Where has all the time gone? It just seems like only yesterday when this class started and now we are in the midst of our last research essay. According to the schedule we are already on week 13 and have only three weeks left. This research essay is a monster! I have just finished reading Invitation to a Beheading, by Vladimir Nabokov for the research project and am going to reread the first part of Reading Lolita in Tehran to refresh my memory and pull pertinent statements from it to support my essay. There seems to be so much to do for this research project and I do not know where to start. It is a bit overwhelming and I feel like I should be farther along than I am.
I really enjoyed reading Invitation to a Beheading, by Vladimir Nabokov. It was a really well written book with a lot of character and personality. If anyone has the time and is looking for a good book to read, I would definitely recommend this book. Nabokov thrills his audience with his style of prose and holds the reader captive with his writing. I think when this research project is over and I have more time on my hands that I will read Lolita next. If you go to Barnes & Noble you will find that they have many books by Vladimir Nabokov and all of them seem to be worth reading.
I am so stressed out and nervous about this research assignment that I do not know what to do or how to go about doing it. It is like I am drowning in a sea of information that I have gathered up to use for my sources. How do I incorporate this information into my paper? I have a lot of ideas of how the paper should sound and what I want to do with it, I just cannot decide on how to go about getting it done. I am definitely going to need help from the writing center on this one. I know that this assignment represents a major portion of my grade and that it needs to be as perfect as possible. Research projects are a major undertaking and if you do not give your all to the project it will show. I do not want to turn in a paper that looks or reads as if I did sloppy work or was too distracted.
I guess that I will just go about doing the assignment the way I always go about any writing assignment and that is one step at a time. Let’s just worry about rereading, Reading Lolita in Tehran and then take it one baby step at a time. I have searched the internet and have some really good information on both books. I guess the next step then would be going to the library and do some research so I can have some scholarly sources to cite. Then organize all the information according to what it pertains to and start writing the paper one word at a time. You know what they say, “How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time!” Now I must go off and eat my elephant!
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I know exactly how you feel. It is very hard to believe that this semester has flown by so fast. I feel like only yesterday it just started and also as you are I am also SO stressed and nervous about the assignment. I enjoyed reading your blog because I felt you incorporated a lot of your emotions in it which shows us how you are feeling and for people that are feeling this way can relate so well to you.
ReplyDeleteWhen you say that research projects are a major undertaking and if you do not give your all it will show, I couldn’t agree with you more. There is so much to incorporate into writing a huge research paper, and adding a grade to it just adds that much more pressure that effects our ability more then anyone can imagine. I also would never want to turn in a paper where I did not feel I put my all into because if I don’t feel that I put my all, then there is no way that my teacher would also. You seem like you have a good head on your shoulder that you know how to work under pressure. I hope that I can gain some of that while writing since I know I’m the biggest stressor ever.
Aomoomoo68, you sound so realistic when you state, “This research essay is a monster!” That’s how I felt in the first week of this assignment. Did you just want to go off, have a drink, and wish it disappear when you got back to look at the Blackboard? If yes, welcome on board! I was very stressed to see this assignment in the first place. However, knowing it’s not due until the end of semester, I feel much more relax.
ReplyDeleteHere are my 2 cents if you care. I just look at this assignment as another essay. Every essay starts with an introduction, which include my thesis statement, maybe more than 6 body paragraphs as this is a 6 pages essay, and end it with a conclusion. Before I start writing, make sure I know my topic. In my introduction, provide a thesis that shows I am following the assignment’s requirement, simple as what I want to talk in my essay. Next, treat each body paragraph as a mini essay. Start with a topic statement, then explain or support with my ideas and sources, then conclude it with the transition to the next paragraph. Conclusion of the essay is to summarize the main points I have mentioned in my essay, such as remind the readers the points I have wrote, and end it with what I hope my readers have learned. I know sound it’s simple but will be more complicated as we start. However, I have applied this technique, and feel comfortable with most of my essays. I hope this help to you.
Last but not least, I recalled my high school teacher told me this before the I took the final exam many years ago, "There is nothing to stress about, the worst is you will not pass, which mean you have the opportunity to do it again. No penalty to retake the class!" Of course, he wanted to encourage me, but it didn’t really help at the time! Life is full of adventure, take it or not, it’s our choice. Good luck to you, Aomoomoo68, and me, too!