Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Junior Theme: Blog #4

This past week has been exciting, yet also a bit frustrating.  After researching a ton, and really getting to understand my individual topic, I was looking forward to presenting my work through my paper.  However, easier said than done.  As I am finishing up my paper now, I am starting to go back and take out some excess detail, clarify others, and make some sentences more concise in order to have empathy for the reader.  I have found this particularly hard because I feel like sometimes when we know a topic so well, we forgot that others may not be as familiar, and are not as empathetic.

I also conducted my interview last week, and felt it went well.  I interviewed Mr. Ottaviano, the assistant principal of administrative services at New Trier.  Although his job entitles many different types of work, one of them is that he is in charge of school safety and all lockdown procedures.  He works hand and hand with the Winnetka police department.  However, after transcribing the recording, a somewhat lengthy process, I have only found a few quotes that I will actually use in my paper.  Nevertheless, I'm really glad I had the opportunity to talk to him, and felt he provided the best information he could in regards to my topic.

We are approaching the final hours of this huge project.  I am finishing up some editing and what not, and looking forward to turning it in tomorrow!  Good luck to everyone as they finish up their papers!

2 comments:

  1. Brooks-
    I can totally relate to your interview experience. My interview was extremely helpful and I felt like I understood my topic a lot better after doing it, but I didn't get that many direct quotes to put in my paper. Sometimes it is just helpful to have somebody to talk to and sort out your ideas in general before you start putting your arguments on paper, even if they can only be quoted directly once or twice. Good luck with the rest of your paper!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Brooks,
    After peer editing your paper yesterday and reading this post, I just wanted to express my congratulations because it seems you bridged the gap between doing the research and presenting the research. Your expertise is evident in your writing!

    ReplyDelete