Liam Brooks

English 1001-014
11/28/16
Reflection
Professor Malek
The Shirking of My Research Essay
When I initially wrote my rough draft it wasnt personal, it was filled
with facts and statistics. As I wrote my recast I tried to relate this issue to me
and my life. I was able to use recent events on campus that involved guns
and incorporated them into my essay adding a personal perspective to the
recast. Writing to an audience of unknown peers gave me a chance to try
new writing techniques and ideas. Knowing one of my peers would be
reading my essay it made me want to appeal to that audience, so I used
some different techniques in my writing. I felt like the recast wasnt as formal
since we were writing for an audience our age.
In my recast essay I wanted to start with arguing the opposing side
then arguing my side of the issue. I then wanted my main argument point to
be how the brain isnt fully mature until age twenty-five and how college
students brains arent mature enough to decide to use a gun. I also wanted
to show how an increase in guns on campus would increase the number of
accidental shootings. I chose to omit a few examples of school shootings as
well as statistics of how an increase in campus carry would increase gun
violence on campus. I tried to use the events that happened on campus a

main focus points of the essay to make it as personal as I could. I also added
a more personal feel to the essay, with talking about my experience with a
shooter on campus.
I thought it was difficult to condense my essay into just 500 words. I
had a lot of examples and facts in my research essay and I had to choose
which ones were important enough to include in my recast essay. This was
difficult because my writing style is long and drawn out, and with the recast I
wasnt able to write how I usually would. I dont think anything influence my
style, my approach was to make it as personal and relatable to the audience
as I could.
When we were reviewing the essays we felt that each one was lacking
a major piece to it, whether it was a title, it wasnt personal enough or their
argument wasnt clear. One essay stood out to us and we thought it didnt
need any revision. Another stood out to us in a negative light, it didnt have a
title and we werent sure what the essay was about until almost the end. We
considered if the essay was personal, how clear the argument was and
whether or not they used facts to support their claim. I was very pleased with
the response to my essay the audience seemed to enjoy the piece. If I were
to revise my paper I would find different words for campus carry, I feel like I
over used that word. I would also incorporate a recent story of a school
shooting being stopped by a student who was unarmed.