Before Virgil could guide Dante Pilgrim through Hell, Virgil had to learn about the lower levels of Hell itself.

• To be a worthy guide, Virgil had to have advance knowledge of the terrible territory Dante Pilgrim would be seeing for the first time.

Gaining this advance knowledge was research.

The Research Challenge for writers at Hypatia's Keep is to:

• gain the knowledge they need to be effective guides to their target audiences.

The writer's researching can be:

• primary research—like in Virgil's case (above), or
• secondary research.

Many writers have found it useful to visit the locales listed below—before venturing to Hypatia's Keep:

• The Geyser of Good Hope
• The Dunes of Discovery

1. Familiarize yourself with the content of this webpage and its linked webpages.
2. Write a 300-500 word reflective essay in which you explore how you might use some of that information in three different contexts:
• when you are writing,
• when you are interacting with classmates, and
• when you are reading a text composed by a non-student writer.
3. Submit that essay to your instructor.