Setting a Good Example

This really has nothing to do with the topic we're on currently, but I found this article in the Detroit News about how Adrian College is boosting attendance - and academic performance - by actively recruiting athletes & improving athletic facilities (although it could maybe be considered a profile of a place, but it's probably more of a feature, right?).

Athletes are pumping up Adrian College

As an athlete at 'K', I have felt for a long time that such a measure would greatly improve the overall community on campus - athletes and non-athletes alike. Focusing on nutrition, health, and overall wellness, in my opinion, always breeds smart, fun-loving, engaged, happy people. Adrian College has set an excellent example as a small, liberal-arts college doing something about their 'downward spiral'. This is an example that I feel that 'K' can and should follow.

Thankfully, the next capital campaign of the college is probably going to be for a new/improved campus fitness facility - and not just for athletes. All students can benefit from a little active stress-relief, and until the facility can be built, the campus should be brainstorming ways we can ameliorate the situation in the near future. GO HORNETS!

Profile: Update

I'm not going to lie, I'm having the hardest time coming up with a topic for my profile piece. Everything I come up with is either highly inaccessible, not interesting, or just plain stupid.

I really don't even know where to start, so I would appreciate any thoughts, tips, or tricks that I could use to help get that 'glimmer' of an idea.

Thanks everyone!

Jamestown, Virginia: Profile

Jamestown, Virginia: How To Make History Cool

I chose this piece because it seemed to be an interesting profile of a place, rather than of a person. While perusing the news this weekend, I realized that many of the profiles in the major magazines have to do with VA Tech. Although a lot of these pieces were interesting, I didn't want to overdo it! Marin already posted the link to an excellent profile in the NY Times, so I decided to go in quite a different direction. Plus, we haven't talked about profiling a place as much as we have talked about profiling a person, so I thought that this piece could at least serve as the basis for some riveting class discussion! ;-)

I thought that the topic of this piece was very interesting. The use of the location of Jamestown, VA as the basis for a discussion about the modern lack of interest in history brought meaning to the piece. I think the piece is well structured, beginning with information about present Jamestownian discoveries, switching gears to provide history about the fort/city, and returning to a present day description of the interesting sites, interwoven with more historical background and context. The background information about Jamestown was obviously extensive, yet the important details were chosen by the author. It was also presented in a way that dispelled myth by interweaving tale and fact, which I thought was a great technique.

There is not an extensive use of quotes, but I the insight provided by archaeologist Kelso adds a personal element to the piece which helps get the reader excited. The storytelling in the piece is well-done, but I think that the main thing it is lacking is detailed physical description. The writer does a good job of generally describing the new exhibits, but I would have liked to know more about the city itself: what did it look like 400 years ago, what does it look like now, etc.?

Despite what I saw as a lack of bold imagery, I thought the portrayal of the city's history as "murky and menacing" was a good 'evocative' detail and definitely accomplished the piece's goal: to make history cool!

It was evident that the writer had simple access to this material, because it was based mostly on observation of a location. There was only one personal interview and one book cited in the piece. From what I see here, I am guessing that the reportage for profiling a place tends to be much simpler than that necessary for profiling a person. However, personal profiles tend to be much more interesting, in my opinion, so I guess there is a trade-off!

Story of a Gun

I also found this article in Newsweek about a 9mm handgun, the weapon used at VA Tech. I thought it was interesting, and I recommend taking a look at it. I wasn't sure if a piece like this would qualify as a profile, but I thought it was an interesting angle to take in writing about what happened at VA Tech and worth a read and maybe quick discussion in class.

Enjoy!

Personal Narrative: Final Draft

Michigan has always been my home, and I am rooted there like the white pine the state calls its official tree. I mean, these trees are amazing! They can grow for hundreds of years, and their vast underground foundation is so strong, a tornado can barely take them out. I’d like to think that’s how I am: grounded in and nourished by Michigan soil.

When I started applying to graduate school, I knew I would be faced with the possibility of leaving my home state. A big decision like that is scary, but I wanted a big change. I had been in one place for too long, and I was itching to be transplanted, thirsty for an adventure in a new place.

I spent hours researching possible schools. I picked the University of Texas, Indiana University, Northwestern University, and the University of North Carolina. I had to apply to the University of Michigan – of course – to appease my family, many of them alumni.

It was funny how much I was reminded of the first time I applied to college. I was accepted at Kalamazoo College, among other universities, and in the second semester of my senior year of high school, I spent a weekend visiting campus. My second day there, in the cafeteria, a girl on the cross country team asked what year I was.

“I’m actually a prospective student,” I told her.

“Oh, wow!” she exclaimed, surprised. “I thought you were a junior!”

My quick acceptance into Kalamazoo life gave me all the information I needed to make a decision. I knew it was the place for me.

I jumped at the chance to visit each graduate school as soon as I was invited.

***

First was a visit to Austin, Texas. Leave it to the first experience to brand a lasting impression onto the brain. Texas barbeque, 6^th Street, jalapeños, the Capitol, and Shiner Bock all meld together in my head into one great memory of the weekend.

“You are my favorite recruit,” one of the graduate students confided in me before I left.

The instant feeling of acceptance was amazing. The significance of that one voice reminded me of my visit to Kalamazoo. It made Austin feel like home.

Still, my friend Erin told me, “You know you’re going to go to Michigan.”

I didn’t understand her reasoning, but her comment lingered in the back of my mind all winter long.

I also visited Chapel Hill, North Carolina. I remember mostly the amazing woody, mildew smell in the air. It’s the smell of summers, hanging out with my sisters at our aunt’s plantation house. It made Chapel Hill feel like home.

Next time, I didn’t have to travel far: Ann Arbor, Michigan. I approached the visit with a less-than-positive outlook. I hadn’t been back to Ann Arbor since I spent the past summer there, and I felt that I already knew everything about the place. I was confident there couldn’t be anything new to experience.

I was wrong, though. I found a new bar, and a new friend. Remy is a first-year graduate student and a smart, bubbly blonde, not unlike my friend Erin. She and I hit it off right away.

“What made you choose Michigan?” I asked her at one point.

“I don’t know,” she replied. “I just knew it was the place for me.”

I guess I had forgotten that Ann Arbor felt like home.

***

I was accepted to Indiana first, and began to get anxious when I didn’t hear from anywhere else.

“If any of the schools don’t accept you, I might have to punch them in the face,” my dad, always the jokester, wrote me in an e-mail that week.

“Yeah, right,” I responded.

After all the letters arrived, my dad emerged the victor. I was accepted at every school I applied to.

I knew I had to decide, but how? The logical scientist in me made a list. Chapel Hill and Austin had the advantage of good weather. Check. Michigan and Chapel Hill were ranked highest. Check. The faculty at Indianapolis was the most interesting. Check. Wait a minute! The faculty at Michigan, Chapel Hill, Austin, and Northwestern was just as engaging. Scratch that. The list wasn’t helping anything.

I wanted the decision to be my own, but I couldn’t stop thinking about what Erin had told me. I still didn’t understand how she knew I would go to Michigan. It made me uneasy that I couldn’t agree with her, yet couldn’t disagree, either.

All at once, it hit me. I finally understood the significance of Remy’s remark, the very words I had pronounced four years earlier: I just knew Michiganfelt like home because it reminded me of Michigan. At Michigan, I wouldn’t have to be reminded. I would still be experiencing. was the place for me. Every other place

I also realized that adventure is not necessarily starting a new life in a new city. For me, it’s exploring new things in an old city and sharing old pastimes with new friends. I want to show my dad the new bar I found. I want to go to Michigan football games and drink hot cider with my new roommates, just like my dad and I used to do.

And anyway, transplanted white pines won’t survive without proper care, their roots are simply too deep.

Bringing Down the House: Response

When I first read the profile on Jennifer Hudson by Annie Leibovitz, I really enjoyed it, so I knew I wanted to delve into it further to examine the content and the craft. Upon subsequent reading, the narrative seemed to be a good example of a profile based on some of the 'technical' readings I completed this week.

The piece has a great structure, and it is obvious that the writer did her fair share of reporting and background searching. The lede brings the reader into the arena of the piece, introducing the 'who' of the profile by presenting details such as the description of audience reactions to Dreamgirls. The reader can already get an idea of who the character is before the details of her life are laid out.

The narrative then continues chronologically, pausing only to take a step back and describe Hudson's background, life, and 'rise to the top'. The excellent use of detail and fact about the character's life interwoven with interview is evident. In fact, the use of interview throughout the piece is quite effective in presenting other's views of Hudson, which as Malcolm Gladwell states in Telling True Stories, is usually where some of the best material comes from.

The writer is careful to include description, when presenting the dresses Hudson fitted, for example. Even the small details, like indicating that they were riding in an SUV, for example, help paint the entire picture of the character and her life. The writer is also keen to the importance of describing the place as well as the person. Her description of Hudson's fatigue in La Guardia rush hour traffic would not have been as effective had the locale not been included.

One of the main things I liked about the piece was the interwoven story lines. In addition to getting to know the character of Jennifer Hudson, the reader was also introduced to the 'Hollywood life' through the various dress fittings. The theme of African-American talent was also interspersed throughout the piece. The telling detail, though, was the introduction of the notebook of de la Renta sketches. Through careful description, the reader comes to understand the importance of this sketchbook to Hudson and it signifies how dream-like the award season has been for her. It also helps convey Hudson's down-to-earth personality; she is so fixed on the sketch not because she is a Hollywood princess, but because this is such an exciting first-time experience for her.

That detail helped answer the questions that Jacqui Banaszynski indicated that every reader should ask in Telling True Stories: How would you characterize this person?, and At the end, do you know whether or not you like this person?

I felt that could positively answer both questions, making the piece successful. I could concretely identify Hudson as a very real, humble, young woman, and I knew that I definitely liked her a lot after I finished the narrative. Great pick!

Personal Narrative: First Draft

How do you define home? Some would say it’s “where the heart is”, still others would say it’s wherever you pay the rent. Maybe it’s a combination of both. In any case, I can answer that question quite easily. I have spent my entire life in Michigan, and am rooted there for good like the white pine the state calls its official tree.

Here’s a question that may be a bit more difficult to answer: How do you choose where “home” will be? It’s easy for people that get sent to work in a certain city; they don’t have a choice. As a graduate school applicant, I didn’t have this luxury. I had to choose where I would call home for the next five or more years of my life.

When I started to apply, I spent hours researching possible schools. I was meticulous and deliberate about my choices. Two top-ranked schools, two mediocre, a fall back option. They all had to be in cool cities; I was not going to spend a good portion of my life in Iowa (sorry Iowans). At that point, I was confident about what I was doing. I thought for sure I wouldn’t get into either of the top-tier programs.

“I’ll probably just go to Indiana,” I told everyone.

As usual, everyone but me was right. I was accepted at every school I applied to.

Naturally, everyone told me I was lucky. I had options. I didn’t care about options. I wanted them to make the decision for me; to make my life a little easier. I couldn’t decide, because I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I made the wrong decision.

Thankfully, I had had the chance to visit each university. I held out the hope that there could only be one “best fit” and that by visiting, I would discover which place that was. This should make things easier, right? Wrong.

First was a visit to Austin, Texas. I was blown away by the city and the university. Leave it to the first experience to brand a lasting impression onto the brain. Everything about the place was perfect.

“I don’t even need to visit the other schools; I know I’m going to UT,” I told everyone.

I was committed to more visits, though, and next up was Indianapolis, Indiana. I was blown away. Never would I have expected the faculty to be such a fun group. I knew if I went there, I would be in good hands.

The third time I didn’t have to travel far: Ann Arbor, Michigan. I was blown away (notice the repetition). Michigan seemed to have it all: cool faculty and cool students that were as much a part of the school as the school is part of Ann Arbor. As a scientist, the symbiotic relationship resonated perfectly with me.

“You’re going to go to Michigan, it’s where you belong,” everyone told me.

The remaining two visits were no different. Northwestern University and Chapel Hill, North Carolina were both as equally mind-blowing. In no way did I believe it possible that there could be five “best fit” schools, but I knew I could see myself succeeding at each university and enjoying the atmosphere of the location while doing it.

It was at this point when I started to panic. I had to make a decision by a certain deadline and I wasn’t entirely sure I could do it. I would lean toward one of the schools, and then begin to doubt myself. This was hard! I usually know exactly what to do and can defend my actions in the face of criticism. This was a completely different ballgame. In fact, I was on a completely different playing field.

The logical scientist in me then began to make a list. Chapel Hill and Austin had the advantage of good weather. Check. Michigan and Chapel Hill were ranked highest. Check. The faculty at Indianapolis was the most interesting. Check. Wait a minute! The faculty at Michigan, Chapel Hill, Austin, and Northwestern was just as cool. Scratch that. The list wasn’t helping anything.

As a last ditch effort, I grabbed an easy read (Janet Evanovich’s Full Speed) and did some soul-searching-like thinking. I thought about how I felt about what I knew. I thought about how I felt about what I experienced. I thought about how I felt. There was nothing meticulous or deliberate about it. For once, I threw logical out the door. This time, I wouldn’t be able to defend my action with anything rational, and I was okay with that. It was all based on, well, feelings.

As usual, everyone but me was right. They already knew Michigan is where I belonged. They already knew I fit in perfectly in the Running Capital of America. They already knew I bled maize and blue. They knew what it took me months to figure out.

After a couple hours of thinking, I finally realized what I had probably known all along. Thinking about home is never about the tangible. Home is a feeling. Home will be where it already is. Home has to be where it already is. I’m going to be a Wolverine.

Interesting Blog

I discovered this blog on accident when I typed in the link to Marin's blog incorrectly. I think it is pretty interesting, and raises some questions about narrative journalism, and namely, storytelling. The author discusses some of the ways storytelling is encountered in life, and what makes a good storyteller (or a bad storyteller). The blog is fairly opinionated, and therefore raises the question of accuracy. I have no idea who writes this, and no one really can. So, you need to take the information with a grain of salt, keeping in mind that it might be some cuckoo person in Fiji, for example. Despite this, I think some of the ideas that came out of reading this blog were consistent with what I have learned in class and in the readings, and I think it's worth a look!

Storytelling - The Untold Story

Personal Narrative: Writing Process

So, about the writing process...

It went/is going surprisingly better than I thought it would. At first, it really sucked. I sat and stared at a blank word document for about 20 minutes before I actually put one word down on the page. I had had a couple of ideas in my head, but nothing concrete. I kept thinking that if I were to write a personal narrative about myself, the idea would come to me right away. It's about me and I know me best, right? It was definitely harder than I thought to come up with a topic, though. At first I tried to think of things that were important in my life, like my grandpa for example. Some events that I have been through with him have definitely changed me. But I knew if I wrote about that, it would end up being more of a profile about Big G (he deserves a great big profile, so maybe that's an idea for the next assignment). I thought about the comments on my last post. Maybe I could write about my experience getting a tattoo. But I knew if I wrote about that, it would end up being a lot like the piece we read on the same topic. I wanted something original, something unique to me.

Then I kept thinking that maybe I was like Reid. I have been through some life-changing-like events in my life, but maybe I'm void of emotion, or immune to it, because I didn't think any of those things had really changed my life. Maybe I'm just being silly.

So, I began to write with one of the non-concrete ideas I had in my head, which was actually something that Marin made me think about in her comment about my first post. She brought up my notation of my logical scientist quality. The first thing that came to mind was my usually logical decision-making process and how it was recently challenged. I took that and ran with it. Once a couple sentences were down, I realized that I had had this concrete idea all along. I think I wrote/am writing a piece about something that definitely changed my life (or at least my outlook on certain things).

It was really surprising to me how fast everything came out and how well it came together as I was writing. It also surprised me how quickly the first draft was realized. I can already recognize the turn in my story. I also think the voice sounds like me, but I'm going to have to read it out loud and rework it a bit just to make sure. I can definitely recognize that the flow is characteristic of me and of my logicality, with a few twists thrown in to make it interesting. I had mentioned that I would take the example of the flow from Badge of Courage and make it mine, and I think I did that fairly well. The only thing I'm still struggling with is the development of my 'I' character. I think I've got the hang of it, but I still don't know if I've developed me enough, or too much, etc. That will take some reworking as well before I'm satisfied.

Overall, this process is fun, to be honest. I am looking forward to posting my draft on Tuesday and getting feedback from my group on what I need to do to make it better.

Badge of Courage: Response

I really enjoyed reading this personal narrative from Newsweek My Turn Online by Deborah Lewis. It provoked several questions and I felt like I could relate her structure and style to some of the things I have been learning about in our more 'technical' readings. It is a well-written piece of personal narration! The first thing I noticed was her development of the 'I' character. I was impressed how effectively the writer accomplished describing herself enough so that the reader can understand some of her background without reading other useless facts about her life. She first presents her experience with cancer briefly without really making a judgment of the situation. She then intermittently provides more details about her life where they are appropriate in the narration: age, family, etc.

The development of the 'I' character is all done near the beginning of the article, and the writer moves on to use facts about her situation to tell her story. I felt that even the factual information was able to convey a sense of emotion and feeling in the story, without the writer having to explicitly state her emotions and feelings, which I thought was consistent with what Norman Sims described as good literary journalism.

I could also easily recognize the writer's voice throughout the piece, which was intimate: mocking, humorous, frank. For example, she writes about how easy it was to choose a spot for her tattoo because the aging process had "set in everywhere else." The statement wasn't judgmental, but rather straightforward and self-mocking about the state of the writer's body at that age. The writer's voice conveys a contentment with her situation; she acknowledges the hardships she has had to face and does not down-play them, but at the same time, she is happy to be where she is now. The frank, subtly joking language used in this piece was therefore very effective in conveying this sentiment.

I liked the flow of the narrative, because it was chronological, progressive and logical (and I am a scientist). The writer flowed from one situation to the next, without making use of the technique of digression that I had noticed in some other personal pieces we read this week. She begins with the background of her cancer, moving to the first logical question of 'where do I put a tattoo?', then on to 'what do I get a tattoo of?'. The writer does use effective intermittent placement of the present tense in a mostly past-tense narrative to break up the flow, though. The last sentence, which transitions into the present tense, works well to signify the 'rite of passage' that getting a tattoo symbolized.

At the turning point, the writer finally decided on what her tattoo would be and the resulting significance it would have. I liked how earlier in the piece, the writer suggests that she needs the 'all-caps YES' to go ahead with a design, but later, she doesn't explicitly state that the Concord Bridge was an 'all-caps YES' to her; rather, it is implied and up to the reader to envision how relieved the writer was to find something that was perfectly symbolic for her.

This piece was most appealing to me because I have a tattoo as well. I am not a rash person, but getting a tattoo was one of the most rash things I have ever done. I actually worked out the design first, creating something that is symbolic for me and extremely personal. Then, the placement came to me in a dream, and everything came together. I got a tattoo the next day. I could relate to the writer in terms of this process and was impressed by her recollection of the event!

I think that I will take from this article the writer's use of flow. I am a logical person, and the way this narrative flow seemed like it would fit my voice. Also, her varied use of tenses was very effective upon closer reading, and I think that I could use a technique like that to my advantage in a narrative that has a scientific-method-like flow to break it up, without having to completely digress and insert anecdotes that aren't chronological.