Class Reflection

The course overall to was stressful to me. I did not have a lot of writing skills when I first came into the class. Everything I was taught in high school was completely different than what I had to do in this class. Since I did not have lots of skills for writing, I had to learn a significant amount to make my writing more successful.

          What I have learned from this class was how to make a thesis statement the best it can be. It was more than just stating the points that were going to be throughout the paper. Also I learned different ways to reword essays so I am not repeating the same thing over and over again. What I have learned the most in the class was how to research scholarly sources. I never knew what they were until this class. I always thought scholarly sources were just any source that was online that could back a paper up. In school I never had to use anything like that. Whatever I needed to write in school I was able to just use internet sources. Doing this research really helped me a lot.

          What I learned about myself was that I had lots to learn about writing. I knew coming into the class I was not a good writer and that it was going to be difficult. In matter of fact, the class was very difficult for me because some things we needed to use in the essays just were not clicking in my head. I would always get stressed out about having to write these papers. What I learned about myself while doing this is that I need to focus at one thing at a time. I needed to take a deep breath and conquer the essay. I knew that if I needed help that the writing center was there to help me in any way. I knew if I focused on what needed to be done and do it the right way I would be a better writer. So what I learned is that I need to slow it down, take more time and get help when needed to become the writer I want to be.

          Nothing in the class made me surprised. I somewhat knew that the class was just going to be on writing papers. Everything that we did in class actually did not relate to me. The Glass Castle I had a family that cared and provided things for me unlike the Walls. The movie was not related to me either. The only thing I did not really like in the class was the first paper we had to write on whether class and education were related to one another. I really thought that was a hard paper to write.

          What I will probably do to keep practicing with writing is each time go to the writing center for help. Whether it is just to read over or to get ideas. I could see a big improvement since I started going there this semester. Otherwise, I really do not know how I would practice. Basically just when I have a writing assignment will be to go to the writing center and to learn different material to make it the best it can be.

Research Reflection

When I was doing the process of finding scholarly sources it was making me mad because I had a hard time finding sources that had fit my topic. I had changed my topic so many times that it was making me really frustrated. I had done two research papers in high school, but it was nothing like I had to do for this paper. So compared to this research paper from high school I had lots to learn.

          What I learned while doing this research paper was how to find scholarly sources and what they actually were. This was the first time I actually had to use scholarly sources and how to use them. I also learned what an annotated bibliography was and how to do them for our research paper. The process of this research paper took me a long time to do because I wanted to make sure I was doing it properly. Things like this paper gave me such a hard time with it because I had no clue what I wanted to do, but once I came down to my topic it got a little easier.

          When I was conducting my research I learned that it made my research paper better because of the quotes I was using. The sources I used for my research helped me get ideas on topic sentences for my main focus on each paragraph. The sources helped me to gather information to support my topic and the point I was trying to make. Learning how to conduct the research that was helping me make my point get across made me learn about research itself. Overall, this research was really hard for me because of finding sources that work for my paper and trying to make it a good one.

Queen of Versailles

In this movie, I viewed Jackie at first a women that just likes to get dolled up and be like a princess all the time. When she would show off all her shoes and clothes in her closet I could not believe it. Having all those clothes and shoes is not necessary. But as the movie was playing I started to like Jackie even more. She started to show a caring side of her. She cared a lot for the pets that had either died, or went into hiding and she cared for her children. Even though there were nannies to clean and take care of the children, Jackie still cared and showed love towards them. Sure she would spend a lot of money that they did not have when the market crashed but she did buy gifts for the kids. Jackie showed how she cared from her own perspective instead of maybe how another mom would show love.

I could see Jackie differently if it was not for her husband David. The way he acts and how rude he is to Jackie I did not like. When the market crashed he could have taken it a little less harsh. I understand it is upset to lay people off and lose money but it should not have been taken out on the family. He did not even acknowledged the family like a father should. The way he acts I believe has an impact on Jackie because he never tells her anything and she feels left out. I believe when she shops it makes her feel better and when she gets her face done it makes her feel good. Things that are not necessary make her feel good since her husband does not make her feel important.

If the 2008 housing market did not occur the movie would be a different. The family might show and act more as a caring family instead of the dad being rude to the family. Since he would not be stressed out then he could spend more time with his kids and actually be part of the family. Jackie and the kids might take different actions if they were more of a family, for example, Jackie might not shop as much and the kids might not talk back to him like they do. The family would be more of how a family should and they would take consideration of one another. Also the main difference would be is they would have no problems to talk about in the documentary because they would all be a family and none of their problems would not have occurred.