Week 11: Narrative

This week, we began discussing our personal narrative paper. We said that narratives are "stories used to prove points or show ideas". The narrative paper you will write will be exactly that.

Narratives are used in many ways every day. They are used as evidence in court cases, details in business reports, reflections for professional portfolios, support for "teachable" moments, and for many other purposes. 

To provide you with some practice creating narratives, please complete the following:

1. Choose one of the topic sentences below, finish the sentence, and write a paragraph telling a story that supports/develops that sentence's idea.

• A time when I learned that it is best to laugh at yourself was when...
• A moment that changed my life was...
• Hard work payed off when I...
• My interest in (insert your major here) began when I...

Week 10: Reflecting on the Response Paper

By now, you have probably figured out that a vital part of learning is reflecting on what you have done and where you have been. This "thinking about your thinking" creates opportunities to test out your thinking and your methods to see what worked and what needs improving.

As you wrap up writing the response paper, it's a perfect time to reflect on the process and consider what worked well for you and what you would like to improve or revise in your writing process next time you write a research project.

In your comment, please respond to the following:

1. What skills or techniques helped you research your topic and/or write your paper? How do you know these skills or techniques helped your project be more successful?
2. What would you like to improve about your process for writing a research paper? Would you revise anything about the process?
3. What did you learn about your topic as a result of this process? What did you learn about researching/writing as a part of completing this project?

Week 9: Compare and Contrast

Now that you have sources that should help you answer your research question, it's time to figure out how your different answers will work together to form a single, unified paper.

To accomplish this, you can compare or contrast the answers. To do so, look for points of focus--in other words, points where the sources are either similar or different--and use these points to evaluate the logic of the answers to determine which answer or answers make the most sense to you.

For example, if you were searching for a new car, you would look at various cars in the price range you can afford. Then, once you have made a list of possible vehicles, you would look at points of focus to determine what vehicle is best for you. These points of focus may include gas mileage, features, warranties, and customer ratings.

Re-read chapter 10 if you have any questions about how to develop and organize a compare/contrast analysis. Pay close attention to the section on how to organize using block or alternating formats.

With this in mind, please answer the following in your comment:

1. Looking at your sources, what might you use as points of focus to compare/contrast their ideas?
2. Based on these points of focus, do your sources answer your question in similar ways, or are there major differences in the answers?
3. In our class "model paper" on the slasher film, we organized our ideas in the block format, which organizes the ideas around the objects being compared/contrasted. We did this so that we could show the benefits and, more importantly, the weaknesses of Dika and Clover's thoughts on slasher victims so that we could show why Creed's abject theory was the "best" answer in the end. Another way to organize a compare/contrast is the alternating format, which organizes the thoughts around the points of focus (see chapter 10 for more on this). Given your research question and the answers you're finding in your sources, which organizing principle do you think you should use for your draft? Why?

Week 8: Locating Research

This week, we focused on strategies for effective research. We discussed the importance of research questions in guiding our work. We also laid out the four steps for writing a research paper: prewriting, locating sources, evaluating sources, and drafting/revising.

A key factor in locating sources is using time efficiently. Once again, utilizing a method becomes vital to succeeding at this goal. Having a method to use each time we write provides a roadmap for more efficient and effective experiences. As we use the method, we can revise our steps and tinker as needed without having to "reinvent the wheel" for each new writing assignment. This method should cut down the time we need to spend researching because we won't waste time closely reading materials that won't help us directly answer our research question.

With this in mind, answer the following in your comment this blog:

1. What is the research question you have written for your response paper?
2. Based on your research question, where did you search for possible sources? What keywords did you use to search? Did you have to modify your search terms?
   
3. Were you able to use the time-saving techniques discussed in class (titles, table of contents, indexes, abstracts, graphic highlights, section titles, introductions, conclusions, topic sentences)? Specifically describe two time-saving techniques you used and how they helped or why they didn't work for you. 

Week 7: Reading

This week, you read about a number of strategies for more effective reading. In class, we focused on and practiced one such method--annotation.

We said in class that the key to effective annotation is to think of it like conversing with the author. Hence, you are responding to the text the way you would in a face-to-face discussion. This is especially helpful in research situations, as the author's ideas can help you answer your research question. 

A way to visualize this is to think of your sources as people discussing your topic over dinner. You ask each the same question (your research question), and they then respond with answers (the sources). Not all of the answers will be the same. Often, you will have to decide which answers make sense to you and which you find problematic. In doing so, you should be able to develop what you see as YOUR answer.

Your paper then becomes your response to these people. Annotation is the first step; it allows you to start forming your response to each source and, hence, how each source can be used in your paper.

With this in mind, please answer the following in your comment:

1. What reading method(s) have you used to comprehend and use complex texts (books, articles, essays, websites, etc.) in the past? Have they been effective? Why or why not?
2. In your past experiences, what have you found challenging about incorporating research into your writing?
3. How did using annotation in class make reading complex material easier for you? What did you difficult about using this method?