Immigration Project Reflection

The book I chose to read was A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah because I felt this book reflected all people who have been soldiers and the horrors they have seen. Looking back now, this story showed me a lot of what it means to be in a war. I am grateful that I picked this book because Ishmael was a mere teenager when he went through it and I am sure that he went through the worst things a human can ever go through. So many times there were parts in the story where I felt like not reading the story anymore because it was too horrific but I chose to go on because I knew after reading this book, there would be so many things I would learn.

After reflecting every week on my blog, there were so many things that I found out about Ismael that I have been through. Although it was not as horrific or horrible, I felt the same and it taught me that everyone is connected someway because once a while there are times where we feel the same or think the same. I think one thing that would improve the LC process would be adding what you feel about the book every week because this will give the students a chance to see if they gradually like the book more every week or vice versa. I think it would improve the LC process because this will show how interested the students are reading their books. And after, the students could answer why they liked or disliked the book.

I felt like blogging was better for me only because I am better at typing then writing. I feel like writing the responses would be better though because it would give the students a little more time to think about their response and correct a few things in their response before they present it. For commenting, I do not think blogging is right because it takes too long. Also, sometimes there are things that you cannot explain on paper or computer and have to physically explain it. Because commenting is not during the time we are reflecting the story, our group members cannot argue or agree at times where it is crucial to respond at the time the person is reflecting the story for it to be more relevant.

Blogging was not much of a problem for me except on some days, I would have many things planned after school and I would have to rush the blog response which is not good for my group members because their comments would not be as truthful or full as if I took my time with my response. Also, when you are exadurating or using any tone of voice to interpret what you are thinking, your group members would not understand because the text is too plain and you cannot use any type of poetry or creative writing into your writing. Blogging is also hard at times because my computer has a problem with blogger and sometimes does not load so I would have very little time to post my response before it is due.

I chose to do a redesigning of the book cover because I felt it was the easiest but at the same time, one of the most important for a person who is an artist for books. I also felt that making a book cover would be the best way to express what I feel about this book. I also chose it because I think that my viewers would better understand what everything meant of they saw the book title, the authors name and the objects and items around them because they are all connected. This was also a way to show what I thought about the original book cover and what I think could be improved.

I felt that my viewers could see a connection immediately after seeing my painting. There are many symbolic items in my painting though, so the audience has to look deeper to understand the true connection to the story I am trying to make. There are many simple items in my painting. When I say simple, I mean by easy to understand from its appearance. But, to truly understand what I am trying to say, the viewers can look deeper into the pictures and think of all possible connections that that picture has. Almost everything in my painting has a dark and light side but is not visible without a little thought.

I felt that my final product did not turn out as well as I planned it to be but I was ready for it because I have used paint before and I know how it spreads out and screws up my painting. My final product was amazing to my standards except for how the paint spread out. The colors were not as “on” as I planned but some colors actually worked better than the original colors I planned for the painting. I spent a bunch of time on my final painting and tried to be as intricate and exact as I could. I actually spent more time than we were given which made me think that this painting was better than I could ever do with the time I was given.

I believe a thinner brush and in some places, different colors would help my painting a lot. If I was given more time to sketch my sketches, my painting would have more details and much more realistic. I feel like I learned many things from this whole experience. Reading this book, I feel like Ishmael is trying to write a story like those men or women who did drugs or were in a gang and inform us to not be like them. I don’t think this applies to Ishmael because he was brought into this and did not have a choice. Reading the book, there are so many life lessons and things I could use in the future that are going to help me greatly. I learned things even from the fighting parts of the story because I try to apply it to a job or other situations.

I felt my interview with my friend’s mom went spectacular because I asked clean questions and was very polite. I was not a bit nervous mainly because I knew her and she was always nice to me. It was sort of difficult making up secondary questions for her because of the rate she was answering the questions. I was so happy to interview her because I knew her and I knew how she would react to a question that was a little more emotional than others. The interview lasted a good amount of time and ended perfectly because I ended it with a backup question that I felt was the best question I had.
I felt interviewing my participant three times was not a problem because I knew Ms.Abbassi wanted us to get as much information as we could and be comfortably asking an adult about their past experiences. Something unique that I learned from interviewing was that even if the questions are not that good, you will get plenty of information from just one question. And I learned that even if your question was not good, there are about 15 more chances you can have to ask the perfect question. I would always wonder what the immigrants were thinking in Ellis and Angel Island when they came here, now I know because of the interviews. Although the person I interviewed had it better, they should have the same thoughts because the only reason a person would immigrate from another country back then would be because they are having huge problems or are poor. That should not affect their thoughts because they are use to having a hard life and working for everything. I felt so proud to give my person a gift that I put my time and hard work into because I knew that I understood what this person has gone through and I know that my gift will make their life better even if it was a little bit better.