Brainstorming Topics Visually

In chapter 4: Planning and Proposing research Arguments, the one section that I found most useful was “Bringing Your Topics Into Focus: Brainstorming Topics Visually” on page 111. I liked how the whole chapter used visual aids and posters because I like to look at them, and because I’m a very visual learner. This particular section was all about the visual process of writing. It also emphasized finding the relationships between your ideas. I feel that finding these relationships is very useful because it helps when writing transitions, which is one thing I sometimes struggle with when writing research papers. Another issue I sometimes get caught up in when writing a research paper is how to organize my thoughts and ideas when I have so many of them. Further, how to keep from generalizing my topics and focusing or narrowing into the most important points. This section also directly addresses that issue by proving how making webs/clusters/maps helps to put ideas in the appropriate sections or groups, and how new information, and even a solid thesis, can form from answering each question. This section also helps solve one of the most difficult issues when assigned a research assignment: Where do I start and what do I talk about (especially if the topic at hand is very broad or there is a lot of information out there on it). I learned from this section that webbing your ideas help you to find answers to these questions. When finding answers to smaller questions, you may end up stumbling across information that you never knew existed and that radically interests you.