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.