Article: A central component of any story is a character's emotional drive. Few emotions are more compelling than fear. Sit down and create a list of five things that you fear. (Don't think too hard about it. Just take out a pen and write.) See if you can imagine a character sharing this emotional experience, and think about how it could shape their story. Another tried-and-true approach to crafting a story idea is to take something from your own life. Think about moments in your life which contained a high-level of emotional intensity: When have you had the most fun, been the most heartbroken, or experienced the most anger? When you have you learned an important lesson? When has an experience changed you? You can always dramatize and/or spice up your story, but looking back over your life can give you a nice jumping off point. A classic source of story inspiration is the news. Open up a newspaper, turn on the TV, or go online to your favorite news source. Some papers may even have a section for humorous or outlandish news stories, and these may be an excellent place to start. One of the best sources of inspiration is the people around you! Go to a crowded place (a park, a restaurant, a bar) and just listen in to people talking. (It may help to pretend to be reading a book, or put earbuds in without music). Regular people often say the funniest and interesting things. Allow something you hear to spark an idea for your story. " Another great place to find story ideas is the "missed connections" tab on Craigslist. This is a section where people try to connect with random people they have met in the world. In some cases, these stories are ripe with story potential. Take some time to read these over and see if anything sparks.
Question: What is a summary of what this article is about?
Make a list of five things you're afraid of. Use a story from your life. Look for inspiration in the news. Eavesdrop. Read some "missed connections.
Article: You can access Google Scholar through http://scholar.google.com. In countries other than the United States, search for "Google Scholar" to get your local page. Through this search page, you can look through numerous journals, theses, abstracts, and articles covering a wide range of disciplines. Use advanced search options to get the best results. You likely won't have the same success if you use key words or plain language searches like you would on any other internet search engine. Your results will be a list of citations in order of relevance. Be sure to check the dates, since3 they won't be ordered chronologically. Click a result to get publication information. If it's available, you can view the full text free of charge. The Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) provides a number of scholarly journal articles that you can access free of charge. The DOAJ includes scientific and academic journals covering a variety of fields, and written in many languages. All of the articles on the DOAJ are completely open access, meaning you can read or print the full text of the articles free of charge. There are numerous scholarly search engines that are focused on a particular discipline, such as science or history. The results you find may allow you to read the full text of articles for free, or read an abstract and pay to download the full text. For example, if you're doing a science research project, you might look for articles on SciSeek or SciCentral. You can search for these websites online, or ask a college professor or research librarian for some recommendations. If you know the name of a prominent professor in the discipline you're researching, you may be able to find copies of their work on their own website or university profile. Most professors have a list of all of their publications. Depending on the policy of the publisher, they also may have PDF or online copies of the article available on their own website for you to read or download. Pages operated by national governments, as well as legislative or parliamentary websites, are great sources of primary documents, such as laws and policy papers. Many governmental departments also publish scholarly, peer-reviewed articles. For example, the National Institutes of Health in the United States hosts PubMed, which provides abstracts and full text of scholarly articles, many of them free of charge. Governmental commissions and committees also may have reliable documents used in drafting and amending legislation, such as position papers and statistical analysis. In addition to using these as sources themselves, you can dig through the citations in those documents to find scholarly articles that may be relevant to your project. Many international or non-governmental organizations, such as the United Nations, produce scholarly research as well. These reports often are available for free, or at a relatively limited cost. Before you use a paper written for a non-governmental or nonprofit organization, make sure you understand the mission, purpose, and agenda of the organization itself. While many of these papers will be well-referenced and reliable, some may be slanted towards a particular viewpoint or position.
Question: What is a summary of what this article is about?
Try Google Scholar. Visit the DOAJ. Use discipline-specific search engines. Check out the websites of individual academics. Search government pages. Find articles from international or non-governmental organizations.
Article: Either method will work for germinating sunflowers for planting, but you can also use the traditional plant germinating method that follows. Sunflowers are notoriously difficult to get to grow straight in their final location and are a favorite snack for birds. Sprouting them before planting might improve your chances of keeping them alive. Mist several paper towels in water with a bit of plant food mixed in. The towels should be wet but not soaked and difficult to handle. Place a couple of seeds in the towel with space between them and fold the paper towel up so that they are covered. Give the paper towel a few more drops of water and place it in a resealable plastic bag (such as a Zip-loc bag). Seal it most of the way, with just a small, ~1" gap at the center. Set the bag in the sunlight and give the seeds time to germinate. Plant when they have sprouted, making sure to place them in soil with a pH between 6.5 and 7. Sunflowers need full sunlight to grow. Consider planting them along a fence or your house, or behind some sturdy trees, to shield them from the wind. Keep in mind that sunflowers planted in pots will not grow as big as sunflowers planted in the ground. Sunflowers are draught-tolerant, but you should ensure they get plenty of water while they establish their roots. They can also survive in wet, humid weather, but you will need to make sure they are planted in well-draining soil, like a sand or loam mixture.
Question: What is a summary of what this article is about?
Consider sprouting or growing greens. Soak some paper towels. Place seeds in the towel. Place the paper towel in a plastic bag. Set in the sunlight. Plant when they are ready.