Every topic I chose for my writing projects this semester had to do with something that I am interested in. For the photo essay (WP#1) I chose to do it about cars. Cars have been a part of my life since I was very young, because some of my family members had some very awesome classic cars. For the visual analysis (WP#2) I chose to do it on WWII propaganda posters, because I love history and I am a Veteran. For our Argument Synthesis (WP#3) I did not have my say in the matter because our research was chosen for us. Regardless, the information that was given to us was very interesting, because it dealt with something that all college students my age are going to have to deal with very soon after graduation. Finally for my Researched Argument Synthesis (WP#4) I chose to write about stress in law enforcement, because I was an MP in the military and have first hand knowledge of the amount of stress that a law enforcement professional can be under all the time. I wanted to bring this issue to light for everyone to read and become mindful of. All of these choices I have made on what to do my project on was the best choice and I do not wish that I would have done them on some other topic.
I feel that out of all the writing projects I have meet all of the goals that I had layed out for myself. The only regret as far as goal reaching is concerned, I wish that I did a little better on the researched argument synthesis. I wish I could have had more information in the finished product. Every other project that I have completed made me feel proud of my skills as a writer, and made me realize how far I have come since starting college. I think that my writing skills as a whole have improved dramatically.
The facts that interested me the most for WP#3 were how competitive the work world was and how many jobs could and have been off shored. That leaves less and less good jobs and ones that pay well for new people entering the work world. For WP#4 the most interesting facts were how much damage stress could do to the body From high blood pressure to mental illness like depression and suicide. Even though I have seen these issues first hand from responding to domestic violence calls to suicide calls where individuals have been successful to where we were able to make it there in time to stop them and get them help. All these points made me more interested in the topics I was researching. They gave me a sense of purpose while completing these writing assignments.
The Information required for WP#4 was extensive since there were so many issues that stress can cause on the human body. From books and articles highlighting the medical issues associated with stress to books made for councilors on how to help with the mental illnesses that come with stress. It was rather difficult to find all this information, but the online library and research center were invaluable in aiding in my research while finding information on my topic.
I learned throughout the research process that finding all the information required is a time consuming process, and needs to be so you can effectively write about your topic, and share all information regarding it. If you just pick the first book or article that pops up in your search it might not effectively cover all what you need it to. Reading the abstract of each article and book I found to be very important in helping me choose the right information to include in my paper.
The most challenging project to write was WP#4 because of what I stated above. I needed to sift through countless articles and books and pick out what I thought was important to my topic, which is not easy, a few times I had to go back and do more research to find articles that better explained my topic and the argument I was trying to share and write about. The most fun was synthesizing all the information and research that I and gathered. I know that sounds weird but it was like piecing together a puzzle, you just had to share the information in such a way that it would fit together seamlessly.
For WP#4 I chose to keep like subjects together and keep that plan throughout the entire paper, it kept it easy for me to use all of my research and it ended up working out in my favor. Transitional tools were also very helpful when I need to change gears into a different idea about stress.
We worked with our peers throughout the entire class. This was beneficial to me because we could figure out if our writing made sense, since the class was our audience. The feedback that was given to me from the class made my papers strong and more organized and were very important to me in my opinion. Reading other class mates work gave us all ideas on how to make our papers better, from organization to grammar and punctuation. Overall peer reviews were invaluable to me and my performance in class,
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