Writing Reflection

Once I picked the topic I wanted to focus my paper on, the writing process came fairly easily. I knew I wanted my paper to be based on the problem of civil disengagement, being that we have focused so much on it in class discussions and done so many readings surrounding the topic. I also knew I wanted to tie in aspects of my personal essay (using the Park 51 project as a real world example) because I knew they could be useful in furthering the point I was trying to make. Both were things I found highly interesting, and I thought they would allow me to incorporate the greatest amount of things I've learned over the course of the semester.
I really focused on making the paper flow and because I wanted to incorporate so many different items, this was the most difficult part of the process. I tried to connect all of my ideas using quotes from readings we discussed that applied to each theme. S I think I could have gone about starting a little better, by flushing out all of my ideas and then refining them and working on making them more connected. I think it would have been easier to spend more time cleaning my thoughts up at the end than trying to perfectly organize everything as I wrote. Since weaving in multiple sources to make a point of my own has been an aspect of writing I have struggled with previously, I also think, however, that putting so much work into this paper was a really good strengthening exercise for me.
I was also, in writing this paper, able to learn a lot about what civil engagement means and the importance of citizens going beyond simply the bare minimum (voting) and taking it upon themselves to initiate social change. By reviewing all of the sources we covered and drawing from them what I believed to be the most important quotes, I was able to take away some very positive and inspirational messages.
Overall it was a very involved process that allowed me to gain new perspectives on what it means to participate civilly and also how to better write a paper synthesizing multiple sources and incorporating an argument.