about how to use their resources.

• 1.2.2: What Is Your Research Community?

  • Dr. Pavel Zemliansky's "Analyze Your Discourse Communities" Page

    Complete this activity. After you complete this activity, you will begin to see knowledge-making as a social process. You should also begin to notice the differences that exist in ways that different groups of people use language, reading, and writing.
    

  • Dr. Pavel Zemliansky's "Methods of Discovery: A Guide to Research Writing - Chapter 6: Research Writing in the Academic Disciplines" Page

    Read this chapter, which provides an overview of research writing and will help you understand why strong, evidence-based writing is essential for success in academic writing. Dr. Zemliansky explains how different communities work together to develop and revise ideas through research. By identifying your research community, you can help identify important research in your field and write more convincingly to members of that community. Take notes carefully.

• 1.2.3: Identifying and Understanding Your Audience

  Once you have identified your discourse community, you must analyze the specific audience that will read your research paper. Although members of your audience may be part of a larger discourse community, they may or may not be familiar with previous research in the field you are exploring.

  • The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Writing Center: "Audience" Page

    Read this handout for a review of identifying, analyzing, and appealing to your writing audience.
    

  • Texas A&M University Writing Center: "Audience Awareness" Page

    Read this essay on audience awareness for a good refresher on the importance of identifying, reaching out to, and addressing your audience in your writing.
    

• 1.2.4: Understanding Your Audience and Purpose

  • Dr. Pavel Zemliansky's "Methods of Discovery: A Guide to Research Writing - Chapter 1: Research Writing and Argument" Page

    This chapter discusses rhetorical writing, which is writing that makes an argument as persuasively as possible by understanding and analyzing the readers or audience and then writing in a way that the audience finds convincing.

• 1.2.5: Purpose, Audience, Tone, and Content

  • Writing for Success: "Chapter 6, Section 1: Purpose, Audience, Tone, and Content" URL

    Read this section and complete the exercises, which will get you thinking about how audience and purpose affects your writing. This section describes how purpose and audience should influence the tone and content of your writing.