Genres/Writing Goals:

Throughout the course of the semester, I have learned that there are different means of composing different scientific genres because the way of writing a position paper is different from writing an informative review paper and so on. The writing process differs with genre, for instance, in an informative paper, you have to sound knowledgeable about the issue, as though you were writing a paper for an audience that do not possess the sufficient or basic knowledge to understand science, by including the definition of each scientific term and providing background information about the issue. In addition, at the same time, you have to remain unbiased throughout the paper as you are not supposed to be taking sides in an informative review paper. Meanwhile, a position paper is the opposite of an informative one because you are supposed to take a side without having to be very informative and formal as the majority of your readers are individuals who are aware of the issue and interested to know more about it in depth, hence, the primary audience. A research paper is a combination of both informative and position paper in my opinion because it contains information that is used to debunk claims and prove your hypothesis correct/wrong which is equivalent to using information to defend your position, hence, you are being informative and biased at the same time. In addition, in a research paper, you start with a critical question in which your thesis will be the answer to your question. Unlike the research proposal which has a completely different format because it kind of serves as an introductory outline to your research as you are emphasizing the important points of your paper and the sources you will be using.

 

Strategies:

I was able to improve my writing skills and the strategies that come along with it such as planning, reading, organizing, and brainstorming because writing about science is a huge a challenge as you have to be careful with how you organize the ideas that you plan to include in the paper, choosing the right sources, and thoroughly going over them in order to extract the essential information for your paper, thus, it is a very intensive learning process. Also, drafting was one of the strategies that helped me develop a final well-written essay. As pieces of evidence, The first and final drafts of my research proposal demonstrate the transition of a draft into a well-written essay. In addition, the third file shows the way I gather information while reading.

1. RESEARCH PROPOSAL FIRST DRAFT FIRST PAGE & SECOND PAGE
2. RESEARCH PROPOSAL FINAL DRAFT
3. MY READING TECHNIQUES

 

Collaborative and Social Aspects:

The in-class group activities made me engage in a world of intellectuals who had a different say in science matters while learning from their unique perspectives. Not only did these social interactions taught me a whole new perspective but also helped me notice the mistakes i was making, for instance, peer review sessions which are shown below:

1. INFORMATIVE ESSAY PEER REVIEW FIRST PAGE & SECOND PAGE
2. POSITION PAPER PEER REVIEW FIRST PAGE & SECOND PAGE

 

Print and Digital Technologies:

In terms of using digital and print technologies to address a range of audience, I did not really incorporate visual imagery on my essays except for the cover page but when a writer does incorporate, it serves the purpose to provide a better explanation of the matter as it is easier to visualize than to read, for instance, diagrams or any visual imagery that would help the audience to understand complex subjects such as science.

 

Research Sources and Credibility:

Moving on to the process of finding sources, I found most of my sources in JSTOR as they are mostly peer-reviewed. In terms of credibility, science sources may not be entirely credible because third parties pay research companies to provide false statements about a specific issue, proving it either wrong or right as there is a higher chance that readers would come to believe it because it is information coming from a research center. As pieces evidence, the first file below demonstrates that I retrieved most of my sources from JSTOR and the second file points out why science sources can lack credibility as the article states that researchers of the study on fracking did not have any input on the results but it can be questionable because the companies that funded the study are mostly the ones that benefit from fracking.

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2.         FRACKING ARTICLE

 

Stance/Source Use Practices:

The way I defended my position using source backup was by incorporating adaptive measures to convince the reader, and adding on, the technique I used to debunk claims was using certain words such as however, but, etc. Last but not least, the techniques for deciphering difficult sources I used were the following; making annotations on relevant information for my paper and looking for key words related to my topic. For instance, Morales’ article gave me an idea on what information I should include on my informative paper and some significant key words I should focus on the most. Moreover, the reason why I find key words very crucial in the writing process is because they are helpful when it comes to searching for relevant sources as they make it easier and less time consuming. Lastly, for citations I followed the MLA format which is more convenient for papers such as these because it provides more consistency. As pieces of evidence, the first file shows how much consistency MLA format can provide. The second one shows the incorporation of certain words to state a concession or a counteragument such as the word “nevertheless.” Lastly, the third one demonstrates the relevant information, I found and highlighted on Morales’ article, for my informative essay about cloning.

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3. MORALES’S ARTICLE ON CLONING