Chapter 5 Reading Response

Chapter 5 is all about choosing a topic for a research paper. I found this chapter pretty helpful because I can have trouble sometimes thinking of what to write about and planning my essay. This chapter started by explaining that when you're brainstorming ideas, you should read and do research, and make a preliminary reading outline. It's also helpful to explore other ways of finding information besides just googling, like talking to someone or looking at the New York Times or CNN. If you're feeling overwhelmed, it helps to make a list or a mind map, which is when you write the topic in the center of a piece of paper and draw lines connecting details and ideas you think of. This chapter also talked about using preliminary research to help with your topic search. This is where you ask yourself who is saying what, and what the facts are and what the opinions are. Pay attention to the main points of the topic and don't stray too far out into subtopics or arguments that are too "out there". It is a good idea to ask yourself questions to make sure that what you're thinking makes sense, and it can also be helpful to look at counter arguments. Overall, this chapter was pretty helpful, although again some of it was still a review. It's always helpful though to look over this information and to learn new tips about writing.