I struggled this week coming up with potential sources for my analysis paper. I thought to myself, "Who is blogging about going to college in the city and coming back to Suburbia, let alone writing something that would be considered a credible source?" Thinking about it in a broader sense, I realized that I had a plethora of sources to choose from. After evaluating bloggers in a variety of communities I think I have a solid foundation.
One of the main things my blog focuses on is the transition students and young adults go through when they graduate from high school. Whether it be leaving home, getting a job, or going off to college, everyone enters a new phase of life when they graduate. There is a large community of bloggers that write about this transition. One I liked in particular was called Year One: a College Blog about a girl named Kate and her experiences at a private southern university. Although our experiences are different it gives me great material for comparisons.
Another community I could focus on is bloggers that discuss moving from the city to the country. I have numerous posts comparing (or complaining) about the differences between Manhattan and Woodbridge. One man wrote about the top things he's learned since moving from the City to the Country. There was a great article in the New York Times about moving away from the city and Not fearing the Suburbs.
If I wanted to dive even deeper into the specifics of my blog there are many things to choose from because there are online communities for practically everything. I could find information about the price differences in different regions, nanny jobs, and students with internships. After doing some research on all these topics I feel a big sense of relief starting to write my analysis paper. My initial fear of not having any research to put into my paper turned out to be completely wrong. There are plenty of sources that support my blog in many different ways and will help to expand my analysis paper.
Yes! I am so very glad that you have found your communities. Yes, communities. There are many for you to choose from, and all you have to do is really enter into relationships (reading, commenting, engaging) with other bloggers on your topics. You have many intersections, as you mention, in common.
ReplyDeleteOne thing that Anh did in one of his posts that I think was a great exercise is an evaluation/review of another blogger in his community. This is both summary and analysis and I think it helped him dig deeper and understand just where his blog fits into the blogosphere. Consider the same...that will help you with your final analysis paper as you explore these bloggers in more detail while sharing what you have learned with the rest of us.
Nice work.