Exercise 5.6

For this exercise, we have to answer questions like we are in a conversation with someone about our research paper. The book gives us questions:

1. "Hey you, I think you can't really say that one opinion is better than another one. Don't you agree?"

    - I agree with that. However, my research paper doesn't force an opinion on the audience. It simply states that journaling is beneficial for healing and helps you become a better writer.

2. "There's all this stuff in the book about research as a process of discovery. What did you discover?"

     - I discovered that journaling not only helps you become a better writer but also helps you heal in many ways that people don't expect. Therapists and Psychologists use this method for their patients.

3. "What do you figure was the most challenging problem you had to solve while working on this research project? How did you solve it?" 

     - The most challenging problem was finding research because it is not a very well known topic. To solve it, I started using different key phrases that would give me more information.

4. "After all this work, what do you take away from this experience? What have you learned that you can use?" 

     - I have realized that journaling can be used in many different ways. I learned that if I want to become a better writer, journaling is a good place to start. It also helps you heal from things that have happened in your life in the past. 

Exercise 5.3

Today is class, we literally took apart our essay and get to see it from a different view. We got to see what we had for our research paper as well as what we were missing from it. Our Professor than gave us two questions to answer:

1. Experiment with the order/structure of your paragraphs. Try at least two different set-ups. How are they different? What did you learn?
- They are different in many ways. I feel as though my paper has more meaning if I go one way, but the other way made very little sense. I learned that order or the paragraphs really does help in your writing and how and where you place things.

2. How did this whole process hep you re-see your essay?
- This whole process was actually really helpful. At first I thought "great, more work," but the more we did, the more helpful it became. It made me see what I needed to work on in my paper, what I needed to add and what I need to take away. It also made me become very hard on myself. As writers, we typically do not want to criticize ourselves. It was a good feeling dissecting my paper and critiquing it myself.

exercise 5.1

For this assignment, we have to go throughout our paper and highlight our sources in one color and then highlight our own thoughts in another color. We did this in our English Class today. Then we talked in groups about our paper and what we saw with these marks.

My own thoughts dominate the paper. I have sources in my paper but my paper wasn't turned over too much to them. The colors are well balanced. Where I have a quote or summary thought, there are my own thoughts before and after. For all of my quotes but one I explained them in my own words so they audience understands them better. My source use is appropriate to support my purpose. I noticed that the pattern is very well diverse. In every paragraph, there is at least a source. Before and after every source but one of them, I have voiced my own thoughts. I have made sure that the quote or summary is explained and that I just didn't place it in there for the sake of having a quote. Overall, I believe my voice has the stronger hand in this paper but I have enough quotes that it balances it all out.

Exercise 4.3

For this exercise, we need to write three different beginnings to our research paper.

Step 1:
#1:
Journaling: it is something many people would not consider doing. People think it is for those who love to write and that it really does not do a person any good to journal: these are the excuses that pop up the most. A few weeks ago someone encouraged me to start journaling my thoughts because they knew I was really struggling with something big in my life. I did not think it would help any because I thought it was just for people who loved to write. I assumed it was not going to be beneficial but I decided to go ahead and give it a try. I am so thankful that I did. I started to feel different about the situations I was writing about and people were seeing a difference in me as well with my attitude. I was able to get all my thoughts out instead of keeping them bottled up or sharing them with everyone around me.

#2:
If you were going through something and you wanted all the help you could get, would you take it? Therapists and Psychologists want to help their patients in every way possible. After meeting with their clients more than once, they start to see how they react to certain things and how their thought process is. This allows them to deal with all of their patients differently and more individually. With all of their patients, though, they encourage them to journal as well as anything else they tell them to do. Journaling helps people progress more when healing with something. It allows people to fully get their thoughts onto paper and gets them to really think why they may be struggling with that particular thing. When thinking of journaling, people tend to think of it as something someone does if they love to write, but in fact, it is very valuable to everyone therapeutically. 

#3:
Imagine yourself going through something extremely tough and you either have no one to tell, you have told everyone you could possibly think of, or you can't seem to tell anyone what you are thinking. Journaling is a way to get that out. It helps people on a whole new level. People tend to think that journaling is just for people who love writing but it is much more. Journaling can in fact be very therapeutic. Therapists and Psychologists recommend their patients to journal after their sessions. This helps with whatever they might not have said in the session. It also helps people heal faster. Say you lose someone really close to you and it is taking you awhile to get over it. Journaling is a way to express how you really feel instead of making it known to people. Something like that you want to keep to yourself. 

Step 2:
The second step to this exercise we had to have a friend chose which one they thought was the best out of them. My friend read them all and chose number 2 because she said it made her want to keep reading. 


 Step 3: 
The third step to this exercise we have to ask our friend the following questions:
a) What do you predict this paper is about? 
     Journaling and how it helps a person heal
b) Can you guess what central question I'm trying to answer? 
     What journaling really does for a person
c) Can you predict what my thesis might be?
     Journaling helps people heal.
d) How would you characterize the tone of the paper?
     I feel like the tone of this paper is informative because not many people realize that journaling        can be therapeutic. Many people look at it as something writers love to it.  

Exercise 4.2

For this exercise, we have to write a tentative thesis for our research paper. We were given five different templates of ones we can go off of.

I chose the thesis from a hypothesis question because the other ones didn't match my topic. I just started to eliminate them one by one until there was one left that seemed to best fit my research topic.

Tentative thesis:

Based on my research, the assumption that journaling is only for people who love writing appears to be false. Journaling can in fact be very therapeutic to most who do it.

Exercise 4.1

For this exercise, we have to write dialogue as if someone were actually talking to us about our research project. The book The Curious Researcher gives us eleven questions to answer and then we have to elaborate on them as much as we can. Below are the questions, then the answers to them below that.

- Why? Where? Who? When? What?
- What do you mean by_______?
- How do most people see this? How do you see it differently?
- Are you kidding? I didn't know that. What else did you find out?
- Can you give me an example?
- Did that surprise you?
- What other questions does this raise?
- Who does this affect, mostly?
- What should we do about this?
- I'm not sure I believe this. Why do you?
- What do you think we should do about it?

My research topic is therapeutic journaling. What I mean by therapeutic journaling is something that helps people with their thoughts whether they go to see a therapist or psychologist. Looking into this topic, people see it as something that will help them benefit more from writing because not everyone does well talking to someone about their problems. It helps get what's in their mind out on paper. When I first started this research, I saw it differently. I thought journaling was just for people who liked to write. I saw it more as blogging but just less people, if any, seeing it. Finding out more information on this topic though, I have found how therapeutic journaling actually does a help a person. I have also found that it can help heal a person faster. For example, if a person was going through depression or really struggling with losing a loved one, journaling can help ease the pain.They may not want to talk to someone or can't seem to get their words out so writing it all out helps a person gathering their thoughts and get through what they may be struggling with. This surprised me because like I said before, I thought journaling was just something for people who liked to write. I didn't know this until I looked up more information on it and tried journaling myself. Since I thought journaling and blogging were very similar, I looked up information on similarities and differences to see what they were both about. They both can be used therapeutically but journaling can be kept private where as blogging many people can see. This affects people who are seeking help with something they are struggling with, someone looking to go into the profession of being a therapist or psychologist or anyone who just likes writing. I feel as though we should encourage people to start journaling. It allows you to get your thoughts out instead of sharing them with a bunch of people. It is good to talk to people but if you can't seem to talk to someone or want more than just talking, journaling is great. I believe this because it has personally helped me get through things. I use to go seek help from any one of my friends. Since this assignment, I've been journaling to see how it really affects me and it has impacted me in a great way. It allows me to get my thoughts out and that way they aren't in my head anymore and I can in a sense breath. We should honestly encourage everyone to start journaling. It helps in more ways than one, but people need to journaling to see it for themselves. Once people see how impacting it is, they won't be able to stop.

Based on everything I've learned so far, my point is that journaling is very beneficial and therapeutic. People may not think they are going through something, but even sitting down after a day of work or school and writing what you did can help you reflect on the good and bad. This will help people in the long run when they want to remember what they did a certain day or what not to do in similar situations as before. Journaling should be highly encouraged to everyone because it helps everyone in different ways.

Annotated Bibliography

For this exercise, we needed to find five different sources to use for our research paper and then write an annotated bibliography for each one of those sources. Here is mine:

Adams, Kathleen. "A Brief History of Journal Writing." The Center for Journal Therapy. The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Mind-Body Medicine, The Rosen Group, 1999. Web. 07 Nov. 2013.

This article is a credible source for my research because it’s written by Kathleen Adams, best-selling author and psychotherapist. Kathleen Adams is known for writing Journal to the Self and many more books. The article was published in 1999 in the Central for Journal Therapy. The author’s main goal in this article is to inform people on the brief history of journal writing. The publishing source for this article generally targets an audience that wants to learn more about journal writing and how to teach it. This audience would be interested in this topic because it is giving them a brief history on journal writing and how it comes into play with healing people and they would generally agree with this author’s perspective on this topic because it is about the history of it. The author incorporates not only the history but the development, the philosophy and the benefits of journaling. This evidence builds credibility because the audience sees the history behind journal writing and how it affects the human mind but it is also limited because there aren’t many outside sources added. Based on my own opinions, experiences, and research, I agree with this author because knowing the history of journal writing will help anyone understand how it can help them with whatever they are going through. I think this article is important to include in my essay because it’s good to know some history on whatever you are doing a research paper on.

Folit, Ruth. "Better Health and Other Benefits of Keeping a Journal." Better Health and Other Benefits of Keeping a Journal. LifeJournal, 2012. Web. 05 Nov. 2013.

This article is a credible source for my research because it’s written by Ruth Folit, President and Founder of International Association for Journal Writing. Ruth Folit is known for being President and owner at Chronicles Software Company. The article was published in 2012 in LifeJournal. The author’s main goal in this article is to teach the audience that journaling is good for your health and other benefits. The publishing source for this article generally targets an audience that is college aged and looking into journaling for health reasons. This audience would be interested in this subject because it will help them emotionally with the problems they are going through and would generally agree with this author’s perspective on the topic. The author incorporates a survey done by James Pennebaker on college aged students on how writing affects them as evidence. This evidence builds credibility because Pennebaker did many surveys on college students seeing how journaling helps them but it is also limited because there aren’t many outside sources that were added. Based on my own opinion, experiences, and research, I agree with this author because I feel that writing really does help a person feel better and Pennebaker showed that through the surveys that he did. I think this article is important to include in my essay because it not only gives information on how to write and how it helps but it also gives examples of a survey done on college aged students.

Howes, Ryan. "Journaling in Therapy." Psychology Today. Sussex Publishers, 26 Jan. 2011. Web. 06 Nov. 2013.

This article is a credible source for my research because it’s written by Ryan Howes, a clinical psychologist in private practice in the Playhouse district of Pasadena, California. Ryan Howes is a co-author of What Wives Wish Their Husbands Knew About Sex and writing a blog for Psychology Today helping clients get the most out of their therapy. The article was published on January 26, 2011 in Psychology Today. The author’s main goal in this article is to inform the audience that it’s good to journal but still go to therapy. The publishing source for this article targets an audience that goes to therapy but wants more answers. This audience would be interested in this subject because not only would you get help from a psychologist but you can do things on your own and they would generally agree with this author’s perspective because it allows them to see themselves making progress. The author incorporates how not only should people see a psychologist but write down your own thoughts so you can come back to a session and see your progress. This evidence builds credibility because people can see their progression themselves instead of the psychologist telling them but it is also limited because there aren’t many outside sources added. Based on my own opinions, experiences, and research, I agree with this author because seeing your progression as well as seeing a psychologist or therapist about your problems helps you understand yourself better. I think this article is important to include in my essay because it is showing that not only is journaling good for you but going and seeing a professional adds to it.

Purcell, Maud. "The Health Benefits of Journaling | Psych Central." Psych Central.com. PsychCentral, Nov. 2006. Web. 04 Nov. 2013.

This article is a credible source for my research because it’s written by Maud Purcell, Founder and Executive Director of The Life Solution of Darien. Maud Purcell is well known for not only founding The Life Solution of Darien but also skilled and seasoned Psychotherapist. The article was published in 2006 in the PsychCentral Magazine. The author’s main goal in this article is to inform her audience that journaling is therapeutic and helps people understand themselves better. The publishing source for this article generally targets an audience that is struggling with anything mentally or physically. This audience would be interested in this subject because it helps them therapeutically and would generally agree with this author’s perspective on the topic. The author incorporates benefits people will receive while journaling such as clarifying your thoughts and feelings, knowing you better, and reducing stress as evidence. This evidence builds credibility because people go through different things all the time and it will help people in different ways but it is also limited because there are not any outside resources that she added. Based on my own opinion, experiences and research, I agree with this author because I believe that journaling can really help a person therapeutically. I think this article is important to include in my essay because it provides a professional’s opinion about how journaling helps people through their problems.

Wapner, Jessica. "Blogging--It's Good for You: Scientific American." Blogging--It's Good for You: Scientific American. Scientific American, n.d. Web. 06 Nov. 2013.

This article is a credible source for my research because it’s written by Jessica Wapner, a freelance writer about healthcare and medicine. Jessica Wapner is known for writing the book The Philadelphia Chromosome.  The article was published on May 28, 2008 in the Scientific American. The author’s main goal in this article is to inform the audience how blogging is good for you. The publishing source for this article generally targets an audience that wants to learn more about how blogging is good for your health. This audience would be interested in this subject because it will help them write things out and heal them faster and they would generally agree with this because it is showing shows how different parts of the brain are affected when someone goes to type things out that they are feeling. The author incorporates how the brain functions when something is being done to relieve information. This evidence builds credibility because it shows the audience that blogging isn’t just for the sake of typing things out bit a healing process but it is also limited because there aren’t many outside sources that were added. Based on my own opinions, experiences, and research, I agree with this author because she gives examples of how the brain is working writing a person is blogging and how it actually does help. I think this article is important to include in my essay because it gives me another type of journaling that people do and it shows how the brain is working during this process.

Exercise 2.2

For this exercise, we need to pick one of the steps given in our book and do what it says. I chose step number one and it says to try two different search engines for our topic.

I searched on bing.com first and found an article that is titled Journal For You! http://journalforyou.com/
This website gave insight on why someone should journal and it also is encouraging others to start journaling. Everything it said on this site showed that journaling can in fact be productive and have a positive outcome. I just recently started journaling and I can see a difference on how things are compared to when I use to just say everything out loud or keep everything locked inside. I liked how it showed too that you can look back and see what you have written in years past.

I searched on yahoo.com next and found an article that is titled Journaling Versus Blogging.  http://www.dragosroua.com/journaling-versus-blogging/
I wanted to look up the difference between blogging and journaling. They are very similar and they fit in the same category but they are in fact different. This article talks about not only the differences of the two but also the emotions appeal it has on someone who does either. That is what I want to focus my research paper on in general so this website helped! This article encourages a person to do either because it is very therapeutic. It also encourages someone to write at any age, this is not just directed to people still in school.

The last part place I searched was lycos.com and found an article that is titled Journal Writing Is Good Therapy. http://www.essortment.com/journal-writing-good-therapy-34460.html
I wanted to look up how journaling was therapeutic to a person because I know it has helped me lately. This article talks about how journaling helps a person write out their thoughts without having to talk to someone about them. It says in the article that this helps a person become less depressed as they write. It gives a list of things you can write about like what did you accomplish today? what did you want to accomplish? etc... I found this very helpful because it allowed me to understand a little bit more about journaling and how it helps everyone who does it. This article hit right on the nose of what I was looking for.

I found this exercise very helpful. It allowed me to view different articles that have helped my research project along in a positive way. Journaling is a hard topic to research but these websites gave me some hope about the research process because it was exactly what I was looking for for my research.

Exercise 1.5

For this assignment, it is a research proposal. This is to help us with our research paper as we come up with a topic and generate questions from it to help us research more on that particular topic.

1. Inquiry Question: what does journaling actually do for a person?

2. Primary Purpose:
    Explore:
      - Is journaling helpful?
      - Do you need a starting point when journaling?
      - Does journaling effect everyone in the same way?

    Argue: My theory is that journaling is good for people because it allows them to get their feelings out. Instead of telling everyone how you feel, you can be more open and honest by writing it down.

3. I have just started to journal, like really journal, and it has helped me in so many ways. I've been through a lot in the past few years and just to be able to write them out and not have everyone know about your life is a good feeling. When I first began developing knowledge on this topic, I was just thinking of it as just something some people do because they love writing. As I'm thinking about it now, I believe that journaling would be good for a lot of people to do. It would allow people to get thoughts out that they wouldn't normally say to people. I believe it allows people to sort out their emotions and just get everything down on paper.

Exercise 1.1

English Compotion at Lancaster Bible College
Step 1: Building an Interest Inventory

Places:
Paris
Thailand
the country in the fall
the woods
Hollywood

Jobs:
Eye Doctor
Child Actors
Event Planner
Pastor
Business Management

Habits:
biting your nails
twirling your hair
chewing with your mouth open
eating standing up
always checking the time

Hobbies:
Sports
Painting/drawing
Photography
Exercising
Journaling

Step 3:
- Is it helpful?
- What are the benefits from journaling?
- Are there different ways of journaling?
- Can journaling be for anyone?
- What can I journal about?
- Who is going to read my journal?
- How do you journal?
- Why do you journal?
- What is the point of journaling?
- Is journaling just for your thoughts?
- Should you journaling for a specific amount of time?

Exercise #1

Step 1:
You're writing mostly for the instructor.
I find this statement false. When writing, you want to write to whatever audience you feel led to write to. You get a topic you want to write about so you just go for it. When only writing for the instructor, I feel almost limited because some things may not pertain to him or her. By writing to a specific audience, you can elaborate more. They will feel more connected to what you are writing about because they can relate. Whereas the instructor will get some of it but might not necessarily relate. When I'm reading something that doesn't pertain to me, I get bored easily. As an instructor, you can try to relate to a piece of writing but nine times out of ten they are reading because they have to.

Step 2:
People are entitled to their own opinions, and no one opinion is better than another.
I find this statement true. An opinion is something that you think is right so no matter what people will always think theirs is better. When agreeing with someone who is arguing with someone else, you may think that but their opinion means just as much. An opinion is an opinion and no one is wrong.Everyone has different thoughts and everyone can think as they want. Everyone's brain thinks differently and it isn't fare to judge people by what they think.