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Monday, Monday
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Agenda
Prompt – Is your anchor/research question
appropriate?
Overview of Exploratory Essay
Breaking a research question into search terms
Plugging search terms into a research database
Make an apt. with a tutor for support?
Homework: Find one source for your Ex. Essay.
Prompt
What topic/issue will you be
exploring for your Exploratory
Essay?
What is your anchor question?
Sample Research
Questions
Is teaching valued by our culture?
Are GMO foods dangerous?
Are vets supported when they return from
service?
Is there value in a liberal arts education?
What does it mean to be healthy?
What is happiness?
Purpose of Exploratory
Essay
Practice identifying a research question (research
paper)
Practice breaking that question into search terms and
plugging those terms into research databases.
Practice finding credible sources using library
databases.
Practice summarizing, paraphrasing and quoting from
sources, and then integrating that information into our
own writing.
Expl. Essay vs. Thesis
Essay
We are using sources to explore possible
answers and perspectives to our research
question, rather than using sources to support
a thesis statement.
The last sentence of the introduction question
will be our research question, rather than a
thesis statement.
The conclusion tells our readers what we think
about our research question now that we’ve
explored the perspective of two sources.
Structure of Expl. Essay
Introduction: Background of your topic/issue. Explain to your audience how you came to be curious/passionate about the topic. Last sentence: Your research Question.
Body Section One: At least two paragraphs that explore the perspective/ possible answers your First Source offers to the research question.
Body Section Two: same as above, for Second Source.
Conclusion: What do you think about research question now that you’ve explored two sources?
Research Process:
Break your Research Question into search terms.
Plug those search terms into ProQuest and/or
Academic Search Premier.
Look through the “returns,” and quickly decide if each
source falls into the Yes, No, or Maybe column.
Figure out what perspective or “possible answer” each
of your two sources provides to the research question.
Outline the essay.
Research Q
Break your research question into search terms.
research guide
Find Sources
Next, start plugging those search terms into the
research databases.
There’s a lot of “trial and error” involved in this, so give
yourself plenty of time.
Pay close attention to your choices in the drop-down
menus as well. Narrowing a particular term to only the
“title” field may help or hurt you in finding sources.
Library Website
Library Website
Pay Attention to the Tabs Along the Top of the
Site.
Locate the “Research Databases” Tab.
Find “Proquest.” This database has
newspaper and periodical collections.
Research Databases
Research Databases
Pro Quest
ProQuest
Use the “advanced search” option, and play around
with the drop-down options until you get a
manageable number of returns to browse through.
“Speed Read”
“Speed read” the abstracts and other descriptions of
the returns to figure out pretty quickly if each return
should go into the Yes, No, or Maybe column.
Remember, for this essay you are not trying to find the
perfect source that backs up your thesis. You are
searching for two sources that offer different
perspectives or possible answers to your research
question. You definitely have some wiggle room here.
Homework
Use ProQuest (or Academic Search Premier or CQ
Researcher if you’re already familiar with those) to find
one of the two sources you will use for your
Exploratory Essay. Do not frustrate yourself trying to
find the “perfect” source. The source just needs to
offer a perspective, or “possible answer” to your
research question.
Be prepare to write a 1-2 sentence “Introduction
Summary” for this source in class (similar to what you
do for the source you use in Reading Responses).
