8. Research Paper Process

     Writing this research paper has been quite a process, yet I surprisingly enjoyed it.  At first I was overwhelmed by the magnitude of this paper; I had no idea what I wanted to write about or even which family member I wanted to research.  At first, I considered researching World War II era and even further back.  However, after much reflection, I realized how much I missed my immediate family and decided to pick a topic somehow related to them.  I contemplated the relationships within my family and remembered  a huge difference between my siblings and I.  My sister, Abby, is an introvert, while my brother Ian, sister Hailey, and I are all extroverts.  I recalled times of my childhood in which this was evident, and set my topic.  I was the most interested in how my parents raised Abby differently from the rest of their children.
     We went to the library and started doing research on databases.  I found many good sources, including a book, which I reserved on an inter-library loan.  After, I began working on my annotated bibliography and pulling out the direct quotes and information that seemed the most relevant to my paper.  I then was able to form a good thesis based on the information I had gleaned.
     Next, I sat down to start writing.  I started with my introduction because I work better if I can write a paper from start to finish.  Next, I did the background section.  The next day, I sat down and I wrote the first half of my body paper.  The next day, I wrote the second half of my paper.  The next class period, we did peer review and gave a copy of what we had to Mrs. Steadman.
     On Monday, I went into Mrs. Steadman's office and got my paper reviewed.  She said I was nearly there and gave me some things to correct.  I set off to correct the errors I had.  Next, I wrote my conclusion and set a draft off to my mother, who was an English major for a few years before changing her major.  She edited it, gave me some pointers, and I implemented them in my paper.
     I printed out another copy of my paper.  Someone else in class peer-edited my introduction.  I then went through and edited it one more time and put the changes into my paper.  After, I read it through one more time and saved it.
     I printed it, but my ink ran out.  I spent a good 45 minutes changing the ink cartridge because I had never done that before.  Finally, I was able to print out my paper in its entirety, put it in the folder with the rubric, and add in the several rough drafts.
     Overall, I was very happy with this paper.  When I neared the completion of my paper, both of my parents read it, my dad mostly because he was interested in what I had written.  Abby, who was the focus of the paper, read it and really liked it.  I liked this paper because researching the topic and analyzing it helped me understand my little sister, as well as my family dynamic, a little bit better.

7. Joy in Family History

     As a kid, I was always fascinated with the idea of where my family came from.  I loved to spend Sunday afternoons looking at the places where my ancestors came from, speculating what world events they might have experienced.  I was especially drawn to my ancestors who had walked across the plains.  I never really paid much attention to the ordinance work that needed to be done for my ancestors, because everyone in my family was convinced that our work was done.  Many of my older relatives were obsessed with genealogy, my grandfather had paid to have his genealogy completed, and many of my ancestors were members of the church in its earliest days.

     Last Sunday night, my roommate and I were talking about family history.  She had found lots of names through techniques learned in her Family History class.  I told her how lucky she was because I had no family history work left for me to do.  She convinced my that family history work is never done because you can work sideways instead of just working on direct lines.  She sat down with me at my desk and showed me a few new tools I had never used before, like Ancestry.com and Puzilla.org, which made the process easier.  We worked for an hour, looking at various lines.  Within an hour, we had found 11 names for me to take to the temple on our weekly temple visit.  I was amazed.  I was so grateful for my roommate's diligence in teaching me.  We have made a goal to work on Family History for an hour or two after church on Sunday and take our own family names to the temple when we go every week.     

6. Rhetorical Analysis of Dieter F. Uchtdorf's "Lord Is It I?"

     Occasionally when members of the church sit in meetings, they think the messages presented from the pulpit are not to them, but to everyone else in the congregation.  In other words, they are the exception to the rule or do not need to hear the message.  In his 2014 General Conference talk, "Lord, Is It I?", President Dieter F. Uchtdorf exhorts the men of the church to examine their lives for sin through the use of repetition, anecdotes, and authoritative tone.

     President Uchtdorf uses repetition to soften the hearts of the men and allow them to examine their lives for worthiness.  He repeats the phrase, "Lord, Is it I?", which was taken from the scriptures during the last supper when the apostles wondered who would betray the savior.  As Uchtdorf eloquently weaves this phrase within his talk, he prompts individuals to examine their own weaknesses and shortcomings.  He sums up the message of his repetitions by saying, "Have you disengaged--even slightly--from the gospel of the blessed God, which was committed to [your trust]"  (Uchtdorf).  Overall, this repetition of "Lord, Is It I?", which even serves as the talk's title, gently, yet purposefully encourages men to examine their lives.

     President Uchtdorf uses anecdotes to help men see where they could be overlooking their own weaknesses.  He first describes a man who observes his neighbor's yard with one dandelion.  The man is distressed because one dandelion could ruin such a nice lawn; however, at the anecdote, the man goes back to his own yard, which has a myriad of dandelions and weeds.  Uchtdorf's use of anecdote helps individuals see how blind they can be in seeing their own issues and how members of the church should focus on their own weaknesses instead of others.  Some additionally anecdotes used by Uchtdorf include the parable of beams and motes in one's eye from the scriptures, the study in which the worst students rank their abilities as the highest, and the modern story in which divorce devastated a ward that had some of the best statistics in the church.  All of these anecdotes used by Uchtdorf demonstrated the importance of examining one's life honestly to truly be able to improve, to stay on the straight and narrow path, and become more like Heavenly Father.

     President Uchtdorf uses both an understanding tone  to persuade the men of the church to truly analyze their own lives.  Uchtdorf says, "Brethren, none of us likes to admit when we are drifting off the right course, often we try to avoid looking deeply into our souls and confronting our weaknesses, limitations, and fears" (Uchtdorf).  By placing himself in the category of struggling to evaluate one's own life, he places himself as one who also struggles to examine his life, which is what he wants the brethren to do.  He, in essence, says he is not perfect; many times, the most persuasive individuals are those who we see like ourselves, not someone put up on a pedestal.
     Additionally, though, he does use an authoritative tone when saying, "Those who do not which to learn and change probably will not and most likely will begin to wonder if the church has anything to offer them" (Uchtdorf).  Through this quote, the reader understands that Uchtdorf is an apostle of the Lord, and that consequences, like not valuing the gospel, will result if the audience does not follow his counsel.  Thus, the combination of an understanding tone and an authoritative tone to create a message that is both approachable but firm.

     President Uchtdorf''s message serves to persuade the men of the church to examine their lives to see if improvements are necessary to ensure that they stay on the straight and narrow; Uchtdorf portrays his message through the use of repetition, anecdotes, and authoritative tone.  As members of the church, individuals should examine their lives to be able to put them more in harmony with the teachings of Christ.

5. Research Paper Topic

        Picking a topic for my research paper has been surprisingly difficult!  I know so much about my family history, that picking just one to research has been surprising difficult.  So far, I have thought about researching aspects of World War II, aspects of northern European history during the 18th and 19th centuries, and pioneers.  Ultimately, though, I decided I wanted to write about something related to my immediate family, probably because I miss them and think of them quite often.  At first I wanted to focus on the importance at stay at home moms, but then I determined I wanted to focus on how parents have to raise introverted children much differently than their extroverted children.  I have a very shy sister, Abby, and my dad has always commented that my parents have had to raise her differently than us.  For example, she receives a smaller punishment for mistakes, does not receive as "intense" lectures, and although she is very smart and athletic, not pushed to the extent that my other siblings and I are.  I want to know:

How many people are really "introverted"?

Why do parents have to raise "introverts" differently than their extrovert children?

How does one identify an introvert?

What negative outcomes could occur if introverted children were raised in the exact same manner as their extrovert siblings?

Is being introverted genetic?

In what specific ways do parents have to raise their introverted children differently than their extroverted children?



THESIS:  No matter the cause of introversion, parents must adapt their child-rearing tactics to fit their child's needs.  To raise well-adjusted introverts, parents should consider children to new experiences gradually, punishing them less harshly than extroverted children, and adapting their child's environment to lower the amount of stimulation in their lives.