Wadsworth Guide to Research

For this blog post, the class and I were told to read over the first three chapters of our course textbook, The Wadsworth Guide to Research. When given this assignment, I was skeptical on how much the reading would help me and if I would even manage to stay awake during the readings.

While the first three chapters helped me a little bit, I was right about the boring aspect of this reading. On page one of chapter one, the authors state that "we"ll" explore reasons for conducting research, the rhetorical situation's effects on writing and research and similarities and differences between academic research and research for other purposes. Yuck, right? In the first chapter, I didn't really learn anything I didn't already know. The authors state write that "you might be surprised to realize that you've been conducting research for a long time." They go on to say that it is considered research whenever we ask ourselves a question and then continue in a "research" process to come to a conclusion. This information did not surprise me at all, I thought everyone knew this basic information.

One thing I did like, but already knew, was the statement that one must complete every step in the writing process during research in chapter two. I liked this statement because I often do not follow the "linear" writing process. I usually skip around and almost never create the kind of pre-writing they suggest, such as making those awful bubble outlines that confuse you more than help.

On page 35 of chapter three, the authors mention something called kairos. Kairos is defined as "a moment that inspires you or compels you to write." I experience karios all the time, I just never knew there was a fancy term for it, I just referred to it as inspiration. That was the most interesting thing in chapter three, in my opinion, because it taught me something new.