The Danger of Single Story
Project Reflection
In this project each student chose a country in Africa to study. The country that I chose was Somalia and I researched the culture, economy, conflict, and religion that is present in Somalia. This really opened my eyes to what kind of place Somalia was. It is very violent and wars rage throughout the cities. One thing that really struck me is that one of the most important thing to the people in Somalia is family and that creates strong bonds between family members. I thought that was very interesting because even though there is constant violence the people still value their everyday lives and loves it to the fullest. I also researched a lot about Somali pirates and how piracy started. What I found is that piracy started when big company fishing boats were illegally fishing in Somali seas and stole most of this fish which left Somali fishermen with nothing to catch. This caused them to make no money due to the lack of fish so they began attacking the illegal fishing boats in order to scare them out of the Somali seas. Once we got all our info we were told to write a short story about your country based on the research we found rather than the cultural biased we hear about everyday. I decided to make my story about a young boy named Absimil who lives in a large refugee camp with his mother. After a few years of a very hard life Absimil becomes a Somali pirate in order to bring money back to his mother so they could start a new life. When I finished my first draft there were many errors and I had to revise it and refine it 5 different times to order to have a final draft that I was very proud of. One we everyone finished their final draft we were told to take out a small passage of our story to read at the exhibition. I chose the very beginning of my story when Absimil’s father is killed and I refined it to make it the best possible. After this, we each made a small intro talking about our story and why we chose to write about what we did. I felt as if mine was very well done and Im very proud of the exhibition.
Throughout this project I learned so much about Somalia and about cultural biases most people have about Africa. They see it as a country full of starving kids, violence, poverty, sadness, and they think that the people of Africa did this to themselves.They think of the people as someone who has no morals. These biases could be farther from the truth. I learned that imperialism was the main reason why a lot of Africa is struggling to survive but they are trying to rebuild what was broken by the colonization of Africa. The people there have carried their beautiful culture through many years and still practice some to this day. It is a truly wonderful country with a very dark violent past but through the years Africa has been looked at in a very bad way. People need to become more educated and open their eyes so they can see what they have been missing. Im very thankful that Ally provided us with this information because it really changed my perspective and it has ultimately made me a better person. Not only did I learn more about Africa but this project really helped me grow as a writer. I learned a lot about showing rather than telling. If you were to read my first draft compared to my second draft you can really notice a difference in the descriptive language and imagery. In order to write a strong story you must have have accurate information and vivid sentences that keeps the reader captivated. Also, the story should have a strong build and a satisfying climax that will make the story interesting throughout and factual. Finally, you need to have a resolution that wraps the story up very well and leaves the reader satisfied. Your story shouldn't feel like a waste of time.
I am most proud of my final draft of my story because I worked very hard to get it to that final state and I feel as if it the best I could have done. I have never really wrote a long story like this but I am very pleased with the results. I also think that the information I used expressed how much I researched Somalia in order to make a great story. The most challenging thing about this project was the revising and refining because my story is 12 pages long so it was quite the challenge to read through all that looking for errors, or sentences that I could change to make it flow better. If I could change one thing about my story it would be the ending. I feel as if I could have ended it a lot better rather than just killing off my main character just like that. I kinda wish that I would have let him survive and return to his mother but that seemed a little unrealistic. This passage from my story is something that I am very proud of and I hope people can enjoy it and appreciate it, “He could smell the ocean and hear the small waves push up the beach as a few birds flew over him. A slight cool breeze blew through his hair and howled through the rocks on the sand. He was overwhelmed with the beauty, and happiness filled his body.”
For my cover I chose to have a large cargo ship on the horizon of the ocean as two skiffs approach if. I did this because this was a scene that I wrote about in my story and I felt that it was the getting close to the peak of the climax. Also, I made the cover look like a watercolor painting to make it look more beautiful and intriguing to look at. I believe that it draws the reader in. I am very proud of my cover because it turned out exactly how I wanted it too and it is definitely one of the best things that I have ever made in photoshop. I will definitely keep this picture for a long time so I can continue to appreciate it. Also, when I made this cover I accidently deleted it so I had to redo the entire thing which made it very challenging but I'm glad I did because the second time I made it was a lot better than the first and It made me appreciate it way more. I wouldn't want to change anything about my cover. I am very satisfied with the final result.
The most important lesson that I learned during this project was that cultural biases can really negatively affect people everywhere. For example, in America when people think of Africa they don't really see them as “people”. They see them as something lower and that is not okay. I really think that there should be a change in that biased education and that more people in our society should be educated about what really happened and what Africa is really like. Also, I grew as a writer and it has made me very interested in the art. I have more appreciation for authors and books because now I know what it is like to write a story and research before you go about writing it. I am very glad we did this project and I have a whole new perspective on many things.
Throughout this project I learned so much about Somalia and about cultural biases most people have about Africa. They see it as a country full of starving kids, violence, poverty, sadness, and they think that the people of Africa did this to themselves.They think of the people as someone who has no morals. These biases could be farther from the truth. I learned that imperialism was the main reason why a lot of Africa is struggling to survive but they are trying to rebuild what was broken by the colonization of Africa. The people there have carried their beautiful culture through many years and still practice some to this day. It is a truly wonderful country with a very dark violent past but through the years Africa has been looked at in a very bad way. People need to become more educated and open their eyes so they can see what they have been missing. Im very thankful that Ally provided us with this information because it really changed my perspective and it has ultimately made me a better person. Not only did I learn more about Africa but this project really helped me grow as a writer. I learned a lot about showing rather than telling. If you were to read my first draft compared to my second draft you can really notice a difference in the descriptive language and imagery. In order to write a strong story you must have have accurate information and vivid sentences that keeps the reader captivated. Also, the story should have a strong build and a satisfying climax that will make the story interesting throughout and factual. Finally, you need to have a resolution that wraps the story up very well and leaves the reader satisfied. Your story shouldn't feel like a waste of time.
I am most proud of my final draft of my story because I worked very hard to get it to that final state and I feel as if it the best I could have done. I have never really wrote a long story like this but I am very pleased with the results. I also think that the information I used expressed how much I researched Somalia in order to make a great story. The most challenging thing about this project was the revising and refining because my story is 12 pages long so it was quite the challenge to read through all that looking for errors, or sentences that I could change to make it flow better. If I could change one thing about my story it would be the ending. I feel as if I could have ended it a lot better rather than just killing off my main character just like that. I kinda wish that I would have let him survive and return to his mother but that seemed a little unrealistic. This passage from my story is something that I am very proud of and I hope people can enjoy it and appreciate it, “He could smell the ocean and hear the small waves push up the beach as a few birds flew over him. A slight cool breeze blew through his hair and howled through the rocks on the sand. He was overwhelmed with the beauty, and happiness filled his body.”
For my cover I chose to have a large cargo ship on the horizon of the ocean as two skiffs approach if. I did this because this was a scene that I wrote about in my story and I felt that it was the getting close to the peak of the climax. Also, I made the cover look like a watercolor painting to make it look more beautiful and intriguing to look at. I believe that it draws the reader in. I am very proud of my cover because it turned out exactly how I wanted it too and it is definitely one of the best things that I have ever made in photoshop. I will definitely keep this picture for a long time so I can continue to appreciate it. Also, when I made this cover I accidently deleted it so I had to redo the entire thing which made it very challenging but I'm glad I did because the second time I made it was a lot better than the first and It made me appreciate it way more. I wouldn't want to change anything about my cover. I am very satisfied with the final result.
The most important lesson that I learned during this project was that cultural biases can really negatively affect people everywhere. For example, in America when people think of Africa they don't really see them as “people”. They see them as something lower and that is not okay. I really think that there should be a change in that biased education and that more people in our society should be educated about what really happened and what Africa is really like. Also, I grew as a writer and it has made me very interested in the art. I have more appreciation for authors and books because now I know what it is like to write a story and research before you go about writing it. I am very glad we did this project and I have a whole new perspective on many things.