last & final post.

• Just about every journalism internship has asked for a blog with lots of "traffic", so I started one using this website but never used it. By being forced to use it in this class I have learned a lot about the process of blogging and discovered that its actually fun. My dream is to have a blog with lots of people who love to read it and talk about it all the time. Now I try to post at least once at week and more if I have the time. Right now I do not have as many readers as I would like but hopefully it will get better.

• As far as the writing process goes, I think this was a good way of guiding us through it. It was really creative and made things interesting. I love to write but when I heard that research was involved I was a little weary of what it would be like. I think that if my other teachers would have given me more guidance in my past I would not feel this way every time I approach a research project. If people did not take once thing from the writing process they could surely say that they learned how to create a blog. This has opened up a new window for me and hopefully it developed some kind of love for writing in other students as well. In fact, I think that this might be a good thing for other teachers to consider using. 

• My research question has taught me a lot. It is something that I can most definitely relate to so I am glad that I decided to change it. Sleep has been lacking in my daily routine since the middle of last year. Multiple factors including the environment and my afternoon naps have caused this. But also I learned that it was things that I didn't know I was doing that had an effect on my sleeping habits such as doing my homework on my bed. I always did this because it was a comfort thing for me but  multiple doctors said that it is not healthy for your sleeping habits for you to do work where you are supposed to get rest. 

Readers, Timeliness, Investment.

Readers:
The readers of your annotated bibs are you, me, and your classmates. But soon enough we will be entering into academic conversations with our essays. Who will YOU be writing to? Can you decipher yet who will make up your audience, even in broad terms? (Example: You are writing about the dangers of yoga, so your audience members will be those who practice yoga because you want them to be aware of the risks they are taking).


Since my topic is about the effect on sleep deprivation and college students. I think that my audience will be college students who are interested in learning about how bad sleep habits are affecting them. Also, concerned parents might be interested in reading it too but he main audience will be college students. 

Timeliness:

Making sure a reader understands why your topic is timely is crucial to them caring about your writing. Do you have a better understanding now of why your topic is timely, or how you can make it timely? Explain.

I think my topic is very timely. Sleep is something that college students have and always will be a problem with college students due to a range of different reasons including studying, being involved in clubs, partying and having a social life in general. 

Investment: Your investment in your topic goes right along with timeliness; if you don't care about your topic, why should anyone else? Why are you invested in this topic? (In other words, why do you care about it?) Why do you think (many of our) high school teachers instructed you to write objectively without any sort of personal investment in your writing? Why do college teachers suddenly care that you care about what you're doing?

I care about this topic because I am a college student who is experiencing some sleep loss. I think that high school teachers are very stuck in their ways but also still have standardized tests to focus on. In the program I was in, the exams that were required had certain things that they wanted you to write about. In college, they have A LOT more freedom in what they want from their students. 

(2) Are you starting to see multiple viewpoints emerge in your research? Can you list them here?

This argument is one that seems completely one-sided. I have not found anyone who is saying that lack of sleep has no real effect or positive effects on students. 

(3) Tell us about one new and interesting thing you've learned about your topic this week. What have you learned about the process of researching?

I have learned that even the geographical location of a college can have an effect on how much sleep a student will get. I have learned that researching is not as bad as I thought. It is very time consuming but can be interesting. 

(4) Read and respond to at least one other student's blog. Find a blog that interests you and provide an interesting perspective, some helpful advice, or ask some questions. In your post, please mention the blog you commented on so I can see it, too. 

http://secondpost2.blogspot.com/

A change of heart...

•  Tell us about the most interesting source you've found so far. What type of source is it? What's the title, and who is the author? Why is it interesting? Give us a brief summary of the source, in 5-6 sentences. The most interesting source that that I have found its a book titled," Sleep, Sleepiness, and Performance" written by a number of different contributors. It is interesting because it gives many facts about sleep that I did not know about. The books is divided into many sections that all have different authors. It provides reader with lots of compiled information about sleep. This includes information ranging from performance consequences to the anatomical effects. The book is filled with graphs and charts. At the end, all of the different sources and contributors are listed at the end. 

• As you've been researching, has your topic changed? Have you revised your inquiry question?  For instance, say your initial question was "Why do some people choose to be vegetarian?" As you've been researching, you've realized how you can narrow your scope to something like "Is it healthy for vegetarian parents to raise their children as vegetarians?" OR "In what ways is being vegetarian better for the environment?" How will narrowing your scope affect your research -and the eventual writing you'll do about this topic? As I did my research in the library on Wednesday, my topic changed. My inquiry question  changed as a whole. It is now,"What are the health risks associated with lack of sleep in college students?" I changed my topic because once I got to the library, there were minimal sources on cell phones. Also this topic relates more to me. I think I will be more interested in this. 

• What challenges are you facing in your research? How might you address these challenges? What research "tips" do you have for your peers? In my research I am finding that it might be difficult to find different point of views of this topic. Most people are saying that it is horrible to go without sleep. To address this issue,I am just going to look through as many sources as possible to see what I come across. I would suggest to my peers to stay on topic and not just try to include a bunch of random facts to fill up space. 

A research paper in progress.....

• What is your research question/inquiry question? My research question is,"What are the long term effects of cell phone use?" 
• Why did you settle on this question? What interests you about the topic? Explain. I settled on this question because I use my cell phone a lot to do everything. It interest me because there are so many ideas on cell phones and the damages that are caused by them. 
• How is your question/topic timely? Why is it important to address this topic? Why should people care about it? My question is timely because cell phones are constantly changing. It is important to address this because many of my classmates and people of my age use their cell phones and need to be aware of the affects. 
• What do you expect to find in your research? What preliminary research have you done that makes you expect this? I expect to find that there are some strong opinions about the effects of cell phone use. I have read many articles on cell phone use prior to me being in this class. Some people even belief that phones give off radiation and can cause cancer. 
• Are you coming across scholars w/ different answers to your question, or different views of your topic? (If you're NOT and people seem to all agree, then your research question and topic probably aren't worth pursuing, right?) Explain what these answers/views are that you are finding. (Remember that our textbook warns us of the dangers of binary thinking on pg. 6.)What do you think about the different viewpoints? Where do you stand on the issue, and do you think your mind could change the further you get into this semester-long inquiry? There are many views on the effects of cell phones. Some people believe that there can be long term effects ranging from carpal tunnel to cancer. Others believe that there are no severe damages that can come from cell phone usage. It also depends on your usage. I think that some of the language that is used is very harsh, especially when death is spoken of. I think that the use of cell phone could not cause mush harm but I think that with some research my mind could change. 
• Any questions or concerns you'd like to address? I am not sure if my question is specific enough but hopefully it will suffice.