Possible Discovery Essay Topic

A possible topic for my discovery essay would ask the question “what is America’s fascination with football?” I think that this would be a good topic because I myself am a football fanatic. I think this topic has a lot of room to discover what components of activities lure the public to participate or even be a spectator. I also think this topic could open a door to some personal discovery; I think that I could find out why I struggle to do anything BUT watch football on Sundays. This topic has a lot of room for opinion but if I chose it, I might be a little nervous about what actual factual research I could do.

Reading Response #2

I believe that the fact that both authors have individual experiences to tie them to what they are writing about is what makes the papers discovery essays. Their own familiarity with their topic allows them to put a personal spin on the facts that they have just learned and are presenting to the reader. Everyone has had experience with sun exposure so there is no question that Garrett-Brown has some personal insight that she might add to her essay. A less common activity, which Holmquist has done and is so honest about in his research essay, discusses the use of party drugs. One particular part stood out to me when Holmquist was able to use his past to help elaborate on the research that he did. He was discussing the non-addictive qualities of the drugs, but was able to refute some of the evidence by saying that even as he was writing the essay “there were [have been] countless times that he [I’ve] wanted LSD or MDMA.” His yearning was not necessarily chemical, but was instead encouraged by his nostalgic reflection on previous accounts with the drugs.

Both essays got their controlling idea from an event that happened to the author. Garrett-Brown’s “people are so stupid rant” was a more trivial cause for research, whereas Holmquist’s friend’s near death made him feel like he needed to know more. The controlling idea of Garrett-Brown’s essay is that tanning in a tanning salon is a silly ritual and she would like to know how it got started. She determines that innate sun exposure is healthy because it is a sign of being active in the outdoors, but that tans “via lightbulb technology” are taking the place of natural tans as people yearn to look active even if they are not. There is research and personal insight included to support the idea that “people just like the way it looks to be tan” for various reasons. Tans are fashionable and also give off the impression of an outdoor lifestyle. The author even admits to wishing she was tan whenever she puts on a swimsuit. The controlling idea of Holmquist’s essay is to discuss the dangers of the so-called “safe party drugs.” He shows very well through research and his friend’s situation that although they are hard to overdose on, they have other side-effects that can lead to severe danger or death.

Garrett-Brown does not know the answer to the question she is researching. Her research started after she asked herself “who made it cool for people to tan?” She wanted to know how the current trend began which will cause our generation to look “leathered and wrinkled” in our later years. Holmquist had a hunches about the dangers of the drugs, but wanted to fill in the blanks and figure out why, chemically, the drugs were not as safe as some of his friends believed.

I think the feature of having one’s own voice while also utilizing research is less successful in Garrett-Brown’s essay than Holmquist’s. While reading Holmquist’s paper, one could assume that he didn’t know all of the information he was spewing off from off the top of his head and the citations may have been a hint that there was research going on. That being said, I think that Holmquist did an excellent job weaving his own opinions with the information he found. There was never a point where I felt like I was reading a succession of facts or supporting details. I feel like Holmquist would write solely from personal knowledge until he arrived at a small detail he wasn’t sure about so he would research just that small fact to include. The essay flowed very well because of the lack of huge “data dumps;” instead he only gave small tidbits at a time when they became relevant. I had a different feeling while I was reading Garrett-Brown’s essay. The essay as a whole seemed unorganized, or maybe even too short. Even though there were only 5 different research points in the paper, I still felt overwhelmed. It seemed as if she had moved on to the next argument before even making me feel anything strongly about the previous. It was also interesting how Garrett-Brown’s essay actually discussed her process of researching within the paper. On the second page of her writing she said “As I researched sunbathing and the like I came across an interesting article in the…” She goes on to list the source of her information. Personally, I did not enjoy this transition to introduce research. It seemed very elementary and careless to me.

After reading these works and also the information given about writing research essays, I think the most important thing is weaving research seamlessly into my writing. I will try to break up my research into small relevant parts and insert them only when they seem necessary instead of seeing my “essay as a hole that must be filled with information.”

Reading Response #1

Many features of the personal essay form are present in both Black’s “The Joy of Mud” and Hogg’s “I’m a Believer.” Both of the works are written in first person, which is the first feature of the form and is nearly required in a personal essay. This allows for the writer to express their opinion and feelings about their experiences. An essay that simply described the events of a day with no emotion or thinking tied to it would not be interesting to read. Ballenger also says that the topics of personal essays are generally humble and not extraordinary. The essay by Catherine Black is about an experience that is one of everyday life by people in her culture. It is “her thoughts about such things [that] catapult her [topic] beyond the ordinary.” I think that Ballenger’s wording is a perfect description of the way Black’s topic was transformed by her writing and the details she included. Hogg also wrote about life experiences, but I think that hers are less ordinary. Pursuing an adolescent celebrity crush during one’s middle aged years is not as common as Black describes mud harvesting in Hawaii to be. I think that both texts have a thesis which emerges later in the story. Both writers seemed to tell their story and then only in the final paragraph they began to discuss what the experience meant to them or what they learned from it. Personal essays are supposed to rely on observation and memory most of all according to Ballenger. I think that it is obvious that neither writer did any research in order to enhance their paper. “I’m a Believer” was composed mostly of things that she knew or even had learned over time by researching the man of her dreams. The research she did was actually an event in the story rather than a means to further developing her writing. It is safe to say she completed the research before she knew she would be writing a paper about it one day. “The Joy of Mud” was entirely composed of knowledge she already possessed because she grew up with those traditions surrounding her. In fact, she avoided expanding her knowledge on it due to her purposeful separation from Hawaii. The final feature of the form written by Ballenger describes the order that the story is told. The story should show and tell what happened in a logical order. “I’m a Believer” flowed in chronological order throughout. It began at a young age where her absorption with Davy Jones began and continued until she had grown up completely and finally realized that her childhood fascination with him was exactly that. She had since outgrown it and learned that she did not know him any better than any other fan and that she no longer wished for any different relationship to him than a longtime fan. “The Joy of Mud” jumped around a little because it started with the morning of the day that she realized that she loved Hawaii and then regressed back to the days when she used to travel far away and specifically avoided becoming “rooted” there. After the flashback was used to show the reader that she had never before embraced her Hawaiian heritage, she returned to the day she had begun with to finish discussing how her feelings changed that day. Both Black and Hogg finally matured and realized that the thing that they had been running towards or away from their whole life was not what they thought. Hogg would have jumped at the chance to hang out with Davy Jones when she was younger but once, as a middle aged woman, she finally had the chance right in front of her, she instantly knew that all of the magic that came from her star obsession would be ruined if she got to know him better. Black on the other hand had been running away from her background until her friend Vince brought her along a surprise adventure. She spent the day submerged in the harvesting traditions of a small Hawaiian town and then grew a deep appreciation for Hawaiian culture that she did not possess when she was younger. All in all, I think that both of the writers were consistent with the features of the form provided by Ballenger.

About Me

I am from Lake Oswego, Oregon, where my parents finally have our house to themselves. I am the youngest of 3 siblings and my sister, who is the oldest, has nine years on me. My sister moved out almost a decade ago and has since lived as far away as New York City and as close as Los Angeles. My brother, however, left me alone to be the focus of our parent’s attention when he left for Oregon State University just two years ago. I’ve been dancing my whole life and am now on the TCU Showgirl dance team. The dance team is one of the things that attracted me to TCU. I was also drawn to here by the division one football team and the small size of the engineering classes! My major is engineering and I am considering a minor in Spanish. That's all!