The last time I wrote a research paper was for a science class. We were working with bacteria that were resistant to penicillin and we compared these characteristics to normal bacteria. We were trying to answer what characteristics do penicillin bacteria possess and what processes must occur in order for bacteria to become resistant to penicillin. We collected data from different plates, all that received penicillin and recorded which plates were able to produce and multiply bacteria and which plates were unable to produce bacteria.
The research question still remains: how do bacteria become resistant to penicillin.
I think the methodology used to come to a conclusion was sufficient but the experiment was quite complex and short-lived. Having a long-term experiment (several generations of bacteria) probably would’ve been a better way to go.
I read chapter 2-3 of They Say, I Say:
Chapter 2
This chapter focuses on being able to summarize a piece of writing is a skill that is learned. It requires a writer to not only summarize the piece, but to also give their own expert interpretation of the text. If you over summarize the text, it is obvious that you are not confident in your own writing ability and relying too much on the works of others. If you only use a sentence or just a few words to summarize the text, you are too focused on what you have to say and often leads to creating a bias piece of work. The writer stresses the ability to suspend your own belief and consider where your opponent is coming from. Being able to get inside the minds of your writer seeing them from their view will allow you to become better at summarizing. In other words, when you are summarizing someone’s writing piece, make sure that you are summering their work instead of summarizing what you believe the piece was about. Try not to make too many assumptions. While summarizing a paper should stay true to the author’s point, it should also stay on topic to your own essay.
To put it simply, chapter 2 also tells the reader to ditch the old word “said” and instead use urges, complains, resists, emphasize, attacked etc. because the book puts it frankly, “this is college.” “use vivid and precise signal verbs as often as possible.”
Health companies and hospitals over emphasis the importance of having “5 servings of fruits and vegetables a day” It is dangerous to assume that every person has the same eating and nutritional needs.
It is important to have 5 fruits and vegetables a day. Meeting this nutritional benchmark is important because it isn’t an arbitrary number. Scientists have been studying the effects of lack of nutrition for decades and according to the CDC, this is the amount that will prevent long-term complications.
chapter 3
Using quotations are great with strengthening your agreement. Make sure not to under or over quote and make sure that you are providing the quote in context. “Dangling quotes” is the term the author coined to describe quotes that are just thrown in an essay without context or explanation.
Alyssa reflects 