The Final Post: A True Story of an English Expedition

So, here it is, the final blog of the semester. This can be seen as a bittersweet moment for me. While I’m happy that this post marks the end of my research paper journey, it all marks my final assignment as a freshman here at UD. Now, enough of the sappy talk, let me reflect of the evolution of my blogs, research paper, and development as a writer.

Since my research paper was based off of my blog topic, I decided to incorporate a lot of elements from my blogs into the points I made in my paper. When I first began writing my research paper, I was very narrow-minded about my stance on the issue and wouldn’t accept the fact that there could be a positive side to animal testing. After days worth of research and writing my blog post that included an interview with Dr. Festing, I decided that the purposes for animal testing were reasonable. The interview with Dr. Festing opened my eyes to the other side of the issue and lead me to delve into more research about the positive stance of animal testing before writing my research paper.

This research paper has positively impacted my research methods and writing skills by forcing me to look into my evidence more carefully to check that it is credible and by making me edit and revise papers before their due. I know that sounds like an obvious skill that one should grow up with, but unfortunately, I was that person in high school that would type up my paper the night before it was due and turn in the first copy that came out of the printer. This paper has taught me that that is a big no-no and I should budget my time accordingly and focus on writing in small chunks, while giving myself time to edit and revise my papers. The research I have obtained through writing this paper has also increased my knowledge on animal testing, especially the positive side to it. Ultimately, this has taught me to analyze two sides of an argument with factual evidence before I make a decision based on just morals. This not only applies to papers I may write in the future, but also real life situations when disagreements arise.

Throughout this writing journey, the biggest change that I have noticed in my writing in the ability to execute my points in third person better. It’s really hard to write about your own opinion of something when you’re forced to write in third person, so these formal essays have really helped me to write more effectively.

For future E110 students, I would honestly say that you should use the library and English professor as much as you can. They may seem intimidating at first, but they are your best resources and they will help you. The library has over a 1,000 books and articles, so there is bound to be one on your topic in there somewhere. Your teacher is also the person grading your papers, so go to their office hours and discuss your concerns, it’s worth it, trust me.