Project Two...

What am i most proud of in this essay

A couple things. First, that I was able to write on a topic of no small importance in my world, and in a serious manner. I didn't want to just try to come up with something that I didn't really care about, nor did I want to write about something I know so much about that sources are redundant. I was also happy that in building this project, I learned about a whole new set of features in Word that saved me SO MUCH TIME. The Reference Tab is my new best friend.

What would I change/add

Honestly, not much if anything. I would have liked to have been able to find more on the topic from more formal sources, but academic search engine issues are a rant for another time. However, I don't think that what I found was substandard. I'm glad I was able to pull in a mix of sources. I think the hyperfocus on the idea that *only* peer-reviewed sources are valid does a disservice to research in general. Given that peer-review is hardly foolproof, or even close, the almost blind acceptance that it is *always* legitimate is as bad as blindly relying on any source. "Trust, but verify" is still a useful philosophy, even when something is peer-reviewed.

What part benefitted me the most and how?

Truthfully, the drafts. The rest of it was kind of artificial to how I write. I didn't use the outline at all, and I didn't see any huge advantage, nor really a difference between the annotated bibliography and the literature review, neither of which were of any particular help to me.

What did I learn from this?

I now have a much deeper understanding of why so many students hate writing. I'm not saying bin formal writing, but the obsession with picayune details of MLA/APA format hinders as much as it helps. I think there's a usefulness in standard formatting, but seriously, Times New Roman does not make the paper any better than Garamond or Helvetica.

If I could change anything?

Dump the annotated bibliography. I still have no real evidence that it's useful beyond saying you did one. Yey.