◆ Are there two parts to the question?
◆ What research do you need to do?
◆ What are the key words in the title?
Planning your research
The most obvious place to start your research is the library.
Here you will find books on all topics classified by subject,
magazines, newspapers and also archive material. Some of
this may be on disk. Archive material is very useful if you
wish to use ‘primary sources’ as they are called. These are
original letters, diaries, books and periodicals. Librarians
are usually very helpful so do ask if you are having difficulty
finding something.
Visiting and interviewing
You may need to visit places and people to learn more about
your topic. ‘Experts’ in their fields are usually very happy to
be interviewed provided they are given plenty of notice. It is
also courteous to write a thank-you note afterwards. Make
sure your questions are relevant and you have written them
down.
Making notes
Avoid copying down huge chunks of material. If you do,
you might regurgitate it in your essay and be accused of
plagiarism(passing someone else’s work off as your own). It
will always be obvious to the marker when the work is
not yours. To safeguard against this always ‘translate’ the
original into your own words. Of course, you are entitled to
quote directly from the text but in this case you must put
100 /PART TWO: ENGLISH IN ACTION