RES:

Gather, Evaluate, Credit

Professional:

I can gather, evaluate, and credit information from a variety of sources.

Search and select information from multiple sources to answer questions and support a topic
Question and validate sources and information for reliability and bias
Properly cite sources using appropriate method (MLA, APA, etc.)

Master:

I can improve my knowledge base through continued inquiry and research in a variety of tasks

Quick Links

PLAN

Planning Steps

Read and annotate the prompt. Determine whether the prompt is analytical (make an original claim) or argumentative (choose a side to argue).
Brainstorm as many ideas as you can in relationship to the prompt by making a list. This may involve outside research (see stepsà), reviewing annotations in your book to find evidence, and/or coming up with reasons for an argument.
Take an inventory of your ideas by sorting them into categories and crossing out any that you don’t think will work.
Write a preliminary thesis statement. Repeat steps 2 and 3 if you discover that you do not have enough quality ideas to write a strong thesis.
Create an outline. Repeat steps 2-4 if you discover that you do not have enough quality ideas to write a fully developed 3-part paper about.
Write a revised thesis statement.
Begin drafting. Continue to revisit previous planning steps and revise your thesis statement as needed.

Gather

Researching Steps

Read and annotate the prompt. Determine whether the prompt is analytical (make an original claim) or argumentative (choose a side to argue).
Brainstorm as many ideas as you can in relationship to the prompt by making a list. This may involve outside research (see stepsà), reviewing annotations in your book to find evidence, and/or coming up with reasons for an argument.
Take an inventory of your ideas by sorting them into categories and crossing out any that you don’t think will work.
Write a preliminary thesis statement. Repeat steps 2 and 3 if you discover that you do not have enough quality ideas to write a strong thesis.
Create an outline. Repeat steps 2-4 if you discover that you do not have enough quality ideas to write a fully developed 3-part paper about.
Write a revised thesis statement.
Begin drafting. Continue to revisit previous planning steps and revise your thesis statement as needed.

Planning and Researching

Consider what genre, purpose, and audience you are writing in and how this might affect your planning and researching. Here are some examples of questions you might ask when preparing.

What is your purpose for writing? Beyond being entertaining, what lesson/theme/main idea/purpose do you have? How will you writing reflect this? Have you prepared for it?
What will the setting be? Do you need to research that place and/or time? Do you need to plan how it will affect your writing?
What characters will you need and what purpose will they serve? How will they evolve (if at all)? Why? Do you need to research character development, traits, archetypes, or actions?
What is your conflict and how will you resolve it? Will you have subplots? Do you need to consider patterns and rules to follow or break?
How realistic do you intend your storyline to be? Do you need to incorporate historical events? If not, are you making any parallels you need to plan/research for?
What style do you plan to use and how will it affect your purpose? Should you read others with similar style?
Who is your audience? How do you anticipate their reactions to your events/words? How can you use your understanding of them to your advantage? Do you need to learn more about them?

What does BRAINSTORMING look like?

image of a brainstorm using Carl Sandburg's poem, "Grass." It takes the ideas from the Analysis packet and sorts them into paragraphs by coding and rearranging. It ends with 2 basic categories, "historical context" and "trends in current society and how they are unaware of the past."

Evaluate

Author's Credibility and Qualifications:

If the author is credible, they will be clearly listed along with their qualifications. However, you should still do some digging. Most authors will not put information that may jeopardize their credibility. Here are some things to think about:

Are the author(s) clearly identified? Are they listed with any other awards or credentials?
Do the credentials and awards support what they are writing about?
Has the writing been approved/endorsed/chosen by a qualified or expert panel?
Are there citations and research that support their arguments?
Is the information given complete and able to be corroborated?
Are there other writings by the same author that are unbiased on the same or similar subject areas?
Is the writing published in/by credible places?
What affiliations does the author and/or publisher/website have? (financial, personal, political, etc.)
Is the information up to date?

General Knowledge

Bookrags
Shmoop
SparkNotes
Wikipedia

Deeper Research

Databases
Search Engines
Print Sources

Credible Sources are SOURCES in which the:

author is qualified
date is appropriate
host/domain is reputable (.com, .edu, .gov, .mil, .org)
sources linked/cited are reputable
writing is scholarly

Credit

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