Final reflection and boiling down, aka the research review

In this step, you reflect on what you’ve learned through the note-taking process, and then boil down to a central idea. To start simply re-read all your notes. Some people like to divide them up by slug beforehand. Afterward (or as you go along), answer the questions below. Do not worry about correctness or grammar. Just let your thoughts flow. You do not necessarily have to answer every question, but you should answer enough to feel confident that you have gotten your key ideas/learnings out on paper in some form or other.

  1. Slugs: what central point(s) did you learn from each slug? Pick the 1-2 best/most important notecards in each slug, and say why they especially matter.How do the slugs relate?
  1. The rest of these questions are for all the notecards at once (not slug-by-slug)
  2. What patterns did you notice – of imagery, language, character behavior, situation, etc.? What larger meaning might you draw from each pattern?
  3. Surface versus reality: often the way things appear is different from the way they really are. What kinds of surface versus reality stuff do you notice in your book? What is its significance?
  4. Cause and effect: many books raise the question of why things happen and/or what results from their happening. What important causes and results do you see in this book?
  5. Technique: most of the writers you all are studying are known for using innovative writing techniques (having to do with voice, point of view, symbolism, word choice, etc.) that make the effect the story much more powerful. What are your writer’s main techniques, and what impact do they have?
  6. Theme: what larger messages about human beings does the writer send through the text? What makes this message come across?
  7. Which secondary sources were most revelatory? Which if any did you disagree with? Why?
  8. What are your 2-3 most important notes overall? Why?
  1. Take a breather, and then read back over your answers. Highlight whatever parts seem most valuable to you. Now write a short paragraph that sums up the best of it. Highlight the connections between different areas because they are what will tie your paper together.
  1. Read your answer to #3, and see if you can sum up the gist of it in one sentence. If you can, voila, you have arrived at a preliminary thesis. Don’t worry, you will probably change it a time or two, so it doesn’t have to be perfect.

Good Luck!