Through researching for our desired topics we were taught how to use online databases. The databases we use are created through the University of Wisconsin Stevens Point for all of the students to use and benefit from. At first I found that using the databases to be very confusing and challenging. Mainly because you can type in different key words and a lot of the research you come to find depends on the key words that you use and if the words are to broad the sources you find become very general. It can be hard to narrow down your words to find specifically what you want. However, after a lot of practice and guidance I got the hang of it and found these databases to be very helpful. I came to find a lot of good information on energy and future energy sources for the United States. Through the databases I received a lot of credible information that will be beneficiary for my paper. Also, I Used the magazine National Geographic to gather research. They had a couple of really good articles on energy sources that worked good in my paper.
In my opinion research papers can be very tough to write. A lot of times I struggle with what information to use and how to reiterate it in my own words and what would be good information to quote. However, this is now the third research paper I have written, and I think every time you get a little better and you understand how to meet your goals. Like, making an argument and backing it up with information that is reliable. Overall, I think being able to write a research paper is very beneficiary also knowing how to locate concrete research that will strengthen your paper.
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
Wednesday, November 14, 2012
Journal #5 Research Paper Thesis/Intro Idea
For my research paper I decided to go off of my Evaluative Essay. I had watched the Frontline documentary on "Nuclear Aftershocks." I enjoyed this documentary and wanted to explore different energy sourced further so I decided to base my research paper off of this. My thesis for my research paper is: where should America go with energy. As of right now I plan on researching four different types of energy, most likely they will be nuclear, solar, wind and coal. I will touch base on all of those and probably talk about hoe sufficient each one is, how ling it would take us to move to this source of energy and how costly it would be. Then I will pick a specific one that I think would be best for America that would provide the most clean energy and I will expand on that. I will discuss how long it could take for America to switch to this energy source, how much money would be invested in it and if it would be the most sufficient to meet our country's needs. These are my tentative ideas and I would like to know what you guys think?
Wednesday, November 7, 2012
Journal #4 Evaluating Wikipedia
I read an editorial from our text Practical Argument on page 344-345. The editorial is called "Wikipedia with Caution"and it was published in the Stanford Daily on March 8th, 2012. I found this article to be very interesting since we as a class are now getting into our research projects. With this we are trying to find information and sites that are credible for usage in our papers. The editorial discusses how The Department of History at Middlebury Collage forbade kids to cite wikipedia in their papers. A lot of people became upset about this ban and it gained national attention including an article in the New York Times. This editorial took the position where they thought it was okay to do this and was not an issue of censorship. However they felt like most kids already knew not to cite Wikipedia in a peper. I mainly agree with this. I think that Wikipedia can be helpful for some quick research but I also think it is always important to double check the information from a credible site. I really do not see a reason for people to be upset about not being able to cite wikipedia as a source in a paper. Also, in the editorial it talks about how Jimmy Wales, one of the founders of Wikipedia "did not see Middleburry's action as a "negative thing"." Wikipedia had now introduced a citation function where contributors can direct readers to other well established sources. I did not know that and I think that it very helpful and a very nice feature for Wikipedia to have. I really liked this editorial and think english teachers should discuss Wikipedia with their students to help them better understand what kind of a role it can play in papers.
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