"How Shall [I] Describe my Feelings"
During this research process, I was able to grow as both a researcher and a student. I developed skills for assessing the scholarship of sources; determining their relevance to my key questions; and summarizing vital details. First, I learned how to quickly tell if a source was trustworthy and had good information or not. By using strategies like picking websites from reputable institutes or universities, such as Massachusetts Historical Society or the Gilderman Lehrman Institute of American History, I was able to find detailed, accurate information for my research. Even though they were originally difficult to find, I knew the information in them was trustworthy because it was featured on acclaimed websites. Second, I improved my skills at summarizing events and focusing on the most important parts of a topic. Since I collected many notes and countless details about the women’s lives and positions for my preliminary research, I had to choose which pieces of information could be included in my paper, and which I would need to leave out for the sake of time and length. For example, originally, I did a lot of research on women’s duties as soldiers and the impact. But I decided that for the purposes of this paper, because the available information focused mostly on specific people, rather than average women, which is what I wanted to focus on, I would leave those notes out of my final paper. This choice was a difficult decision to make because I did not want to “waste” the in-depth notes, but I knew it was the right choice to make. Third, I also had to learn how to summarize events and highlight the most important details, because I could not include everything about women in the American Revolution in my paper, as that is much too broad a topic. I had to develop a narrower sense of what to focus on and determine what could be included, versus what was important or noteworthy, but was repetitive of previous notes.
This research paper has allowed me to gain and expand many skills, and I know I will apply them in my everyday life. When I am writing papers for other classes, such as English essays, and need to locate quotes that will be relevant and important for my thesis, I can use my newly improved skill of assessing and locating the most accurate information. I will be able to comb through the book faster and find the most valuable quote better than I could before. In addition, my knowledge about women’s many roles during the American Revolution can be acknowledged in my everyday life by remembering just how remarkable and astonishing their actions were. Reflecting upon all the duties women performed at home or how they overlooked the risk of deadly illnesses to help men will encourage me to persist in times of challenge in my own life--just like they did in the war.
If I were to write another I-Search paper, I would definitely do a few things differently. First, I would have liked to have known that researching would be easier than the actually writing of the paper. I spent a lot of time researching, but did not work as diligently on my notes as I could have outside of school. So when the time came to write, I had to dedicate over an hour each day just to barely finish by the deadline. I wrote approximately three or four paragraphs of the research paper each night, but in the end I scrambled to finish it on time and spent way too many hours cramming in writing, when I could have worked on it more before. Another thing that I would do differently is gain a better understanding of how research notes would translate into actual paragraphs. I ended up researching much more than I needed to because I did not know if my paper would be long enough. However, my paper eventually went way past the required length and I even had to leave out a substantial part of my research about female soldiers too. I wish I would have understood that I did not need as much research as I initially assumed. Overall, this entire project helped me to bloom into a better student, analyzer, and researcher. The I-Search paper was a great experience for me because I was able to become enlightened about women’s impact and roles in the American Revolution and gain priceless skills.
This research paper has allowed me to gain and expand many skills, and I know I will apply them in my everyday life. When I am writing papers for other classes, such as English essays, and need to locate quotes that will be relevant and important for my thesis, I can use my newly improved skill of assessing and locating the most accurate information. I will be able to comb through the book faster and find the most valuable quote better than I could before. In addition, my knowledge about women’s many roles during the American Revolution can be acknowledged in my everyday life by remembering just how remarkable and astonishing their actions were. Reflecting upon all the duties women performed at home or how they overlooked the risk of deadly illnesses to help men will encourage me to persist in times of challenge in my own life--just like they did in the war.
If I were to write another I-Search paper, I would definitely do a few things differently. First, I would have liked to have known that researching would be easier than the actually writing of the paper. I spent a lot of time researching, but did not work as diligently on my notes as I could have outside of school. So when the time came to write, I had to dedicate over an hour each day just to barely finish by the deadline. I wrote approximately three or four paragraphs of the research paper each night, but in the end I scrambled to finish it on time and spent way too many hours cramming in writing, when I could have worked on it more before. Another thing that I would do differently is gain a better understanding of how research notes would translate into actual paragraphs. I ended up researching much more than I needed to because I did not know if my paper would be long enough. However, my paper eventually went way past the required length and I even had to leave out a substantial part of my research about female soldiers too. I wish I would have understood that I did not need as much research as I initially assumed. Overall, this entire project helped me to bloom into a better student, analyzer, and researcher. The I-Search paper was a great experience for me because I was able to become enlightened about women’s impact and roles in the American Revolution and gain priceless skills.