Critical Reflection 4

      One goal that I chose to examine was reading. Part of this goal is to understand data, identify controlling idea of a text, grapple with arguments, paraphrase and summarize sources, and analyze the content of an argument. I feel that when writing my annotated bibliography, I succeeded in understanding my articles and paraphrasing their content along with evaluating if it was a good source to use for my research paper. It took me a while to read the articles and pick out what the main arguments were and how can they help me develop my research question, but soon I picked how to precisely read an article and take accurate notes. Unfortunately, it took me a while to gain this skill and my first annotated bibliography suffered because of it. My first bibliography draft was much too lengthy and didn't get to the main points of the article, it had a lot of extra fluff in it that wasn't really needed. For my next annotated bibliography, I found it easier to pick out what was useful and to summarize the article precisely. Understanding and analyzing my articles has really helped me decide what will be useful for my paper and what takes away from the overall quality of my paper. I started off with ordering a large amount of books and articles off the library website and narrowed it down to a few sources that could really help shape my research question and thesis statement. I made sure to read all of the articles and take notes along with flagging certain passages that I found useful or interesting and then from there I had to decide what articles would help and which ones would harm.
       A second goal I worked towards was writing. Writing involves identifying and developing a topic to research, constructing a logical argument, identifying refute counterarguments, distinguishing between reporting on or regurgitating information and taking a position, synthesizing and integrating source material, and supporting a thesis using credible and accurate source material. When I first started this assignment, my research topic was all over the place. I knew that I wanted to research mental institutions, but I didn't know what else I would look into for my paper. I then found a story of a female journalist who faked lunacy to see how insane asylums were like, and her story has really fueled and guided me into what my current draft is now. My very first research proposal only focused on women journalists faking lunacy, but now my paper has changed to look at why there was such a rise of the Victorian madwoman and how they were treated by caretakers and by society. My research question has taken a huge turn, but I still find it difficult to choose a side on my topic. I feel as if there is really no way to choose a side, either you agree with putting innocent women in insane asylums or you don't, and this has really frustrated me when writing my paper. I'm hoping that after I get my current draft back, my professor can help me figure out what argument I should take and how to incorporate it in my paper. Recently, I have started working towards developing a sound thesis, something that seemed so much easier in high school, but is now proving to be very difficult for me. I liked my thesis and still do, but my peers seemed to think it was confusing and non relevant. I have started trying to  change my thesis and make it more precise, it needs to get to the point of what my paper is about, not just some jumbled nonsense to end my introduction.
     The last goal I chose to achieve was processes. This involves demonstrating a command of multiple drafts and completing a successful text, developing strategies for generating, revising, editing, and proofreading, understanding the collaborative and social aspects of writing processes, critiquing their own and other's works, and learning to balance the advantages of relying on others with the responsibility of doing their part. I feel that I have achieved this goal by writing many drafts of my research paper and taking into account my professor's critiques and my peer's critiques. I have always made sure to edit my paper and listen to what others think would be better because the advice of my peers and professor really matter. If they don't like the paper, chances are many others won't like the paper too. I have also learned better peer editing skills in this class by going to my conferences. At first I was hesitant to give others my opinion, but after I while I felt confident in helping others with their paper and bouncing ideas off of them to improve their writing. I have also found that conferences have really led me critique and edit my own paper. I now know what to look for when it involves writing and this has helped me look for that or the absence of that in my paper. Lastly, I have realized that I cannot take every little criticism and fix it in my paper. When writing my current draft, I took much of the criticism I received into account and tried to fix it, but I didn't take everything into account because after all, it is my paper and if I don't agree with some of the critiques, I am not going to change my paper for someone else.