This was the first research paper I had ever written. For me personally the hardest part was the annotated biboliagraphy. To start off I didn't even know what noodletools was, let alone an annotated bibliography. Two things made the bibliography the hardest: databases and paragraphs. I struggled a lot finding sources on the databases and I ended up stressing over that rather than concentrating on the actual annotations. Actually, my most helpful sources weren't from databases but from outside sources. Looking back I wish that we peer reviewed the bibliography because the paragraphs that I wrote could have been better and I could have received a better grade. Also, citing the sources was very confusing maybe because it is just a difficult technique to learn but I still don't think I fully picked up on it. Outside of the bibliography nothing stands out to me as the easiest. The rest of my process was just ups and downs of work ethic. My rough draft was not my finest work, I just threw it togeather. Then I worked really hard on corrections and ended up adding a whole page of supporting details to my paper. Next, I printed out the wrong draft and accidentally brought it in for review. I personally wish that I had taken the whole process more seriously.
The weakest part of my paper was sentence fluency. Out of all the traits of good writing I wish this wasn't the one I had the hardest time because it seems like the most important. Sometimes when I am writing a paper I have all of my ideas in my head and I think about how they connect and affect each other. It all fits together so well in my head, but when I go to write it I leave out parts and my writing gets choppy. However, I think that the organization was strong in my paper. I started off with the education itself then moved on to students personal lives and how they are affected by the education they are given.
The most helpful advice I received for my paper was from my p.e coach. She encouraged me write more supporting details rather than adding more facts to support my topic. I thought about this while I was re-reading my paper and it really helped me to round out my paper.
Reading Times:
2/17: The Fault in Our Stars~ 120 min
2/19: Paper revisions~ 45 min
2/21: The Fault in our Stars~60 min
2/22: Final Revisions~ 30 min
Total: 255 min
Liz, I totally agree with you. The annotated bibliography was the hardest for me too, and you're right sentence fluency is hard!
ReplyDeleteI know what you mean about sentence fluency. Sometimes you know exactly what you want to say and you just can't make it come out right in the paper. It's so annoying!!
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