Monday, December 8, 2008
Project Reflection
Final Project Reflection
Salman Ahmed
For the final project my group chose to create a twitter account for the character William, from “Flight Patterns” by Sherman Alexei. We chose this piece of work because we felt that out of all of the short stories we covered, “Flight Patterns” was a story we understood well and could relate too. The characters from the story were dynamic and story left much to interpretation for the readers. “Flight Patterns” was also a good fit because it was a more modern story, and as such as students it was easier for us to relate to the main character of the story, William.
We chose to create a twitter account for William because the story did not expand deeply upon his character. Rather, the story focused around the story of the taxi driver and the ordeals that he went through. We felt that through Twitter, we could gain insight to the thoughts and actions of William. Also, because Twitter is a mostly informal, short entry, journal, we felt that it allowed us a great deal of flexibility in expressing William’s thoughts. William himself is not the most conventional character in the story, rather his character was expressed informally. Because of this, we found that Twitter would make a good match for the final project.
Each of us in the group tried to contribute to the Twitter account, making 3-4 entries each. For the entries that I made, I tried to focus on the reaction of William to what the taxi driver told him. I felt that the taxi driver instantly matured William, and thus he cared more for his family than his work. I felt that this was not really expressed in the story, as the end of the story does not expand on how William feels about what he learned, rather it was just a short reaction (in calling his wife). Because of this, I felt that this would be a good topic to write about in the entries as to expand on the development of his character throughout the short story and at the conclusion of it.
Selecting this topic worked well for me as my group mates selected similar, but different topics. This worked perfectly as William is such a dynamic character. In the story, he has a wide range of emotions and actions. At the beginning of the story, he seemed immature and young, naïve to the world. At the end of the story, he transforms and becomes much more mature as he thinks more about how his traveling can affect his family and how he cannot control what happens at home while he is gone. William’s thoughts and actions were all over the map throughout the story, and as such our Twitter representation of William’s thoughts and actions too were random and diverse.
There are several things I think we could have improved upon in our project. Because it was four different people contributing to the Twitter, it was hard to coordinate the direction of the project. Also, I felt that the postings were not exactly chronological, and I wish that Twitter would allow more control over the order of the postings (post-written editing). Overall though, I felt that our project was representative of the character presented in the text and thus was a success.
http://twitter.com/WilliamAmerican
Salman Ahmed
For the final project my group chose to create a twitter account for the character William, from “Flight Patterns” by Sherman Alexei. We chose this piece of work because we felt that out of all of the short stories we covered, “Flight Patterns” was a story we understood well and could relate too. The characters from the story were dynamic and story left much to interpretation for the readers. “Flight Patterns” was also a good fit because it was a more modern story, and as such as students it was easier for us to relate to the main character of the story, William.
We chose to create a twitter account for William because the story did not expand deeply upon his character. Rather, the story focused around the story of the taxi driver and the ordeals that he went through. We felt that through Twitter, we could gain insight to the thoughts and actions of William. Also, because Twitter is a mostly informal, short entry, journal, we felt that it allowed us a great deal of flexibility in expressing William’s thoughts. William himself is not the most conventional character in the story, rather his character was expressed informally. Because of this, we found that Twitter would make a good match for the final project.
Each of us in the group tried to contribute to the Twitter account, making 3-4 entries each. For the entries that I made, I tried to focus on the reaction of William to what the taxi driver told him. I felt that the taxi driver instantly matured William, and thus he cared more for his family than his work. I felt that this was not really expressed in the story, as the end of the story does not expand on how William feels about what he learned, rather it was just a short reaction (in calling his wife). Because of this, I felt that this would be a good topic to write about in the entries as to expand on the development of his character throughout the short story and at the conclusion of it.
Selecting this topic worked well for me as my group mates selected similar, but different topics. This worked perfectly as William is such a dynamic character. In the story, he has a wide range of emotions and actions. At the beginning of the story, he seemed immature and young, naïve to the world. At the end of the story, he transforms and becomes much more mature as he thinks more about how his traveling can affect his family and how he cannot control what happens at home while he is gone. William’s thoughts and actions were all over the map throughout the story, and as such our Twitter representation of William’s thoughts and actions too were random and diverse.
There are several things I think we could have improved upon in our project. Because it was four different people contributing to the Twitter, it was hard to coordinate the direction of the project. Also, I felt that the postings were not exactly chronological, and I wish that Twitter would allow more control over the order of the postings (post-written editing). Overall though, I felt that our project was representative of the character presented in the text and thus was a success.
http://twitter.com/WilliamAmerican
Antigone
It is hard to critize the actions of Antigone in the play, considering what she had gone through. Watching her entire family perish around her dishonorably, I would say that her actions were justified in trying to gain some little honor for her perished brother. Though the rest of society might have critized only one of Antigone’s brothers for his actions, Antigone obviously did not see it this way. She had no personal bias against either brother, and from her perspective Polyneices did not do any more wrong than Eteocles. Thus, she felt that it was unfair that Eteocles was honored with a proper burial while Polyneices was left in the streets to be eaten by the birds.
Antigone felt that she had to right the wrongs against Polyneices by giving him a proper burial, even if it meant her own death. She had nothing left to live for, as the rest of her family had already perished. The only point of criticism is that she was leaving her only remaining family, her sister, Ismene, by herself. Still, Antigone felt that her brother deserved honor with a proper burial and that as his sister, it was her duty to uphold his honor. In Greek culture, family and honor were two very important values, and for her brother, her family, to be dishonored was not acceptable. If I were put in the same situation, I would uphold the honor of my family, even if it meant breaking the law. In Antigone’s perspective, she was only breaking law that she believed was unjust and wrong, and as a result felt justified in her actions. She did not fear death, as opposed to her living sister, and it seemed that she wanted to perish like the rest of her family had. In her actions, Antigone was regaining the honor lost by her father and her brothers, and wanted to die with this satisfaction.
Antigone felt that she had to right the wrongs against Polyneices by giving him a proper burial, even if it meant her own death. She had nothing left to live for, as the rest of her family had already perished. The only point of criticism is that she was leaving her only remaining family, her sister, Ismene, by herself. Still, Antigone felt that her brother deserved honor with a proper burial and that as his sister, it was her duty to uphold his honor. In Greek culture, family and honor were two very important values, and for her brother, her family, to be dishonored was not acceptable. If I were put in the same situation, I would uphold the honor of my family, even if it meant breaking the law. In Antigone’s perspective, she was only breaking law that she believed was unjust and wrong, and as a result felt justified in her actions. She did not fear death, as opposed to her living sister, and it seemed that she wanted to perish like the rest of her family had. In her actions, Antigone was regaining the honor lost by her father and her brothers, and wanted to die with this satisfaction.
Bartleby
Bartleby would have one of the most depressing Facebook profiles you can find. Rather than a social outlet for Bartleby, he would use Facebook as an avenue to channel his own thoughts and expressions – to himself. Because he has no friends, Bartleby could use Facebook to express himself without the concern of others judging him and without having to socialize with the rest of society.
Bartleby would be part of the New York City network, his only sense of belonging in the world. For his occupation, he would list scrivener in New York. He would not list his email address or phone number, as he did not have one nor did he need one, as he did not need to communicate with anyone but himself. He would have one photo, which would be a picture of himself he took using a camera and a mirror in the bathroom. There would be no expression on his face. He would be listed as single, and he would be interested in nothing. He would be looking for friendship, but his lack of friends would suggest that he does not find what he is looking for. His favorite quote would be, “I would prefer not to”, a response made to the Facebook questionnaire when asking him for his favorite quote.
If you look back at his status updates, you would not see much . There would be a couple of references to fresh ginger nuts, and the loss of his eye sight. He would ponder on the uselessness of his life, and one day his status updates would mysteriously stop.
Bartleby would be part of the New York City network, his only sense of belonging in the world. For his occupation, he would list scrivener in New York. He would not list his email address or phone number, as he did not have one nor did he need one, as he did not need to communicate with anyone but himself. He would have one photo, which would be a picture of himself he took using a camera and a mirror in the bathroom. There would be no expression on his face. He would be listed as single, and he would be interested in nothing. He would be looking for friendship, but his lack of friends would suggest that he does not find what he is looking for. His favorite quote would be, “I would prefer not to”, a response made to the Facebook questionnaire when asking him for his favorite quote.
If you look back at his status updates, you would not see much . There would be a couple of references to fresh ginger nuts, and the loss of his eye sight. He would ponder on the uselessness of his life, and one day his status updates would mysteriously stop.
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