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a minimum number, but if not, use 10-12 as the minimum sources to use in your paper and 20 as an upper limit). Don't forget to check the works cited page in those assigned readings that relate to the paper assignment, too. There might be good information in those sources that will help you with your work, and you can search for them by author and title. Scholarly book reviews (those that appear in refereed journals) can be useful in giving you information about a book that you can use in your paper.

This is a quick and easy way to Restrict, or focus, your question to one that is narrow enough to complete in one night, but thorough enough to get you a passing grade! You need to limit the amount of reading you need to do in one night.

Once you have narrowed the question or topic, you need to come up with your "guess" or hypothesis about the "answer" to the question, given what you know from class so far. This is your draft thesis. Once you write down the draft thesis, you have begun your paper! And, you haven't even read your first new article yet.

Just remember, as you do read, you will want to continuously check and revise your draft thesis. Your sources might provide a different answer than what you at first expect!

2.) Quick Reading Strategies: From Summary to Critique

You don't have enough time to read whole books or even twenty complete articles if you really have only one night to complete your paper. So, refill that coffee pot and let's get going on ways to quicken the reading process. As you read, you will be looking for evidence, data, scholarly arguments, and quotes that support your draft thesis. If the information seems not to support it, keep that as well-either to argue against it using other illustrations, or if you need to revise your thesis. All of this information, both in favor and against, is part of your "I," Illustrations.

All reading for research is a form of data mining. You are searching through a lot of extra material to find certain gems of information. First, there are all of the journals and articles and books in the field. That is why you needed to restrict or narrow the question, to limit how many articles and books relate to your paper. Then, there is the few pieces of information in each article of book on your list that you really need. That is the "mining" part-you will have to dig them up quickly and have them ready to go for your paper.

Start up the computer while you get ready to read your sources, and open a file for your draft

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