Week 10 Writer’s Journal

Week 10 of College

1. 1. What I did
      • Took notes for multiple classes
      • Wrote on the discussion board for multiple classes
   2. What went well
      • I worked hard and I finished most of my homework pretty early.
   3. What was hard
      • I realized I have more tests coming up so I had to rush to finish my homework so I have time to study later.
   4. To-Do List
      • Complete assignments for all of my classes
      • Study for some tests next week
   5. Where I left off
      • Taking more notes for my classes
   6. Feelings
      • I am excited for Halloween weekend! It is going to be really fun! However, I was recently informed by my teachers that I have some upcoming tests. That kind of ruined my mood since I am now thinking about how I am going to plan my time to study. Also, I am going to be choosing courses for next semester soon. It is my first time so I am worried if I choose bad professors or end up not having space in classes I want to be in. There is some more pressure now but I will not let that ruin my weekend!

My research question is “How does the purpose of first-year college writing courses differ from the purpose of high school English classes?”. There are a list of terms I could use to search for sources on databases: first-year writing, first-year composition, freshman writing, freshman composition, college writing, high school English, high school ELA, high school writing, high school language arts, AP English Language, AP English Literature. I found a source titled “The Research Prospectus in First-Year Writing (and Beyond)”. Using the CRAAP Test, I analyzed each element and found this source to be appropriate to use for my research, but I still need more. For currency, this source is an article dated in 2021, so it applies to college students today. For relevance, it directly discusses the differences between college-level and high school-level research reports and how to improve it to college-level, so it somewhat applies to my research question. There is more to writing than research reports so I would need to find other sources to discuss the other types of writing. For authority, the author is Carol L. Hayes who works for The George Washington University, and therefore has the credentials to be talking about this subject. For accuracy, this article is written under a journal of academic writing assignments. Finally, for purpose, according to the introduction, it is “designed to teach first-year undergraduate students how to move beyond high school research reports into college level writing.” Once again, it only focuses on informing students the differences in level for research reports, not all types of writing. So, I need to find a source that discusses other types.