Reflections

From the first analytical paper, I learned the functions of the rhetorical triangle and Toulmin’s model, and how to properly cite other people’s works. According to the feedbacks from professor, I think I did good analysis on rhetorical triangle and Toulmin’s model, but I still have some areas to improve, such as the grammatical and formatting problems. Besides, from last week’s classes, I think my paper was not concise enough, and used too much passive voice. I will try to avoid using passive voice and expletive language, as well as the minor faults on citations In the future. In the workshop group, my classmates gave me lots of corrections and ideas on how to use proper grammar, and how to make sentence more concise, so that was very helpful for me.

From the critical responses, I learned how to effectively read books, and how to analyze the differences and similarities of several articles. According to professor’s comments, I need to improve my titles to make it more interesting and more descriptive, and also I need to focus more on grammar and use of vocabulary to express my opinion clearly.

Research Paper Topic

Dear sister,

Last week I talked about the possible research paper topics I am considering, but after I read the Intersecting Topics my classmates composed, I changed my mind on the topics. I decided to write about the immigration policy, and how the immigration affects America in different ways. I did not want to write about the immigration initially, because I have little knowledge about immigration. However, after I read about the Gerard quote, I realized that it does not matter that how much I already know about the topic, I can write about any topic I am interested in, getting to know them through researches, and compose my essay with the information I find out. Plus, immigration is a very popular topic nowadays, especially there has been a few new immigration policies recently, and it is related to us who are currently holding a student visa to study in America, I would like to learn more about it very much. I think the new presidential debate has also talked about it. Also I am very interested in what immigration has been brought to the U.S. There are lots of wealthy people and dedicated scholars come to American, but also cheap labors and drug dealers steal into. So I want do some research about what impact do these immigration have to America.

I really wish you can give me some good suggestions. Looking forward to hearing back from you!

Zhe Li

Exploring Topics

Dear sister,

How is high school going? I hope you have enjoyed your first few weeks of high school. I am thinking about possible topics for my first research paper for my English class, and maybe you can give me a few suggestions. I am thinking of writing things related to global news, such as the migrant crisis, racism, and presidential election. Have you watched the recent presidential debate? We had a discussion in class about the debate, my classmates care the most about the taxes and education. The presidential debate can be a good topic, since it is a very big thing happens every four years in America, but I do not really know the politics in America, if I want to write in this topic, I would have to do a lot of researches beforehand. However, there is another news of a kid from middle east made a clock for his own interest, and bring it to school to show his friends, but people suspected the clock he made of being a bomb because of his racial profile. I think it was so cruel to suspect a kid who just want to show his work to his friends, but I do not know if it is wrong, because being extra careful is to be responsible for oneself and the surrounding people. Also there is another migrant crisis happens in Europe, where thousands of refugees from Afghanistan and Syria are trying to get into European countries, such as Germany and Austria.

These are the possible topics I am considering, can you give me a few ideas or suggestions of which topic is more interesting to write about? Looking forward to hearing back from you.

Also I wish you will have a great experience in high school!

Zhe Li