Reflecting on Reflective Writing When you are writing you are already reflecting your thinking. You cannot write without first thinking over the things. Writing is reflecting by itself. It is reflecting your knowledge of language, general knowledge and your personality. Writing is the first thing we learn in school. Writing enables us to learn further. I must say that the title ‘Reflecting on Reflective Writing' has too many of reflecting. It may sound confusing; reflecting on writing sounds good. Reflective writing is an academic writing. I take it as a research complex writing. Somehow it feels like an adult writing or taking a philosophical approach in writing, the wide one. In researching over your topics you are learning. New things start you thinking and you go deeper in trying to have your own opinion about them. You dive into the thoughts of other people comparing and synthesizing them. Then, you want to understand what is behind all those thoughts. Reflective writing is in close touch to reading. You read various contents and you discover the new ones. One thing leads to another. You analyse and explore. You advance your literacy. People who knew how to write were always respected in society. They were considered literate persons. Throughout the history, literate persons would always be a step ahead of other people. They were in close touch to literature and written thoughts of 'people who reflected on life affairs'. Literate people started recording the history of the humankind. And they gave raise to educating and ever emancipating the human thought. As I said earlier, reflective writing comes close to revising and self-assessing. As you are getting older, more experienced and more knowledgeable, your writing is getting more reflective. I learned in this course that it can be a discipline for itself. It feels like a biography of a written work. It is a cognitive endeavour which absorbs your time and energy. You need a good chocolate cake to refresh your brain. And you need to stop at some point. Reflection needs you rested and fresh. It is an activity that takes place in your 'subtle mind', probably while you are sleeping or when not thinking about it. The information is being processed, i.e. reflected, and your feedback comes to you in many subtle ways. The practice and theory are being integrated into learning through language, in this case through your own writing. There is a lot of comparing and balancing in reaching your thought and expressing it. Writing becomes a self-conscious process. You become aware of your interference, your role, and your responsibility. In reflective writing you are mastering high-order thinking skills, academic writing and philosophical thinking. You become a free thinker; you do not judge saying this is good and that is bad; you do not critisize. You go deeper than that. You stay neutral and feel big in coming close to the absolute thought. You are emancipating the thoughts of yours and of others, hopefully for the better.
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Writing Project 2: Reflection
Discovery In writing WP 2 on ethnography the things went smoothly for me, for, I grew up in a multi-ethnic surrounding. There were not many surprising things apart from realizing that the surrounding influenced me and my interests, especially in the sphere of language and literature. There was a discovery that fascinated me, though. I learned that the Muslim holiday 'Kurban Bayrami' is related to some stories I read in the Bible. This was the story of Abraham and his beliefs. I learned there was a biblical Abraham, and Abraham in Islam. I also learned Abraham does not appear as large in Christianity as he does in Judaism and Islam. Anyhow I discovered that people share same ancient stories and have respect for story characters. In Christian tradition, Abraham is the first of the three biblical patriarch. In Jewish tradition, Abraham is called 'our father Abraham,' signifying that he is both the biological progenitor of the Jews, and the father of Judaism, the first Jew. Muslims regard him as a prophet and patriarch, the archetype of the perfect Muslim, and the revered reformer of the Kaaba in Mecca. Islamic traditions consider Ibrahim (Abraham) the first Pioneer of Islam, and that his purpose and mission throughout his life was to proclaim the Oneness of God. So, my big discovery is that people share identical historical stories, interpreting them differently. Ethics in Writing At first I felt like writing on ethnography is not my pair of socks, and I thought I would have hard time completing it. But, once I started writing I could not stop. All of a sudden I had a lot to say. It was challenging to approach people of different ethnic background indiscreetly but not hurtfully. I was always on alert not to write, or express, the terms and feelings in inappropriate way. I really tried my best to reach the balance and express myself ethically. There were very intimate moments in my story that I did not want to avoid, because they implied the most valuable feelings on human nature-that we are one of a kind, a family; that we share not only air, light, food, language and customs but our deep ourselves, still vulnerable and unknown. Feedback on WP2 writing Now, having done my two major projects, I see the most critical part in letting it go; being public. It is a scary feeling. You were hidden before you wrote it. Now you feel exposed to some degree, and vulnerable. You are attached to your writing. You thought it belonged to you. Now, all of a sudden it belongs to everyone. On the other hand, you feel 'you left the clay in abraded words to stay', as I termed it. Your thinking, part of yourself, can now reach distant thinkers, the ones you would never normally reach. It is thrilling that people will lay their eyes and minds upon your words. It is an intimate affair of sharing yourself with others. As for the most important part in writing the ethnographic stories, I would decide upon reaching a balance between being an unbiased observer against expressing personal feelings and standpoints freely. You have to reach an ethical level of expressing your thoughts taming your deepest pain in regard to affairs of humankind. You want to make it a noble piece of reading, educative, poetic, and inspiring. You want to give readers an enjoyable experience, with the moral interwoven gracefully. Writing Literacy My response to the question on teaching someone else something about writing tomorrow would be slightly different. It would be narrowed and it would rely upon my experience in writing on ethnography. I would tell my story on writing. I would explain my experience in learning about the writing, for I learned a lot. I would emphasize the role of life-long learning in ever emancipating a human thought. I would also emphasize the importance of developing the communication and language skills in mother tongue and foreign language. You learn language by listening, talking, reading and writing. My points of interest have always been reading and writing and I would tell how my interest in those helped me gained knowledge easily and free of charge. I would then come down to writing skills in elaborating them. Finally, I would pinpoint writing on ethnography, for, it embraces our universal self. I would explain that it is a process of learning, not only on writing, but on researching a human history, culture, nature, and yourself. I might even enter the education systems and international surveys on learning achievements, such as PIRLS and PIZA. My interest would go behind those results into the habits of reading and writing across nations and methods of gaining those habits. At the moment, according to those studies, Finnish student are best achievers in ‘reading’ for reading is cultivated by tradition in the country. The test given in the international studies covers both reading and writing, yet, it is always termed ‘reading’ never ‘writing’ and I would like to research upon that. The word ‘writing’ appears to be greatly omitted in learning sphere and it bothers me. We all know that a writing test, usually called an essay or assignment, is an eliminatory test on someone’s academic knowledge at the end of certain education levels. Still, the term writing lingers behind the terms such as language, language competencies, reading, assignment, and behind mathematical literacy. With the expansion of digital era, writing became typing. But, to me writing is being literate in every sense of the word. I am curious about the writing literacy momentum in the world. It feels like being disgraced. Writing happened to be reduced to ads, posts, bad news, typing, images, prompts, cliché phrases paragraphs and books, abbreviations, acronyms, often lacking the meaning. Eventually, the understanding becomes void of the meaning, humiliating the senses. Mirroring Reflection is the throwing back by a body or surface of light, heat, or sound without absorbing it. Or serious thought or consideration. I like the term musing, though. It comes under WPA outcomes because it takes us beyond writing. It moves us from 'ego' state into the wider consciousness. There, you surpass yourself and touch deeper expressions often represented by symbols. Reflection can be well separated from writing. It takes you into the thinking and becoming a little philosopher who does not mark the thoughts. Yet, reflective writing is a method of self-assessing, in this case, for, you can reflect in writing upon the texts of others. Basically, when reflecting you are analyzing the contents, the process of writing, everything that pops in your mind in relation to the writing. You are giving an account of the whole work, including yourself. It is a kind of researching where you can enter yet another story. It is like a balloon you want to watch fly in high sky. According to instructions you make a balloon, adding some elements of your own. You personalize a bit the balloon. You color it bright white with a long brilliant silver rope. You blow air into it, tie it and let it float. You run with your balloon across the sunny field enjoying your time. You want to see it fly higher and you let the rope free; and the beautiful balloon flies away, and disappear. Then, you just remember the balloon, still, as many times as you like, for, the balloon is made of thoughts. Somehow, I feel reflective writing is a reflective thinking. It is wider than lettering, for, you always want to add or change something, as time passes by. You become a balloon, flying real high, either in thinking or writing, it seems all the same. You are ballooning. Proofing, Formatting, and Producing Proofreading, formatting and producing are very important to me. It is my favorite part. I design and sew attire for my thoughts. And, it is easy going, save for proofreading. When it comes to formatting and producing, I am free from deep thinking. This is now a shallow effort, partly automatized. Proofreading But, alas, the proofreading is an open-ended activity to me. I can never complete it for I am a foreign language speaker. Yet, I try hard to please the syntax soaring across the semantics. And there are many moments there. All people develop their own language, including me. No matter how educated or experienced in language matters, you still form your unique language register. And you have to fit into the language subtle patterns. It feels like you have to place a puzzle piece into its chamfer. The more you learn the more you become aware when the puzzle does not match its impress. But, the language is stronger than that. It helps you out in reaching the point of literacy, at many offered 'cross-references'. All of them are good and instructive, unless they frighten you and block you from further using a language. I can tell for myself that I am always on the move. I am getting absorbed by it. In the end, there are professional proof-readers who can assist. Formatting Formatting is a must, at least to me. I see a text as a body. It has its constituent parts, mainly three basic parts. The last part is particularly important since it should give a vision. These are the shoes to the text. They take you far, if you wear them. The body of the text is a smart outfit. The first part is a head. It gives the text the thoughts, the context. I see the text as an image of a square which is cobbled in a clean and simple pattern that gives you comfort. You are aware that somebody arranged the pattern to give a viewer the pleasure of being respected in just watching it. So, everything matters in writing while the form connects an author with a reader more than we would think. Producing Producing smells like printing place. It has ravishing mood. The text goes out and has a life of its own. It feels like a book. The book feels like all we have. Namely, I always picture my writing in the form of a book. The file document does not feel like writing. It feels like a recording, distant and cold. Digital yourself. The Evolving Rules I did not forget that we were supposed to answer the question on consequences that might arise if different readers and writers think of proofing, formatting, and producing final pieces of writing differently, and on problems or opportunities that might arise in that case. I just did not know what to write about this. We all produce very different texts and there are novelties and innovations along the way. And I think language is accepting those for the sake of developing. Everything is on the move, including the language. It is an open-ended story. It is evolving. We certainly rely on certain 'standards' established in this area while aiming beyond the learned rules. Revision
Revision is writing from different prospective. When you are writing you write for yourself and sometimes you do not write background thoughts, they stay somewhere between the lines. When you are writing, thoughts are sometimes escaping but they stay lingering in you. I enjoy re-reading and going deeper into the matter. I always feel the first draft is just for me. Second reading calls upon correcting spelling and grammar issues. Then, you better your expressions; replace the words for better ones and you make body of the text. You rearrange thoughts. Then, you get inspired and you write some more. You read it over and over again until it feels complete. You can always add something, or change. It comes with another day and new feelings. It is a cognitive process. It takes time and fresh energy. Sometimes you do not manage to express yourself fully. You leave it. It takes time for the right expression to come to you. And you wait. Actually you have to learn to wait. If you are inpatient or limited with deadlines, you get nervous. When you are nervous you cannot act properly. You do things for the sake of doing. It also happens with writing, and revising. When I write in English, which is a foreign language to me, I study words and their meaning in searching for the right one. Then, it happens that I discover new words and they lead me into their realm, inspiring me for additional writing. I dwell a lot upon the word meaning. I search other texts and contexts to come closed to the word I need. It requires a lot of reading. When revising, you are learning. You want your ideas come in place. The process of revising can be, seemingly, out of your control. Sometimes the solutions come to you as gifts. I like those the most. When I was writing my ethnography story I was troubled to translate the name of a traditional brooch called ‘almasli grana’ in my language. I translated it as ‘almasli arm’, explaining that ‘almasli’ means a gemstone in Arabic language. I did not want to change the term ‘almasli’ for it stood there firm, but, I wanted a better expression for ‘arm’. I needed a better word for arm, for, the original word was a branch. I just could not make it better, to my knowledge. Meanwhile, I was reading a text on American poetry and I came across Ezra Pound’s poem ‘In a Station of the Metro’: The apparition of these faces in the crowd, Petals on a wet, black bough. And I felt the word ‘bough’ is the word. While it might not be the right word, I wanted to incorporate the poetic expression into my writing. It feels like honoring the poet and my love for poetry. So, there are many layers within the text and many more get born in the process of revising. As a teacher, I would say that revision is a good method of learning to be practiced more at schools. Interviewing
I prepared and conducted the three interviews for my Writing Project 2 on Ethnography. First interview was conducted with my friend’s mother Zlata, now in her seventies, in relation to the traditional brooch called ‘almasli grana’. I was curious to learn a story behind its name, for, nobody could explain it to me. I felt there was a mystery behind its beauty. I talked to Zlata on the phone. First Interview Questions:
Second Interview Second interview was done in a jeweler shop. I went there with a friend who introduced me and told the owner what my interest was. I apologized for not coming to buy some piece of jeweler and explained that I was trying to find more information on the brooch ‘almasli grana’. He looked like he expected the question. Normal. He said: ‘Almasli grana is a piece of jewellery one of a kind. I can tell you what I know, but there are as many stories as there are the brooches.’
Third interview I talked to Fata on the phone. She is my mother’s neighbor and lives in a small town. I did not want to take her time and make her think that I am too curious and indiscreet. I told her that I was writing a text about ethnography in English, putting it very simple for her, and that I wanted to know why she always give a piece of meat to my mother on that holiday.
Observation and Description Practice
Photographs by Mollison of bedrooms 'Where Children Sleep' Girl's name is Delanie. She is 9, from New Jersey, USA. A corner of a girl's room Room is old fashioned and stylish Walls are of garnet colors Left to the corner, there is a wooden drawer There is an open Chinese paper umbrella, a framed photo and little monkey toy on the drawer Little golden purse is hanging over drawer's handle Left to the drawer there is a nightstand with a mirror Mirror is oval with light wooden frame, carved on top On the mirror table, there is a lamp with light green paper butterfly shade, shielding the mirror In front of the lamp, there some boxes, an old alarm clock and private adorning items On the wall, left to the drawer, pinned are two paper sheets, one with writing and one with spiral drawing Left to the drawer, there is an old fashioned wooden single bed, with a patchwork bedspread At the edge of the bed, next to the foot enclosure, there is mouse cloth toy hanging free There is an old fashioned traveling bag for girls at the floor next to the bed, with a delicate painted decoration There is a little round rug, between the bed and the door Right to the corner, there is a white classic door Two adorable white dresses for girls are hanging on the door Little rucksack is hung on the door handle Right to the door there are two paper sheets pinned on the wall with listed notes Right to the door on the floor, there is a big rucksack, standing microphone, tape-recorder, keyboard and amplifier Behind amplifier, there is a wall socket with a plug-in device yellow glowing Room is discreetly lighted Fieldnotes Practice
Trams of Sarajevo The Sarajevo tram network is one of Europe's oldest, having originally served as the test line for Vienna's trams. It primarily serves as an east-west link from the old part of city called Baščaršija to the suburb part Ilidža. The fleet in use on the network are trams from the Czech Republic, delivered in the 1970s and early 1980s. Later these trams have been joined by more modern vehicles in recent times. In 2008, Amsterdam donated 16 old trams to Sarajevo. Electric Trams A tram is a rail vehicle which runs on tracks along public urban street. The English terms tram and tramway are derived from the Scottish word tram, referring to a type of truck used in coal mines. Etymologists believe that the word tram refers to the wooden beams the railway tracks were initially made of before the railroad pioneers switched to the much more resistant tracks made of steel. The terms tram and tramway have been adopted by many languages, including mine. We call it 'tramvaj'. It was horse-drawn at first, and later moved by steam and electric power. Sarajevo had the first electric trams on the continent of Europe, with a city-wide system in 1885. Tram Ride When I was little trams were simple, nice and cozy while drivers looked like very important people. They were trained and wore a uniform, and there was a ‘conductor’ in a tram who was checking the tickets. Things seemed orderly. People would get on the tram at the front door and took off at the back door. You could have a nice chat with a passenger and enjoy the sightseeing. Nowadays, it is a gloomy place. Drivers do not wear uniforms and they have no manners. There is also a group of people called 'controllers’, in local language ‘revizori' who enter trams randomly and check if passengers have tickets. The word came from English word ‘to revise’. It can be a very unpleasant experience, especially for tourists, and young girls who are often verbally abused. Only recently the tram platforms got signs with their names on it. The platforms are unprotected and very often a car hits the fence and damages it. Trams are not passenger-friendly any more. They are old and used up, and, most of the time, you get yourself in a crowd feeling squeezed. There is a lot of pick-pocketing and all sorts of beggars. People on the tram look tired and depressed, save for teenagers and students who learn to shoulder their way in life. In the tram, there is no respect. Rarely will someone be kind to you. You are reduced to a 'tram-load' and you feel humiliated trying to ignore it for the sake of being driven cheaply to the destination. It would be very nice if trams, tram drivers and passengers would be appreciated more, and there is always a way, yet, the way is highly dependent on the local politics who claims it is up to money. But I think they lack ideas, having turned the tram transport into the unprivileged touring around the city. Practicing Ethnography
Pie Place I went to 'buregdžinica', a place where you can buy and pie. It is a local small restaurant and I will translate it as a 'pie place'. In the background room, there are older women, with kerchiefs and aprons, making pies. In front room, there are small low tables and small low seats. There is also open furnace with red charcoal where pies are baked in special pans. It is very hot in front of them. There is a glass stand where pies are displayed for customers. There is cheese pie, spinach pie, meat pie, potato pie and zucchini pie. The pies are all round shaped. There is no sweet pie offered. There is a young girl behind that serves the portions on plates and acts as a cashier. She is swift. There are no drinks offered, save for the yoghurt. People do not stay long there. They eat and go. Some people have their pie packed in paper to take it home. Language is local, often slang. No long talking. Very brief ordering. There come all kind of people, young and old, workers and intellectual, locals and internationals, rich and poor. Nobody stands out, they share the hungriness. They want to eat. They eat and leave in silence. Pie is a traditional Bosnian meal. It is hand –made and offers good meal for little money. The place feels that everybody deserves lunch when hungry. It is penny and customer -friendly. Reflecting on Space and Place Svjetlana - Daily Menu Writing Project 1: Reflection While lettering the WP 1 I surprised myself totally. The topic seemed uninteresting to me at first. But, I am drawn to writing and I do not fear it. I learned that writing reveals itself on its own. It is important to start and then ideas are boosting after the first sentence. They do not like to queue, they come from everywhere, they literary pop up into the writing idea and it feels all of a sudden crowdy there. So, I write down the words that associate me to ideas I want to write about. And there comes the feeling of happiness in writing and I cannot stop until I am finished. This tells me that we should not ignore the call to write. It happens that we do not take it seriously and we leave all those writing ideas to accumulate in ourselves. We neglect our written literacy and maybe our talent. We leave it latent while being occupied with other less important activities. Writing stays thus unmanifested, hiding the potency of the words and it can block personal development to the degree of being stressed over yourself. Writing mentally, missing to draw your thoughts on paper can be seen as laziness. In writing WP1 I find the topic very challenging. There were no confusing or frustrating thoughts whatsoever. I find it very challenging to learn what ethnography means, for, this was the first time I ever heard the word. I am always happy to learn more, to be update, especially in the language sphere. While writing I was discovering more and more. I was actually learning. I contemplated upon the word ethnography and I liked it, for, it implies notions such as nation, country, state, religion, language, tradition, etc. The word nation and nationality can start unpleasant feelings in all of us and I, myself, avoid it in my translations. It is an extremely sensitive term nowadays. And here comes English with its distinguished features. There is always a supplementing term that meets the need of the momentum. I literary try to copy this feature in communicating myself to others. We see here that language can be our teacher. So, the word ethnography let me talk about sensitive issues while protecting me from being a 'nationalist'. On the contrary, ethnography inspired me to write about my ethnic background, my ethnic landscape and to express this side of my habitus with no hard feelings. In the end I become friendly with the meaning of the word, which is vast. The most difficult part of the writing process at this point is sharing yourself with others in peer reviewing. Now, you have to pull back your ego and let another person into your piece of work, which is yourself. You have to negotiate and balance and become a diplomat in reaching an unbiased yourself. You have to turn yourself into the objective reader. I learned most about the writing process in this course, for, it was a guided and instructive writing. You have to have a teacher in all academic domains. You can be self- taught but the teacher train you to achieve better results, help you reach the visible outcomes and eventually an academic recognition, your impact upon society, your contribution. I feel I learned most about my writing process when I completed and read my work. I felt like somebody else wrote it, not me. It felt I produced a worthy outcome. Nevertheless, I was learning all along while writing, constantly. I felt the writing process in all its stages. I even learned new things about my own ethnicity. If I were invited to teach someone else something about writing I would develop the idea into the syllabus in cooperation with the mentor. Then, I would populate the syllabus with teaching units, provisionally. I would search for related literature, read it and make an essay that would serve me as a teaching starter. I would concept a teaching framework to be developed with my students in working together. Actually, I would like to start a writing centre. I like to think of writing as an individual activity but also as a group activity. There is also a therapeutical value of it. I would add translating, for, it is also writing. I would also stress the importance of handwriting and its practicing. Typing is not writing in my opinion since it deprives us of ourselves. Recently I talked with a French teacher, an elderly lady in her seventies, who worked as a teacher and translator. She said, whispering like it was a forbidden activity, that she always first handwrites and then types her writings. So, my interest would go into a research projects over such language issues. And there are many of them. We live in a digital society where words are written for us. We type ourselves while I have a need to draw myself. The ‘written world’ that surround us is becoming absurd, especially in advertisements and business names. Recently, I have seen a betting shop named Mozart. And, I have just been warned by a spell-checker that my expression ‘written world’ is incorrect. When I wanted to correct it, offered was a ‘written word’. A sole letter can make a quintessential difference and that makes writing an inestimable affair of the humankind. |
Svjetlana Bjelic
An English language teacher translating in education field, with poetic heart. ArchivesCategories |