Metacognative Analysis

            My first experience encountering with hybrid essays was this semester in English class.  To be completely honest, this was the first time I even heard about hybrid essays.  After reading a couple hybrid essays, I had a small idea on what made a hybrid essay so different and unique.  It can be a combination of many different pieces of writing or media.  There can be poems, photos, videos added to the essay to make it a hybrid essay.  To clearly create an understanding and get the point through, other sources are used such as the photos and poems.  Instead of the essay describing the photo, the photo is used to describe the essay.  This is able to bring a sense of wisdom for the reader as they read the piece.  There can be a collection of photos or videos with only a couple words as long as the essay has enough information to get its story across. I like how hybrid essays can vary in length and be as long as you desire.  A hybrid essay can also somehow be described as an educational slideshow.

            When I began to write my own hybrid essay, I had trouble starting it.  Although I knew what to write about, it was difficult trying to grab the readers attention.  Since I had to write about my experience with Project Media, I wanted to add every detail and every emotion throughout the process.  I made sure to include what I learned, why this was important, and what I liked about it the most.  The main theme of my essay was how is electronic writing different from other types of writing and how it is beneficial.  I took all the prompt questions and transformed the answer to each question into separate paragraphs.  I did this in order to make sure I explained everything in detail and touched up on every aspect of the question.  In my hybrid essay, I had a combination of the actual essay and a famous Armenian quote.  I wrote how my inspiration for the decision of my topic came from this quote.  I did this so the readers would know why I chose this topic and how I got my ideas or arguments.  I like how Cheyenne Nimes added a poem towards the end of her essay because it gave a clear explanation on what her entire essay was about and that is why I chose to do the same thing. 

            My overall experience with writing a hybrid essay was not too good.  I actually didn't like writing it as much as I enjoyed writing the flash fiction story.  The flash fiction story allowed me to be more creative.  To be completely honest, I prefer not adding anything to my essays, whether they are photos, videos, poems, or quotes.  Just the writing will be enough to provide all the information the reader needs.  Although photos can be entertaining for the reader, what's more important is the writer's choice of style and comfort.  I also felt like we didn't completely understand what a hybrid essay was as a class. If it wasn't for an assignment, I don't think I would ever write another one again. 

Hybrid Essay

            Making a blog this semester in college was a first for me.  It really taught me to go through a certain process in order to successfully create a piece of writing electronically.  I learned that it is much more comprehendible when there are photos, videos, or other sources involved.  The blog was made in order to inform others about a specific topic interesting to the writer.  The blog contained photos, articles, and videos to prove its point by other sources.  The posts of the blog tie in with each other so they can create a unique type of story for the viewers. This allows them to understand the topic easier.  Since this was a cultural blog, it was important for me to provide enough information without being too prideful. 

            Throughout the middle of my blog process, I set up a poll to know what my viewers knew about my topic.  After the poll was complete, I made a new discovery.  Without the poll, I thought that most of my viewers knew something about my topic or heard about the topic, but I was completely wrong.  While examining my poll, I made a discovery that over half of my blog followers didn't have an idea on what my topic was about.  This gave me a sense of relief because I understood that this blog would be a great resource for those who didn't know anything about my topic.  I began to post more often now that I knew who my audience really was. 

            Most of my posts had to do with the significance and uniqueness of the topic except for three of them.  These three posts were against my topic and how my topic isn't important.  I thought that these posts might start an argument because of the rude articles I found supporting it.  The articles were criticizing many aspects of the topic and it could have produced an argument with any of my audience.  This wasn't my goal originally but I had planned to post these articles in order to show others how much criticism my topic receives.  I'm glad that none of my posts caused any conflicts between my followers and I.  Although there could have been many disagreements, they weren't addressed.

            What is so significant about my topic is that it informs my followers what my culture is about and what goes into each traditional event.  The most important part of this process and the blog is that I have to love my topic and I have to think that my topic is significant before I am able to share it with others.  Just like I said earlier, the poll I made was very encouraging for me because it helped me figure out who wasn't educated on my topic.  Many photos and videos were uploaded along with my posts to make the blog more enjoyable and entertaining.  Another reason why my topic was so significant was that as I researched before I posted, I was able to learn more myself.  I thought I knew everything there was about my topic, but I didn't realize that I was only sharing what I knew and that there was so much more. 

            There was a lot more that I wanted to further explore on my topic.  I wanted discuss more about food and music.  Although I had the chance, I focused more on the traditions, styles of dance, and history.  There are over a hundred types of Armenian food that I could have touched up on but did otherwise.  There are many famous Armenian singers who had sold out concerts at the staples center and have sold thousands of albums.  These artists are worthy of talking about and there is a lot of information I could have provided about famous Armenian singers.  If I had done so, it could have interested others to listen to Armenian music and try some Armenian food.

            I was able to learn a lot from this experience with Project Media.  It was interesting using HTML to post different links.  Writing electronically can be beneficial because everyone around the world can see your work.  If you aren't reaching a certain audience, electronic writing can speak to everyone who chooses to see and read your work.  You can use media to add to your pieces of writing.  Photos and videos are able to tell a story without any words included.  What I loved about Project Media was that we were able to upload photos and videos along with our writing in order to paint a better understanding for the viewers.  It is much better when there is a picture or article explaining the writing included.  Even if your topic has nothing to do with you, people can tell what kind of person you are just by your posts.  They can even tell how passionate you are about your topic and how it has affect in your life.

            My inspiration for choosing this specific topic was a quote by William Saroyan.  Throughout my life I have heard this quote about a hundred times and it really meant something to me each time I read or heard it.  I knew that I could have written a story based off of this quote, a story with pictures, videos, and more.  This blog was what created that story.

The Armenian and The Armenian by William Saroyan

  "I should like to see any power of the world

destroy this race, this small tribe of unimportant people,

whose wars have all been fought and lost,

whose structures have crumbled,

literature is unread,

music is unheard,

and prayers are no more answered.

Go ahead, destroy Armenia.

 

See if you can do it.

Send them into the desert without bread or water.

Burn their homes and churches.

Then see if they will not laugh, sing and pray again.

For when two of them meet anywhere in the world,

see if they will not create a New Armenia."

Work Cited

Nimes, Cheyenne. "DIAGRAM :: Cheyenne Nimes." DIAGRAM :: Cheyenne Nimes.

            N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Apr. 2013. <http://thediagram.com/10_1/nimes.html>.