Alfred the Great: A Research Journey, Part 1
One of the most difficult things about my Masters degree program wasn’t the fact that I had to write papers, it was the fact that I had to write papers about a topic I chose. It always begged the question, “What do I write about?” There are millions of things I can choose from, which is really quite frightening when I think about it. I have a finite time to decide on and research this topic, but even more nerve-racking is the fact that I have to find a topic that hasn’t already been written about. Here’s the good thing: I can write about the most obscure or interesting fact regarding a topic. Okay, so first thing’s first: I have to come up with a question that will be answered or a statement that will provide evidence (a thesis). It’ll need to be broken down into its parts: Introduction, question/statement, evidence, evidence, evidence (etc), conclusion. From this point of view it doesn’t seem too frightening, until you realize that it has to span 24 pages.... Backing it up,...