McLaughlin

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Jaylan McLaughlin
Professor Cassandra Blandford
UWRT 1103
23 November, 2015
Reflection
As soon as Ms. Blandford gave the assignment, I started looking over the suggested
topics on the rubric. I was immediately torn between three topics. These topics were Class
Differences, Technology, and Men on a feminine career path; women on a masculine career
path. After looking over the options of researching our topics, I knew that I really wanted to
have some sort of interview as one or more of my sources. This lead me to picking Men on a
feminine career path; women on a masculine career path. My parents were perfect examples of
this topic and they were the easiest accessible interviewees. It all seemed to fall into place
perfectly. During my Question Session, I was given feedback to include stay at home fathers in
my research which expanded my project. Without this, I dont think I would have had enough
information to write a good paper.
In researching my topic, I knew I really only had to find 3 sources. This is because my
personal interviews counted as two separate sources. I went straight to the UNCC Atkins Library
database. I thought that it would be more convenient to find my sources from there because
UNCC already sites them which would make the citation and annotated bibliography process
easier. I also made this decision because I wouldnt have to worry about the information being
unreliable due to the fact that the scholarly articles are all peer-reviewed. Every source that I
found provided useful information that was easy to interpret.

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In my initial research, I kept getting a lot of books about my topic. There were two books
that seemed like they would be very useful in my research but I knew I didnt have the time to
read them. I narrowed down my searches to include only articles which is what brought me to the
sources I ended up using. After finding these three sources, I realized that they focused on
engineering, nursing, and stay at home fathers. Originally, my topic was about men in female
careers and women in male careers but these articles made me narrow it down to specific jobs. I
think this was very good because I probably would have ended up with too much information if I
kept my topic as broad as it was.
In writing my essay, I used a writing process that has worked for me since senior year of
high school. I sit and brainstorm about what Im writing about for ten minutes. After this, I sit
down and write my first draft and try to make it as perfect as I can. I try to meet all of the content
and page requirements in my first draft as if it was my final paper. I was glad Ms. Blandford
included days for us to peer review. I take the feedback that my peers give me over the two days
of reviewing and edit/revise my paper accordingly. This new edited paper becomes my final and
Im done.
I would say that my critique groups really helped improve my essay as a whole. When I
brought in my rough draft, people were expecting it not to be completed. Im pretty sure they
were thinking they were going to be reading 2-3 pages instead of the complete 5 that I came
with. The looks on their faces were priceless when they saw my essay but they didnt slack off
on reviewing it. They took their time and read all of it intently and made very good comments.
They told me places where I could have been more clear or change the wording so the audience
will understand it better. They also gave me ideas on how I could expand and elaborate more in

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my paper. All of their feedback wasnt constructive criticism. There were many times where they
told me what they liked about my paper such as when I used clever word choice.
This research project was different than any of the other projects Ive done in the past.
My previous ones required me to do research on a topic and regurgitate facts about it or persuade
my readers to support a specific position about it. This project required me to research something
I was pretty unfamiliar with and connect it to myself somehow. I thought this assignment was
harder because Im not used to doing projects like this but I enjoyed doing this one more than the
ones in the past. Being given the freedom to use my own voice and express how the topic affects
me made the project a more enjoyable experience.
I have learned a lot about myself over the course of this semester. The independence that
this class gave us required me to find what worked for me in order for me to be successful. There
was little guiding in the writing process so I could write my essays in the stages that I wanted. I
used to have to do an outline, two rough drafts, two peer edits, and then a final essay in high
school. I found that its more effective for me to just do a rough draft, a peer edit, and then a
final. I think the two biggest things that I learned from this class were critical reading and critical
reflection. The discussion posts and the class discussions following those posts were major
factors in improving my critical reading skills. Before, I would just read enough to understand
what was going on in the passage. Now I read more intently to contribute to conversations about
each selection. Listening to my other classmates talk about how they interpreted the reading
helped expand my thoughts when thinking about what I read. The literacy memoir project was
my favorite assignment of the semester and it improved my critical reflection skills. Im not a
person who naturally reflects on life so its hard for me to express my thoughts or feelings about
things. The literacy memoir forced me to dig deep into my mind and understand how my

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personal literacy was formed. Taking this course has taught me a lot about writing, myself and
has made me grow as a person.