ENG 101 Assignment PDF

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Various parts of an assignment for ENG 101, a research writing class. Class taught by Richard Nace....

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1. Take a look at the NCSU research blog linked on Moodle, as well as any popular news sites, and skim through some popular science articles. Complete the Inside Work activity on page 244. Post here with the list of initial topics that interest you, then select one to answer all of the activity questions with. ○ The initial topics that interested me were: Egg whites, Brown Recluse spiders, hunting declination, the size of snowflakes; The topic I decided to do my inside work on was “How Big Can Snowflakes be?” ○ The topic of the article stems from a project that studies the shape of snowflakes while in freefall. The main goal of the project, however, is to better understand snow storms and what occurs at each stage of the cycle. ○ I think scientists are currently interested in discovering the “exact” wind and storm conditions that would produce big snowflakes and how this information can contribute to making more accurate forecasts about snow when it is about to occur. I would like to know how the snowflakes that are considered to be the biggest ones differ in looks of that of a ball of ice or clump of snow. ○ I believe that the topic could be addressed by researchers in more than one field of the sciences such as meteorology, atmospheric, marine, or earth sciences. I think that geology, physics, or biology fields could also explore this topic. ○ Scientists collect and record data on this topic by taking multiple pictures on grids that determine sizes of snowflakes, and then use weather tools to determine wind speed and direction, also speed of snow freefall. ○ The topic connects with me personally because in North Carolina it does not snow very often and when it does, it is a phenomenon. I love to look at windows when it is snowing to see if the glass captured any snowflakes that still look like crystals. 2. Locate two different popular internet articles about your topic and briefly summarize them. Provide a link to each. Choose current sources (from this year), and try to find two that are noticeably different in content (such as a shorter newspaper article and a longer/more detailed article from a science magazine). ○ https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2018/12/26/how-snowflake-gets-its-s hape/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.4f3bb7260674 ■ Snowflakes, which form very uniquely, are constructed by molecules of water adhering to ice crystals, sticking to each other until the weight of the now created snowflake falls to the ground. Since air becomes more pure during the winter months, water vapor that has become very cold has nothing to freeze onto. A typical snowflake contains more than a billion water molecules, each which, when combined, form a different shaped snowflake. ○ https://journals.ametsoc.org/doi/full/10.1175/JAS3416.1 ■ The unique characteristics of snow crystals and how they form make being able to measure the size of a snowflake quite difficult. New equipment has been created to measure shape but that leaves out the mass of a snowflake, something that plays a big role in determining the individuality of each snow crystal. Testing out two methods for calculating the size distribution of snowflakes, this team from the Frontier Research

Center for Global Change in Japan, have discovered that the radius of a snowflake grows quicker than the mass does. This relies heavily on the velocity of the free falling snowflake and its crash into other snowflakes or the surface. The team also had to consider the melting rate of the snow crystals, conforming to the idea that snow crystals are most likely at their biggest size midway through their fall to the ground. Page 52: ●

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As the author of a research paper on a topic I knew little about and was not too interested in, my background, experience, and position relative to the audience pushed me to create a paper that was not well constructed. Although I tried to understand my topic as best as I could, I did not have any experience in the field and had no connection to the article in terms of it benefiting me. This left me with a paper that had many gaps on the scientific spectrum and was quite difficult to follow. I was not addressing a specific audience, however, it was determined that I was supposed to be targeting an audience of scientists who might be connected to the field of study or topic. However, the only people to ever read my paper was the board of teachers who were assigned to grade it so I knew that while they might have some background information on my topic, they were not experts. My text was about how positive psychology can influence good grades and behaviors from high school students. The topic of psychology and high school students was determined for me and then I was allowed to choose according to my interests. Not very interested in psychology, my relationship to the topic was impersonal; I picked a topic based off of the first few articles I read. My audience’s relationship to my topic was that they were experts in the field of psychology. My purpose for creating a text about that topic was to inform others about the wonders of positive psychology and how they can positively influence students to perform at higher standards.

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I agree with Brotherton statement when he exclaims that those writing press releases cannot write them assuming that those who are going to be reading or listening to it, know as much on the topic as the scientists or writers behind the press release. However, I do believe that press releases are supposed to be rather short and to the point so adding a lot of background is not very beneficial because it distracts from the actual point of the press release. Press releases are usually used to inform the public on a topic that has been widely talked about or newly introduced, most reporters use press releases as a way to update the public on the works of a singular project or idea. Whoever is writing the press release must keep in mind that it is a general audience, mixed with people who are experts on the topic at hand and people who are just learning about it in that moment.

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Brotherton’s input on the structure of academic article is that they are written in a way in which the main point can be highlighted throughout the whole article without veering off to explain other aspects in great detail unless they very directly relate back to the main point. It is important to not get distracted by the complicated words that are in academic articles but rather the information they relay and how they are important to the overall point of the article. The first time I read the article, I enjoyed it but was confused by all the scientific talk. Since I am no expert, I most likely interpreted the article in a different way than an expert would. Once I read it a second time, I understood that the article was created to inform its audience and has an educational pull towards it rather than an interesting one. The practices about my own writing that these approaches suggest is to follow the lines of say, define, explain, connect. This means that if you bring up new vocabulary, you must define it relating to your topic and explain why itself is important and use that information to connect it back to the main point of the article. 

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