Library Research Time

I had everything planned out to visit the library today, Wednesday, in order to enjoy the allotted time off of class on Friday.  Given that the annotated bibliography is due by next Wednesday, I felt deterring from my usual habit of procrastination could be nothing but beneficial.  I gathered my materials, packed my bookbag, and set off for my second home, Cooper Library.  Upon arrival, I opened my notebook with my scrambled notes and opened my textbook with instructions on how to design my project.  The last item I removed from my bookbag was my laptop.  I lifted the screen, turned it on, and saw this.  Some time in the walk from the horseshoe to the library, my screen cracked.  I spent my entire hour, plus an extra two, sitting in the CCIT center transferring data from my laptop to my external hard drive.  Needless to say, I got very little accomplished on my actual annotated bibiography.  As of right now, about 4 o clock, I am still sitting in a chair staring at my demolished screen and waiting for all of my documents, photos, programs, and music to transfer.

As of about two hours ago, I am without a laptop.  This is quite problematic, considering that this assignment is due next Wednesday.  I also have a paper due for a class next Tuesday, which is as of right now unfinished.  It almost feels as though my streak of bad luck has only continued so long as to include the entirity of this week.  This makes this unlucky spell last a total of three weeks, a new record for me.

Getting back on topic, my annotated bibliography needs to be completed.  Thank goodness I already have a list of sources saved in a document that is being transferred, so I will have access to that.  I plan to venture to Charlotte, NC this weekend in order to replace my laptop.  After that time, I hopefully will have the capability to complete all assignments.

On a slightly unrelated note, after reviewing my Freewrite on my chosen topic, I have decided to take a new angle on my research paper.  Building off of my original plan to debate between the impact of nature and nurture on child development, I have decided to focus more on the effects of media and propaganda on the development of children.  My original research will definitely play a role in proposing points and perspectives in my paper, it just won't be the main focus.  I will be updating my source list and something tells me that my annotated bibliography will be slightly longer than listing just five sources.  My thesis has developed to something along the lines of, "social media and propaganda has left a lasting impression on the youth of today of the importance of perfection, immediate results, and unrealistic goals."  I plan to present different types of media images and potentially videos such as commercials, and show how the dependence on them has led the younger-aged to rely on their influence and messages.  Of course, arguable points include those of children who choose to disregard media influences, how children act without access to social media and current television or movie programs, how boys react as opposed to how girls react, etc.

While wrapping up this blogpost, I would just like to add that I am still sitting here in CCIT.  It is past 5.

Any suggestions or comments on my newly proposed direction is greatly appreciated!

Research Freewrite

The topic I have chosen for my research paper is child development.  I was initially drawn to this topic through my sociology class.  The studies presented were intriguing, and I plan to use this material as supporting evidence for my paper.  Obviously, ever child born must develop into an adult, granted a premature death does not occur.  Children, at birth, are “blank slates.”  They are brought into this world without any prior influence.  The later influences, particularly that of the family, shape and mold a child to hold the beliefs, values, and norms he or she will carry for the rest of his or her life.  When the topic of child development surfaces, the age-old question of nature versus nurture comes into play.  After completing some starter research and using the knowledge I have gained, it became obvious that the nurture outweighs the nature of the child as far as the resulting adult.  Put more simply, the nature of the child does not play as heavy a role as the nurture of the childhood when developing in the early stages of life.

            As stated, my sociology class sparked my desire to find out more information on the development of children into functioning adults.  My sociology book is a very reliable print source.  It is filled with vital information, including an introduction of sociologist Piaget’s methodology on the four phases of childhood development.  Curious to know more, I consulted the internet and gained access to an article on the studies implemented by Piaget.  These two sources, I believe, are a firm foundation and great place to start my in depth research.  My third source is youtube footage of a study done on a girl who, through horrid neglect from her family, experienced no interaction with people from the time she was born until she was thirteen.  This supports my thesis in showing that a lack of human encounters and positive communication leads to a child without any sort of social mannerisms, as well as a deficit set of human like qualities.  The footage is astounding.  It will act as not only a reference for information, but as the still-images required to fulfill the visual rhetoric aspect of the project.  The fourth source I have listed as of now is a print article by Annette Lareau.  She studied the differentiating circumstances of children growing up within different income classes.  Lareau reported the characteristics of children as they became adults, and how this is an aftermath of the choice in childrearing.

            Potential problems I might encounter while completing this project are also quite numerable.  The most obvious argument is that the actual genetic nature of a child has more of an impact rather than the way he or she is raised.  That opposing argument comes with a plethora of sub-arguments that could very easily find holes in the one that I am presenting.  I plan to present both perspectives on my thesis.  My research paper will introduce the understanding that nature is more important as well as the understanding that nurture is more important.  The majority of my project, though, will argue why and how childrearing is so much more influential and what sort of impact is has on the child as he or she becomes an adult.