HUM 103 is killing me...

[ExistentialCrisis]

All I have read on here are tales of how HUM 103 was such an easy A, but here I am with one week left in the term and just got my paper kicked back because it wasn't "academic enough". The professor is Frusciante and I know that is not the professor that I have seen other people writing about... I was pretty much told that my opinions and ideas don't matter unless I can support them with other people's published opinions and ideas, and the solution to the problem isn't a solution unless someone else has tried it and published something about it and I can cite it (not to say I didn't cite anything)... This makes my "problem" (aka topic) incredibly difficult to write about considering it's a very specific topic about my town... At this point, I think I'm going to have to scrap the entire thing and start all over again and just hope that it's what she wants. The topic was the most difficult part for me because I live in a bubble, haven't had a job in 9 years, and most topics given for examples in the instructions aren't relevant to my life. I'm sure I'm overthinking this whole thing... Does anyone have any helpful tips or examples of the topic they chose?    I guess I'm just looking for inspiration... ugh.

[path_seeker]

You got unlucky. No one had a difficulty with HUM 103 till now. We are happy to have Dr. Z as a professor.

[PrettyFlyforaChiGuy]

1. What is the topic you're writing about?
2. What sources do you have based on it?

[rachel83az]

I would definitely not choose a highly specific local topic unless you come from somewhere like NYC. NYC has lots of stuff written about it because it is so big.

I don't know what you're supposed to write about for HUM103, but can you apply your topic to the entire region/state? Example: you think the local parking meters are corrupt. Your town still has the old analogue meters and you think they've been tampered with to tick faster than they should, so people are getting tickets after 10 minutes instead of 15. Instead of writing about your town and how you think this is terrible, write about state or national statistics and how often something like this happens, vs how fair modern digital parking meters are. Something alone those lines.

You have the entire internet at your fingertips. You might live in a bubble in a small town, but you no longer have to be restricted by that. If you were, you wouldn't have found this forum in the first place!

[wildebeest]

All I have read on here are tales of how HUM 103 was such an easy A, but here I am with one week left in the term and just got my paper kicked back because it wasn't "academic enough". The professor is Frusciante and I know that is not the professor that I have seen other people writing about... I was pretty much told that my opinions and ideas don't matter unless I can support them with other people's published opinions and ideas, and the solution to the problem isn't a solution unless someone else has tried it and published something about it and I can cite it (not to say I didn't cite anything)... This makes my "problem" (aka topic) incredibly difficult to write about considering it's a very specific topic about my town... At this point, I think I'm going to have to scrap the entire thing and start all over again and just hope that it's what she wants. The topic was the most difficult part for me because I live in a bubble, haven't had a job in 9 years, and most topics given for examples in the instructions aren't relevant to my life. I'm sure I'm overthinking this whole thing... Does anyone have any helpful tips or examples of the topic they chose?    I guess I'm just looking for inspiration... ugh.

Yeah, I think most of us had Dr. Zaborney. 

While it might be pain to start from scratch, it sounds like you'd possibly be better off choosing a topic that you can find peer-reviewed papers about on JSTOR, as your professor seems to be focusing on the research aspect as opposed to the argument aspect. 

(I just checked my final, since I didn't remember what it was, and I did a 10-page paper on heat islands with 14 sources: two peer-reviewed, six government, and six news items.)

Obviously, your interests are your interests, and I don't remember the final prompt, but free or reduced-price school meals, the academic benefits of athletic participation, homelessness and its remedies, public transportation, and the privatization of utilities are all topics that have been fairly widely researched and could probably be tied back to your town in one way, shape, or form.

[BossupTone]

I pass this class with all 4s in 2 days tops me I can help you
Dr.Zaborney is a great professor one of the best here.

[ss20ts]

It sounds like you didn't have enough research to back up your solution. Did you meet the references requirements? If the instructions say you need a minimum of 3 references, it's ok to have 6. The more the better. I don't know if I would start over because you're out of time to submit a Rough Draft. Whatever you submit now will be your grade. I would go back and add a ton of research. Have you contacted the professor for some help in asking more specifics about what they are looking for?

[Claudia P]

All I have read on here are tales of how HUM 103 was such an easy A, but here I am with one week left in the term and just got my paper kicked back because it wasn't "academic enough". The professor is Frusciante and I know that is not the professor that I have seen other people writing about... I was pretty much told that my opinions and ideas don't matter unless I can support them with other people's published opinions and ideas, and the solution to the problem isn't a solution unless someone else has tried it and published something about it and I can cite it (not to say I didn't cite anything)... This makes my "problem" (aka topic) incredibly difficult to write about considering it's a very specific topic about my town... At this point, I think I'm going to have to scrap the entire thing and start all over again and just hope that it's what she wants. The topic was the most difficult part for me because I live in a bubble, haven't had a job in 9 years, and most topics given for examples in the instructions aren't relevant to my life. I'm sure I'm overthinking this whole thing... Does anyone have any helpful tips or examples of the topic they chose?    I guess I'm just looking for inspiration... ugh.

Oh, my goodness.  I wish I had seen this sooner.  I, too, had a very difficult time with this professor - Frusciante.  I was wishing I had taken the Creative Writing class instead.

I have taken seven classes so far at UMPI, and done really well in all of them - A's in every class.  I, too, had chosen HUM 103 based on the comments in this forum, and never expected to have a professor that is so difficult to understand and to work with.  I asked her to provide examples of what she wanted because her critiques are written in the most confusing way - I couldn't understand what she wanted.

As far as what to write about, I would pick a city-wide or local problem that is a common issue (so you can find lots of reference material) and something that you are familiar with or that has already been resolved and you're familiar with the solution.  For example, homelessness in an area of your city and how additional shelters were built; traffic issues in your city and no one wants a freeway, so the city implemented executive commuter buses that go directly from the shopping mall to downtown; or an attempt by your city to revitalize the downtown area and they received grant money from an organization that specifically funds these projects.  Then, ad-lib.  You may not actually know the people that solved the problem, but make up your own scenario for how that team helped resolve it, and write about them specifically - e.g.:  Holly Jones had the intellectual humility to gather her team and brainstorm every possible solution to the problem regardless of budget.  Holly and her team persevered to find a solution because they are committed to helping people in their community....... 

Anyhow, in my case, I finally figured out that this professor wanted me to cite a lot (oh, no, a lot lot lot) and that she wanted many citations from the material in the curriculum, too.

For example, my final paper was about a public school district that wants to provide better preparation for high school graduates with disabilities to move on into the workforce.  My final paper was 20 pages long (double-spaced) and I had 22+ citations, including 8 citations of material in the curriculum.  In my paper, at any point where I made a comment about something that is commonly known, I still found it somewhere in a study, or in an article, or legitimate source and cited it.  For example, I made the following comment in my paper - "many employers have a perception that young adults with disabilities are untrainable," 
I found an actual research paper or legitimate source where that assumption is actually stated and I cited it.
I don't yet have a grade in the class, but she accepted my paper, told me I did well, and still told me in the comments that I need to provide citations for everything.  She said, "there is never such a thing as too many citations."

So, yes, for any future UMPI students that might take this class and get this professor (Frusciatne), you will probably be okay if you find citations for everything.  Make sure to also cite the content of the curriculum A LOT.

PM me if you need help with citing the curriculum.  I had the most difficult time with that, and was fortunate to be able to reach my English Comp professor from the community college I previously attended.  He helped me get the format correct for my curriculum citations. 

I am so glad to be finished with this class!  I feel your pain.  Best of luck to you!

[Alim83]

All I have read on here are tales of how HUM 103 was such an easy A, but here I am with one week left in the term and just got my paper kicked back because it wasn't "academic enough". The professor is Frusciante and I know that is not the professor that I have seen other people writing about... I was pretty much told that my opinions and ideas don't matter unless I can support them with other people's published opinions and ideas, and the solution to the problem isn't a solution unless someone else has tried it and published something about it and I can cite it (not to say I didn't cite anything)... This makes my "problem" (aka topic) incredibly difficult to write about considering it's a very specific topic about my town... At this point, I think I'm going to have to scrap the entire thing and start all over again and just hope that it's what she wants. The topic was the most difficult part for me because I live in a bubble, haven't had a job in 9 years, and most topics given for examples in the instructions aren't relevant to my life. I'm sure I'm overthinking this whole thing... Does anyone have any helpful tips or examples of the topic they chose?    I guess I'm just looking for inspiration... ugh.

Oh, my goodness.  I wish I had seen this sooner.  I, too, had a very difficult time with this professor - Frusciante.  I was wishing I had taken the Creative Writing class instead.

I have taken seven classes so far at UMPI, and done really well in all of them - A's in every class.  I, too, had chosen HUM 103 based on the comments in this forum, and never expected to have a professor that is so difficult to understand and to work with.  I asked her to provide examples of what she wanted because her critiques are written in the most confusing way - I couldn't understand what she wanted.

As far as what to write about, I would pick a city-wide or local problem that is a common issue (so you can find lots of reference material) and something that you are familiar with or that has already been resolved and you're familiar with the solution.  For example, homelessness in an area of your city and how additional shelters were built; traffic issues in your city and no one wants a freeway, so the city implemented executive commuter buses that go directly from the shopping mall to downtown; or an attempt by your city to revitalize the downtown area and they received grant money from an organization that specifically funds these projects.  Then, ad-lib.  You may not actually know the people that solved the problem, but make up your own scenario for how that team helped resolve it, and write about them specifically - e.g.:  Holly Jones had the intellectual humility to gather her team and brainstorm every possible solution to the problem regardless of budget.  Holly and her team persevered to find a solution because they are committed to helping people in their community....... 

Anyhow, in my case, I finally figured out that this professor wanted me to cite a lot (oh, no, a lot lot lot) and that she wanted many citations from the material in the curriculum, too.

For example, my final paper was about a public school district that wants to provide better preparation for high school graduates with disabilities to move on into the workforce.  My final paper was 20 pages long (double-spaced) and I had 22+ citations, including 8 citations of material in the curriculum.  In my paper, at any point where I made a comment about something that is commonly known, I still found it somewhere in a study, or in an article, or legitimate source and cited it.  For example, I made the following comment in my paper - "many employers have a perception that young adults with disabilities are untrainable," 
I found an actual research paper or legitimate source where that assumption is actually stated and I cited it.
I don't yet have a grade in the class, but she accepted my paper, told me I did well, and still told me in the comments that I need to provide citations for everything.  She said, "there is never such a thing as too many citations."

So, yes, for any future UMPI students that might take this class and get this professor (Frusciatne), you will probably be okay if you find citations for everything.  Make sure to also cite the content of the curriculum A LOT.

PM me if you need help with citing the curriculum.  I had the most difficult time with that, and was fortunate to be able to reach my English Comp professor from the community college I previously attended.  He helped me get the format correct for my curriculum citations. 

I am so glad to be finished with this class!  I feel your pain.  Best of luck to you!

Maybe a silly question... how do you cite the content of the curriculum

[Claudia P]

Hello.  That is a great question.  Here are examples of all of my citations in APA format.  Purdue Owl does a better job than I of explaining the difference between paranthetical and narrative citations in the event my explanation is unclear.  The in-text citations were good enough for the milestones.

For the in-text citations, here is an example of a narrative citation (where the curriculum itself is referred to in your paper):  
The development of this program transpired due to several factors as set forth in the chapter on “Exploring the Affective Components of Critical Thinking” in the curriculum for Creative and Critical Thinking course (2023).

Here is an example of an in-text paranthetical citation (where the information from the curriculum is referenced or quoted, but the curriculum itself is not directly mentioned in your paper):
(“Exploring the Affective Components of Critical Thinking,” 2023). 

For the final paper, I included in-text citations in the body of the paper and then at the end, I included the APA formatted References list (example below).

Exploring the Affective Components of Critical Thinking in Affective Components. (2023). in D. Frusciante (Ed), HUM 103: Creative and Critical Thinking. University of Maine Presque Isle.
(the first part is the name of the chapter, the part in italics is the name of the unit. when the published date is not available, use current date that you read material. use the professor's name as the editor (Ed.), and write out the complete name of the class.)

She accepted all of my citations and never criticized any of the format.  I think she was probably just happy that I referenced the curriculum.  I hope that helps.