Just a College Kid Thinking and Writing

After many hours, working on every little detail.  It is done.  Here it is.

https://www.buzzfeed.com/micaelamason/17-reasons-why-all-girls-schools-arenat-that-bad-30dn6?utm_term=.nbvnYMM5d0#.jrDqWZZDzX

The above link is to the Buzzfeed article I wrote as my final project for my CTW class.  My article is titled “17 Reasons Why All-Girls Schools Aren’t That Bad.”  I listed funny and serious reasons to consider attending an all-girls school.  I included short, funny explanations of each reason along with a gif to help add emotion.  I think my article turned out very professional and hopefully impactful.

My goal with this article was to help, educate, and eliminate.  I want to help students find the best school for them specifically through not ruling out all-girls schools as option.  I want to educate others about the powerful impact all-girls schools can have.  Finally, I want to eliminate the negative stereotypes about all-girls schools.  Although the reasons stand for themselves, the formatting and platform allow for a successful article to help students pick their future education.

As I said in my previous post, I really enjoyed working on this project.  I simply find this more fun than writing a long paper.  Additionally, I thought it was interesting to think about how would your target audience best obtain this information.  I can guarantee for most people it won’t be through a long research paper.

So that’s it folks.  This college kid is not done thinking or writing, but she is done thinking and writing on this blog.  So thanks!

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Well its goodbye for now…

Source: Disney

But I promise there is always tomorrow. unfortunately, there is not but because this really is goodbye.

We have come to the end.  It has been so fun writing this blog this quarter.  Although it has been a lot of work, it has been fun to go back and read my old posts.  There have been some challenges along the way.  For example, towards the end/more recent posts I began to lose space on the websites media file, so I was limited on the amount of gifs I added which became very frustrating since if you remember I had tons of gifs in the beginning and now I’m lucky if I can fit two.  Overall, writing this blog has been a good experience.

Not only am I coming to the end of my blog, but I am also coming to the end of my CTW class.  I have been attending this class for 2 quarters now and I will be odd not having it next year.  I have learned a lot in this class from writing narratives to writing long research papers to turning them into multimodal projects (update on that in a second).  I am super grateful for this class since I have learned so much that will be so helpful in my future college classes and my future in general.  My grandpa always says no matter what your job is you will always need to know how to write.  I am glad that I now have a tool box of writing skills that I can use for the rest of my life.  So thanks Professor Lueck!

Source: Warner Bros. Pictures

Now about my multimodal project.  I know I promised to show you all my final project, so that is going to be my next blog post.  My multimodal project will be my final post.  See you then!

Well its goodbye for now…

Source: Disney

But I promise there is always tomorrow.

I made it to week 10 of a 10 week quarter.  But, we have one more assignment or step in this process.  Last week, I turned in my final research paper and it was a huge weight lifted off my shoulders.  So now, for week 10, we are relating back to the real world.  No one is going to voluntarily really an 8-10 page paper unless they are a researcher or it is necessary for their job, but that cuts out a large portion of society.  Our task this week is to turn our research paper into a multimodal project.  We must present our information to our audience in a realistic way they will actually read or watch or listen.

I decided I wanted my audience to be future students, so students who are making the decision about what school (high school or college) they should attend.  My age group is about 13-19 and specifically girls.  I decided I would write a buzzfeed article because that is a popular news/social media platform many teenagers use.

My article is called 17 reasons why all-girls schools aren’t that bad.  I go through funny and academic reasons why girls should consider an all girls school before completely ruling them out while integrating funny gifs.

I actually found this to be pretty easy once I decided what type of project I wanted to do.  I had all of my academic reasons embedded into my paper, so I just needed to find my funny reasons, and I turned to buzzfeed and previous articles about all girls schools to help me.  I honestly had a harder time finding gifs than finding reasons.  I really enjoyed this project because I could see myself reading this article if I was still deciding what school to attend.  Thankfully, this was an easy assignment and I didn’t get writer’s block or could make a decision like the last few assignments especially since week 10 is hitting hard.

Source: NBC

Well its goodbye for now…

Source: Disney

But I promise there is always tomorrow.

My research paper topic came to me in a dream …  haha no it didn’t but that would have made a good story I guess.  But I did decide on a topic.  I know I know I’m just as excited for me as I am.  I was very worried last time I blogged but its all good now kinda.  I now just have stress about writing the paper not coming up with a topic, so this is a lot better.

Source: Giphy

Anyways, I decided to write my paper on arguing that single-sex schools are better, but they are diminishing.  My idea isn’t fully flushed out yet, but that is my idea.  I plan on talking about the positives of single-sex schools, why its diminishing and what we can do to help.  I will use my articles to back up my claims and part of my conversation.  I do not think I will use my survey in my essay because my survey has more to do with the transition of single-sex to co-educaitonal and sexism present on campus.

Well I have to stop talking about my idea and start writing about it.  Plus blogging isn’t writing my paper so I need to shift gears here.  But I thought I would keep y’all in the loop and I wanted to let you know you can stop worrying about me and my topic.  Haha that’s assuming someone is worrying (its ok I did enough worrying for everyone.)

Well its goodbye for now…

Source: Disney

But I promise there is always tomorrow.

I have finally approached the section in my class where we are beginning to write our final research paper.  It has been a long time coming but it has finally arrived.  But now that I’m here I have no idea what my thesis or topic or argument is going to be.  I am so lost; its not even funny.

Source: Photobucket

My teacher said that by the time I got to this point I would know my topic.  Supposedly, through all the previous steps, our thesis should have come out to us as an overarching theme.  So needless to say, that hasn’t happened for me.  And I’m beginning to worry.

So, I guess I have writer’s block, but maybe just not the typical kind.  I know the overarching topic I will talk about but I don’t know what specific thing or argument I am going to make.  This is an issue since I have a fast approaching deadline.

This is my plan to fix this issue:

1. think about my topic (I don’t know how successful this will be)
2. review my survey and look for interesting occurrences
3. read through my articles
4. see if there are any similarities or differences between my survey findings and my articles
5. look for gaps in my articles
6. pray

Hopefully, one of these brings inspiration my direction.

I think I am so frustrated for many reasons, but one being that in the beginning I had this issue when I entered the archives without an idea.  The difference was that 5 minutes into that problem the solution found me.  I am now a few days into this problem and there seems to be no solution in sight.  But, I am determined to find a solution (mostly cause I have to).  Anyways, wish me good luck!

Well its goodbye for now…

Source: Disney

But I promise there is always tomorrow.

Today instead of a typical class session we had a library session which was taught by a librarian.  We learned about scholarly articles and peer reviewed articles.  They are articles published in scholarly journals and go through a rigorous review process before it will be published.  Each process is slightly different; however, they follow the same path.  Articles get submitted, a publisher decides if they want it to continue the process, if it gets passed, a team of scholars in the field review the article, then the publisher gets to make the final decision if it gets published, then it could get published.  When reviewing the article, the peer reviewers are asking questions such as is this true, is it relevant, is it new information?  Peer reviewed, scholarly articles are the best articles to use in research papers.

Source: Giphy

We also learned about the importance of including descriptions about the author and publisher of an article in your research essay.  For example, when introducing an article, you should also introduce the author and their credentials and the publisher and its description.  This will add credibility to your paper and about your articles.  This information is also important to know when deciding which articles to use in your research paper.  We also wrote many example sentences with all the necessary background information for practice.  This information will be very helpful when writing my research paper in order to add credibility.

Well its goodbye for now…

Source: Disney

But I promise there is always tomorrow.

So remember when a few weeks ago when I talked about the survey I was conducting and how I didn’t tell you the results?  Well, I sent out my survey and got my results and I’m ready to share them with all of you.  I got 35 responses after sending it out.  Of those 35 responses, I got 27 female responses and 8 male responses.

My 1st question: When do you think women were first admitted in SCU?

Answer: 57% answered correctly which was 1960s

My 2nd question: When do you think women were first admitted in SCU?

Answer: Answers varied, mostly between financial reasons and diversity

My 3rd question: How much do you think female students were respected by the male students at SCU when women were first admitted?

Answer:

My 4th question: How sexist do you think SCU was when women were first admitted into SCU?

Answer:

My 5th question: Do you think male students accept females to be students at SCU now?

Answer:

My 6th question: How sexist do you think SCU is now?

Answer:

My 7th question: (For this question, I also put a picture of the original newspaper of the day after it was announced that women would be admitted into SCU with the “Tradition Shattered.”). This was the newspaper that was published the day after it was announced that women would be admitted into SCU. Do you think women shattered the tradition?

Answer:

My 8th question: If you said yes to the previous question, why?

Answer: Answers varied, changed the 110-year tradition or needed to change the all-male tradition in order to admit women

Well its goodbye for now…

Source: Disney

But I promise there is always tomorrow.

Last week, I started researching my topic for the next step in this research process.  We are supposed to use databases that we can find through our school’s library and specifically encouraged to use the database, OmniFile.  Over the last 2 quarters at SCU, I have had a lot of experience using these databases, so I was confident in my skills at finding good articles.  However, when I started researching this topic, I hit a wall.

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I spoke with a librarian during one of our library sessions.  She helped me edit my search to find articles that fit my topic.  I was able to find 3-4 really good articles from this search, but then I hit another wall.

Source: Giphy

This search although it found a few very good articles, did not offer enough.  I tried to do minor edits to my search in hopes to find articles that slipped through the cracks, however, that attempt didn’t really work.  So, at the moment, I am very frustrated finding articles about my topic because as I touched on in my last blog post, I am basically open to anything as long as it in some way relates to my topic, but I can’t find anything else.

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Source: Disney/Pixar

In class, we learned about CARS (not the movie, I got excited too.) which stands for Create A Research Space.  This includes establishing territory, establishing a niche, and occupying the niche.  Establishing territory is setting the background and foundation for your paper.  Establishing a niche is finding gaps in your research or asking questions about your research.  Occupying the niche is filling the gap and answering the questions that are found during establishing the niche.

So, lets try to apply CARS to my research.  This will be a little difficult since I am having such a hard time finding articles.  This will also just be a limited version of my final research, so my CARS will not be complete, but let’s go for it.

Establishing territory: There are a few articles discussing whether or not single sex or co-education is the best option for students.  These are often being discussed as a school is  making this decision.  The book, “Keep the Damned Women Out,” talks about how different elite universities transitioned to co-education including good and bad stories.

Establishing a niche: I see a gap in how single sex education or co-education has effected students after college.  One article said that although women have been going to universities for 125+ years there is still a wage gap, but offers no more information regarding why or how.

Occupying the niche: I plan on researching my topic as a whole more, but I also want to look into the gap I have found in order to fill that hole.

Source: Disney

Well its goodbye for now…

Source: Disney

But I promise there is always tomorrow.

For my English class, we had to read this article that was about the best ways to use sources persuasively.  It highlights Kinneavy’s triangular diagram of the rhetorical situation.  Now I know what you all are probably thinking, “didn’t she just talk about a triangle?”  Well, good memory because I did, but this is a different triangle.  However, they both involve rhetorical writing, so they are very useful when they are used together.

Source: Giphy

Kinneavy’s triangular diagram of the rhetorical situation stresses the importance of finding many different article to use as evidence from different sources and perspectives.  This triangle can be used when finding sources and while writing your paper since it can help you make sure you have a well-rounded paper.

Source: Emaze

The speaker/writer is the one trying to persuade, so they choose their tone and sources in order to best persuade.  Their language and style can determine how successful they are at persuading someone.  Who is writing?

The audience/reader impacts how someone will read something.  Everyone has their own experience that can shape their opinions and views.  Who is reading?/Who is intended to read this?/Who is this written for?

The subject/topic is the overall theme of the paper, but depending on the way it is presented makes it persuading or not.  What is the author trying to say?/What is the argument?

It is important, like the other triangle, that these are all connected and your writing will improve.  Everything impacts the other.  For example, the way a writer expresses something can impact how the audience reads it and how the topic is viewed in the future.

Source: Imgur

I plan on using this method as I continue to look for sources and eventually write my paper.  I think overall this will help me stay on track and guarantee that I produce a well-rounded paper.

Well its goodbye for now…

Source: Disney

But I promise there is always tomorrow.

Do you feel like every time you visit this blog I am talking about the next step in this long research project?  Well, I can tell you I do.  Thankfully, this is week 6 of a 10 week quarter so we are past the halfway point!!! I think that is much more exciting for me than for you.

Source: Mashable

Anyways back to the always exciting research project and my process.  The next step is to begin to researching our topic using library resources.  For those of you who think that my generation does not go to the library, you are wrong because 1) that’s where most of the homework gets done and 2) teachers assign us assignments that required us to use the library.

Source: S.M. Entertainment

In all seriousness, we have to find articles from the library databases in order/in hopes to build our final topic.  We are to get a well-rounded amount of information regarding our topic.

My first problem was deciding which database I should search.  I decided to start basic and broad by searching through a multi-subject database.  Although I don’t think this is going to be very helpful when trying to find 8-12 articles, it will give me a starting place.  As I was searching for an article, I only found a few that would be helpful.

One article I found was “Celebrating 125 Years of University Women”.  I was immediately reminded of my headlines.  I think this a good article to compare to my 2 main headlines.  Also, this article gives background into the first women to ever to go college.  This could possibly be a background source or an exhibit source since it is an example.

My next challenge will be deciding which database to search through next.  I want to find a database that is more specific to my topic instead of being so broad.  At least, I am off to a good start.  I will let you know how the rest of this process goes.

Well its goodbye for now…

Source: Disney

But I promise there is always tomorrow.