Independent Study
Entry 1- Today I finally started to get to work on my project for Independent Study. I decided on ghosts because it's October, and I love to research them. I think they are so interesting. I've looked into some cases, and I've made some notes on sticky notes.
Entry 2- I created my website I am going to compile all of the information onto. I've realized that while I do enjoy presenting slideshows, it's difficult to put a lot of information into one place. With a site I can have different areas for different parts of my research.
https://sites.google.com/view/thevalidityofghosts/home?authuser=0
The link above is my website
Entry 3- I looked into some historical ghosts today. My favorite one, is the ghost of Anne Boleyn. I have a soft spot for Queen Boleyn, so learning that she continues to have a place on this earth is oddly comforting. It is super sad to think, that she couldn't move on though. If anyone deserves to be doomed to haunting, is her former husband, Henry Tudor the 8th.
Entry 4- This week I listened to a podcast that I used to love, called SPOOKED. It contains real life ghost stories from people around the world. It is mostly about people from the USA, because that's the main audience, but there was a story from Mexico. It's real life stories, so I'm more inclined to believe in ghost. I'll be honest, I really want to believe in them fully. The supernatural is super cool, and it's nice to think that when my grandparents pass that they could still be here. Side note, Spooked! is really neat, and I highly recommend it.
SPOOKED! link- https://open.spotify.com/show/76571Rfl3m7PLJQZKQIGCT
Entry 5- This week I've written about my own experiences with the supernatural. I've had one "major" encounter. I feel like it's not valid enough in proving whether or not ghost exist. It's still important to write about my own encounter, and hopefully my research will validate what happened, and I won't feel crazy.
Entry 5- This week I put some finishing touches on my site. I added a new picture, and came to conclusion with my question. I think that ghost are real, it just that they appear and haunt in diverse ways. Some appear as orbs, others as people, and some as disembodied voices.
Week 1 Semester 2- Peer Feedback and Reflection
I think the thing that went really well with this semester was the time and freedom we were given to create our work.
One of my classmates suggested that I add some videos on my site. I included this feedback because while the suggestion seems like such an obvious idea, I didn't think of it and I'm glad someone did. Another one of my classmates suggested that I make my site more colorful. I like the idea of that, and I will try my best to do so. I will say that, that might be difficult considering that most of the pictures I could find were in black and white.
My project is already public.
Semester 2 Week 2- This week I made a mind map for my ghost story. I'm a creative person, and I love to write stories, so I thought I should include that into my project. I'm thinking about making a female centered ghost story. I'm really excited to create this, because I've never written a ghost story before, and I have so many ideas. I will have to reign in my ideas, of course. I can't help but get excited when it comes to creating something. I love to write, and I've written in the past. Hopefully this story isn't awful.
Semester 2 Week 3- This week I created a tab on my website for my story. I wanted to add a fun creative element to my site. I don't know why I went this route, but I guess it's probably because I can only work on creating a new site for so long. Anyways, I made the tab for my story and explained why I'm doing the story. I just kind of made up my explanation as I went along.
Semester 2 Week 4- This week I watched a few ghost stories. The Haunting of Hill House, The Haunting of Bly Manor, and The Conjuring. I took notes on all of the things I enjoyed about each of the stories, and selected a few things to include in my own story.
Semester 2 Week 5- This week, I made a new mind-map. I included my notes from last weeks work.
Semester 2 Week 6- This week I created my characters. My story has 3 characters. Mary, Beth, and Artemis. I'm quite excited to make them all come to life, well Mary's dead, but still. It was an easy process for me, because I've been thinking about my cast for awhile now, so when it came time to write them out, I was ready.
Semester 2 Week 7- This week I asked my family for advice on my characters. They didn't have much to add, which surprised me, but I was grateful anyway. They wanted a bit more detail, and a reason behind why my characters were where they were.
Semester 2 Week 8-This week I started working on my rough draft for my story. I'm pretty happy with it so far, but I haven't finished it yet, so we'll see. I hope that it doesn't get to be too long and drawn out, because my biggest fear with this is that it'll be long and boring. I'm not long and boring, I'm short and interesting.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Js31HOZFWMy9nYnQkcEgGHYtbIEvV5ZLACHnmuoHdew/edit
Semester 2 Week 9- This week was really unproductive. I tried to write, but was hit with a wave of writers block. My story isn't ready to be viewed by anyone. I'm kind of embarrassed about the writers block, but I'm sure I'll pull through. I just needed a writing break.
Semester 2 Week 10- I'm reviewing feedback, and finishing my story. My peers really seem to want a summary about my story. I, mean, I guess I'll write one, but it feels unnecessary. People like my concept which is good.
I'm going to include a summary on my site, and add lots of character details. That way, it will be easier to understand what's going on, and understand character motivations.
Week 11-12 Semester 2- I took a bit of a work hiatus, because I was irresponsible. I redid my project calendar to allow for more writing time. I felt rushed with my original plan, and I can't write a good piece when I feel rushed. I will post a link to my revised schedule here.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/16nzpDk3e81eljERjmMcNP1vGnqixPAcdAI9d3OWJm-E/edit#gid=653282481
Week 13 Semester 2- This week I edited my project calendar again. I then caught up on my story. I wrote to the falling action, and I'm halfway done. I don't want to finish so early that I have nothing to do for the rest of the semester. It is better to be ahead than behind, but we still have five weeks left until the final presentation. I am nervous to present it, but luckily I don't have to read my full story to my peers. Here's a picture of my workspace. I'm in the building! The excitement of being IN school hasn't worn off yet.
Semester 2 Week 14- This week I finished my falling action. I'm really happy with what I have, and I've enjoyed writing. It's been great to be able to create something. It's been hard to focus with my allergies though.
Semester 2 Week 15- This week I started the resolution. All I have left to do, is write another chapter, edit, and put it onto my site. I'm very excited to be done with my story. I'm not sure it's my best work, but I worked hard on it, and I relieved to almost be done. I'm going to attach a picture of how I imagine my story's setting, because I want you to see it too.
The picture on the left is how I imagine the house, and the picture on the right is how I imagine the location. I think it's beautiful. I love Victorian era houses.
Semester 2 Week 16- I finally finished my story! I'm very pleased, and I like the way I ended it. It is a kind of open ending for the main couple, and it ends with peace. I like stories like that, where no one dies, and everyone gets their happiness. This week, I will submit a link to my story doc on this site, with this entry.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Js31HOZFWMy9nYnQkcEgGHYtbIEvV5ZLACHnmuoHdew/edit
Semester 2 Week 17- This week I edited my story, and put it on my ghost website. I'm really happy it's out, so I don't have to worry. All I have to do now is work on how I'm going to present it to my classmates next week. I will post a link to my site in this entry.
https://sites.google.com/view/thevalidityofghosts/creating-a-ghost-story
Semester 2 Week 18- This week I went through how I should present my project to my peers. I think I'm going to discuss my process of writing and maybe read a bit of my story. I'm a bit apprehensive to share something creative to my classmates. I hate being able to see and hear how people react to my creative stuff. For me, presenting is a nightmare, and it takes a lot of trust to do so.
Semester 2 Week 19- I took kind of a week off, to regroup, and finalize what I wanted to present to my peers next week. I've decided to talk about my writing process, and show them where to find my story if they want to read it.