"Good Enough" reflection

After reading "good enough" by Heidi Bowman I realize I'm a lot like her in that I procrastinate and I enjoy writing but at times I wish I was like my dog and didn't have a care in the world, and didn't have to write my papers. I can relate to her that once I start writing my paper in the moment that it's not that bad and I actually start getting really into it. I also believe in the "shitty first draft" because every writer needs to start somewhere and then you can revise it later

The Curious Researcher

After Reading The curious  Researcher; living sources, interviews, and surveys by bruce Ballenger, I learned that it would beneficial to your paper if you interview someone with authority and experience because in reality you really don't know a lot about a your topic as someone who has written a book on it or experienced it. Another main point I learned when conducting an interview, its always best to try and have it in person. The personal interview is always preferable because  not only can you listen but you can watch and observe the subject's gestures and the setting. finally, make sure your questions are open-ended because you can get a lot more in your answers and be surprised by what the subject has to say.

Literature Review Reflection

I learned from my 1st draft that it's easy to back up the point your making with a quote because it makes your argument much stronger. It was a bit overwhelming at first having to use all the sources but once I knew how to organize my findings, the review came out easily. My research paper needs a literature review section because its a good way to organize my sources and figure out which ones are beneficial to my topic. A literature review says my topic is a significant issue that we need to be aware of. My research fits within my current knowledge because it's about male school shooters and almost all of my sources talked about male victims and male bullies. I expect to contribute a research paper that is easily understood by my audience and can help shed a light on the importance of the causes of male school shooters.

The Art of Quoting

In chapter 3 The art of quoting, the author, Gerald Graff talks about the importance of having your quotes be relevant to your topic and making sure you explain their meaning. In Graff's view "Finding relevant quotations is only part of your job; you also need to present them in a way that makes their relevance and meaning more clear to your readers" (Graff p. 44). This conclusion that Graff argues adds weight to my argument because it's our job as the writers to make sure our audience understands why we used a quote in our paper and the significance behind it. Especially because quotes can't speak for themselves, so as writers we need to build a frame or "sandwich" around them.

They Say I Say

After reading the article I learned a main point is to not summarize someone but quote their exact words because this gives a tremendous amount of credibility to your paper and keeps is fair and accurate. Another main point I got from this chapter was that authors assume that quotes can speak for themselves but in reality they next text surrounding them so the reader can understand the importance of that quote. Finally, the last main point I found really important was choosing a quote that fits your paper/topic because you don't want to just throw in a quote for the sake of having one. You want it to relate to what your talking about not be misleading.

School Shooting Questions

I am writing about school shootings among high school students in the Midwest because it's an important issue than everyone can relate to since it can happen everywhere. I'm going to focus on what drives a student to commit such a crime and if there has been an increase in school shootings within the last 10 years. I'm writing for students, it doesn't matter where they go to school because a shooting can happen at any school.  I want readers to learn about the factors that push a student to kill others so others can see warning signs with their classmates. I expect to find a lot of information on the topic because there have been many articles written about shooting events. I hope to answer why a student does it and if there's been an increase and if it will only get worse from here. If I can interview a participant I think that would be most beneficial, my friends brother has been at a school while a shooting as occurred but it was at the University of Texas so it doesn't really fit my narrowed down topic.

Evaluation of Research Questions

I think my questions are pretty vague and really unspecific. It doesn't really relate to my life but Ive always found school shootings to be interesting after reading a novel about them, visiting Northern Illinois where there's been a killing, and hearing about universities whose had shootings. It's not something most kids think about going away to school but can happen just about anywhere. I feel like I can also find enough adequate information on my topic because there have been multiple school shooting across the US, but I think I'm going to concentrate on just Illinois within the last 20 years and if there has been an increase because of the availability of fire arms. This topic does offer taking photographs and looking at archives, I think it would be pretty hard to interview someone who has been a victim or even the killer.