Week 10 Blog Post

Goals

My main goal of this week was to finish my research paper and turn it in. Smaller goals that made that up were to incorporate the edits into my paper, add in some secondary sources, and finish my photocopies. My first task was to edit my paper because I wanted to make sure that what I had down was the best it could be before I started adding more. This went well, as I went through my paper, using Sarah's comments to improve my paper. Next, I began the task of putting more secondary sources into my paper because I needed them to fulfill the research part of my research paper. This was easy because I already had quotes in my notecards from Noodle Tools, allowing me to find quotes and put them into my paper. Lastly, writing my acknowledgements was actually so rewarding because I was able to look back on my writing process and thank everyone who helped me along the way. My goals for the next week are to lie in bed in the fetal position, catching up on all the TV shows I missed while writing the research paper. 

Activities

My activities during the week leading up to the weekend that will go down in history as "Research Paper Weekend", I spent my time in class and at home editing and refining my paper. On Tuesday, I took a day off, but on Wednesday, I incorporated Sarah's edits and on Thursday I took out as many 'to be' verbs as I could. The weekend was spent making sure everything was MLA and that I had everything I needed both in my essay and in the packet. 

Problems

The one problem I ran into this week was that Sarah realized that I was only using 3 of my 5 secondary sources. If unfixed, this error would have been problematic, resulting in likely a D grade on the essay. Thankfully, Sarah pointed out that I needed to reference all of my sources, allowing me to put more quotes into my essay, fulfilling the requirement. Using my notes on Noodle Tools, I was able to quickly find quotes from my other secondary sources. Because of that, I now meet the requirements for secondary sources. 

Reflection

It feels almost surreal that the research paper is done. The writing that I have worked on for the last 10 weeks is now out of my hands and into Sarah's hands, just like that. At first, I didn't really believe it, but throughout the day I realized that a great weight has been lifted off my shoulders. The paper that I have slaved over for so long is finished and it feels so good to know that my hard work has paid off in dividends. Looking back on the entire writing process of this paper, I have learned so much about writing and the formulation of a research paper. I am grateful for the opportunity to learn these skills and I cannot wait to use them on my next piece of analytic writing.