PREFOCUS/FOCUS ESSAY

 

Length: 3-5 pages (double-spaced), plus bibliography

Due: Friday, 9/9, by 4:00 pm as a hard copy to Jesi Buell (316 Case-Geyer)  

           

            This project is about the early stage of doing research, and delineates the first few steps one needs to take in order to write a good, effective research paper.  Those steps are: exploring a potential research topic and the literature available on that topic (“prefocus”); and refashioning that original topic into a topic that can be supported by the existing literature and that can participate in the ongoing conversation represented by that literature (“focus”).

 

            “Prefocus” means introducing yourself to the current state of knowledge about a general area you think you would like to explore.  You will obtain this by scanning widely the resources relevant to that topic.  Be sure to investigate:

 

• scholarly journals (as distinct from newspapers and magazines)
• online encyclopedias
• book reviews

•     books

•     the Internet

 

            Use the techniques we show you to look for an interesting conversation already going on in the published literature. Catch up on that conversation by exploring the literature available on that topic. BEGIN WITH THE SHORTEST SOURCES YOU CAN FIND.  Read book reviews before books; read article abstracts before articles; read entries in academic online encyclopedias instead of entire books of “background material”; read articles before books; read introductions before reading any chapters of books.

 

            From especially promising sources, click on the exact subject heading to find related sources, and browse along the adjacent shelves in Case.  Shop through the bibliographies of your best sources.  Do not limit yourself to sources at Case Library: expect to use Interlibrary Loan, particularly for articles.  GET HELP WHEN YOU ARE STUCK.

 

            As you work, keep a precise log of the search terms you use, the databases in which you search, the results you get, when you ask for help, and your decision-making process throughout.  This will form the basis of the narrative portion of this paper.  The narrative portion asks you to notice the ways in which exploration of the published literature must always modify your thinking about an issue, just as the things you would say in a conversation with friends would be different from the solitary thoughts you have.  Letting yourself make those modifications and learning how to make them are essential to effective research. 

>>>> 

 

            From this scan, identify at least 15 sources (no more than half of which are books!) that would support a searching and yet manageable research paper of 10-15 pages.  The quality of the sources you choose and their relevance to your topic are very important.  Look hard for materials that focus precisely on your topic and eliminate sources that are tangential. 

 

            What you will write for this assignment is, then, not an actual research paper, but a description of the steps you took that prepared you to write such a paper well.  In the course of that description, chronicle the process of developing your ideas on this topic:

•           What topic did you begin with?

•           Describe the course of your research: what sources did you turn to, why, and what did you find?

•           How did those findings change your thinking about your original topic?

•           Describe the revised topic you came to.

Be very specific in identifying the databases and search terms you try, and the results and citations they bring you.  Remember to focus on process.  Resist the temptation to write a full research paper. 

 

            List your 15 best sources in a bibliography. Print this bibliography on separate sheets and append them to your process essay. Be sure to format each entry precisely according to the Chicago Manual of Style, which you can find in your copy of Turabian AND online at http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/contents.html. You can get to this by clicking on the “Online Reference Shelf” on the Colgate University Libraries homepage.  (Hint: for quick checks, go directly to the chapter called “Samples”.)  BE SURE TO NOTE THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN FOOTNOTE FORMAT AND BIBLIOGRAPHY FORMAT.

 

            To give you a clear sense of what this paper should be like, I have placed on Moodle some exemplary papers students have written in the past.  Reading these has helped students enormously to understand this assignment and to do it well.