During the history project, we have talked a lot about the difference between inquiry-based projects and themed-based projects. Discuss your ability to develop your inquiry for your history project. How did your idea or question change along the way? What initial information or ideas did you end up leaving out of your project? How did your project move away from a factual or information-based project and toward a project that has a stance and a purpose–a story to tell?
One of the main things that I had originally set out to do was determine what parts of the novel were truly taken from Betty Smith’s life and what wasn’t, but once I started researching, it became apparent to me that it wouldn’t be possible to uncover every mystery. I soon learned that even Betty herself would not give clear answers when asked and had left most items up to speculation on purpose. Thus, my focus shifted from her life itself to discovering the importance of her novel (which is essentially based off of her life) to New York City’s history.
I realize now that it is finished that I left out the bulk of what I observed in Williamsburg that day in favor of dwelling on the library, but I don’t think that was a bad choice. I thought that the library element was essential in developing the whole picture and sharing my relation to the story I was telling. I also realize now that I could have provided more textual examples from the novel that show just how bad the quality of living used to be back then, but I made the unconscious choice not to do so probably because I thought that I would be taking away from the story by having the reader jump from quotation to story and back and forth. It would be hard to make all of that text flow.
It is apparent to anyone who reads my paper that I think the world of this author and book, but was it too overstated or too much? I’m not sure. Maybe I let it get the best of me. I’d started the project thinking of focusing on Betty’s life, yet I transitioned more into talking about Williamsburg. So maybe, rather than saying this project is about a person, we could say it is about a place, or a strange combination of both. Not to toot my own horn, but I think I did a pretty good job of getting across the stance that I took concerning Betty’s place in New York City history, and I have to attribute that fact to my intention to focus more on story than facts from the beginning.
All in all, I must say that I really enjoyed doing this project, despite the fact that it required a lot of concentration and picking and choosing what to put in and leave out. I took a gamble by focusing on a place that I’ve never been to in my life before this project, but I think it worked out in the end.
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