I did not expect to struggle as much as I have with the exploratory paper. Part of my problem has been keeping my bias at bay. When I picked bilingual education, I was ready to find somewhat solid research that was straightforward. Instead, I started finding articles and journals that were relatively biased in their language and not objective.
Another problem I had was that I have become so used to writing with a thesis and finding support for my own argument. With this project, I had to restrain myself from using those key words that would give me just the information I wanted.
The problem that has ended up being the greatest for me is the narrative glue which I thought I wouldn't have trouble with. That's partly because I've had to work hard to keep my bias away. I am starting to see where I can work in my own voice more which should really improve the choppy flow that my paper has now.
It's partly the purpose of the narrative glue (NG) -- to give you that confidence in your voice *and* to help you see how strongly your bias may be shaping your writing. At the same time, the Exploratory *allowed* you to not only have but to show your bias (in the NG). The hope was that clearing the slate by just being honest about your thinking and its evolution would enable you to genuinely engage with both familiar and new material.
ReplyDeleteI look forward to reading it! (later today) :)