The I-Search Paper: Revised Edition of Searching Writing

by Ken Macrorie

This revised and retitled edition of Searching Writing includes two additional I-Search papers, one by a teacher, and a new chapter entitled "The Larger Context," which shows how the I Search concept can work throughout the whole curriculum in school and college. As with the first edition, The I-Search Paper is more than just a textbook; it's a new form of instructional help -- a context book -- that shows students what authority is in matters of learning and invites them to join the author and teacher in the educational movement called "Writing to Learn." To put this book in the hands of all the students in the course is not only to help them carry out an I-Search but to introduce them in a delightful way to the resources and tools of intellectual inquiry -- but one that never forgets the emotional or physical side of human activity. This is a rare textbook that treats students as partners in learning. It shows what it is to take charge of one's own learning and suggests that this move is one that productive people keep making throughout their lives.

Genres: Writing, Nonfiction, Teaching

359 pages, Paperback

First published July 11, 1988

Reviews

[Serdar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Specialized but fascinating companion work of a sorts to Macrorie's outstanding "Telling Writing" (for my money the best book I've yet read on becoming a better writer). That book was about the words; this book is, more or less, about mining one's lived experience and worldly resources to produce the words. You don't have to follow it front-to-back to get a lot out of it; you can dive in at random and come up with pearls every time.

[Karen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Okay, I'll confess that I didn't finish reading this book, because it was so repetitive that I just couldn't handle it any more. But I certainly got the gist -- one couldn't avoid getting the gist, given that repetition -- and it's a fine one. Macrorie was important in 1988 (when this was published) for saying that the researcher him or herself matters and that we should investigate things we are invested in. Totally with him there. But I differ with him in that he's apparently happy to get poorly written and boring essays from his students, at least according to the student samples he includes. Let's take this idea of student choice and personal investment in research and then show the students how to craft well-written essays!

[Rebecca Caufman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Information presented on the I-Search Research Process prompted me to read this text. Although some of the discussion on libraries is outdated it was and interesting read to fully understand how Dr. Macrorie envisioned this research method to go.

[Davis Smith · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love his critiques of "academic-ese" and his vision of what good writing should look like, but his rejection of the classical essay goes way too far for me.

[Rachel · Rating 2 out of 5]

*This book has a 2.5 star rating!!!

This book presents a "new" theory of research that was developed in the 1980s-the I-search paper. While most research papers focus on presenting a thesis and proving it via the use of researched facts, I-search papers focus more on the journey of researching. I-search papers allow you to use 1st person and to divide your paper into sections, such as how you got interested in the topic and the challenges that you faced during the research process. I-searching also stresses the superiority of interivews to printed sources. This is definitely an interesting research theory that should not be ignored. While it is important to know how to write traditional research papers, because that is what is required in the academic world, it is also important to do I-searching because it is more satisfying, and it enables you to become more invested in your research.