Reflection on Project 1

In this blog post, I will reflect on the process of writing my QRG. By answering a series of questions, I will thoroughly examine the process I used in order to finish this project.

Hurley, Andrew, "The Start and Finish Line of the 'Inishowen 100' Scenic Drive." 09/25/11 via Flickr. Attribution-ShareAlike License.

1. What challenges did you face during the Quick Reference Guide project and how did you deal with them?

One of my biggest challenges was understanding the genre of the QRG, and then condensing all of my research so that it was appropriate for this genre. I had an especially hard time making my topic accessible for a larger audience, since I chose a very scientific controversy that can be difficult to understand. I dealt with this challenge by thoroughly researching the genre of the QRG, so that I could gain more insight on how to write in this style. I also had several people with varying backgrounds proofread for me, so that I was sure that a wide audience could understand my QRG.

2. What successes did you experience on the project and how did they happen?

I was successful in finding lots of sources that addressed both sides of my controversy. It was difficult to do this type of research at first, but I was able to find several sources using the search engines we learned about in class. Additionally, I explored some sources that other articles were referencing, which gave me even more information to use in my QRG.

3. What kinds of arguments, rhetorical strategies, design choices and writing practices did you find the most effective for your project? Why?

The most difficult part for me was to remain relatively neutral and unbiased throughout my QRG, so the writing practices I used helped me maintain this neutrality. In order to spend equal time on both sides of my controversy, I specifically chose subheadings that addressed each side. In addition, I used lots of sources and focused on evaluating the credibility of those sources, rather that offering my own opinion. Using this strategy helped me evaluate the controversy from both opposing viewpoints, and thus helped make my QRG more comprehensive and reliable.

4. What kinds of arguments, rhetorical strategies, design choices and writing practices did you find were not effective for your project? Why?

When I first started working on my QRG, I began writing it in the essay-writing style that I had been trained to use. However, I quickly realized that this strategy was not effective for several reasons. The large paragraphs of a typical essay, and the lack of white space this design causes, did not align with the conventions of the QRG. In addition, the somewhat formal tone of an essay did not allow the QRG to be accessible for a wide audience. This strategy was not effective because it did not allow me to make use of the conventions of the QRG.

5. How was the writing process for this project similar to other school writing experiences you’ve had in the past?

Broadly speaking, the overall process for writing the QRG was similar to my other writing experiences.  I began by planning and conducting research, wrote a rough draft, revised that draft, and finally wrote a final draft. While the way in which I went about each of these steps was very different, the overall process was similar.

6. How was the writing process for this project different from other school writing experiences you’ve had in the past?

The QRG is very different from any other genre I've worked with before, so the process was relatively new for me as well. For instance, I was not used to the amount of research I had to do beforehand, as it was important for me to address both sides of my controversy. I also had to learn the conventions of an entirely new genre, and I had to adapt my stylistic choices to fit with this genre. Overall, writing a QRG was very different from any other writing I've done before.

7. Would any of the skills you practiced for this project be useful in your other coursework? Why or why not?

The researching skills I practiced for this project will be especially useful, even if I don't end up studying English. I am a science major, so research is an especially important part of my discipline, and the skills I practiced regarding this will be very useful. In addition, evaluating the credibility of the sources I find is an important skill to have when researching. In this way, the skills that I used in this project will be very useful throughout my academic career.

Reflection

After reading Alex and Hallye's reflections, I realized that we all had similar experiences with this genre. At first it was difficult to adjust to the conventions of the genre, as I don't think any of us had written a QRG before. However, once we become more accustomed to it, the conventions of the QRG actually helped us analyze our controversies in a relatively neutral manner. Of course, we all had different issues that we had to deal with throughout the process, but it sounds like we were all pretty successful in adapting to this genre overall.