Revising and Appraising

I have decided to try t ocreate a mini survey to hand out to a select group of the population, most likely a certain age bracket from 19-25. This will be a group that was old enough to understand the seriousness of 9/11 and could comprehend the events and new sources since that time. Since I believe after 9/11, bias against Muslims have increased, I hope that my survey presents my information accurately, but I am up for surprises. Although this is Midland, a conservative bubble, we will have some independent thinkers and a lot of foreigners drawn to this town. I hope this survey will interest my readers and hopefully motivate me to continue revising my draft, it needs a lot of help!

After seeing my argument essay grade, I have to agree with my teacher about my organization. The thing is, I was being encouraged to add more information and although it didnt feel right, I did it so that my audience or anyone reading it would be well informed. However, it just made my letter longer and obviously went over information my real audience (Imam) already knew. I don't believe I will send it in now, not because I didnt get a perfect grade, but because I dont think my letter would really make a difference.  Maybe if my research paper is very strong, I could send them both together, after clearing up my letter.

Less Creativity

I feel like I might not be as interested in this piece, as I was in our argumentative letter. I am still somewhat pursuing the same subject, and while it is still intriguing, I feel like I would have had more concentration with a new direction. I am more of a creative writer, and research essays are typically easy but boring for me.

I do not mind writing in a certain format, but I like to use more opinion than sources and it is hard finding credible sources on my topic. Research is relatively easy, and I have done these types of papers before in high school. My English 111 class did many different types of papers, mostly all creative, with the students being able to choose our subject. Is English 112 more focused on formats and structural papers? If so, I might be even more disengaged after this paper. I would like to write something that I can let just flow out of me, and not have to check every minute to make sure I cite something.

Research and Me

I usually enjoy research papers, because I like looking at a certain issue or topic and discovering key points about it and I also like trying to make my paper as interesting as possible. If I was just curious about one thing, I would most likely enter it into Google, find out my answer, and really not even check my facts or sources. With a research paper though, I am careful about naming my sources, verifying them, and comparing and contrasting my information.

I would like to go into the field of journalism, which I think has helped me with being comfortable citing sources and helping me find legitimate sources. In journalism you have to be careful with information you present to the public, or else you could get sued for libel. The things I have trouble with writing research papers is presenting too much information (how much is enough for the reader?) and writing down sources correctly until I can put them in the proper format and create a bibliography. I try to look at a couple dozen sites for papers, to get as much of a stance on my topic as possible, and it is difficult to remember each website I have been to, what information I got from it, and whether I should cite it.

My Argument Analysis

I am proud of this piece because I know how many hours I spent reading and rereading and staring at the computer screen. I put a lot of time into it, and I think it paid off, even if it is not as polished as I would like. I could probably spend a couple more hours with my letter, because I feel that my audience is someone important who I would want to impress, and my tone and subject would have to interest him instantly and have an appropriate message.

I struggled the most with my use of commas and, as I like to put it, "extras". I can be a bit too descriptive sometimes, most likely because I like to write nonfiction in different genres, and sometimes professional pieces can be a bit too limiting for me. I feel like I did my best to make it a simple and direct letter, with an organized message. I am a bit anxious to hear my grade, I did spend so much time on this, and I have to wonder if it shows.

I am surprised with myself for really trying to get great information and different points of view in this paper, I researched everything to do with my subject, and it really helped me form my own opinion and create my paper. In the future, I plan on continuing with an outline and sticking to my organization.

Final Frustration

As I began to really edit and revise, I ended up cutting a lot of the adjectives out of my essay, as I felt they were unnecessary and just took up to much space. I went through a few different times to cite my sources, make sure they seemed truthful and realistic. I felt like my revising process for this class has been very motivated so far, I usually don't have too much to change for a final draft. I think I was more nervous about this letter, however, because I have been encouraged to send it in, and while it may be fine for class, I am still a bit nervous about sending it to the Imam, because he is an entirely new audience with a different perspective. I typically do not like revising, I am more of a freewriter, where I have a strong reaction to what I first write and rarely change it. But my goal in this class is to become more comfortable with editing and having people who probably dont care at all about my paper read it and try to utilize their feedback. I still feel that I am better off in the revising process myself, I am the best judge of how I want my letter to read and look, and what information to present.