Ashley McKenzie

McKenzie 1

Professor Jan Rieman

UWRT 1103
November 16, 2014
Self-Assessment
As I have discussed before, I already had experience with inquiry projects before this
assignment, although from this classs paper, I have learned, achieved and received feedback
much more efficiently and productively than previously. The processes and tactics used to
continuously construct this inquiry paper were very useful and helped to split the assignment up
into smaller and easier to handle tasks such as the mind map to collect all possible sources along
with the research synthesis to be like a place that was currently outlining our progress.
My mind map had been very helpful in demonstrating my thought processes as I did
more and more research on the topic of food. I especially liked the idea of branches dying off
or expanding to symbolize our movement and decisions made on our path of inquiry. This was
the ideal place to keep up with the different approaches I could have taken with my topic along
with the different sources I have for each thought. My research was quite spread out. Some
sources came from online sources that had been posted to Moodle to initiate creative thinking
while other information came from encyclopedias and a borrowed book from Professor Rieman.
The book I was lent contained a lot of personal articles written about various peoples
perspectives on different areas of food. The encyclopedia provided me with more concrete facts
of the ongoing development and history of food.

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My final product is a typical but formal essay written for an audience of my peers also
interested in the cause and effects of the globalization of food. I feel I do best writing formal
essays and for my topic I couldnt think of a better way to present the information I had gathered
in my research. My audience was also decided on the fact that my tone is to be educated and
formal instead of a more playful or less strict form to relay this knowledge to perhaps a group of
middle schoolers. The citation method I used was MLA style. This is the only citation form I
have used and because of my familiarity with it, along with the choice of which method to use, I
decided to make use of this form in my paper. MLA format is also pretty straightforward to
understand and follow the correct procedures. I made use of parenthetical citations to cite my
sources directly throughout the whole paper.
In my peer workshop time, I was provided with great suggestions on how to reword my
paper along with structuring details and the pointing out of places that required greater clarity. A
lot of my feedback was on grammar issues and where to put commas along with the rewording
of certain sentences to make them flow better. Most of the grammar suggestions I accepted and
altered my paper accordingly but in some cases I still believed my previous version of the paper
had been best so I left it. There wasnt any places where I was instructed to include more
information unlike places where I was told information didnt fit into the paragraph and should
be omitted. In one of those case, in the conclusion, I still wanted to keep my last fact so I
reworded and added sentences to make the paragraph flow better and be able to include my last
fact.
In my final product, I believe I did quite well in the ordering of my paper and the formal
wording of a lot of my information. I also think my citation methods and inclusion of a great

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deal of sources is impressive. Throughout my paper I tried my hardest to keep personal opinions
to a minimal because that is the complete opposite of what an inquiry paper is so I tried to stick
with the facts I gathered from my sources. If I had more time I would have found more ways to
connect my information on the Conflict Kitchen because that had been my starting point and
what had truly gotten my interest in this topic. In particular, I would like feedback on how clear
I was with my points I was trying to make and the overall defining purpose of this inquiry paper.
Any suggestions on how I could have better explained any aspect would also be welcomed and
greatly appreciated. This has been a wonderful learning experience for myself on different
aspects of my topic, food, along with excellent tactics to produce an academic inquiry paper.