It’s easy to write a convincing paragraph or two when you have

done a little bit of research. All the facts add up, and you can confidently say that soybeans are the fuel of the future, Franklin Delano Roosevelt was the best president ever, or the painter Salvador Dali was a Surrealist. It feels good to be one hundred percent certain. In this Research Fantasy World, your confidence and expertise grow as you accumulate note cards and page numbers, you achieve a sense of clear confidence in your subject matter, and high grades appear on your papers. On the other hand, if you feel like tearing your hair out over a research project, you have moved past Research Fantasy World into Research Reality. In this version of research, you will often feel stranded at a point of utter confusion. Although it may not seem like a joyful moment, take a second to cheer, or to strike a silent victory stance if you’re in the library. If you are facing what seems like an immovable research roadblock, you have just encountered

a necessary building block for a good research project.