Reflection:
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Perspective is the key element that distinguishes learning about a topic from understanding it. For my beginning sign language course, we were challenged with writing a research paper on a famous deaf person. We had a very limited outline for what the paper expectations. It was obvious that the importance of this assignment was not necessarily about writing an outstanding paper but rather finding information from different perspectives and synthesizing it to really understand the depth of the Deaf Culture.
The initial stages of collecting information for this research paper required organizing data into common categories. A thesis statement is formed by summarizing a collaboration of similar topics from different sources. I made sure there was enough data I could reference before choosing a point on which to elaborate. I am a visual learner, so I prefer to organize my information by writing out an outline to follow while I write the paper. This allows me to make sure I include a wide array of sources to reference while I defend a topic in my essay. By using multiple sources, evaluation of them requires looking at similarities and differences while synthesizing. Evaluating is what makes my work original, it explains my perspectives on the topic. The unique aspect of this can look different visually. There is a more creative outlook when synthesizing a visual art project rather than researching literature.
There are aspects of my original work that were clearly influenced by the content of my sources.
I also learned from this assignment how important it is to be organized when writing a research paper to help prevent any bias. This is true of creative work as well, there needs to be a balance within the original work. This research paper helped me complete Information Synthesis Levels one, two, three, and four because I was able to reflect on the importance of balance when producing coherent work.
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