Writing 100 - Difficult But Helpful

      Senior year english class was a joke to me. I had five months of school left, and did not want to read classic British novels or write papers. Now I wish I would have. Perhaps it would have made freshman writing in college just the slightest bit more manageable. Writing 100 kicked my butt, and I still don’t think my writing is up to par with that of a college students’. Throughout this semester I learned a lot about writing a good paper. Topic sentences and theses are two of the most important parts of an essay or paper, besides and argument. Sources, although important, were not as difficult as topic sentences in the three papers submitted throughout the class. Of course they need to be scholarly, however the worst part is sifting through the hundreds of results received online. One thing to be noted with sources for papers, is to write notes and highlight wherever important information relating to the topic or thesis can be found. Doing so made it much easier to cite my sources in the second and third papers.

      The documentary watched for the third class paper proved interesting after a number of doubts. Each individual class picks the film to watch, and anything is a good choice as long as it is keeps the student’s attention, and there are controversial topics to be picked out of the storyline. Some will always complain or find a reason to not enjoy it and not write their paper, however, sometimes they’ll simply have to endure. Having a research paper was very helpful, and will continue to prove so throughout college. Knowing how to do research will be needed in the near future, and having practice will mean the papers can only get better from here. Throughout college I will continue to have writing assignments, however in nursing writing isn’t as prevalent as perhaps psychology or literature. Research is important in the nursing field though so it will be good to know how to conduct it and incorporate it into a paper.

Researching vs. Googling

     Before college, research papers were not a prominent form of writing in my academic career. Throughout my first year at Cedar Crest I’ve had four research papers, however, none of them had to be as scholarly as this last one. Google was acceptable for the majority, and reading/analyzing those articles is not like completing a brain teaser. 

      Using the resources on the Cressman Library page were not easy. Finding the search bars and knowing how to select the necessary categories has been explained numerous times by at least two professors now. However, the search engines provide both scholarly, and non scholarly journals and articles. Finding useful sources then requires time and patience, which college students normally don’t have. 

      The hardest part of the research process for myself was finding articles that relate to my topic. Since every paper has a unique topic, they are very specific. This increases the criteria and decreases the results that are helpful. Once both sources were found, reading them took a decent amount of time. While going through the articles I highlighted and made notes of portions that seemed to relate best to the topic of my paper. This definitely helped as I was writing the paper, because instead of having to scan through 9 pages, I just scanned through highlighted portions. I learned that I should not expect to finish the research portion of the paper in a quick manner. In order to find good resources time should be allocated for it just as time is set aside for the rough draft. Having to write this research paper allowed me to practice for future papers. 

Many Personalities of the Queen of Versailles

      The documentary begins with the Siegel's portrayed as having limitless funds and resources. Then slowly they show how the money begins to diminish. The same can be said about Jackie's personality throughout. At first, it is very flamboyant and wealthy, then she tones it down a little and becomes a more down-to-earth person. One scene in the beginning of the movie has Jackie showing her various clothing items with prices of thousands of dollars. Then, after Westgate has to let many employees go, she has a makeshift boutique where they could get items, either for cheap or for free — it was not indicated. However, the way the clips are cut show her in many lights. She cooks, but doesn’t clean the dog poop. She knows the personalities of her children, but does not take care of them like the nannies. She is, to some extent, a trophy wife, however she proves that she cares for her husband by cooking for him. Although Jackie has an engineering degree from college, she does not come across as the smartest woman in the room. I think that this comes from being immersed in wealth for so long. Although she did work previously, none of her instincts from that time seemed to kick in once the family started losing their money. This seemed, to me, like an act. Engineering degrees are not easy to obtain, yet she could not put together the facts to realize three of the same game did not need to be bought for Christmas.

Had the housing market not crashed, the Siegel family would continue on as it did prior to losing much of their investments. Versailles would be complete, and Jackie’s closet would have many more mink coats. Rather than having some trace of reality in their lives, they would still be living in the clouds.

Paper 2 Reflection

Approaching the second essay, I started considering the topic earlier, and writing a rough draft earlier. Receiving feedback from the first essay made me consider how I write, and that I needed to change some things. The introduction of the paper is very important, and a part that I have previously slightly ignored. While writing the paper, I had to come back and consider the topics discussed in the first paragraph, and the thesis, to make sure it still applied. This helped ensure that the paper flowed and made sense. Another important aspect this time around was topic sentences throughout the paper. Well-written topic sentences helped the paper come together as well. While last time, I admit, I simply wrote the paper straight through, and then submitted it, this time a lot more attention to detail was paid. 

Family First

      Growing up, shows like Boy Meets World, Full House, and 7th Heaven depicted close families who trusted each other. The kids were always getting themselves into trouble with the parents right behind, to catch them and help them learn from what happened. The Walls family, while the children are close, do not relate much to these television shows. Especially considering tv almost always shows families that are more middle class than lower. 

      In my family, we were taught to spend time with family often and depend on and support one another. I can (thankfully) say that my childhood is not like Jeanette Walls. My parents didn't leave my siblings and I to cook for ourselves, there was always food, we've lived in the same house my whole life, and they both have stable jobs. I guess that's the key word to describe my childhood — stable. I wouldn't have it any other way. Many families struggle financially, and although my parents both have full-time jobs, unexpected problems arise. However, my parents never let us know if there was a financial problem. We understood that everything was fine, and they always got through it. Understandably, Jeanette and her siblings learned lessons from their parents and way of life, however in a very harsh way. 

      It’s important to have a good relationship with your parents.

In my opinion, Jeanette and her parents did not have a good relationship. Her dad always said she was his favorite child, but he’s never home and always drinking. Her mom isn’t nurturing. In contrary, I talk to my parents all the time. This is one thing I think most people don’t have with their parents, but it is important in my family.

Education Paper Reflection

Writing is never easy, and for this reason I dreaded taking a college level writing class. In high school, I struggled to average similar grades in my english classes as other classes. While writing this paper first paper, I felt extremely nervous, and am stressed to receive feedback.

Sitting down to write, I tried to remember all of the tips and techniques I learned in high school, only to realize those are irrelevant now. College writing is totally different, and a standard template is no longer accepted. So I decided to write the initial rough draft straight through and see what came out of it. After tweaking, I went to the writing center and realized I had a lot of work to do. It took a lot of structuring and editing to complete the paper. Writing is definitely a personal experience because you put a good effort into writing about how you feel on a topic, only to realize it’s not good enough. Not the opinion, of course, but the resulting expression of that opinion through the writing. Since it is your own writing it is hard to review and pick apart the parts that aren’t good enough. Overall, this was a difficult task. I don’t know if it was the topic, or that writing proves to be a challenge for myself in general. 

Focusing was difficult while having to develop a topic/thesis. This is true for all unless the topic is something you are passionate about, and let’s be honest — who’s passionate about a college paper? Finding a groove, a way, or mood that works well to inspire writing was necessary. I don’t know how I did on this first paper, and I can’t even begin to guess. But I’m excited to improve and bring it up to standard to that of an educated college student.

My Education @ Liberty High School

Liberty High School is composed of a very diverse community. The school is unique in that it does not have obvious race or financial barriers. While some wear expensive clothes that others cannot afford, it does not affect the relationships between students. Those in the town sometimes talk about how rough the school is, or has gotten to be, with fights and so many students, but it really isn’t when compared to other schools surrounding, particularly in Allentown. Attending this school proved to be a good experience for myself, and the others who graduated, because it exposed us to many different cultures, classes, and above all, education styles.

Courses at Liberty varied in teaching methods and difficulty, with most of the regular classes fitting Paolo Freire’s banking concept. On the other hand, many of the higher level classes - Honors and AP - were set up as problem-posing atmospheres. These involved much discussion between the students and teacher, and encouraged students to think deeply on subjects. Perhaps the students in these classes valued their education highly, or they were influenced by the problem-posing education that caused our comprehension “to be increasingly critical and thus constantly less alienated” (Freire 373). This showed through students who were a part of the problem-posing classes attending college or trade schools after graduation. Albeit, students can attend secondary education whether or not they were in higher level classes, for myself the problem-posing classes made a difference in my choice of attending a 4-year college. By way of the teachers including critical discussion in the daily curriculum, “the world… [became] the object of the transformation which resulted in our humanization” (Freire 376). It caused myself to want to continue thinking critically and facing challenges. This may have influenced my decision to become a nurse as well because as a nurse you are constantly facing problems, although not worldly or political for the main part, problems abound in hospital settings.  

Experiencing both banking and problem-posing education, I understand, and agree with, Freire’s argument against the banking concept. It is an efficient way to have students memorize information needed in the moment. Problem-posing education aides in retaining information for the long run, and helped me to think more critically than other classes.

LHS, Bethlehem, PA