Issue Exploration Essay: A Self-Assessment

By
Jacob Turner
English 1010
S!!
Spring "01#
Introduction
In this self-reflection I will be introducing the Issue Exploration Essay. I will briefly introduce
the topic I chose for the Issue Exploration Essay and why I chose it. And I will discuss my overall
work in English 1010.
he IE!
he Issue Exploration Essay "IE!# was my ma$or pro$ect for the semester in English 1010. he
IE! is comprised of three different assignments% the research $ournal& the annotated bibliography and
the exploratory research pro$ect. he research $ournal was a documentation of my research process and
my thoughts as my research progressed. It consists of five sources with a brief description and
evaluation of each and the 'uestions or thoughts that lead me to my next source. he annotated
bibliography consisted of a citation for each source and the author(s main arguments and an evaluation
of the credibility of the author and the article(s relevance to my research and it(s relevance in the world
today. he exploratory research paper is a complete account of my research process and is the bulk of
the pro$ect. It includes my original research 'uestion& a description of each author(s main points and
the content of each article& my thoughts towards the author(s main points and the content of the articles
and the things I learned from them and how they led me to my next sources.
he opic
)or the IE! we were given a choice on what topic or issue we wanted to write about. )or my
IE! I chose to research the topic of fossil fuels and energy production. I chose this issue because it is
very important to me and I feel that it will be my generation or my childrens that will experience an
energy crisis and that it will be necessary to find a solution.
English 1010
his semester in English 1010 I learned some very valuable skills and concepts. I learned the
three aspects of writing which are ethos& logos and pathos. I learned how to cite sources using *+A
and A!A format. I learned how analy,e articles and other media such as political cartoons. I learned
how to determine a credible source. I learned how to tailor my writing to appeal to different audiences.
I learned how to create an IE! and the annotated bibliography and research $ournal that go along with
it. -verall I feel that I am now a much more confident writer. I feel that my skills as a writer have
greatly improved. I feel like there is still a lot more I can do to improve my writing further and I intend
to. .ith my engineering ma$or and my future career in mechanical engineering I will be doing a lot
more research and I feel that documenting my research similarly to the IE! would be benificial and that
the skills I have developed through this class will help me to communicate my research in my future
career.