Genre Piece

For my Genre piece I am still trying to decide if I want to do a website or an essay. After doing this prezi I've gotten more comfortable with doing things online but I am also a strong writer so I may stick with the essay. I think that the subject of firefighters would be a good/broad thing to write about because of all of the articles and facts that I have found about stress related to their job and how that stress effects their family. Also, I think that making a website would be interesting because I could make it more interactive and be able to visually show what firefighters do while working and what they experience.

Information to Research

During my research I found a lot of information in the library about firefighters and their families. These included PTSD in family members as well as the firefighters themselves. This helped me to distinguish what I really want to go into depth with and how this information will help me put together my prezi. I think that people who are looking into becoming a firefighter as well as individuals who have firefighters in their families would be interested in research like this. I think that for this project I need to keep digging deeper and find connections that will help to put all of my research together.

Research Techniques in depth

I want to do one interview with a guy a know who is a volunteer firefighter. Although I am not directly looking into volunteer firefighters I think that this will help me to learn the process and training that they have to go through. I will want to ask him questions such as:

1. What made you want to do this?
2. Is it more demanding or as demanding as you thought it would be?
3. Have you seen things on the job that have affected your emotions in a strong way?
4. Do you feel like it is a very rewarding job? Why or why not?
5. Have you had one experience that has been your most memorable?

Along with the interview I want to just look up websites related to firefighters and their stories. I have found things on the internet about stories from them as well as stories from their family members and how it affects them. Along with this I would like to find pictures and videos that will help to depict what they do everyday.

Process of Idea Invention

While doing my research on firefighters I want to possibly do an interview with a volunteer firefighter that I know as well as look up information online from different resources and websites. I think that this different information will give me a good idea on what it takes to be a firefighter and what life is like after you have completed the training.

Identity Study of Choice

For my study of choice I settled on the idea of exploring the lives of firefighters. How does their work affect their home life as well as the family members that they live with? What other work do they do that people don't know about? I want to take a deeper look into how this work affects relationships and everyday life for that specific firefighter. How demanding is the job and what makes someone want to get into this profession?

Reflection on Personal Stories in Alcoholics Anonymous

I think that stories, reflections, and language all can construct identity as well as contribute to it. The stories and experiences that people have while they are growing up or even just the stories that they have while they are adults can have a huge impact on their identity and how they act around other people. If a child saw either one of their parents suffer from alcoholism while they were growing up they probably are going to have a certain opinion about alcohol when they are older.  A person's whole identity can be changed or shaped from one single experience. In other cases they may have a single identity that they want to stay true to but then act differently around different people because of the situation or their social surrounding. I think that language can construct a certain identity, such as what you are born with, but not as much the identity that you want to create for your own personality and beliefs.

In my critical narrative I definitely think that reflecting on myself did construct my identity. Talking about being a good friend I was able to explain what some of my beliefs are and what is important to me. Even if I did only explain what I think it means to be a good friend, it still constructed a part of my identity that I could share with everyone. I personally don't think that I came to a new understanding with myself because I already knew what I was going to talk about. I know what my beliefs and opinions are and by writing this paper I talked about them in more depth but It was nothing new that I hadn't already believed before.

Response to Satrapi and Cisneros

"The House on Mango Street" was a short and quick reading that I enjoyed. I thought it was interesting that the young girl telling the story never introduced herself or said her name at the beginning of the story. She waited until the story was over and than took a separate time to explain her name and what it meant to her. You can tell that Esperanza isn't completely happy with her identity. She talks about how in English it sounds harsh but in Spanish it is "softer". When she explained the part about the nun passing by her house and asking if she lived there I think that Esperanza got a new view of people as well as her life that day. I believe that it was hard for her to not want something better.

Satrapi's short comic story called The Veil was talking about a young girl and her life during the Islamic Revolution. I personally think that she was also trying to find her identity and trying to get involved in what was going on at the time. It talks about how ladies had to start wearing veils and how some believed that it was taking away their freedom and they wanted it back. Towards the end of the comic you could tell that the young girl was trying to become more and more involved because of her social surroundings and the family and friends around her.

Reading and Response to Gee

Identity is who you are as an individual person. It's your feelings and thoughts as well as how you portray yourself. People are always giving off an impression and a reflection of their identity. I think that everyone does have a true identity but that identity can change in result of who you are with and your social surroundings. I personally have definitely seen people change their identities when they are in different places with different people. For instance, you make act one way when you're talking to your mom and then act a completely different way when you are out with friends. As it says in the reading, "natural identities can only become identities because they are recognized, by myself or others..." Your natural identity can only be known if you are comfortable with showing it around others during that particular time. I know someone personally who acts a certain way when he is with one group of friends and then is a completely different person when he is with other people. These pages talk about people having different identities. There are identities such as ethnicity, language, religion, etc. and then there are ways in which people individually act. History and background can most definitely effect how someone portrays themselves as well as what they believe their true identity is.

blog about self

Memoir: Make decisions for your own happiness

I think that the points I made in my gesture, memoir, and my letter all define who I am today. Even if all of them don't go hand in hand they still represent parts of me as a person. My gesture being dance helps explain what I do to express myself and how important it can be to express thoughts through movement. Dance was always an outlet for me to get things out that I wasn't comfortable or confident saying. My letter describes the kind of person that I am today and the kind of person that I would like to be in the future. Although it was a simple letter it gave an idea of what my identity is. My memoir describes my experiences and what I believe. I have observed many people who make decisions based on other people's opinions and I personally think that doing something like that can have an impact on your whole future. Since this was a topic that just asked about me as a person and how I relate to certain things I don't think that my fellow classmates put any restrictions on what I had to say. It was pretty straight forward and easy to talk about.