I don't like deciding. Can I just write a couple of bib essays over the course of the next year or so?
Tamar- I really like upper division papers too! And I've had a couple of aquatic ecology papers. Once three guys came in and I tutored them one right after the other for some aquatic ecology class. They all had well written, informative papers, and fun sessions. With a few words I couldn't pronounce which they thought was amusing.
But yes, I think I shall stick with the topic for a change. At first the bibliographic essay frightened me because I had no idea what to write about. Then as I got a few ideas mostly from reviewing what I had liked in our reading and from talking to tutors that had written the papers, I became frightened because there were too many topics I found interesting. Then I picked one. Then I realized that I could just keep narrowing it down further and further. So I'm back to the frightening decision process. What do I actually want to focus on in my topic?
I decided to write on plagiarism. I find it interesting, and it ties into a lot of what I have been interested in throughout this semester. In my oh so expert opinion there are different kinds of people who plagiarize, but a chunk of those who do are those writers who do not feel they have adequate words to express the ideas they are trying to express. They think they know what their paper *should* sound like, they have this invented university in their head, but they can't seem to write the words they think their audience wants. So they write somebody else's words. Or, they have this vague idea, and then in their research they stumble across some well formed sentences or even paragraphs and suddenly those words wind their way into a paper. I've been there myself, too. When I read something by somebody else and then can't think of any other way to phrase it. Drives me crazy. I try to write my own stuff before reading too much of anything else so I at least have my own ideas firm enough (Emig anyone?) that they don't dissolve into others words. But back to my topic...I want to talk about plagiarism. Perhaps tie it into insecure writers who don't think they have the words to say their thoughts, or maybe ESL students and cultural perspective, or Intellectual Property law (which fascinates me in a really nerdy way!) and Western ideas about idea ownership and originality. And where does tutoring fall into all this? Or composition theory? I don't know. I found a topic only to find I didn't really have a topic yet. I'll get there. I've enjoyed reading about it so far. Maybe if I find an article that I think is just stunningly brilliant I'll base my paper out of that. Fun fun. Maybe (kidding) I'll do something ironic and plagiarize my bibliographic essay on plagiarism.
But yes, I think I shall stick with the topic for a change. At first the bibliographic essay frightened me because I had no idea what to write about. Then as I got a few ideas mostly from reviewing what I had liked in our reading and from talking to tutors that had written the papers, I became frightened because there were too many topics I found interesting. Then I picked one. Then I realized that I could just keep narrowing it down further and further. So I'm back to the frightening decision process. What do I actually want to focus on in my topic?
I decided to write on plagiarism. I find it interesting, and it ties into a lot of what I have been interested in throughout this semester. In my oh so expert opinion there are different kinds of people who plagiarize, but a chunk of those who do are those writers who do not feel they have adequate words to express the ideas they are trying to express. They think they know what their paper *should* sound like, they have this invented university in their head, but they can't seem to write the words they think their audience wants. So they write somebody else's words. Or, they have this vague idea, and then in their research they stumble across some well formed sentences or even paragraphs and suddenly those words wind their way into a paper. I've been there myself, too. When I read something by somebody else and then can't think of any other way to phrase it. Drives me crazy. I try to write my own stuff before reading too much of anything else so I at least have my own ideas firm enough (Emig anyone?) that they don't dissolve into others words. But back to my topic...I want to talk about plagiarism. Perhaps tie it into insecure writers who don't think they have the words to say their thoughts, or maybe ESL students and cultural perspective, or Intellectual Property law (which fascinates me in a really nerdy way!) and Western ideas about idea ownership and originality. And where does tutoring fall into all this? Or composition theory? I don't know. I found a topic only to find I didn't really have a topic yet. I'll get there. I've enjoyed reading about it so far. Maybe if I find an article that I think is just stunningly brilliant I'll base my paper out of that. Fun fun. Maybe (kidding) I'll do something ironic and plagiarize my bibliographic essay on plagiarism.
posted by Michelle Jeffs at 4:28 PM
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