Why i selected this topic
When it came to choosing a topic for this research project, I didn't have a specific region or country in mind, but I did know that I wanted to focus my research question on politics. In the next election I will be able to vote and I want to be fully educated on political issues when that time comes, and being educated on world issues is part of that. In addition to that, I was also intrigued how other countries' political issues mirrored and differed from the United State's problems. I searched around for a while, not finding anything that was interesting, but when I saw that a controversial president had been elected in Brazil, it immediately caught my attention because I was able to draw parallels between Bolsonaro and Trump. After finding a few more articles to make sure there was enough information on it, I had formed my basis research question: how will the election of Bolsonaro as president affect the citizens of Brazil?
my research process
One of the very first struggles I faced was that my question had to be more specific because at the time it was too broad, and the goal was to make my paper clear and concise. I skimmed my way through several articles and periodicals I found just browsing through Google, and through finding out more information about Bolsonaro and what he promised to bring with his presidency, and since this event was very recent it was hard to narrow down on one element of Bolsonaro's campaign promises. However, after finding an article featuring specific information about some policies he intended to enforce, I decided that I should narrow my question down to how his presidency would affect the economic well-being of the citizens of Brazil.
The process of actually collecting information for my research essay was smooth and easy because there were several periodicals and many studies that I was able to find using the professional databases, and the note card taking strategy allowed me to collect my information effectively. The only thing I might consider to be a struggle was that I had to learn a lot of background information about Brazil; what the last president's policies were, what Brazil struggles with the most economically, what Bolsonaro's policies were and what they meant, and how people thought it would affect the country. Unfortunately, because the election was so recent, a lot of responses to Bolsonaro's policies were speculative, so it was difficult to find concrete evidence of the actual effect it would have on people.
The first step of my research project was overall a smooth process, but where I struggled most was actually writing my essay and bringing all my information together in a way that would effectively present my argument. I wasn't sure how to divide my essay into paragraphs, and I knew that each topic sentence had to relate back to my thesis statement, which made it difficult for me to include background information about Brazil without feeling like I was going off-topic. Another large struggle I faced was making sure the information I wrote about was understandable. Something that I had to do throughout this whole process is learn more in-depth information about certain economic issues and forms of government. Although I understood what I was writing about, I wanted to make sure it didn't seem like a huge jumble of unintelligible sentences from the point of view of someone who is uneducated. One of the biggest struggles that I faced in writing my essay was utilizing rhetorical strategies correctly and using them often. I wanted to have an equal balance of ethos, logos, and pathos, and it was difficult to include pathos because the majority of my data was statistical, not to mention that when discussing economics it was difficult to find emotional appeal. I ended up having to provide most of my pathos in the evaluation of the data I collected, which was a long and difficult process.
Since I finished writing this essay, nothing has changed about his economic policies, but Bolsonaro has withdrawn from a UN Compact on Migration, which means that there will be stricter immigration policies in Brazil. Bolsonaro's goal is to make the country safer for his citizens, and this is a step in the right direction.
The process of actually collecting information for my research essay was smooth and easy because there were several periodicals and many studies that I was able to find using the professional databases, and the note card taking strategy allowed me to collect my information effectively. The only thing I might consider to be a struggle was that I had to learn a lot of background information about Brazil; what the last president's policies were, what Brazil struggles with the most economically, what Bolsonaro's policies were and what they meant, and how people thought it would affect the country. Unfortunately, because the election was so recent, a lot of responses to Bolsonaro's policies were speculative, so it was difficult to find concrete evidence of the actual effect it would have on people.
The first step of my research project was overall a smooth process, but where I struggled most was actually writing my essay and bringing all my information together in a way that would effectively present my argument. I wasn't sure how to divide my essay into paragraphs, and I knew that each topic sentence had to relate back to my thesis statement, which made it difficult for me to include background information about Brazil without feeling like I was going off-topic. Another large struggle I faced was making sure the information I wrote about was understandable. Something that I had to do throughout this whole process is learn more in-depth information about certain economic issues and forms of government. Although I understood what I was writing about, I wanted to make sure it didn't seem like a huge jumble of unintelligible sentences from the point of view of someone who is uneducated. One of the biggest struggles that I faced in writing my essay was utilizing rhetorical strategies correctly and using them often. I wanted to have an equal balance of ethos, logos, and pathos, and it was difficult to include pathos because the majority of my data was statistical, not to mention that when discussing economics it was difficult to find emotional appeal. I ended up having to provide most of my pathos in the evaluation of the data I collected, which was a long and difficult process.
Since I finished writing this essay, nothing has changed about his economic policies, but Bolsonaro has withdrawn from a UN Compact on Migration, which means that there will be stricter immigration policies in Brazil. Bolsonaro's goal is to make the country safer for his citizens, and this is a step in the right direction.