Week 7 Blog Post

Goals

My goals for this week were to edit my outline and then finish the second chapter of my paper. When I got my outline back from Sarah, the biggest problem in my outline was that it did not seem like I was arguing anything. This was a big problem. I was able to see Sarah during tutorial on Wednesday and she was incredibly helpful with restructuring my paper and helping edit my Thesis and Chapter sentences, allowing me to formulate a good argument. Once I saw Sarah during tutorial, I knew the exact direction I knew I wanted to take my paper. With the additional amount of time Sarah gave us, I was able to space my essay out over the next couple of days, allowing me to spend some time with it. My goals for the next week are to make sure my argument is solid for Chapter One and then focus on that draft. 

 Activities

Now that we are in the writing stage of the research paper, all class and out of school time regarding English class is being spent writing and working on the research paper. On Monday, I received my outline back from Sarah and there were a significant amount of changes I needed to make. I decided to use Monday's class time and after school to work on a plan and a course of action to take with my outline. On Tuesday, I meant to meet with Sarah but that did not work out because of soccer. On Wednesday, I came to Sarah with my ideas regarding my outline and what I needed help with and we were able to greatly improve my essay. After that, I spent all my time turning the outline into an actual essay. 

Problems

The main problem I faced this week was that the outline I turned in apparently did not have enough of an argument. When the outline was returned to me, I was bamboozled by how much I needed to change my argument and I became afraid that I would have to rethink my entire essay. Thankfully, Sarah and I were able to find a way to turn the outline I had into an actual argument, saving me a lot of painful work I would have done otherwise.   

Reflection

This week was incredibly rewarding because it is apparent how close I am to finishign the hardest part of the research paper. After I turn in my other chapter draft next Monday, I will have finished the bulk work of my research paper, allowing me to spend the next week fine tuning my paper and making sure I am proud of it. Writing the second chapter first has allowed me to really know where my argument goes, and now I can focus on how to get it there even more. 

MVP of the Week

My dog, Zebree, because when I was losing my mojo about the paper on Sunday afternoon, he walked up to me at my desk and climbed onto my lap. I wrote the last two claims of the second paragraph of the second chapter with my own dog on my lap. Coincidentally, his love for me helped me explain and convey the love that White Fang and Buck feel for their respective owners.