Overall:
I felt overall for my paper that I did the best I could have in the time I had allowed for me and with the resources and knowledge I had known before the research paper. I feel though after seeing my paper and also thinking about it at times throughout the break what I could have done differently was try and find a perfect structure to my paper as I still feel, even after the paper, that the structure I chose for my paper could have been changed or improved to make it seem like a better and well written essay. I learned through this research paper process that it takes a long time and a lot of hard work to write a 14 page paper. When I was first given this assignment I honestly thought it was not going to be impossible like I had thought my freshman year when I was assigned a research paper. But looking back and remembering how I felt about the writing process for my research paper, I wish I had spent more time writing and perfecting my paper rather than trying to just get the paper or parts of the paper done on time. I should have definitely just written my paper ahead of time and left time for re-doing or editing my paper if I did not like how it looked or sounded. But now that the research paper is over, I feel quite relieved that all the stress from the research paper is gone. The only big writing assignments are not from two classes anymore but rather from one other class. Also, the other smaller writing assignments that are available for the rest of my English Junior year will allow me to grow more in my writing and improve more with the smaller assignments and use my mistakes from my research paper to help improve my smaller essays.
Strong Points:
I felt that I did well with a majority of my sentence fluency and ideas in my essay. I also felt that I was able to not use as many to be verbs and my word choice was right on top for this essay. As I did not use any cliche or slang in this essay. I also did really well with the voice in my paper as it sounded sophisticated and mature as well as grammatically correct. I also felt that I did, overall, a good job with my content for my essay as I had all my ideas shown and written down and had packed a lot of information about each of my quotes and gave a fairly good analysis for a bunch of my quotes.
Improvements:
The areas I could have improved on in this paper could be my organization as my teacher did mention that she still could not understand or comprehend some areas of my paper. She especially showed in the third chapter that it was much harder for her to understand logically what this chapter was about and that my sentences and overall chapter did not flow logically for her. I could have also improved in my MLA as I lost many smaller little points from MLA mistakes. I also could have written a better thesis and introductory sentences as they were either really broad or too narrow. Overall, I need to work on for my future essays with organization throughout my whole paper so it makes sense logically to others rather than just myself.
Advice:
The advice I would give to next year's Juniors would be to not procrastinate or let the small mistakes go as you go through the process of writing this paper. After looking through my paper after not seeing it for two weeks, I noticed that a lot of my mistakes were little mistakes that cost me a lot of points and a couple of bigger mistakes, which I understand why cost me my other half of my points lost for this assignment. I would also suggest trying to get ahead with this project and allowing a lot of time in the end for lots of editing or rewriting as you only get a little bit of time after mid-winter break to fully write and edit your paper altogether. And from all of my advice, it seems fair to say that I definitely wished that I had given myself more time to edit and write my paper ahead of time so that I could work on my bigger areas of weakness for me and fix the smaller mistakes in the end. But this research paper is now done and all I can do is just learn from my mistakes and use these mistakes as a guide to not making the same mistakes again.
As this is my last post on this blog, I am now finally done.
Until Next Year,
Zain
Friday, April 18, 2014
Tuesday, March 25, 2014
Week Ten
Goals:
My goals this week was to completely finish the research paper. By finishing my research paper, that meant that I needed to finish editing my paper as well as make sure it fits and follows the rules and guidelines in the research paper rubric. My goals for this week was completed and my goals for this week now is to relax and finish all my other homework off. My goals for this week:
Monday:
Turn in Research Paper by 8:00 am
Tuesday-Friday:
Do other homework & feel happy about finishing the research paper
Activities:
Last week and last weekend I spent all of my time working on perfecting my research paper. As by Friday, I had only done and finished my rough draft for my research paper and did not even have my conclusion and introduction done. I did not even start editing my paper until Saturday night, but it was a tedious process. I was lucky to have all of Sunday and half of Saturday to finish writing my conclusion and introduction as well as then correct the rest of my paper.
Problems:
I faced a lot of problems with editing for my paper. By the time I had completely finished my paper without editing, I had a total of 17 pages not including my works cited. But the rubric stated that I was only allowed to have 14 pages maximum or else I would have some points deducted from my research paper grade. So all of Sunday morning I spent editing my paper completely. By around Sunday afternoon I had 15 pages, but I still needed to have my paper down to 14 pages. So I had help from my tutor that afternoon to help me cut my paper as well as fix my organization and flow of ideas as well as fix the major grammatical errors I had. At around 8 pm on Sunday night my tutor and I were able to narrow it down to having it be 14 pages and 7 lines on the 15th page. This still was not enough, but we soon realized if we take out my transition paragraph before my conclusion I would fit the maximum page length, but unfortunately I was required to have the transition paragraph. Even though I personally thought that by having the transition paragraph before my conclusion made my paper seem a bit redundant and only made my paper a lot longer when I needed to have a shorter paper. At around 10 pm I was able to finally make it so that I had only 2 lines on the 15th page after trying to find redundant sentences. After one hour of sifting for one last sentence that was not needed or redundant I was able to finally get it at the page length I wanted. In general, my biggest problem with the editing process was getting it to be just perfect as well as fit the criteria for having a maximum of 14 pages. Overall, the research paper process was tedious at times and frustrating. But I did face many problems such as researching, when I was not able to find enough articles on my author on my theme or a theme that I liked. I also had some problems with finding time to write my essay while having other homework to finish as well as coming home late from lacrosse practices every night. Also I had some trouble finding a perfect outline or topic that full explains what I want to say but in the end after much help from my teacher and tutor I was finally able to finish my research paper that showcases what I want to say and show about my two books.
Reflection:
The research paper process/experience was quite tedious at times and quite rejuvenating at other times. Mainly, my process depended on the day or on how well I felt that I was getting things done. In the beginning I felt that my research paper process was off to a slow start but I knew what I wanted to do. But when it came time to researching, I felt that I was lost and confused on trying to find quotes that fit the theme I wanted to talk about. As my main themes for my three chapters were sort of similar together, it made it harder to find quotes that distinguished themselves from each other or find which ones would belong in each chapter. After turning in my outline, I felt sort of worried about writing my paper because I did not feel confident or have a clear sense of what direction my paper would take. I also felt that I was not completely understanding what my true themes and topics were. But when I started to write, I felt that I sort of had a somewhat clear mindset of what I wanted to write but it was still difficult to see because some of my paragraphs did not follow my topic sentences or chapter themes so I had to change them when writing my paragraphs. I also found that I did not have enough time to write or finish writing my paragraphs because I honestly did not feel concentrated or comfortable with writing in class. In general, I usually cannot write with other people around me so I had to rely on my weekends to have the time to write my paragraphs. Also, when it was the weekend to write my paragraphs for my rough draft, I found it hard to piece my ideas together with the short amount of time I had. But at the time it was either turn in what you have or get a zero and procrastinate more by trying to find better ideas on how to write my research paper. After that weekend past, I had to now deal with editing a 14 page paper without my intro and conclusion that made no sense to me. But after a week and weekend of meeting with my teacher and tutor I was able to finish writing my intro and conclusion and see what my true themes are that made sense to me. I also was able to find out how to edit it so that my teacher can see what my true topic of my paper is. Therefore, this process was a long and tedious and challenging process to me. But in the end I was able to persist with the help from my tutor and teacher and see what my paper theme would be and how to edit it so that it is easily readable and would get be a grade that shows my hard work. In general, I am glad that the research paper is now over and that I have completed the hardest project for English for my Junior year. All I have to do now is look forward to next year's research paper, but that is not for awhile, so I don't have to panic now. I can now just relax and enjoy the time I have now. But most importantly, I AM OFFICIALLY DONE WITH THE RESEARCH PAPER!!! (Well, until I get my grade back...and that is another story...)
Until next year's research paper,
Zain
My goals this week was to completely finish the research paper. By finishing my research paper, that meant that I needed to finish editing my paper as well as make sure it fits and follows the rules and guidelines in the research paper rubric. My goals for this week was completed and my goals for this week now is to relax and finish all my other homework off. My goals for this week:
Monday:
Turn in Research Paper by 8:00 am
Tuesday-Friday:
Do other homework & feel happy about finishing the research paper
Activities:
Last week and last weekend I spent all of my time working on perfecting my research paper. As by Friday, I had only done and finished my rough draft for my research paper and did not even have my conclusion and introduction done. I did not even start editing my paper until Saturday night, but it was a tedious process. I was lucky to have all of Sunday and half of Saturday to finish writing my conclusion and introduction as well as then correct the rest of my paper.
Problems:
I faced a lot of problems with editing for my paper. By the time I had completely finished my paper without editing, I had a total of 17 pages not including my works cited. But the rubric stated that I was only allowed to have 14 pages maximum or else I would have some points deducted from my research paper grade. So all of Sunday morning I spent editing my paper completely. By around Sunday afternoon I had 15 pages, but I still needed to have my paper down to 14 pages. So I had help from my tutor that afternoon to help me cut my paper as well as fix my organization and flow of ideas as well as fix the major grammatical errors I had. At around 8 pm on Sunday night my tutor and I were able to narrow it down to having it be 14 pages and 7 lines on the 15th page. This still was not enough, but we soon realized if we take out my transition paragraph before my conclusion I would fit the maximum page length, but unfortunately I was required to have the transition paragraph. Even though I personally thought that by having the transition paragraph before my conclusion made my paper seem a bit redundant and only made my paper a lot longer when I needed to have a shorter paper. At around 10 pm I was able to finally make it so that I had only 2 lines on the 15th page after trying to find redundant sentences. After one hour of sifting for one last sentence that was not needed or redundant I was able to finally get it at the page length I wanted. In general, my biggest problem with the editing process was getting it to be just perfect as well as fit the criteria for having a maximum of 14 pages. Overall, the research paper process was tedious at times and frustrating. But I did face many problems such as researching, when I was not able to find enough articles on my author on my theme or a theme that I liked. I also had some problems with finding time to write my essay while having other homework to finish as well as coming home late from lacrosse practices every night. Also I had some trouble finding a perfect outline or topic that full explains what I want to say but in the end after much help from my teacher and tutor I was finally able to finish my research paper that showcases what I want to say and show about my two books.
Reflection:
The research paper process/experience was quite tedious at times and quite rejuvenating at other times. Mainly, my process depended on the day or on how well I felt that I was getting things done. In the beginning I felt that my research paper process was off to a slow start but I knew what I wanted to do. But when it came time to researching, I felt that I was lost and confused on trying to find quotes that fit the theme I wanted to talk about. As my main themes for my three chapters were sort of similar together, it made it harder to find quotes that distinguished themselves from each other or find which ones would belong in each chapter. After turning in my outline, I felt sort of worried about writing my paper because I did not feel confident or have a clear sense of what direction my paper would take. I also felt that I was not completely understanding what my true themes and topics were. But when I started to write, I felt that I sort of had a somewhat clear mindset of what I wanted to write but it was still difficult to see because some of my paragraphs did not follow my topic sentences or chapter themes so I had to change them when writing my paragraphs. I also found that I did not have enough time to write or finish writing my paragraphs because I honestly did not feel concentrated or comfortable with writing in class. In general, I usually cannot write with other people around me so I had to rely on my weekends to have the time to write my paragraphs. Also, when it was the weekend to write my paragraphs for my rough draft, I found it hard to piece my ideas together with the short amount of time I had. But at the time it was either turn in what you have or get a zero and procrastinate more by trying to find better ideas on how to write my research paper. After that weekend past, I had to now deal with editing a 14 page paper without my intro and conclusion that made no sense to me. But after a week and weekend of meeting with my teacher and tutor I was able to finish writing my intro and conclusion and see what my true themes are that made sense to me. I also was able to find out how to edit it so that my teacher can see what my true topic of my paper is. Therefore, this process was a long and tedious and challenging process to me. But in the end I was able to persist with the help from my tutor and teacher and see what my paper theme would be and how to edit it so that it is easily readable and would get be a grade that shows my hard work. In general, I am glad that the research paper is now over and that I have completed the hardest project for English for my Junior year. All I have to do now is look forward to next year's research paper, but that is not for awhile, so I don't have to panic now. I can now just relax and enjoy the time I have now. But most importantly, I AM OFFICIALLY DONE WITH THE RESEARCH PAPER!!! (Well, until I get my grade back...and that is another story...)
Until next year's research paper,
Zain
Sunday, March 16, 2014
Week Nine
Goals:
My goals of this week were to finish my rough draft for my research paper, excluding the introduction and conclusion. I also had in mind, to finish a paragraph each night as well so that I could finish my rough draft for my research paper. Next week, I hope to finish my research paper completely, and start editing my paper in the middle of next week. The schedule for this week looks like:
Sunday:
Finish writing my Chapter 1 and Chapter 3 paragraphs as well as transition paragraphs.
Monday:
Finish writing my Introduction and Conclusion paragraphs
Tuesday:
Finish writing my Introduction and Conclusion paragraphs
Wednesday:
Use my teacher's corrections from Chapter Two to correct my other Chapters' paragraphs
Thursday:
Meet with Sarah to fix prominent errors as well as big errors, and finish corrections that night
Friday:
Finish correcting my paper according to how I see it should be corrected and then see what Sarah or my tutor thinks
Saturday-Sunday:
Correct the whole paper according to what Sarah and my tutor think and do a last minute correction the night before
Activities:
This week was a very tiresome and busy week for myself as well as a stressful week. I had a lot on my mind and was stressed out because I had to write 5 paragraphs and transition paragraphs without my tutor there to help me. So I tried to do as much as I could but that did not work out so I was able to receive an extension but this meant that because I was going to be away for a Lacrosse game from Friday-Saturday, I would only have time to work on my paper on Sunday. I am currently trying to fit in time to work on my paper, as it seems to be working as I am at the point of trying to complete this assignment rather than trying to do it beautifully for right now. But, this week I was able to finish understanding what I am sort of writing about and re-visit some example research papers that did well on their structure and grammar to help me write my paper.
Problems:
I have had a lot of problems this week. Mainly dealing with time management as I have been coming home every day at 8:00 from practice and then staying up till 1:00 to study for tests and quizzes this week and doing other homework as well as try and find time to finish my essay when last weekend I had no time. As my tutor last weekend, did not show up to help me work on my research paper and understand what my teacher meant in her correction comments in my rough draft half last week. So I asked for an extension on Thursday and luckily my teacher understood my dilemma, but because I was going to be gone Friday-Saturday and then four hours of Sunday I would only have so much time to get my sleep, do my other homework, and finish my rough draft of my research paper. Also, that Saturday I had planned on meeting with my tutor to go over my teacher's comments and how to properly structure my paragraphs, unfortunately he did not show up as he is still in the hospital. But he promised me that if I can send it in sometime during the week he can look at it and we can look over it next weekend as well.
Reflection:
Overall, this week has been by far my worst week for my research paper mainly because I was not able to finish my research paper in the allotted time I was given and I am just beyond stressed with this project. I wish I had allotted time that was in chunks to work on my research paper rather than cramming in my work like I am doing today. But right now I am just focusing on just getting this writing for my paper done so that I can have all of next week and next weekend to edit as much as I can for this project and give it my all next week instead of mope about it like I did last Friday and Thursday. I felt my only goal I achieved this week was that I finished my outline and my Chapter 2 paragraphs that understand a more on what I am doing wrong and as well as what I am doing correctly. But for right now, I just need to focus on getting over the biggest hurdle in this research paper process and that is writing the research paper and then correcting all my mistakes rather than getting upset over them when I am writing my paper.
Until Next Time,
Zain
My goals of this week were to finish my rough draft for my research paper, excluding the introduction and conclusion. I also had in mind, to finish a paragraph each night as well so that I could finish my rough draft for my research paper. Next week, I hope to finish my research paper completely, and start editing my paper in the middle of next week. The schedule for this week looks like:
Sunday:
Finish writing my Chapter 1 and Chapter 3 paragraphs as well as transition paragraphs.
Monday:
Finish writing my Introduction and Conclusion paragraphs
Tuesday:
Finish writing my Introduction and Conclusion paragraphs
Wednesday:
Use my teacher's corrections from Chapter Two to correct my other Chapters' paragraphs
Thursday:
Meet with Sarah to fix prominent errors as well as big errors, and finish corrections that night
Friday:
Finish correcting my paper according to how I see it should be corrected and then see what Sarah or my tutor thinks
Saturday-Sunday:
Correct the whole paper according to what Sarah and my tutor think and do a last minute correction the night before
Activities:
This week was a very tiresome and busy week for myself as well as a stressful week. I had a lot on my mind and was stressed out because I had to write 5 paragraphs and transition paragraphs without my tutor there to help me. So I tried to do as much as I could but that did not work out so I was able to receive an extension but this meant that because I was going to be away for a Lacrosse game from Friday-Saturday, I would only have time to work on my paper on Sunday. I am currently trying to fit in time to work on my paper, as it seems to be working as I am at the point of trying to complete this assignment rather than trying to do it beautifully for right now. But, this week I was able to finish understanding what I am sort of writing about and re-visit some example research papers that did well on their structure and grammar to help me write my paper.
Problems:
I have had a lot of problems this week. Mainly dealing with time management as I have been coming home every day at 8:00 from practice and then staying up till 1:00 to study for tests and quizzes this week and doing other homework as well as try and find time to finish my essay when last weekend I had no time. As my tutor last weekend, did not show up to help me work on my research paper and understand what my teacher meant in her correction comments in my rough draft half last week. So I asked for an extension on Thursday and luckily my teacher understood my dilemma, but because I was going to be gone Friday-Saturday and then four hours of Sunday I would only have so much time to get my sleep, do my other homework, and finish my rough draft of my research paper. Also, that Saturday I had planned on meeting with my tutor to go over my teacher's comments and how to properly structure my paragraphs, unfortunately he did not show up as he is still in the hospital. But he promised me that if I can send it in sometime during the week he can look at it and we can look over it next weekend as well.
Reflection:
Overall, this week has been by far my worst week for my research paper mainly because I was not able to finish my research paper in the allotted time I was given and I am just beyond stressed with this project. I wish I had allotted time that was in chunks to work on my research paper rather than cramming in my work like I am doing today. But right now I am just focusing on just getting this writing for my paper done so that I can have all of next week and next weekend to edit as much as I can for this project and give it my all next week instead of mope about it like I did last Friday and Thursday. I felt my only goal I achieved this week was that I finished my outline and my Chapter 2 paragraphs that understand a more on what I am doing wrong and as well as what I am doing correctly. But for right now, I just need to focus on getting over the biggest hurdle in this research paper process and that is writing the research paper and then correcting all my mistakes rather than getting upset over them when I am writing my paper.
Until Next Time,
Zain
Saturday, March 8, 2014
Week Eight
Goals:
My goals for this week consisted of trying to finish up writing one of my chapters and starting my second chapter. I also planned on having my first chapter comments from my teacher done and edited by myself. But unfortunately, this week I was only able to finish writing my second chapter as my first chapter in the nick of time, but had not time to correct that chapter according to my teachers comments. But I am hoping with this week's schedule, I can successfully finish my three chapters and transition paragraphs. So my week for this week will show as:
Sunday:
Find two more suitable quotes for my first chapter and start and finish writing my first chapter.
Monday:
Start and finish writing my third chapter.
Tuesday:
Write my three transition paragraphs and edit my paper.
Wednesday:
During free block try to edit my paper.
Thursday:
In the morning, try to edit my paper and possibly start writing my introduction and conclusion paragraphs.
Friday:
I have no time because I have to go to a lacrosse game in Spokane, so I have an early dismissal at noon and the morning with not work out with writing or editing anything.
Activities:
This week was one hectic week and I am so glad to have written and finished my first chapter. As all throughout the weekend this week and Monday and Tuesday, I was worried about getting my chapter finished in time. I did not really feel as if making it perfect as possible was an option because lacrosse was starting up and teachers were slamming us with more work than usual because the quarter is coming to an end and we only have one more month till project week. Well, technically a couple weeks but despite the number of weeks till project week we are still being slammed with homework, especially SATs. But I hope for this next week to really hone on finishing my research paper and then leaving enough time to just go over my paper for editing. I am really worried about the editing portion of this assignment as that is something that I have trouble doing by myself and I need help with. So I hope from this project, that once I finish my paper by this next week I will have A LOT of time to learn how to edit my paper thoroughly and properly. Plus, I have gotten the research process of this paper done so I am more than half way done with this project which is something I quite glad about.
Problems:
This week has been quite a rocky and busy week for myself. As this week was the beginning of my lacrosse season so we had very late practices with lots of running. And then when I would come home I would not usually have the energy to sit down and finish my homework. But I made that decision so I accept full responsibility but I did not realize how much work goes into playing a sport at Overlake and the homework load I would have is greater than last year. But I was able to successfully get over the obstacle of finishing my second chapter in time and in the right page length despite the copious amounts of errors in my rough draft. But this shows that I need to find another approach to writing my next two chapters and also allows me to see how I can improve for my other two chapters. Unfortunately, I was approached with a problem Friday night after practice as I was sent to the E.R. because I could not bend my knee from lacrosse practice. This was a problem because I planned on starting and finishing one or two paragraphs for my research paper that night and studying a bit for my SAT test for Saturday. But because I could not bend my knee and my parents thought I might have torn a ligament in my knee we had to rush to the hospital to see what really happened to my knee. Thankfully, I just have tissue damage in my knee and it will take a week or so to heal but that did prove as a problem for wanting to start and finish some of my research paper paragraphs and not saving it for the last minute.
Reflection:
This week was considered to be one of my busiest weeks for the research paper. But it has not been a busy week because of the research paper, it is just busy because of the other homework I have had and also because spring sports has started and other activities have come into my life while I am trying to find time to finish writing a perfect research paper. Also this week served as an example of not waiting till the night before to write my second chapter rough draft. That night was one of my most stressful nights because over the weekend I was all frazzled with the SAT and I spent all of Friday, Saturday and half of Sunday studying for my SAT test. That by Sunday, I forgot that I had to write a chapter for Tuesday and on top of that I had Lacrosse starting on Monday which I forgot does not end till 6:30. As I usually get home at 7:00 because I live 30-45 minutes away from school, depending on traffic. But overall, this week I learned my lesson for not writing my chapter the night before. Which is why this week I have instilled the goal of trying to complete my other two chapters by Tuesday at the latest. As I have all of Sunday, Monday night and morning, and Tuesday night and morning to finish writing my paper. Then that leaves me Wednesday-Friday morning to edit as much as I can of my rough draft. But overall, I am glad to have faced these timing challenges this week and lack of time because this is helping me learn how to allot time to writing for my research paper and for studying for my SAT.
Until next time,
Zain
My goals for this week consisted of trying to finish up writing one of my chapters and starting my second chapter. I also planned on having my first chapter comments from my teacher done and edited by myself. But unfortunately, this week I was only able to finish writing my second chapter as my first chapter in the nick of time, but had not time to correct that chapter according to my teachers comments. But I am hoping with this week's schedule, I can successfully finish my three chapters and transition paragraphs. So my week for this week will show as:
Sunday:
Find two more suitable quotes for my first chapter and start and finish writing my first chapter.
Monday:
Start and finish writing my third chapter.
Tuesday:
Write my three transition paragraphs and edit my paper.
Wednesday:
During free block try to edit my paper.
Thursday:
In the morning, try to edit my paper and possibly start writing my introduction and conclusion paragraphs.
Friday:
I have no time because I have to go to a lacrosse game in Spokane, so I have an early dismissal at noon and the morning with not work out with writing or editing anything.
Activities:
This week was one hectic week and I am so glad to have written and finished my first chapter. As all throughout the weekend this week and Monday and Tuesday, I was worried about getting my chapter finished in time. I did not really feel as if making it perfect as possible was an option because lacrosse was starting up and teachers were slamming us with more work than usual because the quarter is coming to an end and we only have one more month till project week. Well, technically a couple weeks but despite the number of weeks till project week we are still being slammed with homework, especially SATs. But I hope for this next week to really hone on finishing my research paper and then leaving enough time to just go over my paper for editing. I am really worried about the editing portion of this assignment as that is something that I have trouble doing by myself and I need help with. So I hope from this project, that once I finish my paper by this next week I will have A LOT of time to learn how to edit my paper thoroughly and properly. Plus, I have gotten the research process of this paper done so I am more than half way done with this project which is something I quite glad about.
Problems:
This week has been quite a rocky and busy week for myself. As this week was the beginning of my lacrosse season so we had very late practices with lots of running. And then when I would come home I would not usually have the energy to sit down and finish my homework. But I made that decision so I accept full responsibility but I did not realize how much work goes into playing a sport at Overlake and the homework load I would have is greater than last year. But I was able to successfully get over the obstacle of finishing my second chapter in time and in the right page length despite the copious amounts of errors in my rough draft. But this shows that I need to find another approach to writing my next two chapters and also allows me to see how I can improve for my other two chapters. Unfortunately, I was approached with a problem Friday night after practice as I was sent to the E.R. because I could not bend my knee from lacrosse practice. This was a problem because I planned on starting and finishing one or two paragraphs for my research paper that night and studying a bit for my SAT test for Saturday. But because I could not bend my knee and my parents thought I might have torn a ligament in my knee we had to rush to the hospital to see what really happened to my knee. Thankfully, I just have tissue damage in my knee and it will take a week or so to heal but that did prove as a problem for wanting to start and finish some of my research paper paragraphs and not saving it for the last minute.
Reflection:
This week was considered to be one of my busiest weeks for the research paper. But it has not been a busy week because of the research paper, it is just busy because of the other homework I have had and also because spring sports has started and other activities have come into my life while I am trying to find time to finish writing a perfect research paper. Also this week served as an example of not waiting till the night before to write my second chapter rough draft. That night was one of my most stressful nights because over the weekend I was all frazzled with the SAT and I spent all of Friday, Saturday and half of Sunday studying for my SAT test. That by Sunday, I forgot that I had to write a chapter for Tuesday and on top of that I had Lacrosse starting on Monday which I forgot does not end till 6:30. As I usually get home at 7:00 because I live 30-45 minutes away from school, depending on traffic. But overall, this week I learned my lesson for not writing my chapter the night before. Which is why this week I have instilled the goal of trying to complete my other two chapters by Tuesday at the latest. As I have all of Sunday, Monday night and morning, and Tuesday night and morning to finish writing my paper. Then that leaves me Wednesday-Friday morning to edit as much as I can of my rough draft. But overall, I am glad to have faced these timing challenges this week and lack of time because this is helping me learn how to allot time to writing for my research paper and for studying for my SAT.
Until next time,
Zain
Sunday, March 2, 2014
Week Seven
Goals:
My research paper goal for this week was to finish correcting my final detailed outline mistakes as well as start writing my rough draft for my first chapter. I was able to correct my final detailed outline to the best of my abilities as well as with Sarah's comments, but starting the writing process has been quite a task because of the homework load and the time in class has been mainly spent on working on my outline. This means, unfortunately, I will have to cram in the writing for my rough draft of my final chapter for today since I do not have anytime on Monday. So my goals for this week will look a little better after Tuesday as I will have more time to work on my rough draft but for now it looks a little hectic. This week's schedule:
Today:
Start and finish writing Chapter 1 of my research paper. If I do not have time then finish the rest Monday morning.
Monday:
Finish my research paper Monday morning (before going to school).
Tuesday:
Tuesday morning polish up Chapter 1 research paper.
Wednesday:
During class, start writing my Chapter 2 paragraphs and try and get as much as I can done in class.
Thursday:
During class, start writing my Chapter 2 paragraphs and try and get as much as I can done in class.
Friday:
During class, start writing my Chapter 2 paragraphs and try and get as much as I can done in class.
Saturday-Sunday:
Finish writing Chapter 2 and start and finish Chapter 3 for my research paper.
Activities:
My goal for this week was to be able to start writing my rough draft for my research paper, but unfortunately I was insanely busy this week with SAT and homework from other classes that I only had time to correct my outline to make it as perfect as I wanted it to be. This meant that I only was able to accomplish half of my goals for this week, and now will leave me to cram in for my research paper. But I am happy with the time I have had to correct my outline as I now see which direction my paper will go towards and what I will mainly write about.
Problems:
I had a lot of problems this week, and it is again related to timing with writing. I feel that in class I spent a lot of time correcting my outline, which was fine as I now know what I will be writing about and now see a clearer mindset. But unfortunately, there is not enough time to write or start writing my research paper. I have been so busy these past couple of days, which is mainly from lacrosse and other classes and SAT, that I have not had time to start writing my paper. Also, I did not realize that we originally had our rough drafts due Wednesday, but now they are due Tuesday. As I much preferred to have it be due Wednesday so I can have more time to write instead of cramming for my paper. But this week, I will try to avoid this problem by starting my second chapter in class and then finishing my third chapter over the weekend.
Reflection:
This week has been a hectic week with coming back from a homework free mid-winter break to a now homework slammed week for myself. I had hoped originally last week to be able to receive my outline and start correcting it over break or to even have the time to start writing my research paper. But time this week did not allow me to do so. This means that today I literally only have four-five hours to write my research paper because I am so busy this weekend and last week was not an option. In class I only had time to correct my outline, and starting the research paper in class when I had not finished my outline was not an option either. Also, I had thought that we had our research paper outlines due Wednesday, but I am still confused why it was moved to Tuesday, as that would have worked better for me. But all I can do now is focus on writing my first chapter of my research paper to the best of my abilities with the time I have. But on the bright side, I have finished the whole research process and all I have to do now is construct my paper which is a nice feeling to have. That also means that I do not have to worry about finding any more sources or quotes and such because they are all there, all I need to do is write the paper that shows all of my hard work. Which I plan on next weekend sitting down and writing my whole paper as I will have more time that weekend. Except for the fact that on Saturday I have my SAT test which has also been another reason why I have not had the time to do a lot of my other pieces of homework as well as had the time to write my research paper at home. But after my SAT test I believe that writing this paper will be just fine and something I can achieve with diligence and persistence, as I have had many other obstacles that have come in my way during the research process and I know how to deal with them. This hurtle is just like the other hurtles and I just have to get past them and do my best, and that is what I will do for writing my research paper.
Until next time,
Zain
My research paper goal for this week was to finish correcting my final detailed outline mistakes as well as start writing my rough draft for my first chapter. I was able to correct my final detailed outline to the best of my abilities as well as with Sarah's comments, but starting the writing process has been quite a task because of the homework load and the time in class has been mainly spent on working on my outline. This means, unfortunately, I will have to cram in the writing for my rough draft of my final chapter for today since I do not have anytime on Monday. So my goals for this week will look a little better after Tuesday as I will have more time to work on my rough draft but for now it looks a little hectic. This week's schedule:
Today:
Start and finish writing Chapter 1 of my research paper. If I do not have time then finish the rest Monday morning.
Monday:
Finish my research paper Monday morning (before going to school).
Tuesday:
Tuesday morning polish up Chapter 1 research paper.
Wednesday:
During class, start writing my Chapter 2 paragraphs and try and get as much as I can done in class.
Thursday:
During class, start writing my Chapter 2 paragraphs and try and get as much as I can done in class.
Friday:
During class, start writing my Chapter 2 paragraphs and try and get as much as I can done in class.
Saturday-Sunday:
Finish writing Chapter 2 and start and finish Chapter 3 for my research paper.
Activities:
My goal for this week was to be able to start writing my rough draft for my research paper, but unfortunately I was insanely busy this week with SAT and homework from other classes that I only had time to correct my outline to make it as perfect as I wanted it to be. This meant that I only was able to accomplish half of my goals for this week, and now will leave me to cram in for my research paper. But I am happy with the time I have had to correct my outline as I now see which direction my paper will go towards and what I will mainly write about.
Problems:
I had a lot of problems this week, and it is again related to timing with writing. I feel that in class I spent a lot of time correcting my outline, which was fine as I now know what I will be writing about and now see a clearer mindset. But unfortunately, there is not enough time to write or start writing my research paper. I have been so busy these past couple of days, which is mainly from lacrosse and other classes and SAT, that I have not had time to start writing my paper. Also, I did not realize that we originally had our rough drafts due Wednesday, but now they are due Tuesday. As I much preferred to have it be due Wednesday so I can have more time to write instead of cramming for my paper. But this week, I will try to avoid this problem by starting my second chapter in class and then finishing my third chapter over the weekend.
Reflection:
This week has been a hectic week with coming back from a homework free mid-winter break to a now homework slammed week for myself. I had hoped originally last week to be able to receive my outline and start correcting it over break or to even have the time to start writing my research paper. But time this week did not allow me to do so. This means that today I literally only have four-five hours to write my research paper because I am so busy this weekend and last week was not an option. In class I only had time to correct my outline, and starting the research paper in class when I had not finished my outline was not an option either. Also, I had thought that we had our research paper outlines due Wednesday, but I am still confused why it was moved to Tuesday, as that would have worked better for me. But all I can do now is focus on writing my first chapter of my research paper to the best of my abilities with the time I have. But on the bright side, I have finished the whole research process and all I have to do now is construct my paper which is a nice feeling to have. That also means that I do not have to worry about finding any more sources or quotes and such because they are all there, all I need to do is write the paper that shows all of my hard work. Which I plan on next weekend sitting down and writing my whole paper as I will have more time that weekend. Except for the fact that on Saturday I have my SAT test which has also been another reason why I have not had the time to do a lot of my other pieces of homework as well as had the time to write my research paper at home. But after my SAT test I believe that writing this paper will be just fine and something I can achieve with diligence and persistence, as I have had many other obstacles that have come in my way during the research process and I know how to deal with them. This hurtle is just like the other hurtles and I just have to get past them and do my best, and that is what I will do for writing my research paper.
Until next time,
Zain
Sunday, February 16, 2014
Week Six
Goals:
My research paper goals for this week was to finish reading and finding all my sources as well as construct a final detailed outline that was due this Friday. This goal, would probably set as the second hardest goal to achieve because it meant putting all my research together and to finish my research to get the skeleton of my research paper done and only have to come up with sentences and words as well as analysis that will then turn into my research paper. As for next week, I have mid-winter break which means I do not have any assignments to complete other than relaxing with my family and thinking a bit about how I will write my research paper. So my plan is that:
Monday-Friday: Relax and enjoy spending time with my family because I deserve it and need it.
Saturday: Think a bit about the outline I sent in and go over it
Sunday: See if I receive any feedback on my detailed outline that will allow me to start writing my first couple paragraphs in my 1st chapter so that I do not have to cram for writing half of my research paper the night before that is due.
Activities:
This week I was able to accomplish my final detailed outline of my research paper which meant I had to finish reading and finding sources online for my two novels. Which meant, that I had to find out completely what I want to write about and how I will technically write my research paper which was what the outline forced me to do. I was able to finish my final detailed outline and citations, but I felt as if I did not have enough time to think through how I will outline my research paper thoroughly because other teachers were piling other major assignments on the day that our outline was due. But since you moved our outline due date one day over, I still felt as if I do not know for sure or feel 100% comfortable with my final detailed outline as it is not the perfect idea I had in mine. Fortunately, I have all of mid-winter break to decide what I want to change or tweak and I could possibly bring in a better and more updated version to Sarah that I feel a lot more confident with. But for now, I completed the all the assignments, feeling uncomfortable, but with a relief that I do not have to face that due date anymore. Now I have to look forward to writing my research paper, yikes!
Problems:
Some problems I faced this week was the fact that I had such a short amount of time to come up with the skeleton or pretty much my research paper, but without the analysis and words that connect my quotes, premises, thesis and topic sentences together. I just felt that I needed more time to read up on more articles as well as find out more about what truly are the main themes in my two novels. As I am able to figure out that violence and racism are both super prominent themes that are found in my novels. But I have been having some trouble lately with finding the third one, as I have settled for struggle for independence but I do not feel comfortable with having that as my third theme. I also felt that there still feels like it is a struggle to find clear cut articles on my author and his books but unfortunately he is not well known like the other classical American authors other students have chosen and are doing well with the research process. As for right now I can spend this mid-winter break on searching up and finding the true themes that are shown in his novels and try to mend my outline to make it sound the way I want it to sound and how it should sound, despite the lack of time we have had to get this done. Also one of the major problems I am having with this research paper is that I am unable to work well in the classroom during work time as I get distracted or I am too tired to work because I have been in other classes learning and now I just can not focus. So I tend to have to finish all my research paper assignments as home which ends up doubling up my homework load. I am trying to figure out how to solve this problem, but I think for the following week, when we get back from break, I will try to sit somewhere alone and quietly to try and get some work done in class and see how that works out.
Reflection:
This week feels like there have been a ton of challenges I have had to face. Some such as trying to finish my whole outline in just four nights during a school week and two weekend days, but unfortunate since it was my birthday on Monday I had birthday weekend celebrations which did not allow time to work on my outline over the weekend. As I tried to come up with a perfect topic for my research paper all while trying to feel comfortable with all my themes, as I still don't feel comfortable with having surviving independently as my third theme, I feel completely scared for when it will come to write my rough draft research paper. I also am a bit upset with how little information the research process is and I am also a bit confused with how researching will help and will be incorporated with the quotes from our book. In general, I feel as if I do not fully understand what this whole paper is about. That is why, this week during mid-winter break I plan to sit in my room, well on the East Coast because my family is taking a trip there during mid-winter break, and find out what I want to write for my research paper and try to alter the parts of my outline that I am either unhappy with or want to change. I hope by doing this during the mid-winter break, I will feel more comfortable with writing my paper as well as feel exciting to start and write my paper. Even though I did complete all the assignments that lead up to writing the research paper, on time, I still want to figure out on a broader scope what this paper is about and how can I tweak it so it not only fits the narrow scope of this paper, which I get, but the broader overall scope. As I usually have trouble with writing on a broader scope compared to writing on a narrow scope and that is something I hope to work on this semester and for this paper.
For now, have a great mid-winter break while I contemplate on my ideas for this paper.
Until next time,
Zain
My research paper goals for this week was to finish reading and finding all my sources as well as construct a final detailed outline that was due this Friday. This goal, would probably set as the second hardest goal to achieve because it meant putting all my research together and to finish my research to get the skeleton of my research paper done and only have to come up with sentences and words as well as analysis that will then turn into my research paper. As for next week, I have mid-winter break which means I do not have any assignments to complete other than relaxing with my family and thinking a bit about how I will write my research paper. So my plan is that:
Monday-Friday: Relax and enjoy spending time with my family because I deserve it and need it.
Saturday: Think a bit about the outline I sent in and go over it
Sunday: See if I receive any feedback on my detailed outline that will allow me to start writing my first couple paragraphs in my 1st chapter so that I do not have to cram for writing half of my research paper the night before that is due.
Activities:
This week I was able to accomplish my final detailed outline of my research paper which meant I had to finish reading and finding sources online for my two novels. Which meant, that I had to find out completely what I want to write about and how I will technically write my research paper which was what the outline forced me to do. I was able to finish my final detailed outline and citations, but I felt as if I did not have enough time to think through how I will outline my research paper thoroughly because other teachers were piling other major assignments on the day that our outline was due. But since you moved our outline due date one day over, I still felt as if I do not know for sure or feel 100% comfortable with my final detailed outline as it is not the perfect idea I had in mine. Fortunately, I have all of mid-winter break to decide what I want to change or tweak and I could possibly bring in a better and more updated version to Sarah that I feel a lot more confident with. But for now, I completed the all the assignments, feeling uncomfortable, but with a relief that I do not have to face that due date anymore. Now I have to look forward to writing my research paper, yikes!
Problems:
Some problems I faced this week was the fact that I had such a short amount of time to come up with the skeleton or pretty much my research paper, but without the analysis and words that connect my quotes, premises, thesis and topic sentences together. I just felt that I needed more time to read up on more articles as well as find out more about what truly are the main themes in my two novels. As I am able to figure out that violence and racism are both super prominent themes that are found in my novels. But I have been having some trouble lately with finding the third one, as I have settled for struggle for independence but I do not feel comfortable with having that as my third theme. I also felt that there still feels like it is a struggle to find clear cut articles on my author and his books but unfortunately he is not well known like the other classical American authors other students have chosen and are doing well with the research process. As for right now I can spend this mid-winter break on searching up and finding the true themes that are shown in his novels and try to mend my outline to make it sound the way I want it to sound and how it should sound, despite the lack of time we have had to get this done. Also one of the major problems I am having with this research paper is that I am unable to work well in the classroom during work time as I get distracted or I am too tired to work because I have been in other classes learning and now I just can not focus. So I tend to have to finish all my research paper assignments as home which ends up doubling up my homework load. I am trying to figure out how to solve this problem, but I think for the following week, when we get back from break, I will try to sit somewhere alone and quietly to try and get some work done in class and see how that works out.
Reflection:
This week feels like there have been a ton of challenges I have had to face. Some such as trying to finish my whole outline in just four nights during a school week and two weekend days, but unfortunate since it was my birthday on Monday I had birthday weekend celebrations which did not allow time to work on my outline over the weekend. As I tried to come up with a perfect topic for my research paper all while trying to feel comfortable with all my themes, as I still don't feel comfortable with having surviving independently as my third theme, I feel completely scared for when it will come to write my rough draft research paper. I also am a bit upset with how little information the research process is and I am also a bit confused with how researching will help and will be incorporated with the quotes from our book. In general, I feel as if I do not fully understand what this whole paper is about. That is why, this week during mid-winter break I plan to sit in my room, well on the East Coast because my family is taking a trip there during mid-winter break, and find out what I want to write for my research paper and try to alter the parts of my outline that I am either unhappy with or want to change. I hope by doing this during the mid-winter break, I will feel more comfortable with writing my paper as well as feel exciting to start and write my paper. Even though I did complete all the assignments that lead up to writing the research paper, on time, I still want to figure out on a broader scope what this paper is about and how can I tweak it so it not only fits the narrow scope of this paper, which I get, but the broader overall scope. As I usually have trouble with writing on a broader scope compared to writing on a narrow scope and that is something I hope to work on this semester and for this paper.
For now, have a great mid-winter break while I contemplate on my ideas for this paper.
Until next time,
Zain
Saturday, February 8, 2014
Week Five
Goals:
My goals for this week were to get my works cited page done on time and correctly, as well as to finish my notes for at least five of my sources and my preliminary outline for Friday. As I did accomplish these goals for this week, but I have a bigger goal to accomplish for next week. And that consists of finishing my final detailed outline that includes what my examples will be and the overall theme of my research paper. As for a schedule of what will happen next week for each day is shown here:
Monday:
1. Go over my Preliminary Outline with Sarah and fix my mistakes and ideas (make this outline make more sense)
2. Read and annotate my other two sources
3. Start my final detailed outline (in class)
Tuesday:
1. Find and read other sources if I need any more information for my paper
2. Finish my final detailed outline (in class or at home)
Wednesday:
1. Polish final detailed outline
2. Talk to Sarah about my outline and about starting the written process for my research paper
Thursday:
1. Turn in final detailed outline
2. Go through any sources that need re-reading or find more if needed
Friday:
(No School)
1. Review Sarah's comments for my final detailed outline
2. Work on writing some of my research paper
Activities:
This week I was able to accomplish a lot, as I finished my works cited page, notes, and my preliminary outline. There were a lot of parts this research process I had to turn in this week, as I felt as if I did not finish them in a manner that I wanted to. For example, for my citations, I felt as if I could not find a way to get them to look the way they should have nor did the MLA hacker book help me with correcting or re-writing my citations. As for my notes, I felt like the time for turning in notes was just a big rush and I did not have the time to read the really important articles or the time to go through and read through all of the different websites out there on my author. Even though, my author is not well-known or has a lot of information on his works. But for my preliminary outline, I felt as if I am still confused with the ideas I want to project for my research paper. Because, my two books I read for my research paper has so many themes I could write about I do not know which insightful pathway to take. Plus I feel as if we do not have enough time in class to work because 20 to 30 minutes of class time we are going over how to do the different aspects of the research paper, which I get why we are doing that and is very helpful to me, but it is very hard to put both the time during class and at home for this research paper when I have loads of other activities to do. But, I have a feeling that the research paper assignments for this week as just the beginning. I hope the activities for my research paper for next week is easier and smoother compared to how there were this week.
Problems:
This week I faced a lot of problems regarding I had no time over the weekend to work on all the aspects of my research paper because of the Superbowl and other classes. But I do blame myself for not allotting the time for those assignments that were due this week because I took advantage of class time, assuming that I would complete all the assignments at home. But when in reality, I had to work late nights, trying to finish up the three big research assignments of my works cited page, notes, and my preliminary outline. I had some major problems in the beginning of the week with my works cited as I felt like the hacker manual did not help me write the proper citations. As I now know I need to go talk to Anne Ewel to properly understand how to determine if a sources is a journal or a book and how to write the citations for that. For my notes, I just felt like I was doing just fine with writing up note cards on Noodle Tools that showed my quote and why I chose that quote. But on the night before I had to turn in my note cards, Noodle Tools just decided to fail on me and screw up all my note cards. Which in the end, I was forced to go old school by printing out my articles and annotating them from 9pm till 2am. That was quite a fun night! *Sarcasm intended* As I did complete this in time, thankfully, my research paper nightmares were not over yet. I still had to complete a preliminary outline, which I had mixed thoughts and ideas swarmed in my head still deciding what themes I wanted to write about for my research paper. Eventually, and thankfully, in class I came to a conclusion with some themes that were better than having no themes at all and sent them in. I just hope for next week and this weekend, I can allot more time for the final detailed outline and for researching and annotating more sources to help me get a sense of what I want to do for my research paper.
Reflection:
My research paper process for this week was hectic, annoying, and in some cases a nightmare. I faced many obstacles this week than I did of last week's triumphs. Some of the obstacles I did face were dealing with turning in the three major parts of the research portion of this assignment. As I did not think clearly or thoughtfully about how to finish my works citation page, notes and preliminary outline because I was swamped with homework, project week meetings/information, playing sports, and most importantly the Superbowl. I also was unhappy with the amount of sources I was able to find on my two books and my author because those that I did find that were good were either all related to each other so I had to pick one of the couple hundreds of sites or they just only talked about my author or the book in one sentence of the whole source. Not only was my research process annoying, but trying get my note system to work was especially annoying. As I have never had any problems with using Noodle Tools, because I did use Noodle Tools for my 9th and 10th grade research paper, but I don't know why it just did what it did. But for my preliminary outline, I just did not feel comfortable or confident about what I want to write because there are so many different pathways I could take to write a perfected research paper on my two books that I just do not know which one I favor or feel comfortable with. But in class, when I wrote my preliminary outline, I felt somewhat comfortable for turning in some idea of what I wanted to write, but I hope for next week I have the opportunity to polish up my ideas and do a little researching to gain a better knowledge of what I should write about. But even though I have expressed some of my challenges and problems I faced this week from my obstacles that appeared in front of me this week, I did have some triumphs. Some of my successes I faced this week consisted of finishing my tasks on time and being able to find at least 5-8 secondary sources for my research paper. Even though the process of finding my 5-8 secondary sources took awhile I eventually was able to find ones that seemed meaningful and made sense. But I am especially thankful for having finished my research paper assignments for this week and hope next week is a better week for myself.
Hope y'all have a great weekend!
-Zain
My goals for this week were to get my works cited page done on time and correctly, as well as to finish my notes for at least five of my sources and my preliminary outline for Friday. As I did accomplish these goals for this week, but I have a bigger goal to accomplish for next week. And that consists of finishing my final detailed outline that includes what my examples will be and the overall theme of my research paper. As for a schedule of what will happen next week for each day is shown here:
Monday:
1. Go over my Preliminary Outline with Sarah and fix my mistakes and ideas (make this outline make more sense)
2. Read and annotate my other two sources
3. Start my final detailed outline (in class)
Tuesday:
1. Find and read other sources if I need any more information for my paper
2. Finish my final detailed outline (in class or at home)
Wednesday:
1. Polish final detailed outline
2. Talk to Sarah about my outline and about starting the written process for my research paper
Thursday:
1. Turn in final detailed outline
2. Go through any sources that need re-reading or find more if needed
Friday:
(No School)
1. Review Sarah's comments for my final detailed outline
2. Work on writing some of my research paper
Activities:
This week I was able to accomplish a lot, as I finished my works cited page, notes, and my preliminary outline. There were a lot of parts this research process I had to turn in this week, as I felt as if I did not finish them in a manner that I wanted to. For example, for my citations, I felt as if I could not find a way to get them to look the way they should have nor did the MLA hacker book help me with correcting or re-writing my citations. As for my notes, I felt like the time for turning in notes was just a big rush and I did not have the time to read the really important articles or the time to go through and read through all of the different websites out there on my author. Even though, my author is not well-known or has a lot of information on his works. But for my preliminary outline, I felt as if I am still confused with the ideas I want to project for my research paper. Because, my two books I read for my research paper has so many themes I could write about I do not know which insightful pathway to take. Plus I feel as if we do not have enough time in class to work because 20 to 30 minutes of class time we are going over how to do the different aspects of the research paper, which I get why we are doing that and is very helpful to me, but it is very hard to put both the time during class and at home for this research paper when I have loads of other activities to do. But, I have a feeling that the research paper assignments for this week as just the beginning. I hope the activities for my research paper for next week is easier and smoother compared to how there were this week.
Problems:
This week I faced a lot of problems regarding I had no time over the weekend to work on all the aspects of my research paper because of the Superbowl and other classes. But I do blame myself for not allotting the time for those assignments that were due this week because I took advantage of class time, assuming that I would complete all the assignments at home. But when in reality, I had to work late nights, trying to finish up the three big research assignments of my works cited page, notes, and my preliminary outline. I had some major problems in the beginning of the week with my works cited as I felt like the hacker manual did not help me write the proper citations. As I now know I need to go talk to Anne Ewel to properly understand how to determine if a sources is a journal or a book and how to write the citations for that. For my notes, I just felt like I was doing just fine with writing up note cards on Noodle Tools that showed my quote and why I chose that quote. But on the night before I had to turn in my note cards, Noodle Tools just decided to fail on me and screw up all my note cards. Which in the end, I was forced to go old school by printing out my articles and annotating them from 9pm till 2am. That was quite a fun night! *Sarcasm intended* As I did complete this in time, thankfully, my research paper nightmares were not over yet. I still had to complete a preliminary outline, which I had mixed thoughts and ideas swarmed in my head still deciding what themes I wanted to write about for my research paper. Eventually, and thankfully, in class I came to a conclusion with some themes that were better than having no themes at all and sent them in. I just hope for next week and this weekend, I can allot more time for the final detailed outline and for researching and annotating more sources to help me get a sense of what I want to do for my research paper.
Reflection:
My research paper process for this week was hectic, annoying, and in some cases a nightmare. I faced many obstacles this week than I did of last week's triumphs. Some of the obstacles I did face were dealing with turning in the three major parts of the research portion of this assignment. As I did not think clearly or thoughtfully about how to finish my works citation page, notes and preliminary outline because I was swamped with homework, project week meetings/information, playing sports, and most importantly the Superbowl. I also was unhappy with the amount of sources I was able to find on my two books and my author because those that I did find that were good were either all related to each other so I had to pick one of the couple hundreds of sites or they just only talked about my author or the book in one sentence of the whole source. Not only was my research process annoying, but trying get my note system to work was especially annoying. As I have never had any problems with using Noodle Tools, because I did use Noodle Tools for my 9th and 10th grade research paper, but I don't know why it just did what it did. But for my preliminary outline, I just did not feel comfortable or confident about what I want to write because there are so many different pathways I could take to write a perfected research paper on my two books that I just do not know which one I favor or feel comfortable with. But in class, when I wrote my preliminary outline, I felt somewhat comfortable for turning in some idea of what I wanted to write, but I hope for next week I have the opportunity to polish up my ideas and do a little researching to gain a better knowledge of what I should write about. But even though I have expressed some of my challenges and problems I faced this week from my obstacles that appeared in front of me this week, I did have some triumphs. Some of my successes I faced this week consisted of finishing my tasks on time and being able to find at least 5-8 secondary sources for my research paper. Even though the process of finding my 5-8 secondary sources took awhile I eventually was able to find ones that seemed meaningful and made sense. But I am especially thankful for having finished my research paper assignments for this week and hope next week is a better week for myself.
Hope y'all have a great weekend!
-Zain
Friday, January 31, 2014
Week Four
Goals:
My goals for this week consisted of trying to finish up my research process. So everyday in class I would try to read and gather information from at least one or two sources. I was able to sort of accomplish this goal, but I did not get a chance to annotate all my sources. As for my works cited, I did not get to finish that in class, but I was able to get at least 5 sources that are properly cited, but I wanted to have 10 citations.
Next week on Monday I plan on having my works cited page completed and done as well as my working cited page done. But on Thursday I plan to have my note system done and my basic outline of my outline done. But for my works cited page, I plan on using Noodle Tools to upload and create my individual citations for my works cited, as it is easier and helpful to use. For my note taking, I will also use Noodle Tools notecards to keep track of my annotations. As the notecards allow for a lot more room to write on compared to the traditional paper note cards. Also, the notecards on Noodle Tools help you keep track of which websites the annotations came from and allow for me to jot down some little notes I wanted to remember about the quote.
My schedule for next week:
Monday:
1. Turn in rough draft works cited page.
2. Read and annotate one to two sources (In class or at home).
Tuesday:
1. Turn in working work cited page.
2. Read and annotate one to two sources (In class or at home).
Wednesday:
1. Read and annotate two to three sources (In class or at home).
Thursday:
1. Turn in my notes system.
2. Read and annotate one to two sources (In class or at home).
Friday:
1. Turn in preliminary outline
2. Finish note taking/annotations
3. Start detailed outline
Weekend:
1. Start or Finish detailed outline
2. Start writing a bit of my rough draft of my Research Paper
Activities:
This week I was able to accomplish my research and find at least three sources. But I was only able to find my sources, read them, and gather notes all on Monday and Tuesday. The other days this week I was not able to because we did not have class or we had quizzes to take. Also after school I did not have a lot of time to read all my sources and take notes, as my sources are quite lengthy and packed full of information.
Problems:
This week I was not able to gather as many sources and notes as I wanted to because of timing and also because my sources were quite lengthy, packed full of information. But I hope this weekend to finish up my whole research paper process as well as finishing up my citations. Fortunately, I was able to at least find three sources instead of just one or zero.
Reflection:
My research process this week was not worse or better than I predicted or expected. I planned out last week to have all my sources read and my citations done, but time did not allow this to happen. As I usually can not concentrate on reading and taking notes in class, I tried to leave the majority of my research process to do at home. But sometimes when I would try to research on JSTOR, it would not work at home or I would have trouble finding information on my author and the two books I read. Also I noticed that my author, Walter Mosley, is not a famous author well known around the world like many of the classical American Authors other students are doing. So my research will take a little longer because I will have to spend more time looking for sources on his works. But so far in my research process, I have found JSTOR and GVRL to be quite helpful in finding sources that relate to my authors work. Also these sources have a lot of lengthy information on my author and his works, which makes it especially helpful in the research process, but hard to find time to read all of the documents. Though I am having some successes and setbacks with my research process, I am starting to notice that my topics and my main theme might change from my themes I had chosen when I did my question sets. As I am noticing with all my other sources, there shows a common theme of violence and racial discrimination but I was instead more focused on racial discrimination and also I did not even consider violence as an important theme within Mosley's novels. So I am quite glad to have researched thoroughly on his books to see what the main themes are to others people and see how I can try to incorporate those ideas as well as my ideas in my research paper.
Have a rainy weekend!
Until next time,
Zain
My goals for this week consisted of trying to finish up my research process. So everyday in class I would try to read and gather information from at least one or two sources. I was able to sort of accomplish this goal, but I did not get a chance to annotate all my sources. As for my works cited, I did not get to finish that in class, but I was able to get at least 5 sources that are properly cited, but I wanted to have 10 citations.
Next week on Monday I plan on having my works cited page completed and done as well as my working cited page done. But on Thursday I plan to have my note system done and my basic outline of my outline done. But for my works cited page, I plan on using Noodle Tools to upload and create my individual citations for my works cited, as it is easier and helpful to use. For my note taking, I will also use Noodle Tools notecards to keep track of my annotations. As the notecards allow for a lot more room to write on compared to the traditional paper note cards. Also, the notecards on Noodle Tools help you keep track of which websites the annotations came from and allow for me to jot down some little notes I wanted to remember about the quote.
My schedule for next week:
Monday:
1. Turn in rough draft works cited page.
2. Read and annotate one to two sources (In class or at home).
Tuesday:
1. Turn in working work cited page.
2. Read and annotate one to two sources (In class or at home).
Wednesday:
1. Read and annotate two to three sources (In class or at home).
Thursday:
1. Turn in my notes system.
2. Read and annotate one to two sources (In class or at home).
Friday:
1. Turn in preliminary outline
2. Finish note taking/annotations
3. Start detailed outline
Weekend:
1. Start or Finish detailed outline
2. Start writing a bit of my rough draft of my Research Paper
Activities:
This week I was able to accomplish my research and find at least three sources. But I was only able to find my sources, read them, and gather notes all on Monday and Tuesday. The other days this week I was not able to because we did not have class or we had quizzes to take. Also after school I did not have a lot of time to read all my sources and take notes, as my sources are quite lengthy and packed full of information.
Problems:
This week I was not able to gather as many sources and notes as I wanted to because of timing and also because my sources were quite lengthy, packed full of information. But I hope this weekend to finish up my whole research paper process as well as finishing up my citations. Fortunately, I was able to at least find three sources instead of just one or zero.
Reflection:
My research process this week was not worse or better than I predicted or expected. I planned out last week to have all my sources read and my citations done, but time did not allow this to happen. As I usually can not concentrate on reading and taking notes in class, I tried to leave the majority of my research process to do at home. But sometimes when I would try to research on JSTOR, it would not work at home or I would have trouble finding information on my author and the two books I read. Also I noticed that my author, Walter Mosley, is not a famous author well known around the world like many of the classical American Authors other students are doing. So my research will take a little longer because I will have to spend more time looking for sources on his works. But so far in my research process, I have found JSTOR and GVRL to be quite helpful in finding sources that relate to my authors work. Also these sources have a lot of lengthy information on my author and his works, which makes it especially helpful in the research process, but hard to find time to read all of the documents. Though I am having some successes and setbacks with my research process, I am starting to notice that my topics and my main theme might change from my themes I had chosen when I did my question sets. As I am noticing with all my other sources, there shows a common theme of violence and racial discrimination but I was instead more focused on racial discrimination and also I did not even consider violence as an important theme within Mosley's novels. So I am quite glad to have researched thoroughly on his books to see what the main themes are to others people and see how I can try to incorporate those ideas as well as my ideas in my research paper.
Have a rainy weekend!
Until next time,
Zain
Saturday, January 25, 2014
Week Three
Goals: My goals for this week consisted of finishing my annotations and notebook notes for my two books by Wednesday morning. As my notebook notes and annotations were due that morning so I had plenty of time during my four day weekend and Tuesday to finish them up. But I planned on starting my research process on Wednesday during class, but unfortunately I only had time to learn how to research. So, I was only left with researching for Thursday and Friday this week. Next week, I plan on finishing my research and citations for both my books. But I will try to have at least one or two resources read and cited on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of next week, but on Friday I will have my full notes and citations done. Which in turn, I will have the weekend free of finishing up or starting my citations and notes for my research paper.
Activities: I achieved both my goals for this week, which were to finish my annotations and notebook notes as well as start my research process. I was able to get through one and one-half sources but I didn't get as far as I wanted to in my research process this week, due my changing of classes, and only two classes of research.
Problems: My research process this week was slow, as I did not find a lot of time or websites that were on Walter Mosley on the databases. Plus I am also still trying to figure out how to use the data bases through our library. I also was swarmed with other homework and finishing my annotations and notes for my two books earlier this week that I had trouble finding time to research as well.
Reflection: This week I didn't have a lot of challenges other than finishing my annotations and my notes for my two books. But I also had to finish my other homework and figure out my schedule which screwed my homework scheduling and time for other activities. But for the research process, I felt that I didn't get as much time or research done as I wanted to this week. As I only was able to read and highlight one text book source from our library and read half of a website source. For next week, I hope to finish all my citations and research as well as have a better idea on how to answer my question sets that I finished two weeks ago. Fortunately, I had some successes this week with finally finishing my annotations and notes for my research paper books as well as finding some sources on my author. As I thought before the research process began, that my author would not have any sources because he is not a famous author or really well known for his books in my opinion. But this week I was lucky enough to see that my doubts were not true and I successfully finished the first major part of this research paper process! Next week I am looking forward to finishing my research for my paper and having a clearer idea on how to structure my paper.
Hope you all enjoy the sunshine!
-Zain
Activities: I achieved both my goals for this week, which were to finish my annotations and notebook notes as well as start my research process. I was able to get through one and one-half sources but I didn't get as far as I wanted to in my research process this week, due my changing of classes, and only two classes of research.
Problems: My research process this week was slow, as I did not find a lot of time or websites that were on Walter Mosley on the databases. Plus I am also still trying to figure out how to use the data bases through our library. I also was swarmed with other homework and finishing my annotations and notes for my two books earlier this week that I had trouble finding time to research as well.
Reflection: This week I didn't have a lot of challenges other than finishing my annotations and my notes for my two books. But I also had to finish my other homework and figure out my schedule which screwed my homework scheduling and time for other activities. But for the research process, I felt that I didn't get as much time or research done as I wanted to this week. As I only was able to read and highlight one text book source from our library and read half of a website source. For next week, I hope to finish all my citations and research as well as have a better idea on how to answer my question sets that I finished two weeks ago. Fortunately, I had some successes this week with finally finishing my annotations and notes for my research paper books as well as finding some sources on my author. As I thought before the research process began, that my author would not have any sources because he is not a famous author or really well known for his books in my opinion. But this week I was lucky enough to see that my doubts were not true and I successfully finished the first major part of this research paper process! Next week I am looking forward to finishing my research for my paper and having a clearer idea on how to structure my paper.
Hope you all enjoy the sunshine!
-Zain
Saturday, January 18, 2014
Week Two
Goals: My goal for this week was to finish my research paper questions as well as finish my annotations and journal notes for my second book, All I Did Was Shoot My Man.
Activities: This week I was able to finish my research paper questions, but I have not had the time during the two weeks to fully finish my research paper annotations and journal notes for my second book. Instead, I will be finishing my annotations and journal notes this weekend.
Problems: The last two weeks have been quite hectic, as I had just come back from a winter break trip from Africa so I had been jet lagged for the first couple days. As a result of that, I was not able to do all of my homework for my other classes during the time most kids in Seattle would do their homework. Which meant that annotating and doing the journal notes for my second book would be quite a task for me, which was why this weekend is the only time I have for annotating and doing my journal notes.
Reflection: This week has been quite hectic both in struggling to find time to finish my research paper books annotations and journal notes as well as find out what my topic of my paper will be about. As I could have tried to spread my time out easily with trying to finish my annotating and journal notes but I just was busy with other tasks, both in school and out of school. But when finding out what my topic(s) of my research paper, that was quite a struggle at first, but after spending a couple nights and class time working on looking through my journal notes, my books, and some online sources, I was able to narrow down to three topics that appropriately suited both books. Plus these three topics are quite vague in a sense that they include other aspects that I thought would be the main topic, when in truth they are only a sub-part of the overarching three main topics. But in regards to finishing my annotations and my journal notes for my second book, I only have this weekend to finish it, which I believe is enough time of locking myself away in my room to finish all 277 pages of annotations and 326 pages of journal notes. Even though I regret having to result to that plan of finishing my second book, it is the only time I have left and the only option I have left. But for any of my other tasks that I have for my research paper, I will try to get them done ahead of time so that I don't have to face another option like this ever again.
On a side note, I hope you are enjoying the weekend and the fog...yikes...But lets hope for a win from the Seahawks!
Until Next Week,
Zain
Activities: This week I was able to finish my research paper questions, but I have not had the time during the two weeks to fully finish my research paper annotations and journal notes for my second book. Instead, I will be finishing my annotations and journal notes this weekend.
Problems: The last two weeks have been quite hectic, as I had just come back from a winter break trip from Africa so I had been jet lagged for the first couple days. As a result of that, I was not able to do all of my homework for my other classes during the time most kids in Seattle would do their homework. Which meant that annotating and doing the journal notes for my second book would be quite a task for me, which was why this weekend is the only time I have for annotating and doing my journal notes.
Reflection: This week has been quite hectic both in struggling to find time to finish my research paper books annotations and journal notes as well as find out what my topic of my paper will be about. As I could have tried to spread my time out easily with trying to finish my annotating and journal notes but I just was busy with other tasks, both in school and out of school. But when finding out what my topic(s) of my research paper, that was quite a struggle at first, but after spending a couple nights and class time working on looking through my journal notes, my books, and some online sources, I was able to narrow down to three topics that appropriately suited both books. Plus these three topics are quite vague in a sense that they include other aspects that I thought would be the main topic, when in truth they are only a sub-part of the overarching three main topics. But in regards to finishing my annotations and my journal notes for my second book, I only have this weekend to finish it, which I believe is enough time of locking myself away in my room to finish all 277 pages of annotations and 326 pages of journal notes. Even though I regret having to result to that plan of finishing my second book, it is the only time I have left and the only option I have left. But for any of my other tasks that I have for my research paper, I will try to get them done ahead of time so that I don't have to face another option like this ever again.
On a side note, I hope you are enjoying the weekend and the fog...yikes...But lets hope for a win from the Seahawks!
Until Next Week,
Zain
Saturday, January 11, 2014
Week One
Goals: My goal for next week is to finish my annotations in my second research paper book, All I Did Was Shoot My Man, and start my journal for this book as well.
Activities: I was able to annotate half of my second research paper book,All I Did Was Shoot My Man, as well as finish my journal for my first book, Devil In A Blue Dress.
Problems: I didn't have any major problems with my research process this week, mainly because we have just settled back into the school routine since we were all on winter break. Also this week we had a lot of class work on our semester reflections as well as received our research paper requirements. But I only had problems with finding time to annotate some of my second book, because many of my teachers have been giving me small assignments that are time consuming for me. But I was able to fix this problem by utilizing my two free blocks in the library to annotate my second book.
Reflection: I feel like my research process right now has been quite slow and not really as hard as I thought it would be. But this week we haven't really had much to do other than finish annotating our books or reading our books. The only problem I have had this week was trying to find time to annotate my book because over the break I had finish reading both books as well as I had annotated and finished my note taking for my first book. But in truth, I am quite scared for next week because I have no idea what my questions will be for both books because my books are so similar but different at the same time. It sounds complicated, I know, but my books are bot mysteries and they are both books that show racism and inequality in America today which I bet is one of my topics. I unfortunately do not know what my other topics are because I have to have more than one topic. But I am quite happy to have finished one books' annotations as well as notes because that had been looming over my head all throughout the fall semester. I am also quite happy with how I have been utilizing my class time to work on my research paper as well as how I have been completing my tasks for my research paper process.
But Overall, I am hoping for the best for the rest of my research time and I SURVIVED THE FIRST WEEK! :)
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