Hello and welcome to my Research Project! Research projects are something I’m sure that everyone can relate to. I’ve done research projects before in the past, but I’ve never taken the whole idea of a ‘zeitgeist’ and basing my research around that. This is something completely new to me but is also something that I’m looking forward to to further my author identity. By this, I’m hoping that I can keep this idea of a zeitgeist and even apply it to papers that I’d be writing in the future. I think it would be interesting for future professors to see, as before entering this class, I had no idea what the word ‘zeitgeist’ even meant. I’m sure other people in the class can relate to this as well, but I'm glad I have found out the meaning behind the word.
To start, in my blog post #10, Exploring American Zeitgeist, we had to explain what topic we wanted to do and the zeitgeist, or “spirit of the time” around it. I chose to do the LGBTQ community and how homelessness affects LGBTQ youth. I’m hoping that with this project it will give me a chance to better understand the LGBTQ community and how it’s going to affect us in the near future. So, why does this zeitgeist matter? There’s plenty of up and down opinions about the LGBTQ community, but whether you like it or not, it's going to be a hot topic that is going to have to be discussed regardless. I think it’s best to face things like this head first and find ways to support the community, which is why I decided to research into it.
In blog post #11. I struggle on finding a story to put in my paper, something I felt that would really resonate with the spirit of the time and how it would link into my counterargument of the story. I also spoke on my paper and how I first figured that it would be a multi-modal project, but I ended up turning it into a regular MLA paper. I also was struggling to find an audience and ended up finding a very obvious solution to it after working on my paper a bit more.
In blog post #12, I decided that I wanted to focus on homelessness in the LGBTQ community and an audience, which was supposedly Evangelical Christians, which I have since changed my mind from. I do think that Evangelical Christians could still be a side part of the audience that I'm aiming for, but they're definitely not my main focus. I also ended up finding my purpose for my paper, and that I wanted to make it more than just a 'project,' that I'm writing. I wanted to change viewpoints and that people who read my paper would actually step back for a second and think, "wow, maybe I should re-think my stance on this group of people over."
In blog post #13, the X-Ray of my argument, I analyzed my paper a bit closer showing my thesis statement, my supporting points, and my counterargument which has since then changed. I think this helps with showing my growth in my drafts and how I've grown as a writer in a more individual way. I was also able to come up with a prediction, where I believe that parents will not change despite the calls for action. I also was able to point out my conclusion by listing charities and focusing on "government," at the time. Now, my focus is on the families as I believe it's supposed to start with families first, as it is less the governments job to clean up. Don't get me wrong, I still believe the government should help aid this along but the main job is the parents.
For my project, I ended up making it a typical MLA paper. I also used MLA citation style. My target audience for this project are parents or older adults of America, specifically baby boomers who are now parents. My main theme would consider around the fact that we as a society should find ways to push families to fund or contribute to laws helping those who may be LGBTQ in their family.