When you're putting together research for a project, the next step after choosing a topic and analyzing the rhetorical situation is to find out what other people have already said about your topic. This research phase involves both traditional methods and AI-assisted tools, but remember: AI is a starting point, not an endpoint. Every source suggestion needs verification, and your critical thinking drives the entire process.
Before diving into databases or asking AI for help, you need to carefully define your topic and create focused research questions. This groundwork allows you to get useful results from initial searches and helps you navigate scholarly databases like MC Quest more effectively.
Research Worksheet 1 will guide you through narrowing your topic and developing the key questions that will drive your research.
Once you've got your focus, you'll start compiling sources from different searches, databases, and AI tools. But finding sources is only half the battle—you need a systematic way to analyze and evaluate what you've found. Which sources are most credible? Which ones actually support the argument you're developing?
Research Worksheet 2 helps you catalog your sources and understand the larger conversation you're entering. You'll identify different perspectives on your topic and start to see where your own argument fits in.
After you have several sources and understand your topic's bigger picture, you'll likely discover gaps in your research. Maybe you need more opposing viewpoints, or stronger evidence for a particular claim. This is also when you start thinking strategically about supporting claims and potential counterarguments.
Research Worksheet 3 guides you through this critical evaluation phase and helps you develop the specific claims that will structure your essay.
Throughout this process, you'll have opportunities to use AI tools for research assistance, but you must follow the Verify → Document → Cite protocol:
Verify: Check that AI-suggested sources actually exist and claims are accurate
Document: Keep process notes about how you used AI and what you kept or rejected
Cite: Include proper MLA citations for AI tools and write attribution statements explaining your process
The worksheets include specific AI prompts designed to help with research, but remember that AI suggestions require verification through databases and your own critical evaluation.
By working through these three worksheets systematically, you'll build a strong foundation of verified sources, understand multiple perspectives on your topic, and develop a clear argument supported by credible evidence. This process prepares you to write a well-researched essay that contributes meaningfully to the conversation around your topic.
Ready to begin? Start with Research Worksheet 1 to focus your topic and develop your research questions.