The End End

Ok, so having finished this ridiculously long paper I feel like I have accomplished something pretty big, as an undergrad. I like how my paper turned out and I like the argument I made and how I made it. I thougt the requirements were reasonable, but challenging. I'm happy with the research I accomplished, and feel pretty educated on this topic.

The End

Well, here it is guys. The end of the quarter, the end of the paper, and the end of this blog. What I ended up doing was organizing the paper historically. I began with an account of Japanese whaling practices from the old world. Then accounted how they are now. Then I spoke about the contemporary resistance to it, including the most recent development of Sea Shepherd. At the end I took information and I had read and theorized a possible outcome of the consequences of large scale commercial whaling.
Overall I'm pretty pleased with the work I have done. Jim Ridolfo suggests possibly using it as a writing sample in a job portfolio or something. This is something I'll think about.

home stretch

Ok. So 15 pages down. Those last five were pretty easy, because as I was writing the first ten, I kept thinking of more and more things to address, and this was my chance to get them down. Now all I have left to do in creating my final document is write an introduction, where I state my argument (because on this topic I have a strong one to make), organize this 15-page mass of info into a coherent piece of writing, and write a strong, definitive conclusion.

Also, during my conference with Jim Ridolfo the other day, he suggested that I try to format this in a way that I may be able to use it in an online portfolio as a sample of my writing when it comes time for me to look for jobs ad deal with potential employers. I'm going to do that. He also suggested that I take some kind of computer publishing or website class to aid me in the production of an online portfolio. I'm going to do that too.

Some Thoughts

Ok, so after giving my presentation yesterday, I had some things to think about. Here's what I've concluded.
First- I am DEFINITELY going to take Samm's idea into account and include some info about the role whales play in the oceans and what would happen to the oceans IF the whales were in fact permanently removed. I'm sure the extinction of whales would have a dire outcome, and the portrayal of this outcome, I believe, is a strong argument for WHY whaling needs to be stopped.

Secondly- Jim Ridolfo sent me (and told me during my presentation) some info about the rhetoric of protesting and arguing for the environment. While a pretty interesting read, I had to keep in mind that my research paper topic is "The Japanese Whaling Industry" and not "The Whaling Practices of the World" nor is it "The life and times of Paul Watson". Watson DOES play a factor in the Japanese whaling industry, and that is why he made it into the paper at all. While the story about Watson gaining the support of the US government through his video of the Soviets whaling is a brilliant and interesting one, it does not pertain to Japanese whaling.

NO TIME!!!

HOLY MOLY!!! Writing these next five pages has been agonizing. Not only am i so unbelievably pressed for time, but the more I write, the more ideas I think of to explore and I feel like there's way too much to say and I just kind of freeze up and don't say anything. That's stupid and makes no sense.

Remarking on what I said last time, I highly doubt I'll have any time to make any kind of successful remix of my research paper, but if I had it my way, I think maybe some kind of visual/video production could be EXTREMELY effective in portraying my argument. But I've never made a video before in my life, so that's just not going to happen.

Progress

So, heeeeeere's the story. Research is well under way. I'm coming up with lots of useful information and I've added probably 6 or 7 sources to my Bib already. The first five pages weren't too rough and I'm pretty confident that I'm going to have plenty of content for the whole 20. AS TIME PERMITS I am toying with the idea of turning this paper into a whole project... perhaps using one of the mediums we have learned about. I'm not set on this idea, though, and don't know what my scehdule will allow.

WOAH!!!

WOAH!!! Looking for sources is overwhelming. I guess choosing a topic that has A VAST ABUNDANCE of information about it has its down side. There are so many books and articles to choose from, I'm really going to have to look carefully at the possibilities and really try to pick the best ones.

Watkin's video

Ok, I must say that I have been pretty resistant to all this new technology trying to break into the world of essay, argument, and rhetoric, but after watching the Watkin's video, I think I'm beginning to soften to the idea. The video in itself is a compelling form of rhetoric that carries a very persuasive argument very much enhanced and strengthened by his mixed-medium of text, audio, and visual.
Having so far considered myself to be old-fashioned and only holding a written work on a page to be a "true" form of text, I must admit that after viewing this piece, I DO in fact agree with Watkin's argument about students and new media. I believe there is a lot to gain from a combination of media, especially in this technologically over-loaded world.
Having said that, I remain resistant to technology being forced upon me, especially when it appears an inconvenience rather than any kind of help.

First post- Initial Ideas

Okey-dokey. When trying to think of a research topic for my Senior year Advanced Composition 489 class, I really tried to come up with a topic that would be interesting for me to research as well as for people to read when the paper was completed. I also wanted to do something that was informative, and maybe introduce an idea that not many people are really too familiar with.

On that note my two idea topics thus far are:

1. The Japanes whaling industry.
- This idea opens the door for me to inclusively research-
* Japan's animal and environmental rights and laws
* The whaling practices of other nations and how Japan's practices compare
* Resistance to Japanese whaling practices
- With these subtopics in mind, I think I would be able to create a fairly inclusive and complete examination of the Japanese whaling industry.

2. Industrial Hemp.
-This idea opens the door for me to also research-
* The story behind the ban on industrial hemp, and the reasons we don't use it today
* The positives and negetives associated with industrial hemp
* Possibly paint a theorhetical world that uses industrial hemp and use it in comparrison to our own world to make an argument for or against.

So, that's what I've got so far. I'm pretty comfortable with these ideas and think I'll know which one I'll do for sure after some light preliminary research.