The two essays of Garrett Brown and Jay Holmquist are discovery essays rather than traditional research papers. Brown's discovery essay "Why Do People Tan" started with such questions: is it stupid to be tan and why it's a fashion for white people to be tan. With these questions in her mind, rather than with the answers she already knew, she suspended the judgement and began the process of investigating the sunbathing and such resources. She described some of the current persuasive findings, such as the survey conducted by Seventeen magazine, when she wanted to analysis that people want to "feel active". She also encounter articles criticized people who spent time in the sun to get a tan would got saggy skin or even cancer. This essay ended with a tentative thesis-the sun is really our friend, rather than began with the thesis as research paper often did. In "An Experience in Acronyms", Holmquist began his essay with a scene in a rave rather than with a thesis statement. He then posed his inquiry that whether taking such party drugs were safe or not. He suspended his judgement and did the research. At last, he made his final thesis that drugs were dangerous by showing the scene-his friend's heart stopped 3 times due to drug use, which led him quit drugs and raves.
The overall controlling idea of "Why Do People Tan" is that whether get a tan is good or not for people. This is a very interesting topic and has always been discussed. She learnt from the survey conducted by Seventeen magazine and the fashion column that people feel and look better to be tan. She cited that "2/3 of the teens say they look better with a tan and feel healthier, more sophisticated and 50% say they look more athletic."(Page 460). She also read the articles "The Rural South These Days Has More Tanning Salons Than John Deeres" and "No Tan Is a Safe Tan", which were against spending time in the sun to get a tan. At last she stood in the middle ground but preferred that "sun is really our friend"(Page 460). She not only skillfully used the resources, but also included her own voice. She asked "Is the fashion industry that powerful?"(Page 460) when she tried to answer the question-what else make people want a tan. She also express her feeling very well by summarizing what she had read: It struck me as I read the last line of this sardonic critique of society that I don't necessarily wonder why people tan.
The overall controlling idea of "An Experience in Acronyms" is whether taking party drugs is dangerous or not. Drug use has been discussed many times and we all familiar with that. Holmquist first described separately how LSD, MDMA, and GHB work and their "benefits" by citing many scientific terminologies and findings such as "MDMA affects the serotonin and dopamine centers of the brain"(Page B26), and using his own experience like "I'm able to move objects around with the power with my mind; I once changed the rotation the earth"(Page B25). Then he proved the side effects of these three drugs with scientific studies such as the recent study by Dance Safe, and other people's examples such as that one of his friend Chris. In the end, he drew the conclusion that the party drugs are dangerous. He skillfully organized the resources as he combined them very well to serve what he wanted to say, such as in these sentences, he quoted that, "The sense of touch is heightened to such a degree that energy pulses through you if someone else just grazes you (McDowell,1999). Massages are a common sight at raves as others try to raise the level of the high. Rubbing the neck, ears, face, and hands are the most common, Hugging and cuddling are associated with the effects of the drug (Pederson, 1999)."(Page B26). There he also gave credit to the other writers' thinking by citing where were the materials from.
When it comes to my own approach to the Essay 2, I think I may first pick a topic which has been commonly discussed but most importantly, I'm curious about, as Ballenger suggested in page 432. Then I will try to research the resources from memories or experience, observation, interviews, and reading. I will stand on the shoulders from others who have already said something about my topic by finding proofs of or oppositions to my original thinking and at last, stick to or change my original thought by exploring more. I will try to employ the skills of using and citing sources explained in Chapter 13. In a word, I'm quite excited about writing my first English Research Essay.
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I feel quite excited to write the research essay,too. Because it is really different from the reserach paper I had written before.The research paper I have written was boring because all the things I wrote were based on the reserach. What I did was just restate the ideas in my own words. For this reason, it can be said that a research paper is easier than a research essay because you do not have to include your own opinions and feedbacks. But it will be more interesting to say your own thoughts and reflections to your research.
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