ABT. MY PROJECTS
This site houses my projects from WRIT220, the introductory class to U-M's minor in writing program, and consists of a round of experiments that culminate in one fully realized piece. The origin piece which both of my experiments and fully-realized project are based on is an op-ed research essay about Lebanon’s political history and current relations with Israel and Palestine. Throughout the course, I adapted the piece to fit different genres and challenged myself with writing more personal pieces, something I had little prior experience with.
Expanding on my mother’s childhood in Lebanon for my first experiment, I composed a memoir-style introduction piece through exploring photographs and statements from her and her father. I discussed this aspect of her identity and what she remembers most from her day-to-day life while living in Lebanon, touching on the country’s political turmoil and the fear her family felt upon leaving the country. Working in this medium was challenging for me, as I would consider the tone of my usual writing style to be more academic, but I've been reading memoirs recently (Otessa Moshfegh is a current favorite) and felt compelled to try it out !
I repurposed these same samples in my second experiment: a zine that took a visual and artistic approach to better illustrate connection to my origin piece. I admire how personal to the writer the zine genre feels and felt as though it was the perfect way to convey information, especially on a more personal topic, while prioritizing aesthetics. Aside from including the same photos I drew inspiration from for my first experiment, I pulled text from my origin piece and centered graphics around it; a map of the country to highlight its size and proximity to Palestine and Israel, a historical timeline of the three countries’ overlapping histories and conflicts, and additional photos of my mother and her family.
I decided to develop the zine into my final project, adding a title and elements such as newspaper headline clippings indicative of the current media landscape surrounding the three countries and an expanded author’s note where I defined my goals for and in intentions in creating the zine. I expanded on my experience with UMichigan surrounding the conflict, tying it across generations.
I hope you enjoy, if not gain a new perspective from, these pieces!
