The question of when did I begin writing my paper is a very tricky one. It seems that for any sort of paper you do not have a set time when you really begin writing. Ideas begin to form, and you record those ideas. Overall, I began writing my paper right after I found my sources. I had ideas and I recorded them in some fashion, whether it was on sticky notes, on printed out sources so I could highlight and write in the white spaces, or in my research journal. I also pulled those ideas into my annotated bibliography, which I used to organize my paper into themes and categories. The formal writing began when I began my rough draft. The final formal writing was correcting my draft to make my final draft.
My reaction to my peer review was very good. One said that if I just finished my paper it would be really good! That boosted my confidence and allowed me to finish writing without worrying that it was going to sound bad. My meeting with Ms. Chapman was also very helpful and gave me good insight as to what I could add to my paper to make my argument stronger.
Changes to my initial draft included basic grammar, punctuation, correct citations, and moving a few sentences around or changing words or phrases here and there. I also had to write my last point, and create my conclusion, and add in a quote from one of my sources. The changes I made cleared up the direction of my paper, and made it flow very well. I have had a very straightforward view of my topic since the beginning so revising my rough draft did not affect it much. I really enjoyed researching about this topic and being able to put together a paper that explains my viewpoint on this topic felt empowering. The only problems I encountered in this whole project is that I had a hard time keeping my topic narrowed down, because the more research and writing I did, the more I wanted to bring up other issues and points about arming pilots, and I had to consciously restrain myself from doing so. Overall, the research and writing experience was very good.
