Topics>>>Questions

Start with a topic—skim for coverage

List aspects and characteristics of the topic

—What matters?

Move from a broad topic to focused topic

Broad to Focused

• Anthropocene>>concept of posthumanism in the Anthropocene
• Climate change and weather>>changing ontological relationship between humans and weather events
• Science fiction & anthropocene>>concept of trauma and loss in anthropocene science fiction

Narrow to Statments

• Posthumanism is a key feature of anthropocene literature.
• Weather events and the human relationship to weather events are evolving and require analysis.
• Because of the nature of climate change and a collectively-felt anthropocene, trauma and loss feature prominently in any discussion of eco-science fiction.

Remember our discussion of how a map gets its meaning? 

Start googling

See what others are saying

Think about why it matters

ADD INDIRECT QUESTIONS

I am studying _______ because I want to find out _______.

I am studying trauma and loss in dystopian films because I want to examine how grief, when collectively felt, alters our relationships to each other.

Add Motivating Questions

I am studying trauma and loss in dystopian eco-science fictions

         (indirect) because I want to examine how grief, when                   collectively felt, alters our relationships to each other

                  (motivating) in order to discuss how grief and trauma can be used in the Anthropocene to affect change in our relationship to climate and environment.

I am studying premonitions and the role of prophecy in Find Me

         (indirect) because I want to explore how the past, as represented in a future-oriented force in the novel, acts as an imprint on the present

                  (motivating) in order to discuss how attachment to an object (the past), utilizing Object-Oriented Ontology as a background guide, might fracture our sense of identity and predict our becoming in the future.

I am studying feminist ecocriticism and climate collapse in Mad Max: Fury Road

         (indirect) because I want to understand inaction in response to climate change on a societal level

                  (motivating) in order to examine how we might use the lessons of failures to respond to craft a theory of increasing personal engagement with climate action.

Topic
Indirect
Motivating