Research Paper Venting

My greatest frustration about writing this research paper is mainly finding the time to sit down and really work on it.  I find myself quickly approaching the due date and still have so much to do.  I am not a procrastinator but I just try to fit too much on my plate so I find myself doing things at the last minute which I don’t like to do.

For instance, after working 12-14 hour days all week I have to go to Ventura today (Friday) to take care of my elderly aunt which I run over to do on the weekends to get her groceries, clean her house, and any other errands she may need done.  My plan is then to dedicate all day Saturday and Sunday to working on my research paper and another big project that is due in another class.  I find there are just not enough hours in the day.  I’m sure I am trying to take too many classes on top of all of my other responsibilities but I just want to complete school as soon as I can so I can somewhat get my life back!

I selected the second option for my research paper which Jennifer said was the harder option but it was a matter of time constraints for me.  I just didn’t have time to finish another novel and write about it so I figured reading articles or excerpts from other research books would be the best utilization of time for me.  I have selected Women’s Rights in Iran. I still have a hard time imagining what it must be like to be a woman in a country such as Iran.  The research I have read so far has been very interesting but disturbing at the same time.  I do need to make a firm decision on my thesis today so I can press forward over the next two days in completing my paper with that theme.    

I have also struggled with the MLA format this semester.  I had never even heard of it before taking this class so trying to get it right has been a challenge.  I did print the information about citing sources in MLA format but I think it is still some of the basic rules that I am missing.  I have used the Purdue summary we were given the link for at the beginning of the semester but I was told on the last essay that it is still not correct.  I may need to just go buy the handbook today to make sure my final Essay 3 and the research paper are done correctly.

For me finding decent blocks of time to really focus on this project has been the biggest challenge.  I have already told my family that I just need to be left to myself for the rest of the weekend so I can focus on writing. This class has required a lot of writing but I must admit that it has made things flow easier just by being forced to write so much so often.  Hopefully this will be the case for the rest of the weekend and it will flow abundantly!  

Evaluating My Online Communication Style

My communication style varies according to the situation.  When corresponding with a family member or close friend on instant messenger, email, or texting, I communicate in a more casual style.  Many times when I instant message or text, I use all lowercase or textspeak.  I can be briefer in my communication style because the other party generally has an idea of what I am talking about already.

Most of my correspondence is in a professional setting.  I work in customer service so I must be very thorough and professional in my communication.  I have to assume that my customers do not understand all of the terminology, systems, etc. that we deal with so I must be very thorough in my explanations to avoid any confusion and resulting communication to clear up those questions.  I have to have a “you attitude” approach with the customers and especially since we are dealing with the customers’ personal finances, we must be show empathy to their concerns.  I also need to be very careful in what I communicate and must proofread everything I send.  When corresponding with my boss or others in positions of authority I must also pay close attention to how my communication is coming across.  Our opinion of others can easily be drawn by reading their correspondence.

As a supervisor, I must also be very careful of how I say things and what information I send.  Communication must be very clear so there is no question about what is expected.  I also need to remember to praise in public which is usually online for others to recognize an individual(s) accomplishments and punish in private.  No one wants to be called out in front of others even in an online setting.

In online courses at school, we also have the opportunity to communicate online.  How I correspond with the instructor has a lot to do with the instructor’s style.  In this course, Jennifer is professional but creates more of a relaxed atmosphere.  In one of my other courses for instance, the instructor is very formal and has very strict rules about how we are to communicate with her online or she will not respond.  Again, who I’m corresponding with and what they are expecting of me determines my communication style.

Tools such as instant messenger are now being used in the workplace but how I instant message with a friend is different than how I instant message with my boss.  Everything still needs to be presented professionally when using instant message as a business tool.  Emails too need to be kept professional because you never know who they might be forwarded to so I try to stay mindful of what is put into writing and how it is presented.  In summary, I know that I have different online communication styles depending on who I am corresponding with.  It varies from very casual with family and friends, to semi-formal with close co-workers, and finally formal with superiors or customers.   I think most people learn to adapt their online communication styles to fit the situation.

31 Years Later – Has Much Really Changed in Iran?

It had been 31 years since the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran.  As I read news articles about what is going on in Iran today, I have to ask myself if much has really changed since the early days of the Revolution that Azar Nafisi wrote about in Reading Lolita in Tehran. 

I just read an article about how Iran is in a longrunning standoff with the international community over its nuclear program.  Iranian leaders insist that their nuclear program is peaceful but they have defied repeated demands to stop enriching nuclear fuel.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was elected President in 2005 and he restarted the nuclear research.  Late September 2009, Iran said that its Revolutionary Guards test-fired missiles with sufficient range to strike Israel.  In February 2010, Mr. Ahmadinejad ordered his atomic scientists to begin enriching their stockpile of uranium.  Days later, on the anniversary of the overthrow of the Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlzvi, he announced that Iran was a nuclear state despite his earlier denials.

The 2009 Presidential Campaign was a controversial one.  Mir Hussein Moussavi ran against Ahmadinejad and it sounds as if strong accusations were exchanged.  The polls came in at 65% vs. 35% in Ahmadinejad’s favor.  Moussavi denounced the results and many rallies were held.  The militia aggressively broke up the rallies, using guns, clubs, tear gas and water cannons.  Details on the number of deaths are sketchy because Ahmadinejad cracked down on journalists and moved to block as much cell-phone, text-messaging and internet traffic as possible. A mass trial for dissidents was held.

Some of the older generation of leaders in Iran who served under Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini are questioning Mr. Ahmadinejad’s competence and even accused his ministers of corruption.  They believe that his faction is distorting the principles of the Islamic Revolution and is instead following a messianic cult that rejects the intermediary role of the clergy.

Mr. Ahmadinejad has become known for his defiance over Iran’s nuclear program and his hostility towards Israel.  He shocked the world when he called the Holocaust a myth and repeated an old slogan from the early days of the 1979 Revolution, saying “Israel must be wiped off the map.”

Even though it sounds as if the current leadership might not be following the principles of the Islamic Revolution quite the way the older generation would like, it doesn’t sound as if it’s an improvement either.  The people of Iran are still oppressed in my opinion. As I was reading the article it reminded me of many of the accounts given in Reading Lolita in Tehran

I have written in my blogs before about my Iranian co-worker who has shared experiences with me.  She left Iran at the start of the Revolution but has gone back to visit family periodically.  It is not the country she grew up in and it saddens her.  She doesn’t think that she will ever be able to go back and live in her native country unless things change drastically.

Has much changed in Iran since Azar Nafisi wrote about her experiences?  I don’t think so.

How has my writing improved?

First, let me say that I do not think I have ever written as much as I have in English 103!  As stated before, it has been many years since I have been in school so this class has definitely pushed me into getting up to speed with current writing styles and requirements.  For instance, when I first logged on and saw all these references to MLA style I had no clue what Jennifer was talking about.  I had never heard of MLA before so I knew there was going to be a huge learning curve.

The practice of writing so much has been beneficial in many ways.  It has helped me with reaching down to come up with ideas to write about and expand on to meet minimum word or page requirements.  It has caused me to learn new things about style, organization, structure, grammar, etc.

The feedback from peers in the Peer Draft Reviews has been very helpful too.  Sometimes our writing makes sense to us because we know what idea we were trying to convey so we may not be looking at it from an audience perspective that might not know about the topic.  Therefore, the feedback from the PDR’s and from SmartThinking has been very helpful to me before submitting the assignment.  Providing PDR’s to classmates has also improved my proofreading skills.  The group concept also gives you more of a classroom experience providing a medium for interaction.

The Reading Discussion board has prompted critical thinking skills and has provided a forum to interact with online classmates.  I do think responding to one critical thinking question and posing one question each week would be sufficient though.  There are times between the discussion boards, essays, Exploring Language assignments, etc. that I feel that I have to be more concerned with producing quantity instead of quality.

The blogs have also stimulated creativity and critical thinking skills and I have enjoyed reading other blogs and responding to them.  I had never created a blog before so this was new territory for me.  Again, I feel that responding to one other blog each week would be sufficient so that we can concentrate more on the quality of our response instead of hurrying to get two done.    

The reading assignments have been very insightful and thought provoking.  Writing about our reading assignments has helped me with retention.  Many times I read something and have a hard time remembering what it was about because I don’t stay focused.  Knowing that I will be writing about it helps to keep my mind from wandering.  It encourages you to really try and understand the authors’ motives and viewpoint to be able to write about it.

I also like the multiple drafts that we have done for essays.  I think I have learned a lot more about how to improve my writing using this approach.  We are given ideas from peers or SmartThinking on how to improve our writing and given another chance before submitting the final.

This class has been a lot of work and very time consuming, but I do like to think that my writing skills have improved as a result of taking English 103.