Finals are here which means it’s time to do this thing again 🙂 My goal at the beginning of the semester was aiming for an A. Here is where I think I stand as the semester (and freshman year) comes to an end.
Based on 13A, I will be able to demonstrate a thorough understanding of context, audience, and purpose in my writing.
I feel that I have made significant strides in this goal this semester. If I compare my writing in my first source analysis to the writing in my last, I think my writing has slowly started to become stronger.
In my first SA, I write a relatively brief analysis of the source and I do not really explain how the source helps readers gain a better understanding of the concepts, I just mention briefly one take away of what it taught readers. Here is a piece of my analysis of my first source, which was Origin the film, “The film can teach the audience a deeper understanding of how a caste system works and how it plays a role in our everyday lives without us even realizing.” Again, as I mentioned earlier, I had the idea but it’s not really anything special and does not really prove I have any better understanding of anything. Looking at SA #2, I feel like my writing had already changed drastically. By this point I had a better understanding of what I was trying to gain from a SA and I can better explain what I learned and how it can be helpful to my research team. In my 2nd SA I picked apart more information from both of the articles and was able to explain where there are connections between them. I was able to go into much more detail and really gain a deeper understanding of what the articles were teaching. Just length wise (which wouldn’t mean anything if the writing didn’t improve) my first SA was barely 1 1/2 pages and my second was just about 3 full pages. Some excerpts of my analysis from SA #2 that I feel help demonstrate my progress would be these, “I feel that this section of the article really helps readers understand how something like botany really plays into a much larger picture. It helps us see a deeper part of establishing forced plantation labor, and even without mentioning it begins to get readers thinking about what the economic goal and gain looked like because of this system.” and “These two articles help readers understand core issues dating back to colonial times. They demonstrate systems that have been put into place and practice, but beyond that have set the foundation for issues we see today. Racism and the erasure of voices in relation to fields such as botany have continued to impact people and communities today even if they do not fully understand how. The knowledge and understanding we gain from these articles can help us as CODES students make informed decisions as we try and understand colonial impact on the gardens and as we attempt to give a voice back to those who did were not able to use theirs when the MOBOT was established.
Looking at my final source analysis (#4), I remember writing it and for the first time really being intrigued by the article, but it was so much more than that because I also genuinely had a good time analyzing and thinking about how this applies to our research, which just made me want to keep writing, so this is probably my strongest source analysis. I believe my writing sounds stronger, maybe even a little bit more academic. I was able to go into more depth and detail in my analysis because, although there were parts of the article that I was having a difficult time understanding/processing, with annotating and taking notes I was able to slow down and think about it until I understood what I couldn’t. The following excerpt from SA #4 “Quantitative data methods use data and statistics to draw conclusions about research. This concept has led to primarily only using quantitative methods in the “hard sciences” and is because people see more validity in the outcomes, and it makes them easier to trust than qualitative methods. Quantitative data methods have been historically privileged on the primary basis of the objectivity of results in the data that quantitative methods provide.”
Based on 11A, I will be able to evaluate a texts’ scholarly significance to apply reading to other contexts or issues.
Midterm: This goal has been one of my favorite to work on thus far. As a history major I have found a lot of connections between things I read in my CODES classes and in my history classes, which has been really exciting for me. The main connections I have made so far have come from books that I am reading in my free time to source analysis articles. Right now I am reading Caste: The Origins of our Discontents. Now I saw the movie first and used it for my first SA this semester, but the book has given me a much deeper understanding and has allowed me to really think about the research and how it all connects in one way or another. A connection I found particularly interesting was between Caste and the sources I have looked at in my research team. Caste begins with talking about how global warming led to a melting of the permafrost in Siberia, which caused an outbreak of Anthrax disease. The author then goes on and says “The anthrax, like the reactivation go the human pathogens of hatred and tribalism in this evolving century, had never died. It lay in wait, sleeping, until extreme circumstances brought it back to surface and back to life.” Now although I don’t have any other specific quote to compare this to, the similarities in idea is still present. Many of the sources I have read seem to have the same underlying idea. Colonialism, erasure of voices, racism, all of these things have always been present in various American systems, but it can be hard to see unless you are looking for it or working to change it. Colonialism is the foundation on which our country sits on, but many won’t know of or acknowledge it’s lasting impact because it is seen as a problem of the past. We however know this is not true. If it was a problem of the past we wouldn’t be actively trying to come up with solutions for it, so relating back to the first quote I had, many of the countries flaws lie within long standing tradition and systems of our country, but nothing can hide forever. All the problems need is a catalyst to bring them back to light, and hopefully as this continues to happen there will be people who will work to repair and search for solutions.
Finals: It makes me so happy that this is still my favorite goal to come back and update. I am constantly talking about C.O.D.E.S. and what we’re doing and learning because I see so many connections to content that I am learning in my other classes. I made sure to leave my midterm reflection with this goal up because pretty much all of what I said stands true. As seeing these connections became more of a regular thing, I began to journal my thoughts down about the connections I find and what they mean (at least how I interpret them), which has been a really useful practice because I can go back and revisit those ideas whenever I think they might contribute well to an assignment or if I want to expand on my ideas.
I will work independently toward goals by contributing to and meeting deadlines.
Midterm: I cannot lie on this one, I dropped the ball. I kind of always drop the ball when it comes to deadlines, it has never been my strong suit and I tend to get extremely distracted and get nothing done or get it done slowly. However, I have not missed any of the deadlines relating to work done within my subgroup. I always come prepared with my group work done and ready to collaborate with my team. The deadlines I have seemed to struggle with are really just for my SA’s, but I also am just coming back from emergency surgery, so hopefully I can make a strong comeback after spring break.
Finals: I do indeed think I made a strong comeback after spring break. I put a lot of effort into my assignments and source analysis’ and did my best to make sure that they were turned in on time. I contributed to my group work as much as I could and made sure I was holding myself accountable for contributing to my portion, while still working with my group to make sure we were meeting deadlines on what we needed to work on together. I did take an extension on my final lab write-up, but it was offered to the entire group so I don’t know if that counts as missing a deadline or not, but without the extension I wouldn’t be able to say that I was confident in the work I would’ve turned in.
I will be able to use my knowledge of global systems to develop and advocate for informed, appropriate action to solve complex problems (15%)
This goal isn’t one of my very heavily weighted ones, but I wish I had done more with it. I do think I made progress, but I don’t think it’s tangible. When working to develop solutions I do like to consider what I know about the situation, different perspectives, etc. and use that information to really think “okay what could work, what couldn’t, is there something I am missing? If so, where can I go look for more information?” So, even though I do think about this goal, I really don’t annotate much and most of the work goes on inside my head, so I really need to work on making sure that I am annotating my readings and what I am researching and organizing notes in a way I can revisit if I need to in class. I need to take more notes period.
I will be able to use a clear organizational pattern and be skillful at presenting content cohesively. (15%)
This is another goal that is not very heavily weighted, but I think I made really good progress with this goal!