Metacognition for Memoir Project

October 20, 2008

Metacognition for Filler Page and Passage Explication

As opposed to the last metacognition I wrote, I dreaded this assignment. However, I did enjoy my book. To begin, I choose my book almost at random. I was open to any book cover and reviews that were appealing to me. As I walked into the Malden High Library section of memoirs, I was disappointed at the lack of variety we had. I looked over the few books we did have and five interested me. I glanced at the page numbers of each book and quickly discarded three that had either awfully small print or over 350 pages. I went up to Mrs. M (the librarian) and she suggested that I take one that I could most likely compare myself to. With my being a legal foreigner to this country (I am Brazilian-American, or generally speaking, a Latina) I choose to read When I was Puerto Rican, because the author was also a foreigner to this country and also a Latina.

I began reading as soon as I checked out the book, and was intrigued with the opening chapter—at times I felt just like the author, stuck between two worlds. On the larger scale, I could definitely relate to Santiago's story, and even with her syntax. The book was divided into small subchapters that resembled her (and my) flashbacks on her (my) childhood. Each story Santiago told grow more captivating and I was quickly absorbed in her changing life. I devoured the book, and though the ending was completely different than what I expected, I loved it.

The project, on the other hand, I was unsure of what assignment to choose, and where to even begin. Looking back, I realize that I feared the assignment so much, because so many of the selections had to do with imitating the author's tone. Although, I do, for the most part, understand the tone an author is trying to convey, I myself am terrible at writing with a specific tone. For almost half an hour I sat and debated on which assignment I would choose. The first assignment I chose quickly: Assignment #1: Design a Cover. My imagination flows freely when it comes to creating or inventing ideas for poster boards and mostly anything visual, so that was an easy pick. I really wanted to work with making CD's, but because we needed to bring in an actual CD and I would not be able to (I asked a few people, but none were willing to help), I had to cross off that idea. I chose Assignment #2: Write a Filler Page, next. I was aware that we needed to imitate the author's tone, but I knew that if I challenged myself I would eventually succeed somewhere along the road. I took the challenge and wrote Santiago a chapter in between her getting accepted to a private high school and her graduating from Harvard. Next, I debated on which assignment I would choose next. I ended up choosing the passage explication assignment, because I did not need to write while incorporating the author's tone. (Relief!)

For all the assignments, I had to overcome some kind of obstacle. For the cover design, my artistic "skills" are among the worst, so instead of drawing my picture myself I taped a blank sheet over the original picture and roughly sketched the outlines of the buildings (I did the same for the outline of Santiago). I had decided earlier that I wanted to have Esmeralda Santiago holding a Puerto Rican flag to her chest (close to her heart), and she would be facing away from the Brooklyn Projects behind her, but her body would be walking towards them. I am not sure how well I drew that, but had I done a good job, the cover would send a nostalgic, but encouraging, life-is-about-risk vibe. On the filler page assignment, I obviously had trouble imitating the author's tone. I tried to focus on words or phrases she would use (she used many negative terms, and her sentences were neither too long nor too short), and incorporated her syntax as much as possible. For the passage explication, I had trouble choosing a passage, and then I had trouble not repeating myself in the explication. I choose that passage, because it's really the only big gap she leaves in between chapters—all the other chapters were coherent to the previous chapter and were used as a starting point for the next chapter. After I chose the passage, I started writing, but it seemed that I said everything I needed to say in the first paragraph. I felt like I was constantly repeating myself, so I kept changing what I was saying.

All in all, this assignment was not one of my strongest—nor was it my favorite. But I did have fun with designing the cover, and with creating my filler page.