#5 - BBG Ch. 5

Identifying my topic is a subject that I didn't realize was difficult for me. I get sidetracked easily and either go on a tangent about my topic or end up talking about a different topic halfway through my paper. I think that picking one thing and sticking with it throughout the paper will make it much easier to follow. I could reread my paper after every paragraph and ask myself, "what is my main topic?" If a reader cannot pull out a specific topic, I haven't done my job as a writer.

Another subject that stood out was doing research. I liked how they talked about how you can use casual sources to find a topic in the preliminary stages of research. You don't have to use them for your final work, but it's hard to get down to a topic if you're not interested in it. I agree with using people's opinions to influence your own opinion as long as you can find significant evidence and facts that support their opinion. Opinions could be just as useful as facts and figures.