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
Sunday, February 16, 2014
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
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