Confession: I am obsessed with the History Channel.
When my husband and I first moved into our house last year, we didn't have cable for the first few months. It really didn't bother me that much because we were busy setting things up and buying stuff for the house. Yet as soon as we got cable, we realized how much we were missing. I came home from work on the day of installation to him sitting on the couch with the remote. "Babe, you gotta watch this show." It was Swamp People on the History channel. Since that show, we have both been hooked on the channel and 90% of the shows we watch are on it. I have always been a fan of history as a subject in school, but now I just love it. My husband and I religiously follow Swamp People, American Pickers, and Pawn Stars--all shows that I was reminded of while reading through "What is Oral History." The first quote that stuck out to me was "oral history is, at its heart, a dialogue." Al of the shows I mentioned are just that. Swamp People is more of a reality show because we never meet the "interviewer" ,yet we still get to find out relevant facts and histories because of the director and producer of the show. The characters talk about the dangers of their profession and they frequently talk about the history of it. In the other two shows, American Pickers and Pawn Stars, we kind of know the interviewers because they are characters in the show. The American Pickers stars go around the country looking for antiques and in the process meet and talk to the owners of said antiques. I must say they come across some characters. These owners then tell their personal connection to the item and the actual history of it. In Pawn Stars, the pawn shop owners ask questions to the clients who come in with items to sell or pawn. This is all dialogue, and though it is not called "oral history" per say, I don't see how it couldn't be lumped into that genre. The next quote that stuck out to me was "Just because someone 'was there' doesn't mean they fully understood 'what happened', and this really relates to the reliability of the narrator. An interviewer must make sure the interviewee is a credible source to the best of their ability. No one is perfect, but an effort must be made. This is also something the both of the stars in American Pickers and Pawn Stars must consider. If they are not sure about information an owner is telling them about an item, they get their trusted professional appraisers to weigh in. It is always interesting to see who is and who isn't telling the whole truth about their items. The last point that reminded me of my shows was that a better interview will be produced if it is given adequate time and if it be done some place comfortable. In American Pickers, the stars stress to establish a connection with the people they are buying from because then they can bargain comfortably with them. This would be the same idea if I were to do an oral history about something with a person. If the subject is touchy or overtly personal, the last thing I want to do would be to jump right into it and be too blunt. The interview must be given time to develop in order to provide a reliable, complete, and compelling oral history account. All in all, now I understand why I like these shows so much. I have always been a fan of history, and with personal stories intertwined in these shows, I am able to learn and obtain even more. I can place faces and places with dates and times in history and now it is much more personal experience for me.
Clandinin and Connelly provided interesting examples in "Narrative Inquiry-Experience and Story in Qualitative Research" to persuade writers, and everyone for that matter to use narrative inquiry when they write, and really throughout the whole writing process. They explained how different our points of view can be at different times of our lives and in different situations by using characters and examples throughout their piece. The first quote/passage that struck and kind of explained narrative inquiry was: "With this sense of Dewey's foundational place in our thinking about narrative inquiry, our terms are personal and social (interaction); past, present, and future (continuity); combined with the notion of place (situation). This set of terms creates a metaphorical three dimensional narrative inquiry space, with temporality along one dimension, the personal and the social along a second dimension, and place along a third" (50). In this thought, Clandinin and Connelly stressed the importance of writers thinking along these three lines. Any situation researched has to consider the interaction the writer has with it and the past, present, and future of that interaction. In other words, research can not really remain in one place forever. Outside variables are going to effect it and change it, and that is OK. Research should be in fact, re-researched by others to confirm its validity, and also to place its relevance in a new time period. Another point that I liked was found in one of quoted sections. Clandinin and Connelly talked about writing and remembering from a "place within a place". A group of educators met and Karen Whelan talked about how she struggled with always marking a kid as "failing" (57). When another researcher, Jean, in her group heard her remarks again via tape-recoder, she was instantly reminded of her childhood classroom and childhood struggles. By recounting her own past, Jean was better able to connect with the difficulties that present students were having. Both situations were situated in the same place--school, but the times and contexts were different. Even still, Jean was able to mentally go through her narrative and use it to her advantage. And that is exactly what narrative inquiry is supposed to do. The last quote I liked was, "Narrative inquiry is a relational inquiry as we work in the field, move from field to field text, and from field text to research text" (60). Infusing narrative into all of these steps is important. I think of narrative as a relationship, and that relationship must grow and develop through all of these stages in order to be effective.
Throughout my elementary and secondary schooling, at least through County College, I was told to keep my thoughts, my feelings, and me (as in the word I) out of my writing. My academic writing and research could have nothing to do with what I thought. WHAT? WHAT SENSE DOES THAT ACTUALLY MAKE? In the words of one of my professors, "Hang out with that for while." Been long enought yet? You'll come to see and understand that it really makes no sense. Ask a writer, or a student for that matter, to write and tell them it can't be personal. WHAT EXACTLY IS IT SUPPOSED TO BE THEN? It wasn't until I started my Writing Arts classes that I was encouraged to literally infuse my thoughts, feelings, and opinions into my own papers. At first it was a foreign, difficult concept for me, but through the semesters I have become better with it. One teacher in particular that I have this semester, encourages us during each class period to make sure we are writing about our own stories, experiences, and opinions in our papers. He wants to read more of our reasoning and ideas. Recently, he even suggested that I start one of my papers with a personal story that was embedded later in the paper. He believed it was strong, and that it would pull any reader in. This emphasized the value he placed on narrative. He even goes so far as to argue that "All writing is narrative", and I would say that is true. While reading "Situating Narrative Inquiry" by Clandinin I was continually reaffirmed that narrative needs to be included in all writing, and I don't believe there is any way around it. Consider the following quote/passage from Clandinin, "Narrative researchers use narrative in some way in their research. Narrative inquiry embraces narrative as both the method and phenomena of study. Through the attention to methods for analyzing and understanding stories lived and told, it can be connected and placed under the label of qualitative research methodology. Narrative inquiry begins in experience as expressed in lived and told stories" (5). To me, this quote is saying, why should researches leave out details about their journey through the research process? Why not tell about the struggles, the joys, and the opportunities. Not only would this engage the reader, but it may inspire them to take the same kind of journey for their own writing. Is that not what good writing is supposed to do? Inspire it's readers. There is so much that strict, academic writing hinders, and the professional educational society needs to be more aware of it. Another thought from Clandinin that stuck out to me was the following: "As researchers begin to embrace those they research as humans rather than as objects of study and as they struggle to make sense of the narratives that such interactions produce, they begin to embrace other ideas about how to make data interpretable and how to provide interpretations of data that are coherent, that resonate with the data, and that are true to them" (14). To my understanding, Clandinin was trying to express the importance of treating humans like, well, humans. Humans are imperfect. Humans are unreliable. Humans are naive. Humans are selfish. Humans are ________ (etc.) Everyone has a story, and it is that story that readers will relate to. In addition, by situating any type of research in a narrative form, the information will be more understandable and also more teachable to another group of researchers or readers yet to come. Good, solid writing stands the test of time, just like certain accounts of history, which happen to be told in story form, do. Perhaps academia should read some more and take some cues from historia? (yea, that's not a word, but it sounded good). Another quote/passage that I liked from Clandinin was found in his conclusion. It was kind of like a disclaimer for the whole chapter. He summed up the importance of more narrative in the academic discourse community, but also acknowledged that the practiced, drilled "positivism" will never leave or allow narrative to fully take over-- "This chapter does not argue for an academy-wide move to narrative. Nor, in contrast to positivist social science, does it assume that there should be unanimity among narrative practitioners on key points of philosophy, method, or argument. This is both a strength and weakness of the movement toward narrative—a strength because multiple views make for closer attention to a wider variety of human experience; a weakness because it seems unlikely that narrative will ever come to dominate the academy in the way that positivism has done since the beginning of the 20th century" (28). Honestly, I don't think narrative needs to fully take over institutions, but I do think educators need to practice it themselves and allow their students to do the same. In a world that is moving so fast, why not slow down with a personal connection? Let the reader feel closer to the writer if only through words on a page.
How has technology impacted your writing/composing? Well, it has impacted my writing in negative and positive ways. Positively, I can find information fast. If I want to write a fiction piece about Alaskan fisherman, I can easily and quickly find information on my topic. In addition, I sometimes use my Twitter account as kind of journal for story ideas. When I hear or see something, I pull the Twitter App up on my phone and tweet away. This way, I don't forget my ideas, which often happens to me. Negatively, technology distracts me. Friends text me and I text them back, wasting precious time. My phone also houses cool Apps where I can androidify myself and play Scrabble with my friends all day. It doesn't get much better than that. In addition, Facebook sucks the most time away from my writing. I start something, and then I space out, checking my Facebook page. Pretty soon I am on my friend's page, then I click on some random person in a photo, then I surf on their page for another 20 minutes. One of the writers in 'TwentySomething Essays by TwentySomething Writers' explained this phenomenon. It is almost unavoidable. Well it is avoidable, but I just can't help checking my page. I'm a bit of a Facebook stalker.
How has technology connected or made you more mindful of your writing and place? I would say that since I can easily access my classmates' writing, it makes me feel inadequate as a writer sometimes. Unfortunately, I tend to compare myself against other too much. Although at times, it can be a good thing because it forces me to write better. Other times, it completely hinders me. I stop trying and I give up--never taking risks with my own pieces. Lately, I have just been checking other people's blogs and stuff as reference. I don't spend too much time reading what they have. That way I do not get too discouraged. As far as helping me with my place for my Twitterive, it played a big part. I was able to drive by my old house and take incognito photos of it without having the new owners notice me. I also set up a YouTube account through my phone so I could show the videos of my students playing the piano. I never made or posted a video before this, so I was so happy I finally did it. The videos do a much better justice than me writing about my students. Since my focus was piano and music, having videos was a great addition to concept.
How has technology impacted your identity construction? I am pretty much the same person in real life that I am online. I don't lead a double life--it's not in my nature. However, there are things I'd like to post and say on my Facebook and Twitter pages that I know I just can't without later being shot in the foot for it. For instance, I have to be mindful of every picture I post on Facebook as a future teacher. Though I do not hang out at bars like some of my peers, I can't really even post a picture of me in a bikini at the beach in the summertime without running the risk of being fired for it. I have heard so many horror stories of teachers holding a drink in their hand while having dinner with their husband and being fired for it. If that isn't an invasion of privacy, I don't know what is. But I guess that is the technological savvy world we live in. In addition, I would like to start a political blog, or at least actively contribute to an already established one. There are things I would like to say about politics, but I have to hold them in considering my future field, which is flooded with the Left Wing. Who wants to hear the rantings of an Conservative teacher after all?
Hey everyone! Thank you for listening to the presentation of my Twitterive! Now, here are some questions: 1.) Did you like that I used the piano as kind of both a place and a character in my narrative. If yes/no, explain a little. 2.) Honestly, come on now, was my opening poem cheesy? 3.) Were the videos distracting? or did they add to the piece? Please explain your response a little. 4.) Was my Prologue and Final Thoughts section long enough? did they introduce and say farewell efficiently? Why or why not? 5.) Besides the fact that Weebly is messing up the layouts and fonts, can you suggest anything that would make my Twitterive more visually appealing and easier to understand/read through? 6.) Is there a different genre/modal you would suggest I try using for a new section or one already existing?
Who are the characters in your Twitterive? Me and my piano. I have some sub-characters that I mention, but really only in passing. What connection/disconnection do you feel to your place? I feel a connection to my place because I have been playing since I was in 4th grade. Music is such a big part of me. When does the story take place? From when I was about 9 til present Where does the story take place? Basically around the 3 different houses my piano has been Why does the story take place? I love music. I live and breathe it. How are you delivering/presenting the story? I have some pics, videos, and audio clips so I may just go off of that.
Post Interview Thoughts: After talking to my peers, I feel pretty good about my Twitterive. My interview group seemed really excited about my ideas and progress thus far. They encouraged me to go with the autobiography motif and to use me and my piano as the main characters. At first, I was not sure if that would work, but now I see the right way to do it. Now, I feel confident to pour myself into this piece, whereas before I was a little nervous to go too deep with it. My partner suggested putting pictures up of when I was little playing the piano, but I unfortunately do not have any. Yet, I am posting pictures of the houses my piano has been in and some videos of my current students. This way my audience will have a good visual to relate too. In addition, my videos have sound, and I will be adding other audio aspects to my Twitterive. By using all these modes, I hope to connect to each member of my audience in some way. Not everyone is familiar with music, but they may be familiar with heartache, moving, teaching, or animals (Yes, they all apply!) I am really looking forward to how this project will unfold.
Thus far in WRT, I have already tried things in different genres that I never have before in a writing class. Such as reading a story and writing my own microfiction inspired from it. I focused my tweets to figure out something that meant a lot to me that I could make into a narrative. And I wrote poems based on my own stories. To be honest, it has been a little tough so far, but I have enjoyed the challenge. I used Twitter in a previous class for a kind of narrative as well, but I don't think I really made it the heart of the assignment during that class. I wound up with a pretty decent story, but I am definitely more excited about what is going to happen with my new, upcoming twitterive for WRT. In regard to the poetry from the last blog, I will admit it is not my best, and this also made me realize that I need to be more descriptive in my tweets, especially if I am using them for generative purposes. I never realized how convenient Twitter really is. I can almost use it as a writing journal to jot down ideas throughout the day. But I just have to make sure my tweets are descriptive and full--not sketchy and lacking, so I'm going to work on that. I am looking forward to the rest of this class because I do see improvement in my process as a writer already. I see myself looking at things differently, and I am eagerly awaiting to see where that will take my future blogs and upcoming assignments. I am hopeful, and that is a good feeling to have as a writer.
These next two poems were written using interesting guidelines. The first, which had to be a haiku, used words directly from my previous story, "Not the Time".
Now Seven years later Hadn’t listened to mother Fix it, fix it, now
The second poem is called a "found poem". It has words and phrases taken directly from the tweets that follow. I took a little more freedom here--it is not word for word from my tweets. The phrases are mostly in tact, but I had to weave it into new prose to ma I simply could not do that.
Happy Place You’re chipped, but still beautiful; My polar opposite, We play in perfect harmony.
I’m your beast; you’re my beauty; Let’s build our perfect story, And cuddle round the fire.
The rain and hail will come, But don’t let life get in the way. Just pull me closer, hold me tighter.
I’ve found my happy place-- So happens to be near you, At the end of each and every day.
#wrt1#twitterive I just want to be home cuddling with my puppy : ( Instead, I'm stuck in school. bummer
Afterthoughts: To be honest, this was a really hard exercise to do. I feel like my poems turned out decent, but I write better when I do not have such strict guidelines. I would have rather picked one tweet and written an poem off of inspiration from that. But hey, this is learning process right? Yes, indeed.
Not the Time It was hot. In fact, it was the hottest summer day since 1971 according to the over-enthusiastic weather reporters. They warned everyone to stay inside with fans and air conditioners. I hadn’t listened. Around 9am I left my house in the only thing he left me and my mother a few years ago—his 1990, dark blue Buick. By this time, the AC in the car had stopped working. We couldn’t afford to fix it, so my mother and I just dealt with it. She didn’t want me to visit my father, but I felt I had to. It had been 7 years since I saw him, and now he had a son—my only sibling. He would be about 7 now. I turned around and looked at the basketball I had wrapped for him, my little brother. I felt like I had to make up for lost time. Nothing was his fault—simply the product of selfish choices. I continued driving as it got hotter and hotter inside the car. At this point, it felt as if my car was flowing down a lava of highway. I had done my makeup as best I could, but that would be melted away by the time I made to the front door. I looked quickly in the rearview mirror. Black streaks were trickling down from under my eyes, and the light green shadow was stuck in the creases. Oh well. Three hour later, I made it to the address where my father now lived. It was the most beautiful house I had ever seen. I saw a little boy out front who looked like my dad’s baby pictures. I looked across the perfectly manicured luscious-green lawn. There were a couple sprinklers going off, rhythmically hitting the little boy’s bikes, power-wheels, baseball bats, Nerf guns, and three basketballs strewn carelessly across the lawn. I saw the front door start to open and the top of man’s head appear. I hit the gas pedal as hard as I could and drove back home.
2nd from tweets-came from tweet: "looks like i'm visiting my old house this weekend #twitterive so much of me is still there..." Memories from my old house inspired this...story, or train of thought I should say.
Goodness and Light Remember when I would make all your friends play Candy Land with me as soon as they walked through the front door before they could go play video games with you? How I loved being the annoying little sister. Remember when you got the chicken pox and I brought you juice and snacks the whole time you were sick? A couple days later, I woke up with red dots on my face. Remember when you got in a fight with Jack in your bedroom? I wonder sometimes if that whole is still in the wall. Remember that time we missed the bus and our neighbor had to take us to school? She was so sweet, always looking out for us, always looking out for you. Remember when you ran away a couple hours before your 8th grade graduation? Mom was making you wear a tie, and you didn’t like it. We barely made it on time to the ceremony. Remember your favorite country song? We’d sing it together on our way to the high school that you hated, even though everyone there adored you—maybe for the wrong reasons, but adored nonetheless.
Remember when you believed in the God that continues to protect you now? I do. You curse His name, yet He is faithful. As you fight for us there, I cry for you here. You have let the blackness of war destroy your soul, seep into every crevice of your hard, heavy heart, destroying every memory of goodness and light. Goodness and Light.
Let us start with Paris to the Moon by Gopnik. Ugh. I'm honestly just not sure what it was about. I'm pretty sure it was a story about moving to France, but it just didn't capture me like the previous 2 stories. Yet, If I consider it against the Narrative Life, every moment and adventure in life is worth recording. And while I was reading it, I did think about my own trip to England a couple of years ago. Boy was that an experience. I flew overseas for the first time, almost didn't make it into the England because the customs lady didn't like me, and I slept in a hostel. I should have recorded more from that trip. Live and learn I guess.
As for Billy the Kid, it was interesting to say the least. Since this was only an excerpt from the piece, I would eventually like to read more of it to better reflect upon it. However, I did enjoy the author's use of color. In one passage he talked about darkness and black, and in the others he mentioned red, white, and yellow. It allowed me to picture things clearer. I also liked that he included passages that were almost poem/prose like. My favorite line was actually the last: "sad billys out/ floating barracuda in the brain." (Ondaatje)
RSS Feed