A Moment in Time:
Project Reflection:
For the “A Moment in Time” project, we were tasked with choosing a moment or event from our lives that greatly impacted us and changed us. We then wrote a single page about our moments in narrative form. During the next four weeks, we worked on various drafts of our essays. The single page each person was allowed was filled with as much descriptive writing and details as possible about our events. The goal of the final vignette was to bring that moment in time alive for the reader.
Throughout this project I gained several take-aways and enduring understandings. The take-away that a good story needs to make us care was re-enforced. I have read many good books throughout my life, and what separated the ok ones from my favorite ones was that they made me care about the characters. One enduring understanding I now have is the knowledge of the elements of a strong story. Those elements, also known as story grammar, are setting, characters, initiating action, attempts, results, responses, and dialogue. Another enduring understanding I gained was from the TED talk “Hardwired For Story,” where the speaker said that we long to be like the hero. In the many books that I have read, I often have wanted to do something heroic similar to the main character. I wanted to be in that story. Writing my own story helped me look differently at the fact that my old dog is gone. I don’t like to think about him because it makes me sad, but in order to describe him for the narrative, I had to. Now rather than dwelling on the fact that he is gone, I have learned to focus on the good times and fond memories of him. Writing about my own experience helped me reminisce what it was like and will help me remember it for a long time to come. Narrative writing shares foundations of writing in general, thus it can help me grow as a writer.
A couple of aspects about this writing project were difficult. The hardest part of writing the essay was fitting it on one page. I would have liked to add many details, but couldn’t because of the page limit. For example, I wanted to add a scene about naming my dog, because I think it is fun how he ended up being named after a soda. After reviewing other students’ stories, I questioned the moment I chose. Some people’s stories were very deep and meaningful, and mine seemed petty in comparison. However, looking back on my selection, this event was a big moment for me, and I decided that if I did this project over again, I would still choose this moment. Contemplating my story, I don’t think I would change how I wrote it. I used very descriptive images and well placed dialogue to form a beautiful story of which I am proud.
I learned both personal and social lessons that helped me grow as an individual in this project. The most important personal lesson I learned is to not describe things negatively. This message goes both for my writing and my daily life. Everything can be viewed in two ways, negatively or positively. In writing it is focusing on the lack of something, when you could be describing the memory instead. In my life, this attitude looks like dwelling on the positive things rather than negatives. For example, rather than being upset that I’m probably going to get a ton of homework from school, I can think about the fun I’ll have with my friends during the day. This project taught me social lessons too. I wrote seven peer critiques for my classmates. I learned more about my classmates through their stories. I also learned how to give helpful feedback to others while being hard on the content, but being gentle on the people. These lessons are valuable in life rather than just in the classroom.
Throughout this project I gained several take-aways and enduring understandings. The take-away that a good story needs to make us care was re-enforced. I have read many good books throughout my life, and what separated the ok ones from my favorite ones was that they made me care about the characters. One enduring understanding I now have is the knowledge of the elements of a strong story. Those elements, also known as story grammar, are setting, characters, initiating action, attempts, results, responses, and dialogue. Another enduring understanding I gained was from the TED talk “Hardwired For Story,” where the speaker said that we long to be like the hero. In the many books that I have read, I often have wanted to do something heroic similar to the main character. I wanted to be in that story. Writing my own story helped me look differently at the fact that my old dog is gone. I don’t like to think about him because it makes me sad, but in order to describe him for the narrative, I had to. Now rather than dwelling on the fact that he is gone, I have learned to focus on the good times and fond memories of him. Writing about my own experience helped me reminisce what it was like and will help me remember it for a long time to come. Narrative writing shares foundations of writing in general, thus it can help me grow as a writer.
A couple of aspects about this writing project were difficult. The hardest part of writing the essay was fitting it on one page. I would have liked to add many details, but couldn’t because of the page limit. For example, I wanted to add a scene about naming my dog, because I think it is fun how he ended up being named after a soda. After reviewing other students’ stories, I questioned the moment I chose. Some people’s stories were very deep and meaningful, and mine seemed petty in comparison. However, looking back on my selection, this event was a big moment for me, and I decided that if I did this project over again, I would still choose this moment. Contemplating my story, I don’t think I would change how I wrote it. I used very descriptive images and well placed dialogue to form a beautiful story of which I am proud.
I learned both personal and social lessons that helped me grow as an individual in this project. The most important personal lesson I learned is to not describe things negatively. This message goes both for my writing and my daily life. Everything can be viewed in two ways, negatively or positively. In writing it is focusing on the lack of something, when you could be describing the memory instead. In my life, this attitude looks like dwelling on the positive things rather than negatives. For example, rather than being upset that I’m probably going to get a ton of homework from school, I can think about the fun I’ll have with my friends during the day. This project taught me social lessons too. I wrote seven peer critiques for my classmates. I learned more about my classmates through their stories. I also learned how to give helpful feedback to others while being hard on the content, but being gentle on the people. These lessons are valuable in life rather than just in the classroom.