When looking at the overall effect of writing a research paper, there are several key factors that had to have gone into making eh paper. Questions such as, Why? How? For Whom? are all part of developing a well-written paper, along with one’s own opinion. How one came to write their paper all depends on the writer him or herself. When coming down to look at mine, there were several distinctions and steps that I took in order to come up with my topic and finally, in the end, my paper.
Originally when I started to think about my topic, which was already narrowed down to the subject of ‘Technology’, there were several things to think about. What was something that I wanted to explore and enter into? Was there something personal that affected me and I wanted to research on it to share with others, hoping that they can relate as well. All different types of questions came into play and it was hard for me to figure out what I wanted to do.
It came to me after reading the book Technology Matters by David E. Nye. Several chapters just sprang out at me, and got me to think that maybe he has a point here; there is something that I can see and relate to. Nye talked about being universal and different and just about how technology can either control us or we control technology. Right then and there I knew what I wanted to talk about and that was being ‘plugged in.’ Now in my paper I explained how that it is not necessarily bad or good’ that it all depends on the person who is using the technology.
Being plugged in has a variety of answers, but trying to find a true answer is difficult just because there is so much that one can be plugged into. One, however, has to be able to realize if what they are doing is good or bad for them, and also those who are surrounding them. Sometimes people get too involved with what they are doing and tend to lose focus of their main objective. Distractions are what lead us off the path and tend to get in the way, leading us to being to plugged in. A good way to look at that would be asking, “Does technology control us, or us it?” It makes sense in a good way in that if we have control and purpose we are able to be stable and balance out the personal versus the social life.
There are several things that I had noticed when researching my topic, many of them dealing with a lot of the same material, and or relating the subjects together. It seemed as if they all had just copied off of each other, but that didn’t make any sense because some of them had been written years before others were written, but in general the studies seemed to produce the same outcome or results. It just showed a trend that seemed to go in the same general direction, as technology grows so does the demand and usage of the technology. The sources that I found and used seemed to agree with that idea, but not to a full 100 percent. There is a lot that I had found, that I could see was true because I saw that it was true in people and was able to compare it to them and myself.
When I started off with the researching there were a couple things that I wanted to research, such as tv addiction, and gaming, but then as I continued to look at it I realized that it is not so much there anymore but more along the lines of computers, cell phones, and the internet. People use this more and more each day, somewhat leaving behind the tv and gaming. Well, I guess I can’t say that it has been left behind, but most of us don’t go watch the tv or play games on our game consoles till late at night, because we get home later from work and yet have things to do before we relax. This is not the same for everyone however seeing how children are either at home or in school and not having to worry about adult matters in life, well at least for now. Anyone and everyone can be apart of this matter, kids to adults, no matter who you are, there was at some point or is presently something that we are addicted to that keeps us either focused or distracted that leads to us being plugged in. Remember it is not necessarily a bad or good thing; it all depends upon the individual and how they can correlate the two, the mind and the object.
What really helped were the sources, a lot of the research that I pulled was from articles online and from newspapers. I searched through several books, but the ones that I used were basically from the texts we had to read from class. I did use another book that I found interesting and related it to the material that I was writing. I think that the books helped a lot with my thoughts and ideas/brainstorming, but the articles from online really helped bring out the ideas and helped me put it into words so that I could put my paper together. In class there were a lot of key factors that also helped me, such as the online blogging, the discussion of the texts, and other small things, such as simple questions that really had helped me get a good structure for my paper.
Originally when we had to do this paper, we, the class, all knew that our subject was going to be on technology. The one thing that I did not like and wish we would have been able to do in the beginning was pick a topic right away so that we knew what to aim for. I struggle with papers if I do not know what we are aiming for. What I mean is that I knew that technology was the subject but I didn’t know what the objective was for the paper; I didn’t know basically that we were going to have to take a certain topic and pick a subject from that topic and write on it. If I would have known in the beginning I think that I wouldn’t have struggled so much just to get a start on it. It takes me a while to gather my research and get it all together nice and tight. I felt that all of the in class research and looking at other papers and articles helped bring out the idea of finding key words and terms that help relate back to the paper’s topic. When we kept doing this I got the understanding that a good paper has the ability to let people keep in their heads that this is what the paper is about, that all of these little sentences are meant to come back and relate to the subject of the paragraph, but more importantly to the thesis statement of the paper.
After a good semester’s worth of looking at other works, reading several texts, and doing our own research it came down to creating a research paper ourselves and being able to put it together well enough so that everything seemed to have a good flow. Another thing that I used was the usage of quotes from different sources, hoping that it would relate to what I was trying to say in a certain part. Sometimes and a good majority of the time I felt that the quote could be used in several different places, but I really had to look at what I wanted to say and make sure that the quote I wanted was appropriate in the area I was writing. I also used some of my own experiences and those of others and put that into my paper. Sometimes the best way to explain things in a simpler way is to use everyday examples or examples so that those who are reading can understand what is trying to be stated at that certain part.
However I feel that it might be easier for students to be able to know what they are being told to type in the end, just so that they are prepared and know what to look for and have the time to research. It really does help because it helps the student focus more on what is need to be written about and understood. There is the concern that people will just go ahead and write away, but it is a good thing because then people have time to learn from their mistakes and continue to improve upon what they wrote. Teachers, I think, just need to know when to start this and let the students get a head start so that the students have more time to research and write instead of giving them a certain time period, as in the day you go into a class room and the teacher says that we are going to discuss the paper, its requirements and when it is going to be due.
In the end, I felt that everything that we had done since the beginning helped me out and led me the right way into writing my research paper. It wasn’t an easy road, I can tell you that much, there is a lot that has to be done in order to reach the finale, but like in any case whether it be art, music, etc. it takes time to reach your goal and have it to a point where you are not only satisfied but beyond satisfaction and you have that feeling of accomplishment. Now it is only time that you hope that it does well and that well and that people like the work that you have done and then you know that all of that hard work had really paid off.
No comments:
Post a Comment