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WRT 101 - East (Kraus) Writing I: Narrowing a Topic

Narrowing Your Topic by Focusing On...

  • Social Aspect
  • Cultural Aspect
  • Historical Aspect (time)
  • Type
  • Place
  • Combining two similar topics*
  • Combining two or more of the aspects above
  • Join together related concepts 

The Five Commandments of Writing Research Papers

  1. Thou shalt do some background reading, think hard, and speak with the professor in order to identify a topic. 
  2. Thou shalt have a clear research question. 
  3. Thou shalt do real research. 
  4. Thou shalt make an argument. 
  5. Thou shalt write well.

Encyclopedias: Background Research

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