The Attention Grabber:

I've been worrying about my intro paragraph.
I'm not sure if it really grabs attention of the reader. I've tried revising it a couple of times but I'm just getting lost, so I thought I could post it up and get some opinions. I'd really appreciate your help!

Since the start of elementary school, many students remember the multiple practice sheets taken home to repeatedly copy the same word over and over again to remember not only how to write the words but how to spell them. Orthography, the study devoted and concerned with letters and spelling of a language. Spelling changed how people not only learned also how they interacted with each other. Orthography has impacted general education and society greatly, especially since the introduction of print, and has effected how knowledge is communicated, gained, and shared.

The Paper

*Before I begin this blog post of the process to writing this paper, I would just like to ask if you could please bear with me if this post is not the greatest or a little scattered. Due to some personal problems I'm currently a bit compromised and unfocused. Through time I know I can get out of this rut but I just need that time first.*

For the academic paper, I considered how I would like to approach this. I considered just finding the big picture from all the books I found regarding orthography and the effect it had on print. But I realized I wouldn't have too much time to look through all the books again.
I then decided I would pick one learning outcome and emphasize that using orthography and print.
After looking over the learning outcomes list, I realized that there was something in each of the outcomes I could address and use and emphasize.

I figured out then how I could instead use 3 of the outcomes, the ones I had trouble narrowing down with, and use them to emphasize orthography and print, how each applies to the learning outcome.
The 3 outcomes I'm using are:

• Communicating Knowledge
• Knowledge Skills
• Sharing Knowledge

I feel like spelling has a big impact on all of these.

I figured the bulk (body) of my paper would be devoted to them.

As for my thesis:

"Orthography has impacted general education greatly, especially since the introduction of print, and has effected how knowledge is communicated, gained, and shared."

I feel like it is a simple thesis, but straightforward. I never liked making an obscure thesis statement like my AP Lit teacher tried teaching me how to do. I feel the most straightforward thesis is what gets the point across.

What do you think?

Spelling is Eazzee

I decided to do my annotated bibliography on the effect of print on orthography. If you don’t know what orthography means, it’s ok. I didn’t either. So, after another Google search I found that it means “The conventional spelling system of a language.” Basically, orthography is a fancy way of saying spelling.

As I sat and pondered how I would find the books I needed for the annotated bibliography, I literally went to Google and searched “how to find books in the library”. (Judge me if you wish, I judged myself) Surprisingly, I found a great site that explained the Dewey decimal system. Good thing I discovered from a trusty librarian that the BYU library uses the Library of Congress classification…

So, after another, yes another, Google search for “Library of Congress classification”, I found THIS!

I figured that I should understand how the organizational system of the library works in order for me to actually find the books I need. After I read through and got a semi-solid basis of understanding, I went the BYU library website.