Although there are some improvements in my WA2 compared to WA1, there are still certain common errors.
Firstly, both essays lacked a title. Without a title, it would take readers some time before they might get a gist of what the essay is about.
Secondly, there are certain areas in my essay that needed to be checked for plagiarism. In my opinion, the topic that was chosen for this essay is a rather technical one. As I did not fully comprehend how a nuclear reactor operates, it was rather difficult to paraphrase the information obtained from my research. As such, there were areas in my essay that was largely similar to the sources that I used.
Thirdly, there was a segment of my essay that was contradicted my view on the issue. I had mentioned that the Generation IV reactor concepts were theoretically meltdown-proof but eventually I did compare the effects the different coolants would have in the case of a meltdown. Perhaps I should have emphasised that the chances of a meltdown are next to zero. Contradiction is quite a serious issue as it would mislead the reader, especially when the thesis statement is not clearly stated.
Lastly, there are also various parallelism errors in my essay. I should have been more careful when I was reading through my essay. This would then reduce the amount of language errors in my essay.
In conclusion, both assignments have helped me to spot the areas which I am weak in and they would allow me to prevent making such errors in future essays.
Saturday, November 7, 2009
WA2 Reflection
The errors that I made in WA2 included the lack of a title, incorrect usage of articles, logical gaps and incorrect citations.
Firstly, the lack of a title was pointed out only after my WA2 was marked and returned to me. Having a title for my essays is important because it will let readers know what my essay is about at first glance. This will allow them to decide if it is worth spending the time to read my essay.
Secondly, I still make mistakes when using articles. This may not be acceptable giving the large amount of time we spent on that topic. One way that may allow me to reduce the amount of such mistakes may be to check the essay specifically for these mistakes in future.
Thirdly, I made several logical mistakes such as not explaining why the Very High Temperature Reactor (VHTR) and the Molten Salt Reactor (MSR) were chosen out of the 6reactors. I should have explained that both reactors were chosen due to these reactors being better at addressing concerns regarding nuclear power due to their properties. I also argued that the VHTR is more effective than the MSR at producing hydrogen even though both are high temperature reactors. The lack of an explanation to support this argument may confuse the reader. This area can be improved by adding explanations and citations to support the topic sentence.
Finally, I made some errors in citations by not using the APA format and citing a blog. Using an incorrect format of citation may cause my essay to seem less credible. This error can be corrected by manually citing instead of using the Microsoft Word citation function. The use of a blog as a source is also wrong as a blog is not a credible source. Even though the blog may be from Princeton and cites other sources that are credible, I should not have used the blog as a source. Instead, I should just use the sources that were cited in the blog.
In conclusion, I feel that making these errors when writing WA2 has helped me highlight the weak parts of my writing and allow me to be more careful of making such errors in future. The purpose of this module is to help me learn to write better and writing the WA2 has achieved that.
Firstly, the lack of a title was pointed out only after my WA2 was marked and returned to me. Having a title for my essays is important because it will let readers know what my essay is about at first glance. This will allow them to decide if it is worth spending the time to read my essay.
Secondly, I still make mistakes when using articles. This may not be acceptable giving the large amount of time we spent on that topic. One way that may allow me to reduce the amount of such mistakes may be to check the essay specifically for these mistakes in future.
Thirdly, I made several logical mistakes such as not explaining why the Very High Temperature Reactor (VHTR) and the Molten Salt Reactor (MSR) were chosen out of the 6reactors. I should have explained that both reactors were chosen due to these reactors being better at addressing concerns regarding nuclear power due to their properties. I also argued that the VHTR is more effective than the MSR at producing hydrogen even though both are high temperature reactors. The lack of an explanation to support this argument may confuse the reader. This area can be improved by adding explanations and citations to support the topic sentence.
Finally, I made some errors in citations by not using the APA format and citing a blog. Using an incorrect format of citation may cause my essay to seem less credible. This error can be corrected by manually citing instead of using the Microsoft Word citation function. The use of a blog as a source is also wrong as a blog is not a credible source. Even though the blog may be from Princeton and cites other sources that are credible, I should not have used the blog as a source. Instead, I should just use the sources that were cited in the blog.
In conclusion, I feel that making these errors when writing WA2 has helped me highlight the weak parts of my writing and allow me to be more careful of making such errors in future. The purpose of this module is to help me learn to write better and writing the WA2 has achieved that.
The final reflection on WA2
After the WA2 assignment papers were returned to us, I saw the various improvements that I have made since the start of EG1471. So below will contain two things that I have learnt and which I thought they will be useful for me in the future.
First, one has to be clear about what he or she is writing. At the start of this module, I did not have a clear idea about writing. All I thought was simply given a question or topic, think for a while and start writing. However, one has to think of the topic thoroughly, come out with a short thesis, which will guide the writer in his or her writing. Personally, I feel that having a short thesis is important as it can guide me during the process of writing. For example, I can know beforehand what will be the next item I am going to write about. This can also show the reader that I have a clear idea about what I am writing. At the end, I could write clearly and concisely and at the same time gained a better understanding about writing.
Second, one has to have a solid argument and not weaken that argument near the end for others to counter-argue. This is a mistake I have made in my writing assignment. I have nicely built up my argument about why a VHTR nuclear reactor should be a better candidate for further research than a SCWR nuclear reactor. However in my conclusion, I did not give a solid support to why the VHTR nuclear reactor should be given further research and instead, gave an impression that the VHTR and SCWR were both potential candidates. Thus, in the future, I have to make sure when I write a conclusion, it must be in tandem with my argument.
In conclusion, the WA2 assignment have allowed me to gained a better understanding about writing and especially for an argumentative essay.
First, one has to be clear about what he or she is writing. At the start of this module, I did not have a clear idea about writing. All I thought was simply given a question or topic, think for a while and start writing. However, one has to think of the topic thoroughly, come out with a short thesis, which will guide the writer in his or her writing. Personally, I feel that having a short thesis is important as it can guide me during the process of writing. For example, I can know beforehand what will be the next item I am going to write about. This can also show the reader that I have a clear idea about what I am writing. At the end, I could write clearly and concisely and at the same time gained a better understanding about writing.
Second, one has to have a solid argument and not weaken that argument near the end for others to counter-argue. This is a mistake I have made in my writing assignment. I have nicely built up my argument about why a VHTR nuclear reactor should be a better candidate for further research than a SCWR nuclear reactor. However in my conclusion, I did not give a solid support to why the VHTR nuclear reactor should be given further research and instead, gave an impression that the VHTR and SCWR were both potential candidates. Thus, in the future, I have to make sure when I write a conclusion, it must be in tandem with my argument.
In conclusion, the WA2 assignment have allowed me to gained a better understanding about writing and especially for an argumentative essay.
Friday, November 6, 2009
The Second Reflection : Errors made in Writing of WA2
There were a few errors that I made in my writing on WA2 assignment, which includes a few instance of wrong tenses thorough the whole essay, the non-usage of articles, and last but not least the ambiguity of some statements as very few or no evidence has been presented in the writing of the essay.
Firstly, I have committed a few careless mistakes in the tenses of the subject. For example, in the first paragraph of my essay, I stated “Plants……it produces….” There is an obvious mistake as the world “Plants” is in the plural form; however I have written “produces”, which in the correct case should be singular “produce”. This type of mistakes can also be detected in the middle of the first paragraph. Again, “…plants produces…” is an issue of subject-verb agreement. These mistakes are as mentioned, careless mistakes committed by me, and therefore I will do extra checking for my future essay writings.
Secondly, articles have not been used when it is supposed to. For example, in my essay, I gave a general reference to the nuclear reactor “Very-high Temperature Reactor (VHTR)”. However, when I used the subject of VHTR in the later part of my essay, I did not make a specific reference to VHTR (i.e. starting of the sentence with “VHTR is a….”). The correct way of adding the specific reference is simply always adding the article “The” in front of the “VHTR” before continuing on with the sentence.
Lastly, the presence of ambiguity in my statements is due to the lack of sufficient sources to support my point. This, in my opinion, is due to the time constraints I experienced, as EG1471 have lots of assignments, tests, and blogs. I also need to juggle my time with other core modules. Thus, if we were not assigned so many tasks to complete for this module, I can confidently say that these ambiguities in the statements of my essay can be mostly cleared as more time is made possible for a more detailed research and better presentation of my essay.
However, most importantly, the knowledge gained on the skill on writing a better essay is in fact quite effectively imparted to us through this module. I am therefore convinced that it was not a fruit-less learning process after all.
Firstly, I have committed a few careless mistakes in the tenses of the subject. For example, in the first paragraph of my essay, I stated “Plants……it produces….” There is an obvious mistake as the world “Plants” is in the plural form; however I have written “produces”, which in the correct case should be singular “produce”. This type of mistakes can also be detected in the middle of the first paragraph. Again, “…plants produces…” is an issue of subject-verb agreement. These mistakes are as mentioned, careless mistakes committed by me, and therefore I will do extra checking for my future essay writings.
Secondly, articles have not been used when it is supposed to. For example, in my essay, I gave a general reference to the nuclear reactor “Very-high Temperature Reactor (VHTR)”. However, when I used the subject of VHTR in the later part of my essay, I did not make a specific reference to VHTR (i.e. starting of the sentence with “VHTR is a….”). The correct way of adding the specific reference is simply always adding the article “The” in front of the “VHTR” before continuing on with the sentence.
Lastly, the presence of ambiguity in my statements is due to the lack of sufficient sources to support my point. This, in my opinion, is due to the time constraints I experienced, as EG1471 have lots of assignments, tests, and blogs. I also need to juggle my time with other core modules. Thus, if we were not assigned so many tasks to complete for this module, I can confidently say that these ambiguities in the statements of my essay can be mostly cleared as more time is made possible for a more detailed research and better presentation of my essay.
However, most importantly, the knowledge gained on the skill on writing a better essay is in fact quite effectively imparted to us through this module. I am therefore convinced that it was not a fruit-less learning process after all.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Reflection on WA2
The process of writing WA2 was quite a tedious one. Not only was the topic something that most of us are not familiar with, it is filled with quite a lot of technical details. Although we were provided with Butler’s “Nuclear power’s new dawn”, we were also required to use other relevant and recent sources to support our argument.
Personally, a lot of time was spent on researching the advantages and disadvantages of the different Generation IV reactor concepts. As we were required to present a roundtable discussion in front of the whole class, my group decided that we would present the VHTR as our choice of reactor. It was from the roundtable discussion that made us realise that we approached the question in a wrong manner. We presented the advantages of the VHTR but did not compare it to the other Generation IV concepts. After listening the other group which was attempting the same question present, we realised the importance of comparing our choice to other concepts.
Determined to avoid the same mistake in the WA2, I had to do further research into the other types of concepts. Once that was done, I was left with the task of writing the essay. In a way, it was largely similar to the General Paper essays that were required of us during the ‘A’ levels. Each paragraph is usually structured in the same way; topic sentence, supporting evidence and finally a conclusion. Through writing WA2, I have also learnt to do proper referencing to the sources I have used in the essay.
Lastly, I feel that having peer reviews can be quite helpful. Not only can we help our peers spot mistakes that they might have overlooked, it also allows for a swap of ideas which might provide us new insights into how we could improve our own essays.
Personally, a lot of time was spent on researching the advantages and disadvantages of the different Generation IV reactor concepts. As we were required to present a roundtable discussion in front of the whole class, my group decided that we would present the VHTR as our choice of reactor. It was from the roundtable discussion that made us realise that we approached the question in a wrong manner. We presented the advantages of the VHTR but did not compare it to the other Generation IV concepts. After listening the other group which was attempting the same question present, we realised the importance of comparing our choice to other concepts.
Determined to avoid the same mistake in the WA2, I had to do further research into the other types of concepts. Once that was done, I was left with the task of writing the essay. In a way, it was largely similar to the General Paper essays that were required of us during the ‘A’ levels. Each paragraph is usually structured in the same way; topic sentence, supporting evidence and finally a conclusion. Through writing WA2, I have also learnt to do proper referencing to the sources I have used in the essay.
Lastly, I feel that having peer reviews can be quite helpful. Not only can we help our peers spot mistakes that they might have overlooked, it also allows for a swap of ideas which might provide us new insights into how we could improve our own essays.
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Reflection on writing WA2
Writing the Writing Assignment 2 (WA2) was an important learning process that helped me practice the various academic writing techniques that I learnt earlier on in the module. I was also able to identify and correct many mistakes that I usually make when writing essays.
The topic for my WA2 was to write an argumentative essay supporting the use of a particular generation IV reactor, the Very High Temperature Reactor(VHTR). The learning points included comparing the chosen reactor to other reactors, comparing using the various aspects of the reactors and using sources to support my arguments.
Firstly, I learnt that it is important to compare the VHTR to other reactors instead of only listing out the advantages and disadvantages of the VHTR. This will enable me to further illustrate why I chose the VHTR and show that other reactors were also examined before I came to a conclusion.
Secondly, I learnt that various aspects such as the security, performance and cost aspects of the reactor have to be examined instead of being limited to only examining the performance of the reactor. This will give a more comprehensive comparison on the different pros and cons of the VHTR.
Thirdly, I learnt how to find and use relevant sources to support my argument. This was an important point as many sources are available on the internet and I had to organise the information from these sources before using the information to support my arguments.
Overall, I learnt that it is important to select valid objects to compare to each other in an argumentative essay. I also learnt how to cite and select various sources in an organized manner so that the sources are able to support my arguments.
The topic for my WA2 was to write an argumentative essay supporting the use of a particular generation IV reactor, the Very High Temperature Reactor(VHTR). The learning points included comparing the chosen reactor to other reactors, comparing using the various aspects of the reactors and using sources to support my arguments.
Firstly, I learnt that it is important to compare the VHTR to other reactors instead of only listing out the advantages and disadvantages of the VHTR. This will enable me to further illustrate why I chose the VHTR and show that other reactors were also examined before I came to a conclusion.
Secondly, I learnt that various aspects such as the security, performance and cost aspects of the reactor have to be examined instead of being limited to only examining the performance of the reactor. This will give a more comprehensive comparison on the different pros and cons of the VHTR.
Thirdly, I learnt how to find and use relevant sources to support my argument. This was an important point as many sources are available on the internet and I had to organise the information from these sources before using the information to support my arguments.
Overall, I learnt that it is important to select valid objects to compare to each other in an argumentative essay. I also learnt how to cite and select various sources in an organized manner so that the sources are able to support my arguments.
Reflection on writing WA2
WA2 was an argumentative essay that I have to write as part of the module. The writing assignment was useful as I was able to understand and learn about academic writing. In university, when one person writes an article, it serves to provide information on a certain topic and at the same time, provide an argument on why it should or should not be supported.
For my writing assignment, it is about nuclear energy being the future source of cheap electricity generation. In the process of writing, I need to read through several articles written by experts who are currently conducting research into various next generation of nuclear reactors. By reading through these articles, I also got to know how an academic writing would be structured and the way it was written. These have helped me in my writing assignment.
Finally, the most important of all is to cite the sources which you have obtained your information from. This is especially important as writing an academic piece is all about sharing information with other people. More importantly, it is to acknowledged the work of others.
In conclusion, WA2 has helped understand and at least prepare myself when the time come where I need to write an article about another topic in the future.
For my writing assignment, it is about nuclear energy being the future source of cheap electricity generation. In the process of writing, I need to read through several articles written by experts who are currently conducting research into various next generation of nuclear reactors. By reading through these articles, I also got to know how an academic writing would be structured and the way it was written. These have helped me in my writing assignment.
Finally, the most important of all is to cite the sources which you have obtained your information from. This is especially important as writing an academic piece is all about sharing information with other people. More importantly, it is to acknowledged the work of others.
In conclusion, WA2 has helped understand and at least prepare myself when the time come where I need to write an article about another topic in the future.
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