In the future I hope to publish several papers (I plan to be a prof. so I don’t have much choice there). I also have started writing my own book.

My proudest moment was when you used me as an example for my first draft of my intro paper.

Following the blog assignment we were asked to select one topic on which we would work for the rest of the semester. In this blog assignment we began the work for a research proposal and later that week we turned our preliminary work into a research proposal. This exercise helped me to narrow down my topic and to locate secondary sources that would assist me in supporting my hypothesis.  After I finished writing my research proposal the basic lay out for my first three essays. Of course things changed as my research progressed but it sure was a relief to know where I was going from the start.

By far the easiest essay to write was the introduction. For one nearly all of the work was already completed when I finished my proposal. For two I most excel in writing when I am given the freedom to write creatively. When constricted to standard formats of the literature review, the methodology or results section I do not feel that I shine.

Once I finished the “first” draft of my introduction paper I had the challenge of making revisions to it. I should explain that I put first in quotes because nothing that anyone reads of mine is a first draft it has always gone through at least two revisions beforehand. Then I had to fad to revise it again. This time I was armed with note from the professor and the graduate assistant. It was difficult to make changes to my own work however both comments were conscious of the need to maintain my own voice in the paper. They simply guided me as to how I could improve my paper.

Following the first peer review workshop I walked away with nothing of worth. After the second one however I was able to make complete revisions of my final paper. The comments that I received helped me to improve my writing and helped me to identify certain problem areas that I have in my writing.

In my final essay you will see that the areas in which my writing shows the best quality is in the introduction, discussion and conclusion sections. These areas allowed me to you my skills of waxing poetic and allow my voice to really show through.

The subject I chose was difficult to find sources for being that it is not a subject that scholars have spent much time focusing on. The subject has been danced around in previous studies but no one had done a direct study on the subject. At times I found myself grasping at straws to find sources that I could employ in my research. In the end I feel that I was only able to do a satisfactory job in the utilization of secondary research.

I learned that some times I tend to be over confident in my statements and should watch my step so to speak.

Peer Review Alissa Montgomery

• Purpose
• “to present the results and make them meaningful to the reader”.
• The results section should include:
• A statement of results in a format that is easy from the reader to understand.
• Points the reader toward important data

Results (Bishop, Bohan, Dawydiak)

• Restate Hypothesis
• Descriptive Statistics
• You may wish to use tables and graphs

Discussion (http://abacus.bates.edu/~ganderso/biology/resources/writing/HTWsections.html#discussion)

• Function
  • to interpret the results as it applies to what is already known.
• Style
  • Active voice
  • Be clear and concise
• Approach
  • Discuss each experiment in the same order as in the results

Discussion (http://www.sfedit.net/discussion.pdf)

• Purpose
  • Interprite your results
  • Explain the implications of the results
• What to do
  • Use present tense
  • Re-State your hypothesis
  • Address all results
  • Discuss conflicting explanations
  • Discuss unexpected findings
  • Identify problems

Conclusion (http://www.unc.edu/depts/wcweb/handouts/conclusions.html, 2007)

• What to do
  • Help the reader to understand the importance of your research
    • Play the “so what game” before writing
  • Provide insight or a quotation
  • bring every thing together (synthesize)
  • Propose a course of action
  • Point to broader implications
• Do not
  • Wait till the conclusion to state your thesis (Duh)
  • Bring up a topic not previously talked about
  • Present evidence

Conclusion (Hamilton, 2005)

• Demonstrate how you have solved the research problem
• Show remaining gaps
• Suggest future research
• Wrap everything up in a nice package

Survey

* It should be noted that the above student estimates covers potential number of students reached not an actual number of students participating.

Kendra Van Wagner (2009), Psychology guide for about.com since 2005, breaks down the methods section of a paper in to four subsections.

• Participants – Explains the selection of subjects.
• Materials – what was used in the experiments
• Design – Describes the design of your experiment
• Procedures – what your subjects had to do and how you recorded it

Article Critique Rubric

 Critique of Why Are Killing Rampages Increasing?

Dubner received a 9 out of 12.

Flemmings suggested techniques:

• Suprising fact – something that will catch the reader off guard will make them want to find out the story behind it
• Humor – It goes with out saying, if you can make the reader laugh in the first line you will have them hooked
• Quotation – quoting someone famous will lend credence to your work and keep the reader reading

Thadra Petkus (2009), a freelance writer, english teacher and mentor, focuses more on the technical aspects of writing an introduction. Petkus suggest certain sentences in which to do things though I find her suggestions to be effective I ignore her rigid structure.

Petkus suggestions:

• Identify the topic -  Clearly identify the topic of your paper.
• State your opinion – this lets the reader know where you stand on the topic
• Build a bridge – move from the generalities on your topic to the specifics of what you are writing about
• State your thesis – clearly state what it is that your paper is about.

References

Fleming, G. (2009). The Introductory Paragraph Start With a Great First Sentence. retrieved October 6, 2009, from http://homeworktips.about.com/od/paperassignments/a/introsentence.htm

Petkus, T. (2009). How to Write a Strong Introduction Paragraph. retrieved October 5, 2009, from http://lesson-plans-materials.suite101.com/article.cfm/how_to_write_a_strong_introduction_paragraph