Reflection Letter
Through this autoethnography project, I grew as a writer. My research techniques greatly improved and I learned to write objectively without coloring my project with my own biased views. I also understood how to plan out my research in an effective way and center it around the goal for my paper. While I always thought about what I wanted my research paper to achieve while researching, I developed a method to plan out my research and achieve the goal of the paper. I elucidate this method later in this letter.
The first major skill I gained was to look for dissenting viewpoints that were contrary to mine and write about them objectively. For example, I personally believe that the majority of Indian-Immigrants are republican or at least conservative. However, my research holds contrary to this. When I looked at the PEW research center for Social and Demographic Trends, it stated that majority of Indian Immigrants are in fact Democrats. While this information held contrary to my believes, I had to accept it as the truth due to the reputation of the PEW center and talk about it in my interview when I stated “Generally speaking, most Indians, especially the second generation ones, are usually democrats”(Dhathri Bobba, Interview With my Best Friend: Rinith Prasad). I talked about the topic of “political views of Indian immigrants” without allowing my own personal bias to affect it.
While writing in the interview write-up genre, I had to write about a topic: the life and views of Indian-immigrants. One of those topics, was the political views of Indian immigrants. I had to narrate the interview while connecting it all back to my research.
The next major skill that I gained was the ability to create a research plan effectively. The review of literature forced me to think about what I wanted to convey to my audience and what information I would need to do so. I then had to create a research plan around these specific goals. To get an idea of what exactly I learned, I included two pictures in the end of this page that are labelled “figure 1” and “figure 2.” I will refer these pictures with those names. Figure 1 showcases my ability to plan out categories to suit the goal of the paper. I first decided on a goal that I had for writing the paper: essentially, I figured out what I wanted the audience to walk away with. In figure 1, you can see this as the goal on the top that says, “to help the audience understand the life and background of Indian immigrants in America”(Dhathri Bobba, Figure 1). As you can see from figure 1, I decided that I needed to break up the Indian Immigrants into two different groups. I also decided that culture was a category. All these decisions were made in to further my goal. I then centered my research around these 3 groups to achieve my goal for the paper. Figure 2 illustrates this. Under each category, I have research questions that I need to answer to help convey what I want to the audience. Figure 2 is a picture of my research plan that I came up with after organizing my thoughts and goals in Figure 1.
While writing in the Review of Literature genre, I paid attention to my rhetorical situation while trying to gather the necessary information to “present an idea.” I considered my audience and constructed a goal around them. I paid attention to what would be the easiest organization of the information and ideas that I planned to present.
The autoethnography project was a perfect catalyst for my development as a writer. Taking charge of my own work forced me to create my own goals and guidelines for my writing that helped me develop my abilities to write objectively. My discussion of political views of Indian Immigrants illustrates this. In addition, I was also able to develop my skills in research. I was able to create a research plan with a method that works for me as was shown by the figures at the end of this page. These skills will definitely be beneficial for me throughout the rest of my college career and professional life.
The first major skill I gained was to look for dissenting viewpoints that were contrary to mine and write about them objectively. For example, I personally believe that the majority of Indian-Immigrants are republican or at least conservative. However, my research holds contrary to this. When I looked at the PEW research center for Social and Demographic Trends, it stated that majority of Indian Immigrants are in fact Democrats. While this information held contrary to my believes, I had to accept it as the truth due to the reputation of the PEW center and talk about it in my interview when I stated “Generally speaking, most Indians, especially the second generation ones, are usually democrats”(Dhathri Bobba, Interview With my Best Friend: Rinith Prasad). I talked about the topic of “political views of Indian immigrants” without allowing my own personal bias to affect it.
While writing in the interview write-up genre, I had to write about a topic: the life and views of Indian-immigrants. One of those topics, was the political views of Indian immigrants. I had to narrate the interview while connecting it all back to my research.
The next major skill that I gained was the ability to create a research plan effectively. The review of literature forced me to think about what I wanted to convey to my audience and what information I would need to do so. I then had to create a research plan around these specific goals. To get an idea of what exactly I learned, I included two pictures in the end of this page that are labelled “figure 1” and “figure 2.” I will refer these pictures with those names. Figure 1 showcases my ability to plan out categories to suit the goal of the paper. I first decided on a goal that I had for writing the paper: essentially, I figured out what I wanted the audience to walk away with. In figure 1, you can see this as the goal on the top that says, “to help the audience understand the life and background of Indian immigrants in America”(Dhathri Bobba, Figure 1). As you can see from figure 1, I decided that I needed to break up the Indian Immigrants into two different groups. I also decided that culture was a category. All these decisions were made in to further my goal. I then centered my research around these 3 groups to achieve my goal for the paper. Figure 2 illustrates this. Under each category, I have research questions that I need to answer to help convey what I want to the audience. Figure 2 is a picture of my research plan that I came up with after organizing my thoughts and goals in Figure 1.
While writing in the Review of Literature genre, I paid attention to my rhetorical situation while trying to gather the necessary information to “present an idea.” I considered my audience and constructed a goal around them. I paid attention to what would be the easiest organization of the information and ideas that I planned to present.
The autoethnography project was a perfect catalyst for my development as a writer. Taking charge of my own work forced me to create my own goals and guidelines for my writing that helped me develop my abilities to write objectively. My discussion of political views of Indian Immigrants illustrates this. In addition, I was also able to develop my skills in research. I was able to create a research plan with a method that works for me as was shown by the figures at the end of this page. These skills will definitely be beneficial for me throughout the rest of my college career and professional life.