Steadman 1

Erin Steadman

Professor Raymond

UWRT 1104-001

28 November 2018

The Path of Discovering

As Lauren and I worked on our project, we split up our presentation in sections for each

of us. In my case, one of my topics was research on escapes from Europe before World War II

started. While doing research, I came across a story about a group of Jewish refugees, about 900

of them, when they tried to leave Europe. I found that they were not only turned away by Cuba,

but also the United States. They returned to Europe, and were scattered throughout safer

countries there. Even after getting to a safer spot of Europe, 254 of them are known to have died

in the Holocaust. I was surprised that the United States did not accept them, and this led me on a

small detour to learning about the immigration policies of the United States at the time. I learned

that the laws were strict before and during most of the war, but after the war President Truman

issued a statement, the “Truman Directive”. This allowed displaced people to have priority for

United States visas. My ideas throughout this project have changed from just how did these

people escape to what was the impact on them directly as well as everyone else they impacted by

moving. I did not come to this conclusion without critical reflection. As I was working through

my slides and developing statements about my topics, I realized I was getting more out of what I

learned than I had thought. While working on the writing parts of my topic and overall the

writing assignments throughout this class, the composing process has been the easiest to
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accomplish. I have always done assignments broken up and in groups over a period of time so

that everything is always done thoroughly and is complete. Having many different assignments

at one time and smaller assignments due every week in this class has strengthened my

composing process skills and tactics, and it has strengthened my writing. I have seen my writing

grow in this class because while it was a lot I had a plan and timeline for it all. Also, not being

forced to write about something specifically, and being allowed to write in my own way has

grown my confidence and view on writing. After going through this class, I am able to elaborate

and compose more in my papers, yet still follow guidelines.