Area 1

Throughout this semester I have been encouraged to look at pieces of work from my perspective and it really transformed the way in which I read. I used to always read a piece of work and try to put myself in the authors shoes every single time when sometimes it’s better to stay in my own shoes. The very first day in this FIQWS class I told myself “somebody get me out of here” because of mainly my subconscious stubbornness to stay persistent in how I have been taught. I remember reading “Where I’m From” and I was ready to decipher every line when Professor Dalton told me to write my own version of it. The mock poem of “Where I’m From” just like Gina Apostal says was “infinitely richer” I could see how this activity set me up for the rest of semester, to look at different pieces of writing in multiple perspectives and not just that of the authors. One intertextual coupling in my class was Jacobs sidewalks and Brooks “The Neighborhood a Unit of Change” both of these texts pushed for something called social infrastructure in different ways; One mentioned how sidewalks were social infrastructure while the other mentioned buildings like libraries both of these environments had the same goal: to build a community. These two along with my personal perspective of this idea of social infrastructure built up to my research essay.

Area 2

Taking a Polaroid snapshot and writing a sentence are very similar in process. In order to take a snapshot first you have to find something worth wasting a polaroid film on because those things are not cheap. Next you gather how you will approach taking the picture; Do you want the picture vertical, horizontal, close, far, etc. Third the action of taking the picture, which isn’t visible right away, then you have to hide it from light to develop and sometime later you go check on what you have taken. A sentence is exactly the same, you think of an idea worth writing a sentence on, then you plan your approach to the sentence. Then you write the sentence and finally you go back to it to reflect on it. One sentence I wrote in response to a question the class devised, based on a “My Beloved Enemy” by Kreigel, is “People assume disability requires toughness because you can’t be abnormal and expect to live the same life as someone that is ‘normal’.” This sentence developed this idea in my head of how humans have this evil subconscious by nature. Another sentence I wrote similar to this is “Humans are not an exception to natural law followed by every other living thing on this planet” this sentence also developed another deep idea that we are not that much different from other animals deep down inside our minds. The last sentence that meant a lot to me is “why do we conform?” I wrote this sentence in response to two readings we discussed in class on the same day, “My Mothers Garden” and “Superman and Me” where there were two examples of people conforming to rules and social expectations.

Area 3

During the course of this semester reading and writing in my FIQWS class played a big role in creating a deeper understanding of who I am and the nature of where I am. Reading Jacobs helped me understand how my community works and writing in response to Jacobs helped my understand my roots and how I connect myself to my community. Reading Kreigel and writing in response to him helped me better understand how you can be connected yet divorced at the same time from individuals within your community. Every reading I read and every piece of writing I wrote helped me come to new revelations in my life. Reading and writing are very powerful tools that help shape and build who you will become to be and your understanding of everything around you. Although you will never reach a full understanding of who you are and the greater world, with this class I got one step closer.

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