Welcome to my E-portfolio! I hope you enjoy following my progress through the semester.

Head over to “Letter to the Reader” for a more formal introduction or stay on this page to follow my progression toward picking a research topic.

After getting back the grade for my first essay, I was disappointed. I thought that I had written a great analysis of the freshman beanie, but I didn’t get the grade I wanted. However, it turns out I did write a good analysis, only I didn’t write a good Toulmin analysis. I think that I looked at all the elements of the Toulmin analysis, only I didn’t mention them. I also didn’t use an in-text citation for my information. When I revise this paper, all of these errors should be easy to fix. I just have to add citations and a few sentences acknowledging the elements of a Toulmin analysis. Other than this essay, I feel that all my writing has been strong, and my grade reflects that. The comments are also very helpful. After each paper, I can look back and immediately know what was good or bad. Usually I get marked off for grammatical errors, so now I proofread more carefully and am more conscious of my grammar. I also have learned that some of the ideas I would have considered silly have added personality to my writing and made it more “me.” I plan to to use all the feedback I get, good or bad, to continue improving as a writer.

Gerald’s view on research topics is very new to me. I have always thought that when authors write a book or article on a specific topic, they did so because they were already well versed in that subject. Following this method, for my research topic I am investigating the merits of gun free zones. I am interested in finding out if they actually decrease the likelihood of public shootings and any other effects they might have. While I have a very general knowledge of the subject, I’m no expert so I will be learning about this topic as I research it. This follows Gerald’s opinion on research topics. When I initially picked this topic, I did a quick google search and found many different points of views. Some people were arguing that gun free zones weren’t meant to decrease public shootings, but accidental shootings, and others were very supportive of abolishing gun free zones. Because of the many points of view, there will be many topics to cover and can only make this argument more interesting and complex. There is also significant statistical evidence to support the arguments of both side, further making this an arguable topic. Gun free zones may not seem very important to most people, but it is especially important to people living in Illinois. Since we are the newest state to allow concealed carry, we are also the least aware of the effect that it may have on the public. Even if you are not an avid gun owner, it is your responsibility to know how the state laws can effect you, even more so when it comes to firearms.

Dear Noah,

This week I have to pick a topic for a research paper in my writing class. The topic has to be relevant to what’s happening in the world right now. Maybe I could do gun control or something with the police, but these seem too obvious and overdone. I want to do something that is interesting, but something that I don’t know to much about. This would make researching it more interesting as it would be the first time that I’m see the information or facts. Its also a lot easier to work on something that is interesting. That way I don’t have to work to pay attention, the topic would naturally get my attention. This is really helpful and if you can ever pick a topic that interests you, for a paper or a class or even a major, you should pick that topic, so that when you start working on the project, it won’t really be work because you enjoy doing the project or researching the topic.

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