Introduction:
Looking at my collection of books on my heavily filled bookcase I skim the titles of books that I own. Everything from "The Iliad" to "The Hunger Games" line the shelves. As I read over each title I feel different emotions sweep over my mind. I feel accomplishment at "The Iliad," remembering how I didn't understand a word that Homer was saying when I first picked up the book. But through careful reading, a good teacher and some research of my own I was able to finally understand the book and appreciate its beautiful lyrics. "The Hunger Games" makes me feel so many different emotions. At first disgust, for the sick twisted mind who created the idea for children to fight each other. Then empowered, for this young girl, younger than I, leading a rebellion to stop the madness. Next futility, for all that the main character Katniss went through to ultimately lose what she was fighting for and herself in the process. Finally hopeful, for the future. I come to a small thin book from my childhood. It is shorter than most of my books and the thinnest of all my collection. Just the sight of the distressed ends and the yellowing pages brings back memories of sadness. I feel my heart quicken and my stomach drop as I read the title. Memories of tears of both shock and knowing come back to me at "The Bridge to Terabithia." Just the mere sight almost brings tears to my eyes. But why?
What makes us cry? A question that is subjective to each individual. Some cry out of happiness, some cry out of sadness, some cry out of frustration, and some cry for attention; there are so many reasons that people cry. With these thoughts in mind, I wanted to discover what it is about books, specifically young adult books, that make people cry? What is it about this book that made me so utterly and completely sad causing tears to run down my face? What is it about any book that makes people cry? There are a lot of questions that can be asked and a lot of answers to be discovered by this.
First I will talk about crying. I will start off talking about the mechanics of crying, the scientific side. I feel it is important to understand why humans have this ability to cry and its purpose. Then I will go into what are the reasons that people cry. This relates to emotions, upbringing, religious/cultural values and personal beliefs. Crying is something that is unique to each and every individual. Some cry easily, some don't. Some cry freely, some don't. It is important to understand that what one person my cry at another person may not. However, I am hoping to find a connection as to why people cry when reading books. That brings me to my next part which will be about books that have made people cry. I will discuss what the book was, the part of the book that made the individual cry and what might be the reason behind that person crying at that particular moment. I am hoping that some sort of connection either to themselves or an event that they personally experienced will be the reason why they cried at that particular moment in the book.
I feel that this research is important and one that has to be done. This topic is a hard topic because crying is an emotion that is personal and, more often then not, brought on by an emotion that makes the individual feel uncomfortable. To be put in that place is very hard and hard for people to talk about that experience. However, to get a better understanding of others, humans in general, and most importantly yourself, crying is a subject that must be studied. It will help with understanding and sympathy towards others. It will also be helpful for authors who wish to write a book that will evoke crying. The best works of writing evokes emotions, many times with the release of crying.
Literary Review:
I need to work on this part. I haven't been able to do too much research on the subject just yet.
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1. What are the strengths your writing for the introduction? What do you need to work on?
What are the strengths of your writing for the review of the literature? What do you need to work on?
Strengths: I think I got across what I wanted to say. I feel a personal experience is important and one that leads into what I want to write about is good. I also feel I stated my question, my hypothesis, my organization for my work, and my reasons why it is important very effectively.
Work on: I want to add others point of view to the piece. I feel that will make it better. I also want to get more of a structure to what I'm going to show in my essay. I also want to add some literary references/evidence to my work. But all of this will be done when I do my interview as well as my research.
Strengths: It's mentioned?
Work on: EVERYTHING!
2. What is the research problem identified in your introduction? How do you point out what your research project will contribute toward resolving this "problem"? In other words, what have you written about the importance of your project for writing studies?
My research problem is "what it is about books, specifically young adult books, that make people cry?"
I point out that this will help not just authors hoping to evoke that response from readers, but it will also help with our understanding of crying and human emotions.
3. What have other researchers found out about your topic that is relevant to your research project?
I'm not exactly sure. But I do know a lot of how people express their emotions are through their upbringing and the community they grew up in (religious/cultural).
4. How do you connect findings from question 3 to the purpose of your project?
I feel that this will help my purpose in that if you want to get a certain emotion out of readers you need to get a connection to that person emotionally. It can be with the individual themselves or an event in their life, but it must bring that emotion they were feeling at that time out.
5. What is your plan for finishing/revising your introduction and literature review?
I want to read more and do some more research on crying. I also want to interview subjects. I have one female, I'm trying to get a male subject as well as possibily another female.
6. What feedback do you want from me?
I would like some feedback on the type of person I can interview. I have a friend in mind who I can interview but he doesn't go to college so I'm not sure if I can use him. I also would like some solidity. This is not an attack, but I feel like I'll say something and then you will tell me that is a good idea. And then the next time we talk I'll keep with the same idea, but you will have thought of something and tell me to change my idea. It makes me feel behind/ confused. I know you don't tell me to change the idea, you tell me to just think about it. But when I do think about it I feel it works, but then all of the work that I did goes out the door. It is overwhelming for me.
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