Nightmares of MLA

Any time I had to write a research paper, we always were told to use MLA citation for it. For some reason, citing my sources and in-text citation is a concept that is extremely hard for me to grasp. The only way I can possibly cite my sources is if I have a guide right in front of me telling me step by step the process I have to take. It’s not that I haven’t had experiences with citing my sources but I never remember how to properly do cite them and how to do the in-text citation. It’s pretty ridiculous how much trouble I have with it since I have been using MLA for every research paper I’ve ever done and have been instructed on how to do it multiple times. There was only one time I used APA and that was this year in my Fashion class.

ohhh research

When it comes to research projects, I don’t have all that much experience with them. I know I’ve done lots of small research projects but there are only a few that I stick out in my head that were major papers. One was on the history of chocolate, I know it is random, and I did it in eighth grade. That paper was interesting because I learned a lot of strange facts dealing with the sweet treat that most people had no clue about. The most memorable thing about that research paper was that chocolate was originally a bitter beverage invented by an ancient South American tribe, possibly the Aztecs or Mayans. There have been other research projects here and there since then but that one is the most prominent in my memory.

GM and Bt

I think the most interesting claim that Brody had in his report would be the part on the Bacillus thuringiensis bacterium. I think that it is interesting how this certain bacterium can be infused with crop and then that little bacterium can have such monumental affects on productivity and can diminish the use of chemicals on the crops. It’s hard for me to believe that this could be true and I wonder how they could have possibly figured that out. If something this small can have such an impact on farming, then what more could they do with genetically modified food and how could truly impact the world?

Peer Criticism

When I ask others for assistance with my writing, I want them to be brutally honest. There are a few errors that usually come up in my writing; for instance, I will sometimes get the advice that some statements I made in my writing weren’t clear and could be confusing. I can sometimes have a problem with wording things in a funny manner that make since to me but not my audience. Also, when I’m trying to meet a word requirement on a paper, I tend to repeat myself; this can create monotony for the reader and those are the criticisms that I can think of that I usually get in my writing.

strengths and weaknesses

The strengths of my paper would probably be that I hit all the points that I wanted to address in my outline and found some other points that I hadn’t originally thought about and got to put them in my paper. The weaknesses are that I seemed to ramble a lot. I also repeated myself so much and it sounds a little monotonous. I’m hoping that when I revise it, I’ll be able to cut out the unnecessary things and will be left with a decent paper. When I first started my paper, I thought that it would be extremely hard writing 1,500 words; at first it was, but then I started coming up with other ideas and it started to flow more easily. It was still fairly hard to write though.

Middle Style Writing

I would definitely say that my most comfortable style of writing would be the middle style. I enjoy this style of writing because it is more elevated and has more depth than the lower style but not as professional and hard to follow as high style. I feel like the middle section is easier to connect with and I like how it is formal, yet casual at the same time. This style is most appropriate during personal or argumentative writing. It can also be used in some academic settings. It can be used with a general audience, which is part of the reason why I like it so much; one doesn’t have to be an expert on the subject discussed to be able to follow what the person is talking about when they write in the middle style.

Rubrics

A rubric is a template that is used to evaluate and grade papers or projects. There are sections that a person is graded on and a person is awarded points based on their quality of work; the higher the quality of work, the higher the points and, therefore, the higher the grade on the paper. There are divisions in rubrics such as organization, creativity, staying on topic, and clarity. When I was in my Advanced Placement Literature class, my teacher used rubrics for projects and for our major research paper. For little papers, we didn’t have rubrics. I experienced rubrics in my Art classes, surprisingly enough.

My Challenge as a Writer

I believe a challenge I have as a writer would be developing a stable thesis statement and knowing where to put it. When I write, my goal is to have an intriguing introduction that captures the attention of the reader and makes them want to read more, as should be every writer’s objective. I am so bad at knowing when I should include my thesis statement and I never usually want to include it in that opening paragraph. I need to learn how to judge where to place a thesis statement so that it will be the most effective and impactful rather than always avoiding putting it in the introduction.