Down the rabbit hole

Yesterday one of my students came to my office hours to discuss the analytical research essay we’ve spent the past month or so working on. “I’ve fallen down a rabbit hole,” he remarked as he sat down and pulled out his laptop. “I hope that’s okay.”

I had to stifle a chuckle. “Falling down a rabbit hole” is exactly what I want my students to do when they are working on a research project. When students ask me what I’m looking for in their written work, I typically say I want them to follow their curiosity, then surprise me with what they find.

A good research project allows you to follow your curiosity–and your research–as it moves in directions you hadn’t envisioned. The research, in other words, takes a life of its own, and it’s your job to follow wherever it leads.

A good research project should give you a long enough leash to seek out multiple rabbit holes, and a good writing instructor will step aside as you dive into the rabbit hole that interests you the most.