Research Skills - Circling the Lighthouse   Tags: ccd, english, i_search, mscd, research, searches, searching, style, topics, ucd, writing, writing_center  

Move from landscapes...in your research...

Point Betsie Lighthouse in Early Morning Light by Kretyen at Flickr Creative Commons, Friends of Point Betsie at Frankfurt, Michigan

to close-ups...in your writing

"Light of the Lighthouse"  Cabrillo Lighthouse San Diego by tinyfroglet at Flickr Creative Commons

Narrowing Your Research Topic

Finding a topic for a research paper is like photographing a lighthouse.  They're all beautiful and scenic.  Some people may think they've been over-used, "done to death," but we still keep coming back to them.  Why is that?  Maybe it's because someone comes along and draws our attention to some detail or to a story surrounding it that we didn't know.   Here's a lighthouse.  It's a well-composed picture.  One thing about it; for a research paper, it's lacking in some detail. 

Lighthouse; Wandering Angel;Flickr Creative Commons, Pigeon Point Lighthouse, Pescadero, California

Finding and writing on a research topic is a lot like writing about this lighthouse.  

First thing is, you need more detail.  You need to study it.   When was it built? Who operated it?  From what period of time?  Is this the best angle from which to take the picture? 

Good research is not just about compiling facts. It also asks and answers key questions about the topic at hand. 

What angle would you use to write about the this landmark?  Who were the people, the lighthouse keepers who lived there? Where did they come from?  Could you walk around your subject and look at it from another viewpoint?

"The closer you get to your subject, the more you will see what you have never noticed before." --from the Curious Researcher by Bruce Ballenger

Credit: "Circling the Lighthouse" is a concept used by Professor Bruce Ballenger who teaches English Composition and Creative Writing at Boise State University.