Rough Draft Reflection

Your Idea: How did your idea change from beginning to end? What changed it? Why did it
change?
In the very beginning I had no idea what to choose for a topic. The lack of
rules/guidelines made it difficult for me to find a starting place. The first topic that did come to
mind was whether or not college is necessary for everyone. I kept this topic until after my
proposal. The comments my group members made on my proposal made me rethink my topic. It
was too broad, even after research, the topic seemed too difficult to narrow down. That made me
start thinking about why I was in college? Is it was necessary for me? Im a sophomore in
college with no idea what I would like to do. This made me think of the reason I came to college;
to please everyone around me and the expectations held by the rest of the world. By doing so, I
conformed to society.
Your Research: Describe the process of your search. If certain places resulted in no useful
evidence, why did you think so? If certain places provided a lot, why do you think so?
The main resource I used to find my sources was the UNCC Atkins Library Database. I
had never used this resource before, and had no idea how useful it can be. By simply typing in
keywords, countless resources for my topic showed up. Certain sources showed more useful than
others. The ones that I ended up not using were too focused on Chris himself. Although I needed
sources that incorporated both my topic and how it relates to Chris, some sources I looked at had
only one or the other. The sources I incorporated into my annotated bibliography were the most
informational. They had the perfect balance of information about Chris along with info to back
my topic.

The Effect of Your Research on your Direction: What surprised you in your research? Did
you find a lot of information about a certain area of your study that you didnt expect? Did
you find too little? Did your findings, encourage you to narrow your search or broaden
your search or change the initial direction entirely.
What surprised me in my research is the amount of youthful rebellion. Because of the
lack of connectedness to society, these people have been lashing out in hopes of finding their
purpose. Many of the sources I looked at discussed this. Certain people turning to new forms of
religions, in which they turn to nature, similar to what Chris did, in search of it. This discovery
helped me to broaden my search; this allowed me to incorporate youth rebellion into my topic.
The Writing of Your Essay: Did you write informally (I, we) or more formally? Whyd you
choose the style you chose?
I chose to write informally for my essay. In order to keep it more personal, I used first
person to better voice my opinion. Also I used pathos to appeal to my audience in hopes of
persuading them towards my conclusion. I used a power point to better section off the questions.
Instead of writing a drawn paper, I felt the power point would get straight to the point.
Your Critique Group: How did your small critique group help or hinder your whole
process, from the first day when you brought images to class to your final presentation?
Having a small group was beneficial to my final product. It was easy to communicate
with them when I ran into complications or simply needed feedback. Their comments helped me
redirect my focus, and stay on track. As the semester progressed, we all got more and more use

to each other. Once we were more comfortable around each other, it was easier to help each other
without any sort of awkwardness.
Your life as a Researcher: How has this inquiry project been different from/similar to other
research projects you have undertaken? What have you done for the first time?
This inquiry was very similar to the portfolio I had to create in UWRT 1101. It was also a
collection of the work that I had completed over the course of the semester. Similar to this
portfolio, I used Weebly to display my work. This website is fairly easy to use, making
assembling the final product stress free. However, before this inquiry, I had never completed an
Annotated Bibliography. This was the most challenging assignment of my portfolio, I have
always struggled with citations. These being an elaborate form of citations made it difficult for
me to finish.
Your life as a Learner: What did you learn-about anything- which you didnt already
know?
I learned that as an individual I seriously struggle without specific guidelines for an
assignment. I was so use to having an exact rubric or set of instructions for assignments, but for
this assignment when I barely had any, it became much harder to complete.