A Symphony of Synonyms
Let's examine our research question again.
Step 1: Pick out the important words and phrases that describe the topic (boxed words above). Ignore common words that don't have a lot of meaning, such as prepositions, articles, and adjectives (words in red above).
By re-reading the assignment carefully, we know that Lily has to analyze an environmental problem, and identify and discuss at least two proposed solutions.
Step 2: Now think of synonyms or other related words for the keywords boxed above and write them down. Synonyms are necessary because you'll often need to search for different words relating to the same concept. Look over the example below.
| Keywords | Synonyms |
|---|---|
| factory farmed meats | factory farms, farmers, cattlemen, cattle, meat, beef, poultry |
| greenhouse gas emissions | pollution, air pollution, carbon pollution, carbon dioxide, carbon, methane |
| global warming | climate change, greenhouse effect, atmosphere |