Blog # 8 - Final Reflections

I think as a writer I've gotten more comfortable writing stories and not being scared to tell it. I also became much better stepping outside of "I, me and my" style of writing. It was fun to write stories in the 3rd person and also past tense, which was a little hard. The experimental piece was a bit challenging because I did not know how to experiement with writing and make it sound nice but I did it and I enjoyed it. I have written, and I still continue to write poetry sometimes. Creative writing non-fiction is completely different because you are telling a story, with creativity and poetry can either be fake or real. When I write poetry it to to show the emotion that I am feeling at that moment but this writing you can explore things that happened a while ago or now. My favorite piece was the personal memoir. I liked that piece because it allowed me to talk about a part of my life that has greatly affected me and it made talking about it so much easier.

This is an excerpt from my Literary Journalism-Person Profile piece "Born in North, South Carolina in the 1930s, my grandmother is the youngest of six children. I asked her about her time spent in the south and she told me “I remember the Christmases. Daddy would cut a tree from the backyard and we would decorate it with what little we had. It was the 1940s, growing up in the South Carolina wasn’t good for blacks.” “What else do you remember?” I asked her. She said “When I was a little girl daddy put up this thing in the yard for us to play with and I wanted to be like my brothers and play on it also. I climbed on top it and stood up but I stood wrong and I fell and broke my arm. Daddy took me to the hospital and I got six stitches put in elbow.” I wanted to know what it was that she had fell off of and she told me she couldn’t remember."

I do not know how successful this piece was yet because it was my last piece but I love it. I love my grandmother even though she is sick but she makes for a great conversationalist. Currently, I do not plan on writing anymore on the subject I think this piece is good enough for me. I do not plan on publishing it either because I did not get my grandmother's permission but if I did maybe I would.

#ENG 274, #Blog Assignment 8, #Reflections

Blog Assignment #6 - Planning and Interview for a 'Personal Profile'

For my final assignment, I will be interviewing my grandmother. A little over 2 years ago she was diagnosed with dementia. My grandmother was the woman who raised everyone; she welcomed anyone in her home and never turned her back on anyone. I worked in a nursing home for 3 years so I had a little understanding of the disease and I knew she had it. My family however wouldn’t accept the fact that my grandmother was sick. Everyone kept on saying oh she is just forgetting because she is getting old. Everyday I told them she needed medical attention and every day they told she was fine. I love my grandmother and it hurts to see her like this but I still enjoy her. I wanted to use her because she is one the most interesting people I know. I find her stories amusing because she believes them to be true even though we know it isn’t true. She remembers her past more than her present.I  use laughter as a coping mechanism to deal with her sickness.

 

A few questions I am going to ask her is:

1.Do you know who I am and why I am asking you questions?

2.Tell me something about your childhood that you remember?

3.What do you remember about growing up in the south?

4.Tell me something about yourself that no one knows?

5.If you could change anything about your life, what would it be and why?

 

#Blog Assignment #6 #ENGH 274  #Dementia #My grandmother #family #i did it because its how I deal with pain.

Blog Assignment #7 Personal Memoir

          "Two hours later they were ready to push. At this point Rosalyn was in so much pain she asked for an epidural to help alleviate it. Once she had the epidural, she started to push again. Every time the baby slid down, he went right back up. This went on for an hour until the doctor said they had to cut the baby out because he was in distress. Rosalyn started crying because in her birth plan she specifically stated she did not want a C-section. She kept telling the doctor no, she wasn’t going to get cut she was adamant about it. Her boyfriend scared at this point took her hand into his and told her “our child is in distress babe, he needs to be cut out so he can live and so you can live. I do not want to lose either one of you, we have come too far and I promise I will be there with you.” She started to cry because she knew he was right. She said okay and they went to the operating room and he was with her the whole way."

           

              There are all these shows on television that seem to glorify teenage pregnancy and being a teen parent there is no glory. It is hard work and it takes a whole lot to become a parent at such a young age and I just wanted to tell my story. There isn’t anything to really know to understand the piece. I got pregnant my junior year of high school and had my son my senior year, it was a journey. When I was writing this piece I didn’t have anyone in mind I just wanted to get the story out of my head. My piece only has minor errors but nothing major needs to be done. I have tried to write journals but I get bored and I stop. I am a good story teller but then I am also my own worst critic so I do not write because I feel my writing isn’t adequate enough. I learned sometimes to tell your story you need to leave yourself and try to see your story from someone else’s perspective.

 

#Blog Assignment #7-Author's note on My Personal Memoir. #Eng 274 #Blog #7