1/18/19 ==> Notecards & Research

Today's class focused primarily around research and finding good evidence in both our film(s) and the sources we find through databases. Right when we sat down in our groups for class today, Mr. Rivers handed each of us a notecard that we could use to help organize our senior papers. He then proceeded to explain what each side of the notecard was for and put the following chart on the board:

Cinematic Evidence (Unlined side of Notecard)	Academic Evidence (Lined Side of Notecard)
Choice	Direct Quote/Statistics
Theme	Argument/Claim(s)
Symbol	Discovery/Conclusion
Scene

Mr. Rivers then proceeded to relate back to yesterday's lesson with yurts, telling us that we should not just sit down and write the whole essay in one sitting, but instead to write it in smaller sections based on the evidence we've assembled, then connect everything together. Additionally, Rivers also stressed that if we have not watched our movie(s) in a while, whether that was last year or just before we started our senior paper research as re-watching the film will reveal even more evidence we can use in our papers than we originally thought or remembered. Personally, as I was not present in class the past two days, I not only continued my search on Gale for more research but I also began to work on my synthesis for my senior paper. In class, I looked at the research I had accumulated in the past few weeks and coupled that with what I remembered about the films I am going to be using for my senior paper, Thank You for Your Service (2017) and American Sniper (2014). Of course, I am going to re-watch these movies outside of class so that I can better analyze them for more evidence I can use. Aside from this, today's class applies significantly to the real world as sometimes you won't be specifically told what to do or guided through work/research. This applies especially in college, when your professor is not going to (most likely) give anywhere near the same amount of guidance of papers and projects, he'll/she'll just assign you a paper, give you a due date, and make you do your own research, formulating, etc. Knowing how to do research, formulating, and drafting/writing on your own is an essential skill in the real/modern world and Mr. Rivers class today (and for the past few days) built on that point.