Wesley Shaw

November 10, 2014

UWRT 1103
Professor Presnell
Final Thoughts on the Semester
The first thing that I want to go over is my inquiry project. This project was not like
any one I have ever done before. It was really all about what I wanted to do and
having that much freedom had its advantages as well as disadvantages. The
advantages of it were that we would be highly interested in whatever we chose to
write it on, while the disadvantage was that the expectations were higher because of
the massive options we could choose from.
One of the big things we did in our inquiry project was write it in the first
person meaning there was a really big authors presence. I enjoy writing informally
and writing in first person kind of made it seem as though I could just free write.
The informal nature of the essay really allowed for my mind to flow freely and write
what I wanted and what I felt was needed.
Throughout my life I have only done three inquiry projects including this
one. The first research project I did was in 6th grade, which was on Shakespeare and
required us to use only books to do our research. The second research project I did
was my senior year in high school. This was a thirty-page research paper on
rebranding a business. This research paper kind of fell in the middle, it was not
nearly as easy as the one I did on Shakespeare in 6th grade but it was not quite as
extensive as the thirty page one I did last year.

The research that I did differently for this inquiry project was that I have
never used so many different kinds of sources before. In this research paper I used
online sources and books, but also government documents, personal interviews,
online interviews, and even health and service records. I do think Allisons help was
very beneficial to me. At first I really was having problem with understanding how
to structure my information. The research was there, but I wasnt quite sure how to
get it down on paper. Allison provided a few good ideas that led me to completing
my paper. The methods I used to not bullshit my paper was simple, I simply told
the facts. My paper was a little different than just laying out information, my paper
developed a case. I just wanted to show both sides of my story to allow who ever
was reading it to take out my underlying meaning as well as come up with their own
opinions.
The single most important thing I took out of this project was how well
rounded an essay needs to be. When I say well rounded I mean the variety of
sources. I never really new all of the ways to search through government
documents and all kinds of information like that. I now know that including a vast
range of sources not only makes your paper more credible but it also simply makes
you look and sound smarter. In future writing assignments I really think Ill try and
use some of the same kinds of convincing sources I used during my inquiry project.
One of the really important concepts that came along didnt really emerge till
after my research paper was really done and I was reading over it. This is when I
found a completely new theme and that was that you should not just believe one
person. Everyone has their own story but getting multiple views, comprising the

evidence and then making an informed decision is a way better way of doing things
than just believing what you heard.
Through finding out more information about my distant family it really just
put a lot of things into perspective for me when it came to diversity. Were not all
that different and were all not that far away when it comes to relation. When I say
that I mean I just discovered that my uncle was a bodyguard to the biggest murderer
of all-time. That is in no way reflective on my personality or even my families. This
really shows how were all not that distant from each other and in a way we are all
related.
Over the course of the semester I think my writing has changed a bit, but in
my opinion it is for the better. If you read one of my papers from last year it
sounded almost robotic. I wrote based on facts and tried to stay out of it. Instead of
having a paper made up of ethos and pathos it was primarily made up of a logos
appeal. I think this derived from always having teachers correct grammar and
spelling and not really focus on the true meaning, which is the most important thing!
After this semester I really think my writing has opened up a little. Ive started
including my opinions into my papers and more importantly, Ive started trying to
make connections.
We did a lot of activities during the semester for our inquiry projects but I
really think that having drafts that were due was probably the thing that was best
for the development of my paper. Just having multiple drafts due makes you sit
down and start writing or typing. Like I learned in free-writes, it isnt till you sit
down and start writing that all the information that you have stored starts to flow

out and that is why I think drafts helped me a lot. Another reason having multiple
drafts due helped me was because I was forced to read over my paper multiple
times and add on to key topics. I think this is what took my projects from average to
above average.
I think that the group reviewing process was beneficial. Whenever you give a
peer review a lot of people bullshit it and only include things that are positive
about the paper and leave out things that need to be revisited. But I traded to take
my classmates opinions, rather they were positive or negative, and use that to
develop my paper. Getting good feedback is nice and it is always easy to just say
well they thought it was good so I guess Im fine but what I tried to do was re-read
the part that they liked, see what I did to make them enjoy it, and then repeat it. I
think thats what made the peer review helpful to me.
Well Im not planning to go into any type of writing major so all I really want
out of my writing for the rest of my life is an efficient way to convey the information
I need to convey. I really want to improve on my vocabulary so I can astonish
professors with my vocabulary so they may shy away from focusing on the content.
I know Ill have plenty more lab reports and essays that will involve writing but I
really just want to be able to convey my information in a way that makes it as
credible as possible, using a number of different sources.
As I explained earlier I think I am a very reluctant writer, which is derived
from always having teachers focusing 95 percent on grammar and spelling instead
of looking at the true meaning of my work. I think this has caused me to be a little
hesitant when I write which has hurt me. I havent really been able to open up and

provide a good 1st person view but I have improved on that this semester. Being a
reluctant writer is always a bad thing though. My lack of using emotion and
personality in my writing has led me to write some pretty good research papers that
were solely based on facts.
I think now that Im finished with writing classes Ill honestly miss it. Writing
was a subject I have always been told I was pretty good at so itll suck not having a
class that I can express that side of me. Writing will always be apart of my life
though and I will take a few things I have learned in this class and carry them on
with my writing into the future.