TCITR Holden's Scrapbook Response

What process did you go through to produce this piece?

I am very proud of the end product of the scrapbook. I specifically like how it looks homemade―because it was―and is personal to Holden because there are things that he would actually keep and find meaningful. I also like how the project is a creative way of expressing Holden’s personal life and thoughts through the object he’s chosen to keep. I dislike how some of the pages have empty spaces and it looks like there is something missing. Maybe is I had more time I would have filled the pages with more doodles and objects. I enjoyed being able to do a project that was not the typical assignment such as, write this many pages about this topic and support the claim with these many examples. Instead, the project gave clear guidelines, but there was a lot of room to be creative and add personal flair.

How do you feel about this piece of work? What parts of it do you particularly like? Why? What parts did you dislike? Why? What did/do you enjoy about this piece or work?

According to the Design Specs rubric, I have met all the criteria for the project. When it comes to “Make it beautiful”, my scrapbook is beautiful because of the many different aspects of it such as color, backgrounds, objects, and effort. Also, in the aspect “Make it unique”, my scrapbook meets that criteria because of the many ways a person could go with the project and make it their own. The way my project did was by having objects that weren’t clearly stated in the novel, but were still significant to Holden and delved deeper into his character. “Make it relevant” was where my project lacked, but it still added deeper meaning to the novel and Holden. The part where I struggled most was “Make it poignant”. The criteria for this was hard to meet because I didn’t see how my project could make an emotional or serious impact because it wasn’t meant to be moving, just a fun project.

Evaluate yourself according to the Design Specs: In what ways did your work meet the standards for this assignment? In what ways did it not meet those standards?

If I were to revise this piece, I would focus more on the writing portion of the project and maybe add more detail. Like I said earlier, I would have liked to add more doodles and objects to the blank spaces in the scrapbook. Also, the writing portion of the project was rushed and I would have liked to elaborate and edit some of those explanations. Lastly, I would have tried to add more physical objects instead of pictures because it makes the scrapbook more unique and interesting. The physical objects were one of my favorite parts of the project because they were real and made it seem like the scrapbook was actually Holden’s.

What will you change in the next revision of this piece?

For the creative extension project for The Catcher in the Rye, I chose to make Holden a scrapbook. The Scrapbook is a collection of memorable that Holden would have collected in the novel or throughout his life. The items chosen have a significant meaning to Holden and are displayed in a visually artistic way. While making the scrapbook, the first thing I did was create a list of memorabilia that Holden would have thought important enough to keep. After that, I started making explanations for where and when he got the items. I then started explaining the object's significance to Holden and why he would choose to keep them. Next, I chose pictures for the objects and started piecing together the objects explanations and pictures in a scrapbook album. Once the scrapbook was put together, it looked too two dimensional and I decided to add physical objects to the scrapbook. In the end, the scrapbook came together great and I am proud of how it turned out.

Picture source: http://img12.deviantart.net/7e72/i/2007/342/b/f/the_catcher_in_the _rye_by_mercurio2539.jpg