Cat Scratch Fever: My Participatory Experience in Ava and Emma’s Research Project.

During my participation of Ava and Emma’s research project, not a lot changed for me in how I view different forms of writing, my general knowledge of these different forms’ existence, or the pleasure which I derive in reading them. As a person who had already read for leisure rather frequently in my opinion, I don’t think that this did much to chip away at what I already thought of books because I had a base which I had previously built with books that I could, or have, enjoyed, and read solely for my own enjoyment in reading and exploration of the type of things that exist and all that entails.

Then again, the reason that I participated in the first place was for the sole reason that I’m always looking for something new to enjoy, and that I am open to any reading at all. That being said, I did enjoy doing this project for a few reasons. The primary reason is that with anything that I could waste my time doing, participating in research projects, as insignificant as I may personally deem them, are still helping other people in something that they may be passionate about, or in any case help them get something done which they are mandated to complete. Helping others in whatever they may need to do is something which I find consistently takes precedent over other things, because in any example I have to relieve others of stress, anguish, or despair, large or small, I can reflect or relate to how they feel with a burden being lifted from their shoulders, and the feeling that I get is one of ecstasy.

The best piece in the study, in my opinion, would be “The Keeper of the Mist,” by Rachel Neumeier, the first chapter of which was required by the research project. I found this to be the most interesting of the readings because I could relate to the nature of the main characters featured in the book. Keri, not falling susceptible to the charm of her friend, and shrugging off questions that she was annoyed by or didn’t care to argue with her friend about. Tassel’s theatricality and over-the-top nature towards smaller things in life was also amusing to me, and I love to see drama unfold and manifest itself when it’s presented in the right way, or with the right character.

My knowledge of literacy informs the way that I view the research project because I already have conceptions of what type of tropes I enjoy, or what type of characters I like to see and how these characters are hashed out within a piece of literature that I read. If I had no knowledge of a certain genre that exists, or if a type of character was being flourished or developed in a way that I had never seen before, the reading for the project would have been very interesting and I probably would have been able to give more perspective or have a more personally invested answer in the series of questions that followed the readings. Because I have the knowledge of what exists, and what I prefer to see within what exists, I can give an informed answer, but I feel I am less inclined to, unless I see something that sparks more from the lens of my genuine enjoyment of the content rather than the feeling that arises from helping someone with a project.