Research Worksheet Worksheet #3
LA 108 Process Analysis Library/Research Worksheet Worksheet #3
These questions should encourage the writer. Research should deepen your understanding
of the process. Our strategy as writers in this assignment requires that we “…recover the
sentiment of insecurity” (Sennett, 186). In other words, admit to how much we really don’t
know about a subject and apply methods of research in order to learn.
The end result should support the un-learned reader’s understanding of why they
should be interested in your process analysis, even if it has nothing to do with their field of
interest. Keep in mind the “so what(?) factor” and the universal theme.
Of course, the problem is where does one start? Start with your thesis. Though your thesis
might change after you’ve explored the topic, clarify some version of it before you plow
ahead. Recall the idea of “the chocolate cake.” Come to research with a subject and a clear
answer to a question regarding that subject.
1. What is your “so-what(?) factor”? Answer the question and ask it again. Continue to ask
critical questions of your own answers. Remember that the more controversy there is
surrounding the particular process you’re writing about, the more interesting it’s going to
be.
2. How does this process suggest a universal theme or truth about human nature,
experience, history, technology, the meaning and purpose of art, etc? What lessons beyond
the obvious might be contained in the journey you’re leading us through?
3. How is your process related to other domains? Are there analogous processes between
domains? Consider music, for example. In Western classical terms, all forms aspire to
music. Are there analogies one might find between the process you’re describing and
music?
But don’t stop there. Consider other forms: dance, painting, movie-making, poetry,
etc. You might even relate your methods to non-art methodologies or techniques such as
the scientific method, or cooking, or sports.
4. How has technology directly or indirectly altered advanced and changed the domain in
which you’re working? At the point in which you’re describing a particular method,
imagine the future. Will this process be at all important in say five years, or ten? Are the
principles involved universally applicable no matter what supporting tools or software a
maker has at her fingertips?
For example, if you’re a 3D modeler can you relate the history of the technical
process you’re working to master back to traditional methods of rendering threedimensional representations? Aren’t we all “standing on the shoulders of giants”?
5. What are the alternative methods to achieving the same goal/product/etc? Are there
analogue or hands-on methods to what you’re describing? Could this technique be achieved
with other tools?
6. Who are some principle players? Who are the giants on whose shoulders we stand?
7. What are the best examples of all the work done in this particular field? Remember we
need to find specific examples of things.
Sennett, Richard: The Craftsman, Yale University Press, 2008
See Reverse for Part IIHaving investigated the questions on the previous page, find three or more hard-copy
sources that might assist your research. These can be books and/or periodicals. You’ll have
plenty of time to begin research on line, but use library time to begin research with
materials close at hand.
Write down the pertinent text in MLA citation form:
Author last, first, “(Article) Title,” Title. Publisher, date. Print
Source 1
Source 2
Source 3
Source 4
Source 5
Source 6
Of course, the more you research the more information you gather, the more possibilities
will reveal themselves.
