Reflection on Spring Semester - ENG 207

At the end of this class, ENG 207, I have to ask myself, what benefits did I get from it? What are the new things I’ve learned? I believe this class was very useful when it comes to writing and thinking skills. I have learned about discourse communities and how to write for a specific one. This was particularly important since when I write I tried to define my audience, but that is not easy and specific all the time. This class helped me define my audience better and in a more focused way.

Another thing was helpful is the first assignment. I think the first assignment challenges me to write a narrative. Although I write for multiple reasons, I never wrote a narrative. I feel it is too personal to be written for a class. The challenge was enjoyable after all.
This class has been filed with different styles of writing for different audience and in different methods. I enjoyed writing on the web, such as blogging and the final word press portfolio. This is a new experience for me. I believe all the experiences and techniques I used in this class will be very valuable in my career and personal life. As I said before, technology is watching. We can’t escape the concept that the medium of writing is changing rapidly. This class helped me be more familiar and oriented in this new environment of technical and rhetorical writing.

I would like to thank my great instructor, Ruiji Zhao, for help great support and deep understanding. Ruiji, you are very helpful and I wish you all the best.

Research Proposal

Approaching a research paper needs planning and organizing. I believe a research proposal can be very effective in forming the research project. Research proposal functions as a blueprint for the whole research. Planning the topic and developing other parts can improve the research and point out where more development is needed. A research proposal almost summarizes the main aspects of a research project. Starting with a research proposal can help planning the research and watch its improvements.
Stating the thesis at this early stage of work helps clarify any ambiguity about the topic or the elements of the paper. Stating the thesis helps me ignore irrelevant factors in my research and focus more on the topic itself.
Specifying the methods used in the research project is a part of the research proposal. This part is very important because it helps check on the variety of sources and their credibility.
Stating a time line for progress is also helpful in organizing the work progress in order to reach desired results on time. The time line helps checking the improvement in case more time is needed or if the project is falling behind.
Chapter 20 in Faigly’s book, “Writing the Research Project,” provides many examples and tips for a research project. Its emphasis on organization draws attention to how important is having a research proposal.
Research proposal should precede a research project, but we can’t count on it to provide all details. It is a starter for us and we need to develop the writing process after that.
Research proposal is not new for me since I have used it before in other classes and I found it very useful and helpful.
I believe my research proposal helped me focus my research on a more specific subject. It also helped me as a check sheet to be sure that my research has all points required, such as examples, support and rebuttals.

Research Paper Development

Approaching a research paper can be demanding and frustrating just like approaching a white paper to start writing. It is always hard to answer the question “what do you have passion for?” I have passion for many things and writing is one of them. When I started to think about this research I wanted to do something from my own perspective as an international student here in BGSU. I chose the subject of immigration because social justice interests me. The idea of diversity and immigrants coming to this country to form a nation fascinates me the most. I also like to watch how these groups, discourse communities, interact on daily basis and how stereotypes play their roles in our judgments.
I revised my research topic a few times and chose the final topic with help of my instructor. The topic of my research is “Arab Immigration to the United States: Reasons and Types.” This topic will allow me to use logical and persuasive approach in convincing my audience that the most important reason for Arab to come to the United States is seeking economic growth.
The logical and persuasive approaches are very important in this topic because I can draw on human rights and equality in the United States as a logic approach. I can also use the examples of immigration from other countries, which applies on the majority of Americans, as a persuasive method. This style can be very effective because it argues with readers’ reasoning and emotions to convince them of my proposal.
Examples, quotes, and support for my paper will come from different sources. All these sources are checked for credibility using the tips in Faigly’s book. All my sources are credible and respectful; they vary on different media sources. I intend to use respectful magazines, academic sources, specialized books, interviews with relevant individuals, and historical researches.
I’m confident about this research because I have a personal experience with it and it interests me.
My only concern about this paper is time constraints. Since I changed my topic a couple of times, I am afraid I will need an extension to turn it. I am counting on my instructor kindness and understanding to provide an extension.