The process of writing a research paper-The begining. CM1120 #5

It is November 21, 2011. We have known about this project for about a month now, and I will be the first to openly admit, that I have done absolutely nothing towards this paper. Actually; that is a lie. I searched for some sources Saturday. The only disheartening issue about this, is the fact that I need to go to the library and request use of these sources; and the library was closed for exactly the hour break I had in my schedule this morning. I am unable to do anything more to this research paper, until I recieve these sources.

Do you not just love procastination? I had not intended to put it off this long. University life is so hectic, it's hard to schedule a time to work on something related to a research project. Along with being in five university level courses, I also need to make time for tutoring two people, spending time in the physics research lab, and two seven hour shifts during the weekends. Add that to all the piled up homework, upcoming tests, other assignments, cooking, eating and sleeping; making time to research seems like a very unimportant task when you have five or six weeks before it is due. About two weeks after we were told about the research project, I left town for a week. This also set back the time for my research, but I also put it off for another week after I returned home to catch up with school work.

So here I am, with ten days until this big paper is due, and near to nothing completed. Stay tuned for "The process of writing a research paper-continued".

Punctuation. CM1120 #4

Growing up I basically taught myself how to read in English. Taking French immersion it wasn't in the curriculum until the third grade. I learned through "Archie Comics". I really enjoyed them, they were very entertaining to me at the time, and the vocabulary used in them was simple enough to understand by sounding out the syllables.When the fourth grade came around and we were expected to read novels in both English and French, I began to find myself growing throughly interested in reading bigger novels. I am pretty sure by the sixth grade I have read every single "Goosebump" novel written, along with several very interesting Stephen King novels, including "Duma Key"; which is my favorite novel, and the entire "Gunslinger" series; which is seven novels with about 1000 pages in each.

I considered myself to have a very high end vocabulary for my age at the time, and I enjoyed creative writing in my spare time (When I wasn't reading my seven novels I would take out from the library every week). In English classes and creative writing classes I always loved to write my essays and show off my writing skills.

Now in CM1120; a university level English course, and the first university English course I have ever taken, I am told to work on my punctuation. Every essay I write there is a compliment on my writing skills; "You are an excellent writer! But please work on your punctuation." Out of the three essays we've written so far, all the comments remain similar. I know to improve on somthing as simple as punctuation, you simply need to practice and understand the concepts, but francly I do not understand how to improve on somthing if every time you practice it you are creating the same result. Incompetant punctuation. See, that was a fragment sentance, because I improperly used my punctuation. I understand that, but fixing it just seems impossible to me, when I read it, it makes complete sense to leave it as a fragment sentence. I find it difficult to make my writing flow and be coherent while using proper punctuation. In my mind it does not fit correctly.

That would be a rant on punctuation in my opinion. What opinions do you have about punctuation? Any comments on how I may improve this error in my writing? Any corrections on my punctuation in this post?