ENGL 2H - BEAM-ing Your Research (Turner)

Through the exercises in today's class, you will:

• recognize that you are entering into an ongoing scholarly conversation and not a finished conversation
• seek out conversations taking place in your research area

Hopefully, through the process of grappling with the arguments you find today, when you write your research paper you will:

• see yourself as a contributor to scholarship rather than only a consumer of it

We'll start with a story.

Finding and Joining the Scholarly Conversation Google Slides

Indicators that the scope of your topic may be too broad:

• There are entire books devoted to your topic.
• A search for your topic yields hundreds or even thousands of results, and they all seem relevant.

Indicators that the scope of your topic may be too narrow:

• You can't find a book chapter related to your topic (even with the help of a librarian).
• A search for your topic yields very few results, and very few seem relevant, and you've consulted with a librarian.