In this final portfolio, I, Robert Rawicki, have strived to put together the thoughts, audios, and visual images to showcase my five pieces, that have been written with the intentions of deepening "Stranger in Me". The narratives that I have composed should not only paint a picture to my audience, but also remind myself of what kind of person I am and who I might turn out to be. The first project focuses on the "Stranger in Me" that we were analyzing and trying to find. I found it very difficult to discover who I am because I have not experienced much with only being 19 years old. Also it is not an easy thing to open up and tell your secrets to strangers. However, as time goes on, I am positive that I will slowly discover the person that lurks inside of me. In my next assignment, people can discover that I have a brotherly relationship with my best friend. It is simple to understand that I am a very loyal person till the end. Even though Sontag's piece has a bit of age to it, I can agree with almost everything she mentions on a personal level. When Roland Barthes mentions defamiliarization, it opens up new paths, forcing you to reconsider even the most simplest every day tasks and duties. As my audience progresses through my narratives, they may also discover and point out things that I don't know about myself, but that is the part of growing up.
In the first draft, I included two images of myself, while analyzing in order to help uncover my "true self". I found it challenging to describe myself in words, but with the help of Susan Sontag's overall message in Plato's Cave: On Photography', I figured out that in many situations, it is hard to really understand who you really are.
In Hero' vs .Villains I provide an audio interview with my best friend, who is practically my brother. Throughout the interview I thought that I was going to have trouble with relating to a few of his situations. However, I ultimately found myself embedded in within these experiences.
In Place of Mind, I showcase five images that give the audience a representation of my everyday life. After examining Roland Barthe's piece, I found myself turning my head towards multiple different situations too.
In Why The Hate, I came up with a fictitious character named Jacob Miller. Despite growing up with a certain negative view on a specific race, after an encounter, Jacob later discovers that his views have been misjudged for all these years.
Finally, in the Empathy Challenge, I focus on family. After gathering research on orphan children, I emphasize the struggles that these kids faced throughout the entire process, and examine the ways in which people take their privileges for granted.
After putting together this portfolio, I still find myself questioning "who am I"? Looking back from the start of the semester to now ,the only thing I found out about myself is my traits and behaviors towards specific things. However, I still believe that these things will change after going through many personal experiences. This portfolio has really made me reconsider the role in which strangers play, as it forces me to reexamine my judgments on people before really getting to know them.