Critical Analysis Reflection
In my paper, I decided to focus on the effects that climate change have on polar bears and their habitat the Arctic. I chose an animal approach because I am very caring towards animals and have a lot of love for them. My stance was obviously against climate change, and the purpose/point I wish to have made was for humans to take a stand and minimize the damage we have done to the planet. My intended audiences were young adults because many of us aren’t aware of the seriousness of this topic. I feel that by giving them background information on climate change and explaining in details/ numbers how this is affecting polar bears will get them to wake up. This also enhances the purpose of my paper which was to spread awareness in regards to climate change. I feel like this paper was written in a persuasive article format in order to not only inform, but persuade the reader as well.
When I was writing the paper, I wanted each paragraph to have a focus and for the ideas to be organized so that the reader could understand the material better. Even though we were able to use the sources from the previous exploratory essay, I tried sticking to “.gov” websites which are more reliable when searching for any new sources. I did find myself having trouble using the database to find scholarly sources since it was my first time using that platform but with the ones I did find I used excerpts that would enhance the point I was trying to make. In regards to the content of the paper, I decided to start off with giving background information on what global warming is. I then transitioned into what causes it, in which I pointed out human activities that contribute to it. I also included how it affected the Arctic and gave background information on polar bears. Towards the end of the paper I focused on how climate change is affecting polar bears and how humans can contribute and help.
When the first draft of my paper was complete, i only had 6 pages. The minimum amount of pages was 8 so i was still missing two. When our professor made us peer review, we were able to read each others essays and have an idea of what the rest of our classmates wrote about and how they came about in regards to style. I asked both my peers and professor McIntosh for help when it came to being able to stretch my paper out more. I was told that my paper needed a stronger argument, therefore i was able to add more information in regards to my argument which expanded my paper. Professor McIntosh gave me a great idea on including an account of a certain polar bear to show the effects of climate change which i was able to find. When adding these aspects to my paper, not only did it make it longer but it also reinforced it and made my argument a lot stronger.
I am aware that I used a lot of my exploratory essay in my critical analysis essay but I believe that to convince people you have to educate them first; therefore, I included a lot of my information from my last essay. I needed to work on making my point clear and having a stronger argument. I tried doing this by making my thesis stronger and adding more information on how young adults can help make the planet a better place and how they could also help the polar bears by donating to various foundations.
When it came to presenting the paper on Scalar, I was a little bit iffy about it since i had not used the platform in the past. However, the two sessions given to us to work on it and ask the professor questions helped and made me feel more comfortable with the assignment. After playing around with it, I finally got the hang of it and was able to make my presentation. Even though i had pictures and my scalar presentation was good, after seeing the ones my classmates did i felt like I could've done a better job. I feel like I didn't use all of the resources that scalar had to offer in order to make my presentation better but i feel like that was caused by my lack of experience using scalar as compared to my peers.
Overall, I enjoyed writing this paper even though I did struggle with certain aspects. This was a nice experience taking into consideration that I had never written a paper this long. This paper has taught me how to be a better writer by teaching me how to expand my ideas in a clear and concise manner.
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- Final Portfolio: How Did I Grow From The Beginning of The Semester to Now? Laura Lopez Lozano
