Using Lamott's essay "Hunger" as a point of departure, do some research and write an essay defining the nature and origins of eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia. What social, psychological, or chemical factors can lead to an eating disorder? what solutions have worked in helping people recover from their eating disorders? at least one Scholar research. I really don't know how to start my outline with Anorexia.

1 answer

For a paper like this, you cannot start an outline until you do most or all of our research. And before you research, you should decide how you're going to focus your paper. Whole books have been written on this topic, so you know you'll have to scale your topic way down ... unless you plan to write a book!!
http://www.google.com/search?rlz=1C1GGGE_enUS379US379&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8&q=how+to+focus+a+research+topic

I'd focus on these search terms:
~~ eating disorders origins define
~~ anorexia social factors
~~ anorexia psychological factors
~~ anorexia chemical factors
~~ anorexia solutions
(Substitute one eating disorder for the word "anorexia" in these search terms if you will focus on something besides anorexia.)

For researching:
You may have to search and research, but once you learn some good sources and methods, you should have success. In addition to searching on the Internet, you also need to make best friends with the reference librarian(s) in your local or college library. Libraries these days subscribe to enormous research databases, and they are often more useful than Internet searches. Ask your librarian if you have access to EBSCOHost -- it has several databases within it, including a huge one for academic research.

For Internet searching:
http://hanlib.sou.edu/searchtools/
At this webpage, you can go immediately to the search sites (first three columns across the top) -- or even better you can scroll down until you see the section called HOW TO SEARCH THE INTERNET. Those are the links to start with. You'll not only learn how to come up with good search terms, but also how to evaluate the webpages you get as results. Some will be good and others will be garbage. You need to know how to tell the difference.

My favorite way to search is to go to Google's advanced search page http://www.google.com/advanced_search?hl=en and put my search words or phrases into the first or second search box (either "all the words" or "exact phrase"). Another is to start out at http://scholar.google.com However, there many other strategies for searching you can use, and the HOW TO SEARCH THE INTERNET section will help you best.

Learning to use Google or other search engines can save you time and help you learn to find information efficiently. Here are some websites that can teach you how:

http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/Internet/FindInfo.html

http://hanlib.sou.edu/searchtools/searchtips.html

http://www.pandia.com/goalgetter/index.html

http://websearch.about.com/mbody.htm?once=true&COB=home&PM=112_100_T

... and one to help you judge whether a particular website's information is worth your time:

http://hanlib.sou.edu/searchtools/evaluate.html

For planning and writing the paper:<b/>
Follow the writing process, whether you're writing for science, history, English, or whatever:

Prewriting: Brainstorm, research, plan, outline, thesis statement

Writing: Write first draft by starting with section II of your outline; write the introduction after the body of the paper is written; write the conclusion last.

Polishing: Revise, concentrating first on the body of the paper, then the intro, then the concl (revision = making sure ideas are logical and sequential and support your thesis); proofread (spelling, grammar, usage, etc.)

Do you have a thesis yet? Have you done your brainstorming (and maybe research) yet? Have you written an outline?

http://leo.stcloudstate.edu/catalogue.html#org
from http://leo.stcloudstate.edu/catalogue.html

http://www.angelfire.com/wi/writingprocess/

http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/
Check in the Essay & Research Paper Level.