Week 3

Week three is coming to a close. This week our work has focused on combing through the materials that our classmates gathered last semester. Mainly we are focusing on making sure we write it in an active voice, the sources are reliable, then finally checking grammar. Writing has been a focus, especially in the classes I took last semester. My professors focused more on honing the writing skills we already have. Active vs. Passive is an important change. Active voice gives a clearer and stronger tone to your writing, and therefore should be the voice you are using in your papers. Changing any passive verbs to active verbs will give a better tone to the message we are trying to spread.

 Because of this focus, it is not the first time I have combed through work and changed it from passive to active. Doctor Gannon has always pushed us to make this a habit and bring this thinking to the forefront of our writing. Changing the passive verbs to active isn’t always as simple as changing a word, Sometimes it’s more like streamlining the sentence or paragraph to change it to a clear tone. Over my college experience, it has been a transition to checking for passive voice. Back when I wrote my psychology essays, it was never a concern my teachers brought up. The way we used verbs was never a focus.

So far, it’s been a slow process. However, I would rather take it slowly to make sure I do well it. Verifying sources have been more time-consuming than checking the grammar. Our classmates gathered a lot of sources. When I and my group were gathering sources, it wasn’t always easy to dig them up. I deeply appreciate the hard work. The work for us now is to make sure it’s cited correctly, the source is accurate, and they marked it within the text. Besides the grammar checking I have done this week, I have focused on checking the sources are reliable. This hasn’t been the easiest since it was a task to find sources, to begin with. Some information overlaps with what I worked on with my group last semester so I may go check out the book I read last semester, The Battle of Olustee, 1864: The Final Union Attempt to Seize Florida by Robert P. Broadwater. It was an excellent source for me, and his listed sources could be helpful. Steven Trelstad's theses work with UCF would also be a good place to look to cross-check the information from sources. Next week will continue this process.