Ani Fitzgerald

UWRT 1102
Ms. DAlessio
Final Reflection
ThissemesterhastrulyflownbyandIcantbelieveImwritingafinalreflection.The
beginningoftheyearwasinteresting.FortheinquiryprojectmygroupandIselectedtoresearch
racialstudiesandinparticularfocusonAfricanAmericansandWhiteAmericansfromthe1960
tonow.Iwasinitiallyhesitantatthisdecisionbecauseitsnotreallyasubjectthatseasytotalk
aboutandyouhavetobeextremelycarefulwhendiscussingdifferentraces.
DuringtheverybeginningofthesemestermygroupandIhadaquestionssessionwith
theclass.Thesessiongotmealittleworriedaboutourprojectbecausetheclassdidntreally
wanttoanswerthequestions.However,Iunderstoodwhynoneonereallywantedtogiveany
feedbackaboutourtopicsinceitisaverysensitivematter.Afterthequestionsessionmygroup
divideduptheprojectintospecificsections.InmyinitialproposalIlistedthreequestionsIwas
goingtoexplore.Thefirstquestionwaswhatareasareracialissuesmostprevalentinandiftime
hasaffectedit.Thesecondquestionisiflocationhasanaffectonhowtheracialissuesare
portrayed.Lastly,Iwanttoseeifsocialmediaisusedasacatalystforracialissues.
AfterrecordingmyannotatedbibliographyIthoughtallmysourcescoveredthe
questionsIwasresearching.ThebookToKillaMockingbirdandthemoviesRememberthe
TitansandHairsprayweregoingtobeusedtotalkaboutwhatareasracialissuesaremost
prevalentinandwhy.AnarticleIfoundduringthelibraryresearchtitledTheUseofSocial
MediainTeachingRacewasgoingtodiscusstherolesocialmediaplaysinracialissues.
Lastly,thetwitterhashtagsweregoingtohelpmeseetherolelocationhas.
WhenitcametowritingmyfinalpaperIrealizedthatIonlyused2oftheoriginal5
sourcesthatIlisted.The3sourcesIleftoutnolongerfitintothedirectionofmypaper.Igeared

Ani Fitzgerald
UWRT 1102
Ms. DAlessio
mynewpapertotalkaboutimplicitattitudes.TheswitchwastheresultofavideoIsawonthe
Buzzfeedsectiononsnapchat.Thevideotalkedaboutracialstereotypes.AfewdayslaterIwent
togofindthevideoonYouTubebutwasunabletofindthesamevideo.However,Ididfinda
videothattalkedaboutimplicitattitudesandtheImplicitAssociationTestassociatedwith
measuringapersonimplicitattitudes.Theideaofimplicitattitudesteeredmyresearchinanew
direction.Istartedlookingupdifferentnewsarticlesthatcouldrelatetoimplicitattitudesand
scholarlyarticlesfromthelibrarytoprovidetheresearchaspect.Iwaspersonallyinterestedin
howimplicitattitudeswork.Ididnteverknowwhyyouunconsciouslyhaveathoughtabout
someonebeforeyouevenspokeawordtohimorher.TheWashingtonPostwebarticletitled
ThemostraciestplaceinAmerica,accordingtoGooglewassuchagreatfindbecauseit
playeddirectlyinto2ofthequestionsIwashopingtoanswerandprovideextraresourcesthatI
citedinmyfinalpaper.Theyarticlehelpedmetotalkabouthowlocationandaccesstosocial
mediacanplayaroleinracialissuesinrelationstoimplicitattitudes.Iwasalsoabletokeepin
themovieRemembertheTitansanduseitasoneofmysourcesasanexampleofracialissues
betweenAfricanandWhiteAmericans.
DuringmyresearchIinitiallylisted5mainsourcesthatIwasplanningtouseinmyfinal
paper.InitiallyIwasjustbrainstormingabunchofideasthatIcouldrelatetomyarea.From
highschoolIrememberallthedebateswehadaboutthebookToKillaMockingbirdandfrom
thatIthoughitwouldbeagoodsourceformypaper.ThemoviesRemembertheTitansand
HairsprayreallyhelpedtomevisualizeracialissuesfacingAfricanAmericansbackthen.Ihad
initiallythoughtaboutcomparinghowracialissueswereportrayedandhowtheywerehandled.I
hadusedGoogletomakesurethatthemovieswouldberelatabletomytopic.Iusesocialmedia

Ani Fitzgerald
UWRT 1102
Ms. DAlessio
onadailybasis,whichresultedinmeseeingdifferenttypesofhashtagsandhowtheywerebeing
represented.WhenusingthelibrarywebsiteIwasabletofindlargesupplyofscholarlyarticles
thatweregoingtobackupmypaper.However,whenIshiftedthedirectionofthepaperI
changedhowIstartedfindingresources.InGoogleIstartedtypingkeywordsthatrelatedto
implicitattitudesandexpandedthetypesofsourcesIwasfinding.UsingGoogleledmeto
differentnewsarticlesandeventuallyIselectedonethatreallygrabbedmyattention.Thelibrary
alsoprovidedmewithagoodselectionofscholarlyarticlesthatprovidedresearchintoimplicit
attitudesandhowtheywork.BothGoogleandtheLibraryallowedmetonarrowmysearchto
sourcesthatexplicitlymentionedimplicitattitudes.Twitterhashtagswerenotgoodsourcesto
useandbecauseofthisIdidntincludeanyinmyfinalpaper.Ichosetonotincludethese
becausethenumbersoftweetsfoundwereoverwhelming.Tweetsmightseemeasytointerpret
onthesurfacebutyoudontknowwhysomeonemighttweetwhattheydidoranypast
experiencethatmightshapethemessageofthetweet.
OverallmyresearchfeltlikearollercoasterridewithallthetwistandturnsItooktoget
tomyfinalpaper.InitiallyIwasjustcoastingthroughwithsourcesIthoughtwouldbebeneficial
andassumingeverythingwasgoingtoworkoutgreat.ThenIranintoabunchofsharpturns
whendecidingifIshouldsticktomyoriginalplanorswitchtofocusmoreheavilyonimplicit
attitudes.IwasjustfascinatedtolearnhowimplicitattitudesworkthatIfinallychosetofocus
mysourcesaroundit.Thischangednearlythewholedirectionofmypaper.Iwasnowsearching
forsourcesthatcouldlinkimplicitattitudestomyquestion.Luckily,Iwasabletofindalotof
informationaboutimplicitattitudesinarangeofdifferentgenres,whichallowedmetobroaden
thetypeofsourcesusedinmypaper.

Ani Fitzgerald
UWRT 1102
Ms. DAlessio
WritingmyfinalessaywasinitiallyaroughexperienceIwasntexactlysurewhatthe
papershouldsay.InthebeginningIhadtokeeprestartingbecauseIwasntexactlysurehowto
writethepaper.Thechapterthattalkedaboutcrappyfirstdraftswasextremelyrelatablebecause
initiallythatsallIcouldcomeupwith.Theroughoutlineofmyfinalpaperjustkeptchanging
witheverynewcrappydraft.Thepeerreviewswereextremelybeneficialandreallyhelpedmeto
organizemyfinalpaper.Thefeedbackfrommypeersreallyhelpedmetoseewhatareasofmy
paperneededworkbutmoreimportantlygavemeideasthatcouldimprovethequalityofmy
paper.Iwasalsoabletoseehowmypeersincorporateanopinionintotheirpaper.Honestlythe
bestwritingtoolotherthanpeerreviewswasgoingtoseemyprofessor.Shegavemeabreak
downandansweredanyquestionsIstillhadaboutthepaper.Iusedtheoutlineandnotesshe
gavemetoorganizemypaperandcreatedastrongfinalpaper.
OvertheyearsIvewrittenadecentamountofresearchpapersinmywritingandhistory
courses.IthoughtIknewhowtowritethembecausetheyallhadthesameformattingstructure.
Anintroductionparagraphwithyourthesisstatement,paragraphsbackinguptheinformation
listedinyourthesisstatement,andfinallyaclosingstatementrestatingandhighlightingany
mainpoints.ThatsthetypeofstructureIexpectforthispaperandwhenIsawtherubricIwas
honestlylost.Wehadalmostcompletecontroloverthispaper,nopagelimit,norealoutlineto
follow,andweaskedtoincludeouropinion.Includingouropinioninaresearchpaperwasafirst
formeandIstruggledwithit.Iwasntreallysurehowtoputmyopinioninbecauseracialissues
andopinionsarentthebestcombinations.Iwasreallyjustnervoustoaddmyopinioninbecause
Ididntwanttooffendanyoneorhavemyopinionmisinterpreted.LookingovermyfinalpaperI
noticedthatIdidhavesmallpartsthatweresimilartoatypicalresearchpaper.Ihadan

Ani Fitzgerald
UWRT 1102
Ms. DAlessio
introductionparagraphthattalkedaboutmytopicandaclosingparagraphwhereIrestateamain
pointofmypaper.
AsthesemesteriscomingtoanendInownoticehoweachassignmentservedadifferent
purposeinachievingthedifferentstudentlearningobjectives.Criticalreadingwasacommon
SLOwetalkedaboutinclassandwroteaboutinourdiscussionpost.Criticalreadingwasa
contributingfactorinselectingsourcesformyproject.Ireadthroughalotofarticlebutchose
theonesthatwerethebestfitthedirectionofmyfinalpaper.InoneofourdiscussionpostI
talkedaboutcrappyfirstdraftsandhoweventhegreatestwritersexperiencethesamefrustration
wedo.AfterreadingthischapterIhadadifferentoutlookonfirstdraftsandusedwhatIlearned
fromthereadingtojustwriteareallycrappyfirstdraftofthisfinalreflection.Whilewritingmy
finalpaperfortheinquiryprojectIhadtopaycloseattentiontotheaudiencesmysourceswere
talkingto,whowasthespeaker,andwhatwastheoverallmessageofmysources.Thisallowed
metoexplainwhyIchoseacertainsourceoveranother.