Sarah   Wagner

As I begin to read Chapter 3 of Like it Was: A Complete Guide to Writing Oral History, the first few pages talks about "Who" you are going to interview. The author presented an example of a 80 year old woman who was interviewed at a time when she could remember her stories. These few paragraphs immediately brought me back to my own personal experience with oral history. 

When I was around eight or nine years old my Pop Pop would come to stay at my house from North Jersey during the summer for a few weeks to enjoy the "Jersey Shore". Every morning he would conduct his routine of waking up, having a cup of tea and going outside with a pack of cigarettes and newspaper in hand. He would stay outside the entire day reading the newspaper cover to cover. He always said "This is how you get educated".

Anyway, being a curious and annoying granddaughter I used to interrupt his reading every morning and talk to him when one day I decided to ask about when he was my age. He told me about how it was like to grow up in Belfast, Ireland during a time when homes all around him were getting bombed and he had to protect his younger sisters. One story turned into another story until I found myself writing down everything he said. I documented the stories from when he was born, the death of his younger sister, to meeting my Granny out dancing, to traveling to Canada alone and then finally to the United States where he began to build a life for his family.


This past October 28,2010 he passed away from Alzheimer's Disease and that night I tore apart my desk hoping to find the handwriting of my eight year old self. It was no where to be found and that's when I wanted to read it the most. I would never hear those stories from him again. There are simply a faint memory between him and I.  

In the article What is Oral History it is stated that “Although the conversation takes the form of an interview, in which one person--the interviewer--asks questions of another person--variously referred to as the interviewee or narrator--oral history is, at its heart, a dialogue.”

Oral history is essentially expressed through conversation as stated above. The specific questions chosen by the interviewer creates the atmosphere and the essential twist towards a specific answer. It is essential to record everything one says. If you miss one word their is a possible chance where you can throw off the whole concept/idea. With that being said it seems like a lot of people today are recording interviews rather than writing down the interviews like times before. Once recorded the reporter can constantly replay what was said in order to get the essential point across. Oh the world of technology. 

The article about Narrative Inquiry focuses mainly on a three dimensional system that inquirers use to develop their information. The following quotes are what resonate with me.

1. "Dewey's work on experience is our imaginative touchstone for reminding us that in our work, the answer to the ques­ tion, Why narrative? is, Because experience." pg 50 This explains to the reader that narrative has been a subject that has been thought about for years and years and it is not a new topic.

2."By inward, we mean toward the internal conditions, such as feelings, hopes, aesthetic reactions, and moral dis­ positions. By outward, we mean toward the existential conditions, that is, the environment. By backward and forward, we refer to temporal ity-past, present, and future." pg 50 This infers that when one conducts research they should make sure they cover every angle.

3. "What we mean by this is that we tell remembered stories of ourselves from earlier times as well as more current stories. All o f these stories offer possible plotlines for our futures." pg 60 Every story someone creates comes from some experience or some earlier experiences one goes through or heard of. 

The article, Situating Narrative Inquiry, was intimidating the moment I opened the folder and saw 34 pages. Reading such lengthy material creates an anxious feeling that makes you want to stop reading before you even begin but I got through it and chose 3 quotes that I liked.

1.  "We use the term "turn" strategically because we want to emphasize the movement from one way of thinking to another and highlight the fact that such changes can occur rapidly or slowly, depending on the experience of the researchers and their experiences when doing research." pg 7 in regards to "Four Themes in the Turn Toward Narrative Inquiry" To me, this means that research may or may not come easy. 

2. "In turning, narrative inquirers recognize that the researcher and the researched in a particular study are in relationship with each other and that both parties will learn and change in the encounter" pg 8 The research being conducted may or may not shift your opinion.

3. "The convergence between social science and the public is undoubtedly good for narrative." pg 30 This allows the reader to understand that different sources can develop different questions for the researcher. 

With class being titled, Writing Research and Technology, it didn't surprise me when we were asked to read Rock My Network by Theodora Stites. Rock My Network shows how one girl is sort of "obsessed" with the use of technology. She uses multiple websites to stay "connected" with society instead of personal one on one physical contact just simply technological. 

I personally do not find technology to be invading our society and creating a terrible impact on our lives today involving education and physical health. There are plenty of ways we could use technology to improve education if used in the right way and/or if there is access. 

Overweight/obese health problems have definitely increased but if parents create a time limit for use of video games/ TV/ computer etc. like my parents did our younger generation will know how balance their lifestyle in the future.

I enjoy technology and the positive effects it has on my own writing. If it wasn't for Twitter I wouldn't have developed my idea for my Twitterive. Tweeting daily about places I have been and emotions I have wouldn't have sparked ideas. Twitter was used subconsciously as a "journal" in a way in order to get my ideas down and out of my head. 

Weebly, this website, is used in order for me to reflect on my readings and/or my class in general. This is where I develop my finished products for everyone to see and develop their own opinions of my work.

My online identity on Twitter and in my blog is definitely more outgoing than my "real identity" whether it's in class or on the street. I respond to others online more than I would personally talking to each other in class. What I found really interesting is when I was reading my classmate's Tweets I found myself knowing so much about their personal life such as where they are going on the weekend, what their favorite sport team is, where they are eating for the night, if they are going on a date, and even hearing their vents and frustrations. These tweets in a way connected me to them online but as we stand outside the classroom waiting for Professor Mangini to unlock the door we stand in silence even though I know what they did the night before or what movie they saw this weekend. When I begin to really think about it, people online may know more about me than I really want them too. 

1. Is my Prologue too vague?

Today in class I dicussed my twitterive project with two other classmates. I answered the basic questions Who, What, When, Where and Why that every writer uses to direct their own writing. I guess I have a lot of ideas rummaging through my head because I found it so difficult to explain what I am doing. Have you ever had such a good idea in your head and you just can't explain it to someone else? That is exactly how I feel....

1. Who - Main character is a girl. Her boyfriend just so happens to be thrown into her journal entries.

2. What connection/disconnection do you /characters feel about the place? 
    A track meet is a place where I personally am not comfortable in but find myself enjoying the atmosphere due to my boyfriends experiences. 

The girl in the Twitterive's connection is powerful because she is the "long jumper". This is her "home". 

This upcoming post is a fun activity we are doing in class based on a "boxing" match. Each member has a role whether you are the fighter, a referee, gossip columnist or just an obnoxious fan. My role is the gossip columnist who talks about rumors that are circulating about the Champ and The Contender.

This Thursday, February 17, 2011, the first mixed gender fight will throw down at 12:15 in the Education Hall. The Champion, Dee Light with a record of 57 total matches, 49 wins and 31 knock outs will be taking on and the Contender, Phil Stonethroat who holds no record at all for a professional boxer. Rumor has it that Stonethroat and onlookers are not worried because he states that "he is a man and there is no way he can lose to a girl". I wonder what the feminist party is ready to say about that one. It is going to be one hard fight ladies and gentlemen. 

As all of you may know, Nina Stonethroat, the Contender Phil Stonethroat's wife, will be singing the National Anthem this Thursday. But this ladies and gentlemen you  may not know, leaked online is Mrs. Stonethroat's journal entry stating 

"I’ve never sang before--well, except for that time in high school when they booed me off the stage--but that won’t happen this time. I made sure of that. Let’s just say that the promoter and I have an understanding...
And let’s just say I never pegged him for a man to be into S&M! Delightful!"

Is she having an affair with the promoter right before her husband's big match!!! When asked to confirm the rumors, Phil Stonethroat tweeted yesterday...

 PhilColeNJ philip cole @Xosarahlynn man i know that woman aint trippin like dat. cuz I pay da billz. Feel me?

He maybe in denial but we will see how this news effects his performance in tomorrow's match. 

Being married to Dee Light must be hard for wife Lola Light these days. Constant working out and muscle building for Dee is taking up too much time. Rumors of abuse are sparked when Lola didn't show up to Dee's last match but instead found walking out of the house in an arm sling. Two weeks ago Lola was spotted with a black eye no makeup artist can cover up. What is really  going on in the Light's home? Will Dee even make it to "This Time Its for Realisies" fight or will she be fighting for her life in court?

I find interesting how the power of writing can impact every individual in different ways. Through reading Anzaldua's pieces and creating our own Micro Fiction and Haiku based on inspiration from her stories not one person in our class had the same "idea" or even quote. Every individual can develop a different emotion through one piece.

As I was creating my Micro Fiction I felt an emotional feeling through the quote I chose,"..blood rushes to my face/ twelve years I'd sat on the memory/ the anger scorching me/ my throat so tight I can/barely get the words out." As I was writing I had a lot of ideas of how to shape my story. It wasn’t until the end that I noticed a sense of flashback taking place. It wasn’t intentional but I thought it really made the story interesting. As I was developing my ended I looked at my word count and realized I was around 300 words.  I then proceeded to read through each paragraph and decide what I could take out. I knew I wanted my second paragraph to be the most powerful so I didn’t touch too many sentences there but instead I chopped the ending to make it more blunt.

The most challenging genre was creating a found poem using my tweets. Even though it was fun I found it difficult to create a flow within my poem using such different tweets that do not even work together. The fun part of the Found poem was creating an appearance to my words. The usage or color, font size, and the use of upper and lower case letters would really created a unique twist to my poem.

I have created a Haiku from my previous Micro fiction below and I have created a Found Poem using 10 of my Tweets which will be posted at the bottom of this post.

Rain pouring against the window. 
Grabbed my arms and held my hands,
he told me to relax.

-----------------------------------------------------


Cant f O c U s.
The bitter coldness goes right through me,
I find myself forgetting... 
...things I once knew.
W o r s t feeling EVER.

T    
          e          
       a  
             r   
                  s,
background noise, music...
Frank Sinatra,
 reminds me of you.
Hopefully next Monday will be better.
Start of something new.

Tweets Used:
Pop Pop ... I miss you
Loving the Frank Sinatra Music in barnes and noble .. reminds me of my family
cant focus in my room this semester ... i cant figure out why
the bitter coldness goes right through me
waking up five minutes before your alarm goes off is the worst feeling ever
gather up your tears and put em in your pocket and save em for a time your really gonna need em
i find myself forgetting things i once knew
today is going to be that start of something new
hopefully next monday will be better
background noise of my dad vacuuming down stairs