Tuesday, October 28, 2014

"Writing Reflection:Researched Argument Part One"


            After writing the first few pages of my researched argument I feel more confident as my research grows. The first few pages were a little difficult attempting to reach the required page numbers, but I feel that I discovered for information to assist my argument. This causes me to worry that I will struggle making the final page requirements, but will hopefully be able to do so. I know that my research is growing stronger as I continue to discover more information on the topic. I know my writing was not as strong as it can be in the first few pages because my surroundings are not an excuse, but I know that I will need to work harder on the next section. I need to improve on the fluidity of my sentences. A lot of my sentences, especially in the first two paragraphs, are fragments and sounds like lists. I also added an example of a gluten-free store in my hometown. I understand that this example might not belong in the part one of the researched argument, but I can find other local examples to discuss later in the argument.  If I move this point to the research part two I will need to find another point that will support the argument in part one. Unfortunately my computer saved my paper in the wrong font making the paper fall a little short of the requirement. I will need to add some more information because of this. I will need to read through my part one to correct a few grammatical errors that I overlooked during the writing process. There were also a few word choices that I will need to look over to see if there is a better option. Fortunately my thesis fits well and I do not feel that I will have to change it in the future. I like the idea that you suggested of discussing why an athlete without celiac disease would want to go on a gluten-free diet. I plan on doing more research on that idea and adding it  to my part one and moving the example of the Nerdy Birdy to part two.

Thursday, October 23, 2014

"Food and Culture Presentation Review"


            So far with the food and culture presentations I enjoyed Rachel’s and mine presentation on Germany. This is mainly because I am half German and was interested in learning more about the German culture. I learned that although they used to eat five meals, today they eat three meals a day just like we do in America. The only thing different was that in Germany they to have kaffee and kuchen on Sundays, which stands for coffee and cake. I remember when looking through pictures of the examples they all looks very delicious. I found it fascinating that the different countries had different foods centered around their holidays than what we have. For example, for Christmas in Germany they have fish for their main course, while in America we have turkey or ham. Their holiday, Fasching, would resemble Mardi Gras in America. For that celebration the Germans indulge in soft pretzels, kutteln, and deep fried donuts. While I did not find the soup with cow’s stomach very appetizing, I could enjoy the soft pretzels and fried donuts.  I thought it was random that they attempt to completely avoid garlic simply because of the smell. In Germany they are very proud of their bread making methods and one can find pretzels at basically any meal. Other foods that come from Germany include, the hamburger, deviled eggs, and beer. One candy that I enjoy that comes from Germany is the heribo gummy bears. Those are the only gummy bears that I will eat. I also enjoyed the video that we played showing the people attempting to pronounce and taste the different German foods. One restaurant that I forgot to talk about, but is well known, is the Hofbrauhaus. I have eaten at one of these both in America and in Germany. They are famous for their enormous beer mugs, huge pretzels, and other quality German food. They serve huge portions and have many different types of sausage. One will never leave that place with an empty stomach, unless they do not like German food. I hope one day to go back to Germany so I can once again sample other German foods and see the culture.

Tuesday, October 14, 2014

Writing Reflection -Paper Proposal


            If I could I had the time to make changes in my paper proposal I would take more time to look at my sources. My sources need improvement and I should have organized the ones I have and canceled out the ones that I feel wont work anymore. I know that I am in need of more sources and I should have spent time searching for more that supported my argument. The easiest part of the assignment was discussing the issues I encounter while working on my research and the problems I foresee I will have while writing the paper. I already knew that I was having trouble finding sources that incorporated, both the gluten-free diet and athletes on the gluten-free diet. Sources with on this topic are easy to find on the web, but when searching for credible sources not many appear. It was also easy to work out the details of the argument. I want to argue that a gluten-free diet will not affect an athlete’s performance, but I knew there would be stipulations in which the diet would work. These situations include when an athlete has celiac disease and when the diet causes the athlete to develop a healthy eating style. I can explain why both of these cases are successful with and without the presence of gluten. The hardest part of the assignment was attempting to figure out how I could find more credible sources related to my topic. Not having all of my sources made it difficult to describe how I am going to use each of my sources because I am not confident that I am still using all of them. I was also hard describing my argument in the beginning because of the stipulations. Once I determined how I could explain the stipulations it made my argument more effective. The paper proposal did help me narrow down my ideas for the final research paper. I was unsure that I could write the researched argument on my topic, but after the paper proposal I no longer feel the need to change my topic. I allowed me to work out the kinks, define what I am arguing, and know what I need to work on to make my argument effective.