Song

__When I was Puerto Rican Speech: Written Assessment__

Our first oral interpretation for English 9, and truthfully, my first oral interpretation ever, was on a passage of our choice in the memoir __When I was Puerto Rican__ by Esmeralda Santiago. Our goal was to give life to our selected passage as we take the audience in to a different //reality,// not just a row of dull words. Unfortunately, I believe I was unable to deliver that. My introduction was fairly well phrased, but perhaps a bit dull for the audience. The ending had the most movement as I traced the “P.A. ’66” on the ‘board.’ That movement actually brought the story to life a little. There were several areas I would like to improve and a few points where I was surprised. As I was giving the speech, to my own ears I did put verbal expressions in, but yet when I heard examined it on video, it was very subtle and close to non-existent. I had nearly no gestures in my speech, aside from the ending. Failing in making the appropriate movements/gestures was what probably kept the speech at the //words// level and kept it from springing to life. I was stiff as a statue and I think that I sounded more like I was reading the story out loud rather than acting/interpreting it. “P.A. ’66,” “One of these days” Those two lines had movement and the tracing of the “P.A. ‘66” made it easier for the audience to visualize where and what the board and letters would look like. My tone of “One of these days,” hopefully gave off what I felt as a slight self-ridicule for aiming so high, but lined with hope. I learned that what I perceive as expressive enough in my ears is heard much more subtly for the audience. There were many times I thought was expression certain emotions when it could not be identified at all through the video. I definitely need to add more gestures and differentiate between characters voices. Speaking at a comprehensible speed was amazing for me because I tend to zoom through words when I speak in front of an audience, just as Esmeralda did. Truthfully, and sadly, a B or C might be called for.

__OI #2 – Poetry Out Loud__ “Writing" By: Howard Nemerov My second oral interpretation was on the poem “Writing” by Howard Nemerov. This assessment will be a way to tell myself what I did well and bad on my oral interpretation and give suggestions on how to deliver better performances in the future. One good thing was that I had more gestures this time than my first OI. It was easier to deliver the poem with added gestures that enhanced the concept I was trying to express. I used volume to put feeling in to my poem, using a soft voice for the words, ‘delicate hesitations,’ gave the phrase a fragile feel. There were several things I could improve this time. I did not look up at the audience as much as I intended to. I had my introduction memorize and had a firm grasp on the poem; yet, I did not look at the audience. Perhaps I was scared? I am still not quite sure why I did not look up, but it made it seems as though I had no interest in delivering my poem to the audience, only in reciting it to myself. My gestures were much too similar and got boring after a while because I had already illustrated the same thing before, it wasn’t very dramatic either. I seemed really tired and uninterested while giving my OI, which was not what I had hoped for. Actually, what caught my eye about this poem was the part where it expressed the beauty of Chinese characters even without knowing what they mean. I have always thought that Chinese characters are //very// beautiful, the luxurious brushstrokes is an art form itself! I think this poem was well chosen, but not quite understood and interpreted well. I once again learned that what I think as dramatic is viewed far less by the audience. I must learn to put variation in my gestures so it does not become dull as the same ones are repeated over and over again. I should really put an interest in to my speech; it put me off when I was watching because I looked so uninterested in what I was doing. Once again, a B or C seems to be called for, how sad.

10/17/09

**__Written Assessment - OI #3: Poetry out Loud (Part II)__**

//“Family of Seven”//

The third Oral Interpretation was to deliver a poem that we wrote. I decided to personify the “seven sins” at a dinner party hosted by Pride. This assessment will highlight the good and bad points, how this selection fit me, what I learned, how this performance affected me, a self-grade, and general reflections and thoughts. This interpretation seemed a lot more alive than the ones before. I used a lot more variation of tone and voice to indicate different feelings. For some characters (mainly Lust) I was able to give an image of what they looked like to help the audience’s imagination. I could have spoken a bit slower and made more definite separations when I started a new character. I was pretty sure I had most of the poem in my head but I looked down a lot. I could have kept the manuscript up so I didn’t always have to find my place again. I made a couple mistakes where I switched words from other lines. (ex. won’t/can’t) (00:24) I chose a good topic to write about because I love it when people personify things because it’s interesting to see how they react with each other. This poem let me do that and gave me the power of determining their relationships. Being able to write and perform your own poem was definitely a lot easier than performing someone else’s poem. Since I wrote the poem, there are no mysterious lines and implications I don’t understand, so I know how to deliver each line so it fits. This is a lot more fun than passages from books and poems you don’t understand. As long as you view what you’re doing as fun then it will be a lot easier to do it! I need to slow down when I perform. Speeding up is usually because you’re nervous, so I need to control that. I have to keep thinking “slow, slow, slow.” Looking from the manuscript to the audience could be a lot smoother, so I must remind myself to keep my manuscript up and out and look to the audience //above// the manuscript. Being able to have fun instead of viewing it as just work was probably a big achievement and something I learned as a valuable view point; unfortunately, I think I might go back to viewing it as just “work.” Presenting something I wrote is much more fun than picking a passage out of a book. I think a B+ or so is called for, I did a lot better than previous performances, but there is always room for improvement.

10/25/09 __OI #4: Prose Passage – Self Assessment__

In this assessment I will critique the performance of my 4th Oral interpretation, a passage from __The Da Vinci Code__ by Dan Brown. An honest reflection of all the highs and lows of my performance sheds a light on how to improve. I went back on this performance. My rate was horrible, I went way to fast! I was at the point where I couldn’t even understand what I was saying. I need to learn to relax, calm my nerves, and slow down. Why does speaking in front of people scare me? It doesn’t, not the people, it’s the camera I hate. People I don’t mind, cameras are quite scary. I stumbled a lot on my words, and I definitely need help with enunciation. I think that will all come to me when I learn to slow down. I need to learn to smooth over mistakes and keep my place on my manuscript. Also, something was wrong with my tone of voice, it sounded light, like I was trying to suppress or hide something. My voice wasn’t serious, nor did it fit the passage. When I said “Ladies and Gentlemen” I definitely soundly like an announcer/hostess. I was excited that I was able to //be// and announcer, but sadly, it faded away. Being able to memorize my introduction was a feat in itself! Gestures were incorporated, minimal, but still. My selection was fair. I didn’t want to choose something in the middle of the book because I’d have to memorize the whole story in order to give a sufficient introduction to give the audience enough information to understand what I am presenting. I like this passage because I get the opportunity to let myself sink in to a role (announcer, professor) and test my acting skills. This interpretation was definitely helpful. I learned that this isn’t just a passage, it’s a play! I am not speaking, I am ACTING. I need to PLAY the actually PART of the character! I need to BECOME them. Once I do, my goal is complete. I learned that on my last interpretation. This is sad. The good thing is that I did learn something valuable to take with me! I definitely learned that I must become the person when I am giving a presentation, without merging with my character, I am merely reading words. I must learn to slow down my speech and enunciate clearly! That is my weakest point. Being able to actually enjoy what I am doing is something I overcame. I have to admit, I think I just might like Oral Interpretations. Sadly, just as I begin to like it, we must switch to speeches. I’m a bit slow, don’t you think? As a performer I learned that I must become my character, I am not reading I am SPEAKING. I am saying words that I once said, that someone recorded, and I am saying them again with CONVICTION! I learned that I must enjoy everything I do, because when you learn to love, work isn’t work anymore. A ‘B-‘ might be called for. Although I did speak much too fast and didn’t speak long enough, I think the most important thing is that I learned to love oral interpretations. I’m far from being ‘good,’ but enjoying it is the first step.

__Speech #1: Self Assessment – Hands Only__

This assessment will critique the good and bad of my first “Hands Only” speech. I chose the topic “How to wash your hands properly” for my “Hands Only” speech. This speech described the steps to wash your hands properly as well as an introduction and conclusion. I am very unhappy and annoyed by my performance. It appeared as though I had fun while I was giving the speech, perhaps a bit too much. Gestures and motions were plentiful because we had no manuscript so we wouldn’t look as awkward gesturing as we speak. We naturally use gestures as we speak or tell stories so it was a lot easier having a manuscript out of the way. The introduction was “interactive” which drew the audience in. My rate was absolutely horrendous. I was stumbling over words and pronunciations to words I knew. Words were slipping all over the place as I rushed to finish my speech, faster and faster. I did have a time limit to beat, but that means that I should cut some of my speech, not rush. “Hold the door open with your foot.” Putting my foot up on my heel as the speech indicated while tossing my paper towel away gave a good image as to what to do to prevent dirtying your hands even before you leave the restroom. My tone said something along the lines of “this is so obvious yet no one does it,” A tone of mockery I suppose. Performing something I knew well (because I do it every day) is helpful because there is nothing new to learn. I am just explaining something that I do. Familiarizing myself with what I am to speak about would help because I would have actual experience on what I am talking about. It’s like learning how to fix a car from someone who actually does it, opposed to someone who’s only read about it. I seem to learn the same thing every performance: //slow down.// Why do I speak so fast? I trip and tumble over simple words because of my nervous state. I will need to learn to slow down and get rid of all the anxiety I feel while performing. Memorizing the general outline of what I was to say is definitely good; I’ll have to make sure I always know what I am speaking about so I don’t pause for something to come to mind. I suppose a B- or a C would be called for. I had fun which is good, but I went much too fast and stumbled over easy words. It’s depressing that I went backwards, or stayed the same.

English pd. 8 11/10/09

__Written Assessment - Inspirational Speech__

The Inspirational Speech was to do exactly as the title suggests, inspire our audience. This was our first time using the microphone for class. My speech was to inform people that we have to stop worrying about things or plan constantly, and learn to live. I didn’t do too well for my first in class speech using the microphone. I made eye contact once in a while, not as much as I would have hoped for. The volume was better because we were obviously using microphones. I didn’t have to search for words that many times because I knew what I was going to say. When I get near something with two ‘bars’ on the side (like the podium) I get this insane urge to push myself up with my arms and swing legs back and forth. As you can see my arms were tensely grasping the side of the podium, in the position to pull myself up and swing. I reached out and rearranged my note card a lot, so much, to the point I actually noticed that while I was giving the speech. My rate was a little too fast, so I couldn’t really understand what I was saying through the microphone. “Do not dwell in the past; do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment.” I like how I put a pause in between every phrase to give each part more significance and weight. I separate the three in to past, future, and present, letting the audience get a ‘visual.’ I do tend to worry too much. Whenever I catch myself worrying I think “Oh! Song ha! Stop worrying! Isn’t this what your whole speech is about?” It definitely keeps me from worrying about unnecessary things. When we first got this assignment I wondered if I could forgo this speech. I //really// didn’t want to do it. I’m surprised that I was okay with just going up there at all. I definitely learned that I need to slow down even more when I’m speaking in to the microphone. I always went too fast for presentations, and the microphone emphasizes that even more. I could barely understand what I was saying, so I learned that when I’m on the microphone, I have to exaggerate my slowness. I have to say a low B or even a C might be called for. I could barely understand what I was saying because I went too fast and the microphone slurred my words.

English pd. 8 12/7/09

Self-Assessment: Culture Presentation

In this self-assessment I will go over the good and bad points of my Culture Presentation as well as obstacles, achievements, etc. The Culture Presentation was to identify one culture that you belong in; whether it is your ethnicity, a social culture, a sport culture, etc. I chose Korea as my culture and education, media, and distance from both Korean and American cultures were my three topics underneath Korea. I went way over the time limit, probably because I stuttered and repeated myself here and there. Eye contact was minimal, and I liked to move around a lot. I need to learn to stay still and kill the urge to move/arrange objects near me. The distance of the table was really bothering me. The sudden moving of the table was a little strange. I had to cut out a lot of things that I had originally planned to say because I was going over the time limit. My presentation was minimal so I had to rely on what I said most of the time. The video was good because it gave a bit of media and fun for the class to watch. The organization was pretty clear and I was audible. I chose Korea because that was what first came to mind when I saw the word “Culture” on the assignment paper. I think that with a little bit more thinking I could have came up with a better topic like the example video Ms. Stewart-Ito showed us on the culture of technology. Technology seems to have a more solid grasp on my life then Korea. Korea’s influences on me are subtle and hard to pinpoint exactly. Every subtle sway to me is a large motion to the audience. I know that I like to move or sway when I’m standing because there is always a song playing in my head. I move a lot because I like repetitive and rhythmic actions. I really need to control that when I’m giving presentations. I don’t notice my movements anymore, but everyone else does. Controlling movement so it lowers to a minimal or none at all is something I should work on. Movements that may seem tiny to me can really distract the audience. I just have to practice planting my feet and consciously checking in on my movements while giving my presentation. I really did not want to do this whole culture thing in the beginning, it seemed difficult; getting up there and performing was an achievement. I really had no choice since this was worth a lot of points. I learned that even though visual aids are simple, they really help in prompting what to say next, along with your note card, of course. With the whole flash drive fiasco, I really don’t know what to get. If we pretend that the flash drive thing never happened and I miraculously got a wonderful memory, I would say a B-. I really need to work on concise speech and minimal movements.

12/16/09 __Self-Assessment: Impromptu #1__ What would you do if you were told that you were going to die soon?

Our first impromptu speech required us to think on our feet. We had about 2 minutes to prepare a quick outline of what we were going to say. In this assessment I will cover the good and bad of my first impromptu performance. Considering the fact that everything was made up on the spot, this wasn’t that bad. I was able to get out good points and answer the question. I made eye contact from time to time and didn’t move as much. My note card was organized and it really did help me when I gave my performance. I didn’t make a lot of eye contact. Even though there wasn’t much to look at, I kept looking down at my question and note card. I really need to work on the whole eye contact thing. There was a bit of unnecessary movement, but not a whole lot. There were prolonged pauses while I thought of something to say, those moments felt a bit awkward. I didn’t pick this question, Ms. Stewart-Ito did. I suppose it was okay since it wasn’t something that I didn’t care about (like Ben’s alien topic). It was easy to imagine, albeit a bit morbid and sad. I was able to come up with points for it so it was a fairly good topic for me. I’ve definitely learned that thinking on your feet is really hard. It’s easy during conversation because there is no pressure or blank faces. Being given a topic was kind of difficult; it would be hard if you had no relation to your topic at all. I learned that I hate the thought of dying. That question made me sad. I really need to work on eye contact. It’s even harder because I don’t really make eye contact during normal conversation either. I’ll just have to mentally remind myself over and over. Thinking quickly wasn’t that bad, although a bit of a challenge. Coming up with points and delivering them without excessive repeating or long pauses is difficult. I learned that repeating yourself, no matter how harmless it seems, really damages the performance. A “B” seems sufficient. The long pauses and slight repetition dragged me down a notch.

**__Self-Assessment: Book Talk__**

//The Lost Symbol// by Dan Brown

(579 words) In this self assessment I will critique my recent performance called “Book Talk.” This performance was to gather information that backs your own opinion, on whether a certain group of people should or should not read the book that you selected. My book talk was about why bored students during summer break should not read the book //The Lost Symbol// by Dan Brown. What I really loved about this performance was that I didn’t feel nervous, uncomfortable, or anything of the sorts, and I was able to have fun. After I finished I was thinking about my performance and I realized that the usual nerves and dread that occurred right before and during the performance were not present. I loved how comfortable and confident I sounded when I gave my speech and how well I handled the questions. I was really annoyed because my voice sounded like I was eating cotton balls. Does my voice really sound that stuffy and muffled? When I hear my own voice while speaking it sounds normal and clear, but when I listen to it on recording I sound like I have the worst cold ever. I also spoke a bit fast and stumbled over words, I think part of that was because I didn’t want to keep anyone waiting longer than necessary since the bell had already rung. I also didn’t like my unnecessary motions like swaying and gesturing with my manuscript, it looked far from classy. I think that //The Lost Symbol//, although not a great book, was a good choice for me to because I had a strong opinion on it that could be backed up. If I had a neutral feeling about it I wouldn’t have been able to really express my thoughts that well because I don’t go one way or another. I can’t convince someone to see things my way if I don’t even know what way that is. This book was a good choice because I had a strong opinion on it and I was able to find information that backed up my opinion. The impact from this performance was greater than any of the others. This performance made me realized that if I am really dedicated to my opinion and speech, I have no reason to be nervous or withdrawn. I can really give it my all! Instead of this being a speech where I’m trying to convince others as well as myself, if I already know which team I’m playing for I can convince others to see thing the way I do, which is what I do every day when I argue my opinion with friends. So this isn’t just an annoying speech anymore, it’s like a normal, everyday conversation; except the fact that no one is talking back. I learned that if I truly believe in what I’m saying then things will be a lot easier. I really need to learn to speak clearly so I won’t sound like I’m eating cotton balls. This requires a lot of practice and something I can use to play back my voice. I had to overcome my ‘pre-speech-nerves,’ but once I did I found that they were completely gone unlike the other times. I gained the knowledge that if I truly believe what I say, so will others! I think a B+ is okay because even though I gave my performance pretty well, there were things I could work on like speaking clearly and controlling unnecessary movements.

English pd. 8 3/14/10

**__Self Assessment: Marriage Norms__**

In this self assessment I will go over the bad and good about our first partner project on a social issue. My partner was Aslyn Yee, and our topic was marriage norms. This assessment will also have any improvements that have been made and any future improvements. My performances progressively get better, sort of. I think that I didn’t speak as fast as I used to, and it was much easier to understand what I was saying. The rate has slowed down to a reasonable pace. My poise was okay, I wasn’t moving back and forth a lot, but it was a presentation so I did move to look at the screen and at the audience. There wasn’t a manuscript or note card since it was all on the power point, and I memorized my part, so there was always eye contact. I really slur my speech a lot. I don’t notice it when I’m speaking, but my parents and recordings tell me that I need to articulate. It’s hard to articulate when I don’t even hear myself slurring my speech. It’s strange how I can’t notice it. I suppose that I have gotten used to my own speech style I can’t really tell the difference. I totally forgot that I’m still on camera and within the view of the audience even if I’m not speaking. I have to remember to stay still and stop rustling. I think this was a good title because we were able to give hard fact and statistics. The survey was a good idea because it brought in modern day opinions. Marriage norms were a good selection because no one else in our class picked it, and a relatively depression-free topic. It was a very safe topic, not too sore or shaky in any way. There was also a personal aspect (Aslyn’s friend’s parents) so that improved it a lot. I can’t believe I forgot that even though I’m not speaking, I’m still visible. This is probably because it was my first partner presentation. I think I really learned that I have to remember to be in presentation-mode at all times. This gave me a feel for what partner presentations are like. I have to start articulating, but it will be difficult when I don’t even know if I’m slurring my speech or not. Learning to stand still will be a problem because I’m always moving, even when I’m sitting down I like to rock side to side or back and forth. It’s just really calming. I think it was kind of hard working with a partner because I’ve always hated partner work. I can never trust someone else to complete something. I just can’t let things get out of my sight. I think I learned to always check my partners, and my own work, before submitting it. We totally lost our bibliography because I didn’t remind her what an annotated bibliography is. Or maybe I should’ve let her done the presentation instead. A “B-“ I suppose. The presentation wasn’t a total flop, but it wasn’t spectacular either.

4/19/10 **__Self-Assessment: A Call to Arms Speech – Underage Drinking __**  In this self-assessment I am going to touch on the good and bad points, as well as places to improve on, in my A call to arms speech, about underage drinking. This is an informative speech about underage drinking that is five to six minutes long.  I think my rate was well paced; I didn’t speak as fast as I used to, and I could understand what I was saying. I didn’t look back at the screen a lot, which I thought I was going to do. This video wasn’t as painfully embarrassing to watch as the other recordings. I got all my facts in, even the ones that weren’t written on my note card or on my slides.  I didn’t like how I started swaying back and forth, as I usually do, because it made me dizzy as I was watching it. If I forget a fact and I already passed that section in the speech, I shouldn’t add it in because then it looks like I made a mistake. Having to move up to click the mouse was really irritating and hard to watch at times. I looked down at my note cards too many times and I flipped and played with them unnecessarily.  Underage drinking was a neutral selection; it isn’t something that really affects me. I just realized that smoking would have been a better issue because I really hate the fact that other people die of second-hand smoke, not just the smokers. I think I would have been a lot more passionate toward my issue if I had picked smoking, and second-hand smoking as a narrower topic. It’s too bad that I can’t change my topic for the final speech. Even if I could, I’m not sure if I want to do all that extra research. I really hate people who smoke and kill others by doing so. Every time my neighbors smoke, I scream “no smoking” out the sliding door, then slam it shut.  I learned that speaking at a slower pace really makes the speech a lot more bearable. If only I could stop swaying, it would make the speech a lot better. I learned that the little things like that, and touching my glasses and hair really affects the overall speech. I also learned to give a little more thought to the choice of topic, or else I will end up with regrets.  There are a lot of things I can improve. I need to learn to stop swaying and playing with things in my hands. I will just have to consciously tell myself not to sway and freeze my hands as I read from my note cards. I finally learned to slow down as I speak, which really helps my rate and timing. I learned that all the little things really matter. I suppose a B+ would be okay, since it wasn’t great, but it wasn’t terrible either. This speech was definitely an improvement over most of my old ones (besides the book talk and hands speech). 