Activity and Goal:
The activity was to explore different forms of writing in literature, to broaden my knowledge on the different types of literary pieces and its elements. I chose the forms that I wasn’t aware or familiar with; such that I could be intellectually challenged and exposed to something new; to express my creativity via my writings.
The main goal for me was to understand the elements/requirements of the different forms of literary pieces that I chose; to successfully write my own pieces on those forms of literature by fulfilling the requirements of the form and voicing my expressions and exploring my creativity as an author.
LO1
Did you identify your strengths and weaknesses?
| Strengths | Weaknesses |
| -Creative ideation | -Not always follows the elements/ requirements of the form of the piece writing |
| -Uniqueness to the main storyline/the plot | -Sometimes make use of informal diction |
| -coherence and logical flow to the text | -Sometimes grammatical errors found |
| -depth to the emotions expressed via the writing | -sometimes unable to put in the creative idea, to action in terms of the type of writing form chosen |
| -detailed description which helps the readers to understand and imagine the pieces | |
| -made use of rich diction and several types of literary devices |
How do you feel now that you’re aware of it?
I feel like I must work on each of my weaknesses by devising an action plan to help me grow as a writer. I feel like I have a lot to work on, which makes me a bit stressed, but it is like a positive stress; that will push me to do better.
Why is it important for us to know our strengths? Or weaknesses?
It is important to know both of them, for us to know where we truly stand. If we know our weaknesses, we know the areas we need to put in the extra effort to achieve perfection and if we know our strengths, we can make sure we use all of them to put our best foot forward.
Did you work/ or would like to on your weakness
I did work on my weaknesses. For grammatical errors, I started re reading my work. For placing my creative ideas in different forms of writing, I thoroughly researched the type of writing and it’s elements, such that I could better express after I was familiar with the type of writing.
Relate one area where overcoming this weakness would have benefited you
It benefits me to grow as an author. As a writer I can’t just always stick to one form of writing, different moods and different stories demand different forms. For instance, if I want people to know the inner thoughts of a character, a soliloquy would fulfill the purpose. So in cases like these, it benefits me to produce better pieces of writing.
LO2
What was so challenging and why?
After reading the necessary elements, figuring how to incorporate them in my writing was a tad challenging at first. For instance, for the clickbait story, I knew it had to end on a note which irritates the readers and it doesn’t match with my writing style, still I had to inculcate that element since I was following the norms of a clickbait story. Or for the dream time story, I had to explore the dream world imagination and introduce supernatural elements/ characters; since they are crucial elements of the mentioned literary text. I prefer reality and supernatural elements isn’t really my genre, so I had to push myself to fulfill the elements, and make the story flow even if it didn’t seem to click with me.
Have you done anything similar before?
Usually, I like to stick to my genre and my writing style; so no, I haven’t done anything similar before. Majority of my pieces are based on the romantic genre.
How did you overcome this challenge?
I overcame this challenge by thinking, what is the worst that could happen. The text might be boring and might not have a logical coherence to it, and by expecting the worst case scenario in mind, I just wrote and got comments on the same from my advisor.
How do you feel about having undertaken this challenge? Why is it important for you to undertake new challenges?
I feel relieved and happy having undertaken this challenge, since it helped me see the other part of me as a writer, which earlier I couldn’t. It is important to undertake new challenges as being in the comfort zone wouldn’t enhance my growth and since I love writing and always strive for perfection in the same, it is important for me to undertake new challenges.
Did you discover any skills you hadn’t known or learned yet?How could this skill be useful to you in the future? How does having this new skill make you feel about yourself? Why is it important to learn new skills?
As mentioned above, I discovered the skills of enhancing my grammar and of writing different forms of literary pieces by following their conventions. I was able to explore my writing skills in different genres, which earlier I wasn’t able to. Since I have already published a book and plan to continue my writing, this skill is useful to me in the future, as as a writer, it helps add variety to the writings that I offer. This skill makes me excited, since the block of limitations to the genre and literary pieces that I had, has been removed. It is important to learn new skills to break the mundane comfort zone and grow.
LO3
How did you organize yourself?
By planning deadlines for myself in my diary.
Are you usually an organized person?
Not really, I just make a to -do list for every single day, since long term goals sometimes scare me. So I break it down into an everyday list, to end up achieving the long term goal.
What was difficult? Planning or the initiating? Why?
Since planning involves critical thinking and greater attention to detail, for me, planning was difficult. Sometimes I miss the details, like including extra time for factors out of my hand, which throws me off. Thus, for me planning was the difficult part.
Did you discover any skills you hadn’t known or learned yet that you had to use for the planning and initiating of this activity?
Patience and tolerance, since factors out of my control, were taking up more time than it should have according to my plan. For instance, my supervisor was supposed to give the comments in a week but instead of a week, it ended up being 3 and a half weeks. So I learned to always keep extra time in my plan for factors out of my control, such that it doesn’t hamper my submission towards the deadlines date. Thus, overall, I worked on accurately estimating time and effort required to complete a task.
Do you think planning or initiating anything in the future will be easier now?
To a certain extent, yes, since I will keep extra time alloted in my schedule for factors out of my control.
Why is it important to know how to plan and initiate activities?
Planning ensures a framework and helps you stay in check with the deadlines. Initiating the plan helps you in the execution towards the goal in mind.
LO4
What made this activity difficult where perseverance or commitment was necessary? How did that make you feel?
Like I mentioned earlier, my advisor kept on delaying the comment giving dates. It demotivated me to work on the comment received later and that is where my commitment was tested. But once I overcame the demotivation with my perseverance, it made me feel glad that I was able to overcome my difficulties.
What commitment was required to complete this activity?
Commitment towards the goal in mind. The goal towards the end was to be a better writer and thus, I had to overlook the drawbacks and external factors, to concentrate on the goal, and work honestly, committedly, to achieve the same.
Is it easy for you to commit to things? To be persistent? Why or why not? Why is showing perseverance and commitment important?
Being humans, it is not easy for us to commit to things and be persistent all the time. We lose energy, or sometimes out of stress, we tend to lose interest and lose our commitment. But at those points of time, it is important to show our perseverance and commitment, since we must push ourselves to achieve something we truly passionately want.
LO5
Is working with others generally easy or difficult for you? Why?
It is moderate as it totally depends on the person/people I am working with. When the people I work with procrastinate a lot, sometimes it is a bit difficult and annoying, since I have to give them the push and keep motivating them. If the person is active and interested in the task, then it is relatively easy. As such I don’t mind working with other people, since usually, the burden is distributed equally.
So, based on your answer to the above question, during this particular activity, was it easy or difficult for you to work with others? Did you have to work with anyone difficult? How did you handle it?
It was a bit difficult, since the expert kept delaying again and again. At one point, it made me run out of time and motivation, so to a greater extent, it was difficult to work with the expert, but then when I received the qualitative comments, it made the difficulty seem worth it. I handled it by constantly reminding the expert, giving her reminders verbally as well as text, in a way to motivate her to give the comments.
Why is it important to be able to work collaboratively with others?
It helps improve productivity, helps take off the burden and with more brains working, produces a better output/product/
What was the importance of teamwork or leadership in your activity?
It was important for me to take leadership, since it is my project and I had to take all the initiatives; in order to achieve my goals. Teamwork, since I had to understand the comments from my advisor, work on those and again re-verify together, if it did justice to the literary piece.
LO6
What were the issues?
The global issues that I focused on using my writing skills were patriarchy(dream time story and feminist fairtytale), objectification and exlusion of the obese(soliloqy and advice column) and depression as a taboo.
Why are they important globally? How? Where? How did you know?
Globally gender disparity is prevalent and still, even in the developed countries, patriarchy is constantly reflected. It can be found in the stats of even the superpower, USA, which just shows that the problem still exists. Guaranteeing the rights of women and giving them opportunities to reach their full potential is critical not only for attaining gender equality, but also for meeting a wide range of international development goals. Empowering women and girls will contribute to the health and productivity of their families, communities, and countries, creating a ripple effect that benefits everyone.
Objectification and exclusion of the obese, still exists in the society and I know this because of the advertsiements. How everyone wants a thin barby doll figure and how that is constantly shown and appreciated in the ads, whereas, the obese ones are looked upon as inferior and looked down upon.
Depression as a taboo, still exists in the developing world. People have taboos and stigmas and due to which most of them are left untreated. I know this because of the stats I have come across on this matter in the news.
How does knowing about global issues contribute to your personal growth? How does it make you feel now that you are aware of this global issue? How does your work in this CAS activity make you feel about that global issue?
It contributes to my personal growth as I ponder about it and take action on the same, in the mode most appropriate for me. It makes me feel motivated, to make a change, in a manner that supports my voice and personality. My work makes me feel proud that through my writings, I was able to address these global issues.
What was your opinion on this issue before this activity? Has it changed or stayed the same after this activity?
Before, it was strongly against it, but now slightly moderate, since to enhance my writing, the more I am able to feel, the better it will come out.
In conclusion,
I was able to demonstrate these LP’s when:
Communicator: to communicate my ideas via my writings
Thinker: to think upon the global issues and tackle those with my writings
Open-minded: when writing about global issues, and not letting my personal bias getting in the way
It is linked to the subject language and literature; since I am exploring my creativity via different forms of literary pieces. It benefits those who read it, since it gives them a new perspective on global issues. The highlight of this experience was getting rid of my genre block and being able to communicate my thoughts in the genres and types of literary pieces I don’t personally like. To a greater extent, my perspectives or values were not altered. But ethically, it was slightly changed as aforementioned. This learning can help my community understand that one must voice their opinions or bring change, in a manner that seems to match with their true personality. It could be in the form of an expression they are comfortable with. I achieved success since I was able to communicate my ideas in different literary pieces which filled me with zest and enthusiasm. I learned to let go of the fears while working and to add in time in the original plan for factors out of my control. It is applicable for any tasks that I do in my life. I would probably consider posting a few works in the school magazine, so that the other students got an insight to the new perspective too. This way I could further contribute to society via this activity.
EVIDENCES (hyperlinked)
