Overview
In order to prepare to write your final essay for this class, which is a feature story for our class publication Distilling Lexington, you will need to conduct research–whether that means visiting several distilleries, bars, restaurants; reading additional articles, essays, listening to podcasts; conducting original interviews, or some other method.
The Basics
By 11/27 you will have conducted research and authored 250-500 word annotations of that research. You will create an editable Google document to be shared with Dr. Fernheimer, following this naming convention. WRD225_ResearchAnnotations_Yourfirstnamelastinitial.
Each Annotation should include a full citation, and 250-500 word summary of what you learned from reading the essay, conducting the interview, visiting the space and how what you learned will feed into your final essay.
The Rationale
Learning how to conduct strong research is one of the most important and transferrable skills you can acquire as a college student. Being able to go beyond “Googling” to dig deep will serve you well in this and your other classes, as well in the professional world after you graduate. Of course, research can come in many forms. If you are conducting interviews, I want you to turn in the full list of questions you develop for each interviewee. If you are conducting “field research,” by visiting pubs, bars breweries, distilleries, chocolate shops, I expect you to include your “field notes” as well.
Tips for Getting Started
Identify the type of research you hope to conduct–scholarly, historical , field-based (visiting and observing), interviewing, something else?
Prepare yourself–identify strong keywords for scholarly searches (reach out the librarians or Dr. Jan for help if you need). Develop strong interview questions and identify a broad sample of interviewees to build your knowledge base and expertise. Select a variety of places to visit and make your observations and create a template for yourself of the types of things you hope to pay attention to/learn about.