Reflection on Essay #4

Essay 4 which was the research project was a great experience. Interviewing people about writing was more enjoyable and interesting than I thought it would be. All the interviews were laid back and I wasn't nervous about interviewing people because I was interviewing people I am around everyday. The interviews helped me receive information about my friends and family that I did not know before. I learned a lot about my mother's views and experiences with writing, The hardest part was just putting the interview on paper. That in itself was not that difficult. I had the interview on a different paper and I just had to type it up and type up my response to the interview and what I thought about the project as a whole. Overall, this was a good project to end the year. Even though this is not the final essay, it felt like the final essay.

Research Project Blog

This research project is definitely the longest assignment we have had so far. It really hasn't been as difficult as I thought it would be. I have realized with an assignment as long as this, it is best to create a schedule. You work on some of the assignment and some of it another day. Doing it in pieces is the best way to approach. I started doing the interviews first. After I was finished with the interviews, I started typing immediately. I typed my introduction and that was it. Then the next day I typed the questions I asked to the first person I interviewed and their responses. I am currently typing the questions I asked the second interviewee followed by their responses. If I keep up with my current schedule, I should have everything done by Friday, maybe Saturday at the latest. I still have to write the questions and responses from the third interviewee, my response and conclusion but scheduling the assignment out has really helped me and I should finish it a couple days before it is due.

Response to Mo Yan

I really enjoyed reading Mo Yan's preface to his novel. It was interesting reading about his life and how it was a struggle for him to get on his feet and move on with his life. He came from a poor family and lived in a poor area of China. The main problem he had while he was growing up was having enough food to eat. In the first couple pages he says that he was a skinny kid and he was so skinny to the pint where you could see his bones sticking out. I think that the fact that he included his struggles as a young kid actually kept readers interested and people who read his work would want to continue reading to see how he dealt with the problems and he overcame them to be the writer he is today. Another thing that makes his writing enjoyable to read was he added to humor to his work. Even though he was talking about his struggles, he still tried to make the reader laugh by using sarcasm. He also says that he was never a writer that wrote with big words or with vivid details. He was a writer that was simple and straight to the point and that what was so great about his work. I can relate to this because I feel like I am the same type of writer. It was enjoyable to read his work and his speech at CCNY on Monday should be interesting.

Mission Statement For My Next Work

I want to be able to show my readers how writing is viewed by people of different age, gender, and ethnicity. I would also like to know more about my friends' and family's writing experiences. Lastly, I want to gain more confidence with interviewing so when I interview people in the future, I will find it a lot easier which will make my interviews better as a whole.