Critical Reflection IV

      In the Critical Thinking, Reading, Writing, and Research: Writing section, I have worked on the goal of "Accurately paraphrase and summarize scholarly source material to use as support in a research-based text." This is shown through the use of the information provided to me from the sources that I used to add into my research paper. It is evident in my blog post Critical Reflection II : "I read the articles and made an outline of the important information in the text. I made sure to note anything that was interesting or could be very helpful for me towards my research. I paraphrased some quotes because they had information that I found to be useful on my topic." My research paper displays the summaries and paraphrases that I have used to add information on my topic. One example is where I mention the views on romance novels. I summarized Janice Radway's explanation on what makes a romance novel "romance" :"...according to Janice Radway's book... in order for a novel to qualify as a romance, it has to have a story that focuses on events involving courtship and the feelings associated with the courtship." 

    In the Critical Thinking, Reading, Writing, and Research: Research section, I have worked on the goal of "Independently evaluate the credibility of source material and its relevance and appropriateness to the writer's task, purpose, and audience." I have worked on this goal through the use and examination of the sources that I used in my research. I made sure that the sources were scholarly; "I determined if the texts were scholarly by clicking on the scholarly texts icon in the databases; this gave me sources that were scholarly" as stated in the blog Critical Reflection II. My annotated bibliography also helps show my work on this because it clearly shows that the sources I chose dealt with an aspect of my topic of romance novels. One source is Radway, Janice. Reading the Romance; Women, Patriarchy, and Popular Literature. Chapel Hill and London: The University of North Carolina Press, 1984. Print.  

    In the Knowledge of Conventions section, I have worked on the goal of "Accurately use in-text and bibliographic conventions of a recognized documentation system (including summary, paraphrase,and quotation)." The work done on this goal is clearly seen in my research paper. I have correctly used the in-text citations to give credit towards the source of most of my information in the paper. These in-text citations are citing the sources that I paraphrased or summarized. I did not directly quote anything from the sources that I used, but I still may. One example of the in-text citations is "...the heroines possess the supernatural powers, but the heroes do not transform them since they are not considered 'monsters'... (Booth 98)." This shows that I have, in deed, given credit to the person that said this information. Throughout my paper, it is evident that I give credit to the authors whose sources that I used for information.

Critical Reflection III

I am going to answer my research question using my sources as supportive information. My sources, both primary and secondary, have provided me with information and evidence towards my research question pertaining to romance novels. I have found different information that helps explain why female are drawn to romance novels, especially paranormal romances. The sources also help provide me with some general or background information on romance novels themselves. I want to start my paper with the general information on romance novels to explain what they are and how they view them. I will provide examples from my primary research, along with my experiences, to support this idea. I will then talk about the different reasons/ways mentioned for why people (females) enjoy the romance genre. Support and evidence will be provided from the sources of my secondary research along with my primary research (a survey).

Question: Why are females so drawn to romance novels, especially paranormal romance?
Answer: Romance novels have different meanings to everyone; females read them to feel connected and complete with the world.


I feel that my thesis is ok; I know that it can become better once I get a feel for how exactly I want the information to be in my paper. I feel that it somewhat hints at answering my research question, but I hope to improve it over time before the final paper. It does encompass the points I want to mention in my paper, but I feel that it is a little weak to take a stand towards the paper I am going to write. I know that I will improve the thesis over time, and it will show what I want to address along with posing a strong argument.

In-Class Writing

    The primary research that I chose to do was a survey. I chose to do a survey because I knew that I could get different people's opinions on my topic easier than trying to do an interview. I hope to find out how many people I can get to answer my survey read romance novels and why. I also want to know how many are female versus male, what the range of ages are, and the types of jobs that they do. The information that I get from my survey will help me answer my research question because it helps tell me if females read romances and why they do. The information also will help me to know how many people, especially females enjoy the subgenre paranormal romance and why they find this genre appealing.

     My secondary research has influenced my survey because through my research, I found that women are the most likely ones to read romance novels, and these women are middle-aged and mothers with jobs. I used this information to come up with questions to see if the females that have read romance novels are middle-aged women with jobs. I have found that some of the females that read romance novels are students in college; most are women that have jobs. The ages range from 17 to 66, but this includes the males that I have that have taken the survey.  I did not ask a question for if the participants were mothers (fathers) or not, but I did receive a few answers that showed the participants were mothers (maybe a father).

     The questions that I asked were about demigraphics of people and the types of romance novels they read. I asked about their age, occupation, and where they live. I asked about the favorite subgenre they like, and if they have read a romance novel or not, what they feel makes a romance novel "romance", and what they like about paranormal romance novels. The responses that I anticipate are whether people read romance novels, why they do, if they are male or female, and what they find appealing about them. The answers that I received from my survey can help me with my research because the survey provides me with information on who reads romances, why they read them, and what they believe makes a romance novel "romance." I feel that the results that I have support the information that I discovered through my secondary research. The results that I have show that more females read romance novels because they want to relax and enjoy the word plots and characters. Most participants enjoy this genre, but some do not; it seems that paranormal is a good subgenre, but others have been listed as favorites as well. I hope that the results of my survey will be really good information and support to have in my paper.