Assignment 2

            In Davis and Shadle’s essay about research writing, I found their perspective to be very interesting. When I was reading through this essay, I very much thought that it sounded as if the author’s were against the “typical” research paper. From what I read, I had gathered that they found research papers to be anything but instructive and somewhat a waste of time. As I continued to read on they often referred research papers as “unoriginal”. The more I read I felt as if they were highly irritated with the form in which people used when they wrote a research paper, and the information they were using in order to get their point across. I very much felt as if Davis and Shadle were arguing the pros/ cons of research papers, as I read through this essay. It feels as if, when you read this essay that they don’t find this type of writing to be sufficient in what it is suppose to be used for. I took the words they had written and according to my own interpretation, Davis and Shadle had very little praise for the typical research paper. However when it came to their own idea of a research paper, in form that they would twist the idea and make a research paper a much more hands on form, they had seen much better results. As I had read through the beginning of this piece I was not so intrigued about the bits and pieces they had to inform me about a research paper, because being a student I often find research papers to be dull and a lot of work and time, with often little results. However Davis and Shadle’s amazing idea of a multi-genre paper perked up my interest, and I couldn’t help but want to know more. I found that their idea of connecting the world of research to visual arts, music, and other hands on items, to be something that I would be able to relate to, and most likely have more fun with the task at hand, and in return get more out of my project, due to the fact that I was having fun while doing it, and be able to present a better piece, because I would be much more connected to it then I would other wise. When it come to this new research model, I think that presenting something almost as a book report, but an extremely knowledgeable one at that, full of citations, quotes, and other informational pieces, would not only help the author to learn and better understand what their point is, and how they are getting it across, but also it would allow the audience to better connect with what the author is trying to say. 

Assignment 1

            When comparing the definitions of research to the sample essay we received in class, I found that there were many similarities. When reading through the sample essay I found that the content was full of the same definitions that we had came up with together as a class. On the first page of this essay I saw examples of sources, which when reduced down, turned out to be the way in which media is affective in modeling a behavior for adolescents. However as I continued throughout the text, this author provided me with many examples of research they had completed by finding several different quotes in which helped them to give their point.

            When reading this essay I found that this author seemed to have a lot of knowledge, which happened to be another definition we discussed in class, on the topic he or she picked to write about. With this knowledge that the writer had, said person was also able to easily present this writing as an argumentative research paper, because they used the information they had researched, and portrayed it in a way that showed they had a passion and an interest for what they were writing about.  When reading this essay I felt that the author took everything they had most likely learned when researching the topic of media’s modeling behavior and thoroughly explained and argued it to the reader.        

            One of the most noticeable aspects of research writing is that of the citations. It is possibly one of the most important distinctions from that of a research writing, and writing of any other kind. You can see throughout the entire writing that the facts, quotes, sources and research the author applied were all serious, after they used a citation, showing the reader what they were reading, and where in which they could find the information if they chose to go back on their own in order to find the information they had been provided.

            When relating my first day of class to the previous semester’s time spent in English 101, one thing we discussed today, which immediately reminded me of the prerequisite class was bringing up the rhetoric aspect of writing. However it  isn’t a subject in which is easily exemplified, you know that within every piece of writing you can read, you can be sure that there will be a direct relationship with the author and the audience. Along with the use of audience when it comes to the rhetoric method, you can tell when reading the sample writing that there is a purpose in which the author is writing ever so passionately. The context in which this paper was written is also a highly important when it comes to relating why in which the author would feel the way he or she did when writing this essay.