Blog 9

What was most significant to you about the Our People's History Project? 
The most significant thing in Our People's Project is how much information I was able to get out of my interview. The interview was a pain to transcribe but when you breakdown an interview you begin to see the whole picture. And when you want to relate to a firsthand account it becomes easier to look up when you have everything written out for you. 

What do you feel that you learned from the project? 
Through out this project I learned more about what my grandmother went through. Before his nonfiction narrative I only knew small parts and details about her past. I also learned about the corruption Indonesia went through. Also how the leaders of Indonesia governed there country, and the extend of there abuse. 

What are you most proud of in the narrative nonfiction story that you wrote? 
I am really proud at the fact that I was able to write 3 totally different stories. I was able to create two stories about the history of Indonesia and my final try I created a story in a first person format. 

What surprised you about the project—what happened along the way that you did not expect? 
What I did not expect during this project was how hard it was to begin writing a story. I am usually able to just start writing something down and continuing from there but for some reason I was not able to start my story off this way.

What lessons are you taking as you go forward with your Humanities (and overall) education? 
One lesson I am taking with me as I go forward is that if you have a choice to write about whatever you want in whatever format you want do not write a nonfiction narrative. Other than that I learned that weaving a facts with a story brings out a relationship to you. When the author is describing a scene completely different from my area of expertise and the author relates it to something the general public might know it becomes easier to comprehend. 

8

My main character is working against all odds trying to achieve her dream. I am trying to show her determination even though she knows that she will not be chosen. Just like this picture my character is fighting an uphill battle. And the rock signifies how much of a lead her friend has over her.   

The city it self isn't what I am bringing to life. I am trying to expose the corruption and poverty Indonesia shows in the 1960. Even though Indonesia is industrialized it is still far behind the rest of the world.   

The main conflict I am talking about is how corrupt politics are. I am trying to show how an average person gets cheated out. When you look at the person who won and you tell them you cheated your going to get a reaction, but when you get the story from a the person who lost you see the determination they the put out to get what they wanted.

What we should do to make your nonfiction narratives presentable is have one last critique from a group of 5 or 6. When you have a bigger group the points that are repeated tell you what you should fix and when you are told you get a good job on this it tells the author what he should mimic to make his story better. Also, when someone is struggling on a part of his story he can see what other people like an try to structure the story the same way the other person did.   

Blog 7

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Road

The Road by: Cormac McCarty 

Publication Date: September 26, 2006

Quote:

"There is no god and we are his prophets."

This quote shows how horrible the living conditions were in the time the man and the child were living. It shows how the god the man see's is the god of death and despair and how he and his son are just there to show the world what is left. This quote is very inspirational because it shows how little hope there is in the world in one short simple sentence. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Catcher_in_the_Rye

Catcher in the Rye by: J.D. Salinger 
Publication date: July 16, 1951

Quote: 
" All mothers are slightly insane."
This quote is very inspirational because it appeals to the audience. Not only is the quote true but most people can say ya their mom's are a bit crazy and when they can connect like this they tend to like the book more. Its not an inspirational quote by itself its what the reader thinks is what makes it important.  This book was originally meant to be an adult book but the themes in this book have to deal with teenagers. 

Blog 6

1. "There are fewer than five hundred flavorists in the United States, and they almost never speak about their work outside their laboratories.Hagen is thirty-five. She is a brunette, with straight hair that falls just below her shoulders. She is not thin, but her face is, and it lights up easily." - The Taste Makers

1. I appreciate the fact that the author of this article follows the exact same format all narrative nonfiction follows. It really helps drive the point home on how you should try to blend in facts with the story
2. Reader being me and the fact that we are writing a narrative nonfiction article show that I should craft my story the same way I see many other authors do. Have a fact and then weave it through a story. Also to included little facts that add to the statistics.
3. I will try to use this example and work of of its structure. I will want to show the statistics of Chinese growth in medicine, like how many became doctors before the 1960 and during 1960 and how many became doctors during the 1960's. After i show this statistic I want to put the part in where my grandma wanted to become a doctor. And how she had to go against her best friend to follow her dreams.

2. "To begin, you must master the controller. On the Xbox 360 controller, which looks like a catamaran, there are seventeen possible points of contact. There’s the left trigger and the right trigger, the left bumper and the right bumper, two mushroom-shaped joysticks, a circular four-way pad, two small white buttons, each with triangles molded into them, and a silver dome in the middle that glows green when you press it."
- Painkiller Death streak

1. What i appreciate about this quote is how much detail he puts into describing the controller. He could of just said that here are 4 butons on the back, 2 joy sticks, and 10 buttons on the front.  
2. This quote impacted me because I know whats on a controller. I use to play xbox a lot and I know the buttons inside and out. And the fact that the author put a huge description on each button shows how much attention to detail he has.
3. I would like to use this idea in my story by implementing a huge amount of detail to every single line. And I am not going to skip over the little details like the design of each button. A simple little detail to me would be a big detail for someone who has not played video games before.

3. "A rifle protruded from the young man's pack, but he looked friendly enough; a hitchhiker with a Remington semi-automatic isn't the sort of thing that gives motorists pause in the 49th state. Gallien steered his four-by-four on to the shoulder and told him to climb in."

1. I appreciate how the author gives two different perspectives. When you see someone standing alone in the freezing weather in Alaska you would pick them up. But the fact that the author added that he had a Remington semi automatic would give you second thoughts.
2. When a reader reads this you think first of how bad this man must of felt. Being stuck in the Alaska with no mean of any other transportation. And how much food can one person carry in one bag. So you would generally feel bad about this man. But when you see the rifle in his back you think twice.
3. I would want this idea of people thinking twice about the text. I would give them Suharto's reason for creating the law and them i would give them them a point of view of my grandmother who was affected by the law,
   
   

BLOG #5

Post an idea that you got from looking at professional examples (and post what professional example that it came from!).

An idea I got from looking at other students interviews is the set up Adriana used in her interview. She bolded her answers. She was clearly able to show ho was talking and I hope that I could do that to my interview. 

Post an idea that you got from looking at professional examples (and post what professional example that it came from!).
 An idea I got from looking at a professional interview is what was in the article. In Julian Assange Rolling Stones interview the article provided background information on who Julian Assange. But they added the setting before the interview. They described the way Julian looked and what was happening around the house he lived in. They also told us the location of the interview. They also included the setting and environment in the Barack Obama Rolling Stones interview.  
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/julian-assange-the-rolling-stone-interview-20120118


Post a challenge that you are working on—what is giving you some trouble?

One major problem I am having while working on the interview is that I am having trouble getting the time zones correct. It states that Suharto the dictator who passes the laws that limits the admittance of minorities into medical school came into power in 1968 buy my grandma tried to become a doctor in 1958.  So either my grandma got the dates wrong or Suharto passed the laws before he came into power. Also I cannot find when the laws were passed. Indonesia has a very corrupt government and not all facts about it will be correct. Indonesia has secrets hidden and won't admit to them, so finding exact information on the internet that is reliable will be very difficult 

Post something has gone well so far.
One thing that has gone well for me during this project is how efficient i am getting my work done. I have been ahead of the schedule for all the work Randy assigned us before he left. I have been able to finish the classwork and homework in class and all i would have for homework is to continue reading the book.  


Post something that surprised you while working on your interview, article, etc.
One thing that surprised me was how much extra information I have to included in the interview so the reader will understand what I am saying. Terms I know very well and easy talk to my family about is confusing to a reader. 

Post something you that you are proud of.

What I am very proud of is my interview. I did not like the idea of interviewing my grandma about politics. My family isn't very fond of politics so I was worrying that I would not be able to get any information out of my grandma. But I am proud that my questions opened up my grandma and she told me how she grew up.  

Blog #4

I am reading Manhunt by James L. Swanson. Manhunt is about Abraham Lincoln's killer and how he was hunted down. The story took place over a 12 day span. 

What stands out to me is how detailed the book is. And how much information the author was able to present. And how accurate the accounts are. Turning first hand accounts into a story and trying to keep it interesting is difficult. And how James L. Swanson gives the characters life. 

Goals i have for reading to be able to stay with the deadline. I tend to fall behind on my reading and say ill make it up the following day. I did that this weekend and I had to read all sunday just to catch up. So hopefully I won;t make that mistake again. 

Blog #3

I have the same goal as I did last year for writing. To get an A on one major writing assignment. During my 9th grade year writing was very hard for me so I gave up on my writing but during my 10th grade year Maria pushed me to strive for my goal. I was able to get this goal by going to a majority the office hours after school during the period of the essay. I am going to try to do that again this year.

Catcher in the Rye. J.D. Salinger 

The author gave you pieces of the puzzle that you would not know until you finished the book. Once you have finished the book you see all the foreshadows that the author sneaked in that I missed when I first started reading it.  I like this because I want to be able to incorporate my ideas at the beginning and have the reader understand the theme or moral of the story at the end. I want to do this in Our People's History by putting in the idea of perseverance my grandma had in becoming a doctor and having the reader understand at the end. 

The Road by Cormac McCarthy

This book had very descriptive detail. The author made me feel like I was in the book. I was afraid to learn what happens to the boy and the man. I want to be able to make the reader feel like they are living in the story of my grandma. Having to fell the disappoint of having your dreams turned don twice. Having your goal in life shut in front of you. I also want the reader to fell the setting the same way Cormac McCarty made me me through out The Road.

Blog #2 Excellent Interviews Post

Explain what you find excellent about these interviews by answering some (or, if you choose, all) of the following questions: 
* What stands out most about this interview? 
* What ideas, techniques or other things can you take from this interviewer? 
* What questions do you want to ask the interviewer? 
* What are the "best" sections of the final, printed interview? 
* What makes this interview "work" for the reader? 

1. http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/ready-for-the-fight-rolling-stone-interview-with-barack-obama-20120425
The point that stands out the most was how the interviewer was able to smoothly flow from subject to subject. They flowed through problems in the Middle East to what was his favorite TV shows. How the interviewer's questions flowed, not jumping back and forth through each subject. Also the fact that the interviewer was able to address the main points he was coming to get but also a side less serious.
A technique I am going to take away from this interview is how smooth the interview was. I tend to ask a question before the person is done answering. I am going to wait and try to relate the previous question to the next. Also I am going to try to address all the main point of the interview and a side that is not to serious.
A question I would want to ask the interviewer is how did he plan out his questions. Did he write down a bunch of questions and if the person did not answer the way he liked did he just skip the next question or did he spin the next question he had to answer the previous one. Or did he just skip the subject overall if the answer was no where close to the next idea.
The best section of the interview was the beginning before the actual interview. It gave us an insight to what the setting was. And how the person we are interviewing was going through throughout the day or what he had planned. 
What makes the interview work for the reader was the big bold text for the question followed by the response. You can clearly see what the question was and the response to the question.  

2.http://www.rollingstone.com/culture/news/ryan-lochte-considers-a-post-swimming-basketball-career-20120905
What stood out in this interview was the fact that a big name in one sport is going to thinking about switching sports. Also the fact that most interviews are long answers and this interview was short and to the point.
One technique I am going to take from this interview was the variety of question the interviewer had for the person. He/she had a vast knowledge of what the subject had done in the past and what others thought about his acts.
One question I would have to ask the interviewer is what was the look on his face during the entire interview. And why didn't you ask deeper questions about him, like what is your plan for the next olympics. 
One thing that stood out and became the best section of the interview was the blue highlights. The change in color caught my eye and I was more prone to read that part of the article than the rest.
What makes the interview work for the reader is the format. And how simple and short the answers and questions were.