Chapter 5!!!

Although I took many classes in high school that were centered about research-based writing, this chapter was extremely helpful and talked about many things that I had never thought about in the past when picking a topic. With so many interesting current topics being too controversial, one-sided or potentially offensive, finding a wholesome yet interesting topic can be hard, especially for me because I love current events. I enjoyed the listed steps in the first part of the chapter about setting aside a little time to surf the internet, find interesting topics and finding sustainable information on them. Sometimes, when picking a topic, I focus too much on specifics and end up picking an issue that doesn't have enough legitimate support. Reading this chapter helped remind me that it's okay to not have a research plan right off the bat, and that taking time to surf the internet and think freely is ok. In the past, I never really thought about talking to friends or other students about my topic and bouncing ideas back and forth. I think this would be a great way to get feedback on the topic from fellow writers to see how an audience would feel on the topic I chose. One thing the chapter discussed that I did previously learn about was the importance of addressing conflicting viewpoints. This is crucial to writing a research paper because I feel that it's really important to understand the perspective of those who feel differently about the given topic, and because addressing them in my paper can often bring more validity and credibility to my work. Personally, I struggle sometimes with creating an appropriate research proposal that is open-ended yet specific enough to narrow my research. The section in chapter 5 that discussed creating a research proposal was beneficial to me because it provided me with steps and questions to ask/follow when making sure that my research proposal is strong. All in all, chapter five was extremely helpful and will be a useful reference over the next week when I am deciding my topic and creating a research question.