My experience of writing the page for
the digital story project was much different than the approach I took when
writing my analytical research paper. I didn’t really know what to expect for
the digital story because it was a fictional piece in which the group could
have taken in many different directions. For my analytical research paper, I knew
exactly what I was going to write about from the beginning. There were specific
guidelines given to us that I had to follow. There wasn’t really much room for creativeness
during the analytical research paper. With four brains working on a fictional
piece, there is a lot more freedom for the writers in comparison to one brain
working on a research paper.
When approaching the analytical
research paper, I knew I was going to have follow specific guidelines given by
the professor. We were given a theme that our paper had to follow and points
that we had to bring up in our papers. This was much different than the digital
story experience. There weren’t really any guidelines we had to follow. We
basically got to choose what happened next in the story. Our only limitation in
the digital story project was following the characters and setting the previous
groups had set in the pages prior to our group’s page. Other than that, we had
the opportunity to be creative and completely decide what happened in the
fictional story. The only freedoms we had in the analytical research paper was
the primary source and the topic that was going to be explored in the paper. We
had to have a primary source, at least two secondary sources, and a thesis that
was backed up with evidence from those sources.
Another difference in approaching
the two pieces of writing was the number of people working on it. For the
analytical research paper, I knew I was only going to use my own ideas. I wasn’t
really going to have anyone else’s input, other than when people edited my
paper. Everything written in the analytical research paper came from my own
thoughts or from the thoughts of the authors of the sources I used in the
paper. With the digital story project on the other hand, the thoughts and ideas
in that piece were from about 24 different people. More specifically, when
writing my page of the story, there were ideas of four people. Going into the
project, I knew my ideas weren’t going to be the only ones shared in the story.
The four of us came up with our own ideas, shared them with the group, and we
worked together to decide which ideas were going to be incorporated into the
digital story. This allowed the digital story to be even more creative than if
it were only one person writing the entire story.
In analytical research papers, the writer is
limited to what he or she writes based on the guidelines given. In a fictional
piece, like the digital story, there really is no limitation to what the story
is about. There is more freedom and creativity for the writer in digital story
than when writing an analytical research paper with a theme already given.
After doing both writing pieces, the digital story, and the analytically paper, which did you prefer before and after? Did you like the way you could control exactly what the analytical paper was about without other's input? Or did you like the way that the digital story turned out due so many extra people working on the story all at once? Did one come out better than what you thought it would?
ReplyDeleteAnd if you could, would you imagine writing an analytical paper with others? I think that would be an interesting idea because of the fact that everyone would have a different way of analyzing what is going on, thus having a lot of conversation.
I agree with Gautham in that I think writing an analytical research paper in collaboration with others would be very interesting. I also, however, think that this would be very difficult for the reasons that you stated above, such as that you knew going in that you wouldn't have to use any ideas but your own, which I find some comfort in. Although I like working with others in short projects like the digital story, I prefer to work on long projects on my own for the reason that I do not have to fight to have my opinion heard. You did a nice job at pointing out the differences in the two projects but I am also interested, like Gautham, in which you preferred more?
ReplyDeleteDid you find the fact that the digital story was a group project to be counter-productive? I think that it would have been easier to write it individually because all the people in my group came in with different expectations, which were all based on nothing but presumptions, and we had to spend some time coming to some sort of an agreement. Then again, I was in the first group, where this sort of issue would be significantly more prevalent because in the following groups there is already some basis of a story upon which you are expanding. I think that the group aspect of the digital story was prohibitive of individual creativity, so it would be interesting to have had a project like that.
ReplyDeleteThe idea of writing an analytical research paper as a group is very intriguing to me. The group would probably be able to analyze on a deeper level, thus making the paper of higher quality. But as with any group project, I am sure there would be complications. I would say I prefer writing fictional writing rather than non-fiction. Although in high school, some of my favorite papers to write were the ones where I got to tell a story about some kind of event in my life. So maybe I just dislike research papers, but then again, doesn't everyone?
ReplyDeleteI was in the same group as Nate and I agree that there were parts that were counter-productive. In the beginning, it was as if there was this barrier we couldn't cross until we had some sort of direction that everyone would like and agree with. I believe after that point the goal of the project became more prevalent. It was all about creativity and leaving room for other groups to take over. All in all I enjoyed the group assignment.
ReplyDeleteIf the same group atmosphere was applied to an analytical paper however, I believe it would significantly increase time and hinder the essay. The essay limits creativity as it is but then having a group to work around and have everyone agree would just make the essay all that much harder. I would have liked to hear which one you liked more. Did you like the ability to hear other views and create a story that illustrates everyone's ideas? Or are you much more of a one man wolf pack kinda guy?
I have to agree with your argument here because you need two completely different mindsets when writing both. When writing the analytical paper, you are on your own for most of it, so you have to be completely focused on one topic and describe it throughout, while with a fictional story, you can have an open mind with other people contributing. You can be as creative as you want with a fictional story. While doing a research paper, you already see the goal ahead, but getting there is the challenge. It all depends on how structured it has to be and what the guidelines are.
ReplyDeleteI just realized that I had different ways of approaching each project as well. I was completely lost on where to take the story for the blog project but for my analytical paper I knew what exactly had to be said and how to say. Each were writing but with a different mindset. I agree with Halle, writing a group analytical paper is very intriguing. It would be interesting to see how a group could write an analytical paper because I think it is a little easier to work on a creative writing piece as a group than analytical one.
ReplyDeleteI fully agree with what the author of this piece stated in their post. Oftentimes writers enjoy creative, fictional pieces as it allows their brain to go in any direction and they can’t be wrong in whatever they write. Conversely, analytical pieces are often very precise in appropriate wording that can be used as well as layout of the piece. As the author mentioned, group work versus individual work is also a completely contrasting experience as group work, like fictional work, allows for a mass of different solutions to a certain prompt or problem - whereas, individual work provides the writer with their brain and their ideas alone.
ReplyDeleteWhen four people are coming together with completely different backgrounds and share their ideas, there is a powerhouse of creativity. This is very good for an individual group project, however, when different groups build off of each other, some negative things can occur. With our digital story project, each individual group wrote with great style and flow. However, when all of the stories were put together, there were some kinks that needed to be worked out. The story had too many plot changes and it didn't seem to flow. So, although groups are great for spawning new ideas, they may not work well when collaborating with other groups.
ReplyDelete