CORE VALUE 1: Writing is a practice that involves a multi-stage, recursive and social process.

Writing is not straightforward unless it is class notes. At least in my process, it is much more like a jigsaw puzzle, where I first outline what I want to see, and then work on different blocks, then play with the blocks till they fit nicely next to other blocks. This was my process for my thesis, although more complicated, as it was more like starting one puzzle, finding the box was missing pieces, and then completing it the best I could, then choosing another puzzle and starting over.

I ended up arguably doing double the work if not more, not to mention a time crunch as I had to accelerate the process for the second thesis. During the final 4 hours before the deadline, my thesis clocked in at over 5,000 words when it was only supposed to be 3,000 and I had only tapped 7 or 8 of my scientific studies out of 14 that I downloaded at the Rowan Library. That is after culling due to how I formed the blocks of text.

I originally started in blocks that were themed. All science nuggets of wisdom went out of context, floating, at the bottom of my paper. All the text about TV was in a block at the top of the paper. All the text about literature was in the middle of the paper. I would for example cite a poet and then show an example of their work to support my point. However as the paper changed, as paragraphs were placed in different spots, their context would change, and often I would have to edit out examples that were once fine as a standalone paragraph so they could work with other paragraphs.

 A big alarm went off when I was in a meeting with my professor, and I realized that I had formed two hypotheses by accident! “War causes dark literate.” and “Dark stories are preferred by people who are down.” So, then I had to find a way to merge the two hypotheses and present it in a linear way non awkward way.

Finally, after moving a lot of things around to make a “linear story” or perhaps “cohesive narrative”, I still had all the floating fun facts from academic papers to use. Originally, they were just going to be a boring list. I was not happy with that, so I then tried to find a way to insert them into my like comments to a post. This made them seem much more natural and made me slightly happier. However, there was so much to gleam from scientific studies, that it became unwieldly and still looked a little ugly to me as it looked disproportionate to my own paragraphs they were supporting.

If this sounds messy, confusing, or out of order, then good! I have conveyed how messy the process of writing is. My story is written in a simple way, but there was much back and forth at each step, for example I rewrote the first page 3 times in 3 days, and re polished random paragraphs at each step, especially as I revised and edited and shifted paragraphs around. In the blizzard that is my work, these extra steps will be lost under the top layer of snow that people see.

CORE VALUE 2: Close and critical reading/analysis is necessary for listening to and questioning texts, arriving at a thoughtful understanding of those texts, and joining the academic and/or public conversations represented by those texts.

This is something I am proud to of have demonstrated to my professor throughout the year, my hand shooting up to answer his though provoking questions! Like a dog on a chain air biting, I was eager to answer. I often got answers right too. And when I failed, I failed more spectacularly than a firework! But the quicker I failed, the quicker I learned. I was quick to point out when a comma of lack of communicated an entirely different idea. I am semi fluent in rules-lawyering due to my hobbies, and brought the many ways to interpret a sentence to the table. Additionally I took notes on the professors advice when it comes to arguments, and I was able to take some academic studies that did not necessarily agree with my position, and use them in such a way to further my position! Lastly, I took the professors advice on hooking audiences, and I was happy I did, as I believe My first line of my thesis hooked readers.

CORE VALUE 3: Writing is shaped by audience, purpose, and context.

I can Identify rhetorical elements, have been warned by the professor that rhetorical questions take an advanced writer to use correctly, in contrast to how most students apparently use them incorrectly. In our analysis of slaughter farms and arguments for both sides, the professor made it visible the subtly of how text can be argumentative. By the following week, I was able to use that knowledge to successfully answer “the missing dollar” question. By manipulating the argument, we could end up in a place where even math makes no sense. Words are powerful and how we use them, such as the conflict between practically and virtue can change everything if we are not carefully consistent when going though a method to a conclusion.

CORE VALUE 4: Information literacy is essential to the practice of writing.

I spent many afternoons in the Rowan Library using their computer and showing the amateurs in the lobby how to do a puzzle of a cat on a bookshelf! I even used the receptionist as part of my survey for my own research! In the current age having accurate sources is more important than ever. That is not to say that the scientific process isn’t messy, with papers that often correlate, but just as often have a blind spot to a lose end they can not yet explain and need further studies on. I learned a lot this semester; it was my first time learning about and using Google Scholar, which takes a certain finesse. The real lifesaver was my professor again, as his strategy I call “trace it back” worked in some instances wonderfully. First find a causal low brow article on something, then scroll to the bottom of the page and look for sources. Hopefully one of them is academic. Then look up that academic source, read it, take the nuggets of wisdom, then scroll to the bottom of that, for a huge stockpile of related material! If you can find one paper on a subject this way you can then expand it threefold!

CORE VALUE 5: Writing has power and comes with ethical responsibilities.

Word have power because they have the ability to influence. When we make our arguments there is room for abuse. Bad things like strawman arguments, misquoting, taking things out of context, can all be used to manipulate a narrative to come up with a conclusion that is not made in good faith. As my high school used to say, “We tackle hard on field to knock people down, but when the play is over, we pick them up.” There is no shame in absolutely demolishing someone’s words, that is fair game, but there is much shame in destroying the person themselves, they are people and we treat them with respect. The tools we are given to try to make our airtight arguments can be used in a dirty way. It is up to us to use the tools we are taught in a fair and ethical way. It is important that we respect others the way we wish to be respected. Respect and ethics extend beyond our work, intellectual Ips, AI work, and plagiarism. While shortcuts sound tempting for a raise, they are never worth it, as it is your audience that loses out. We write to better humanity.