Day Eleven

After mostly resolving my issue with my computer, I have learned that it will be very difficult to finish a product by Friday. While my computer was going through  a tech-surgery, I continued to work on my illustrations since that was the only access I had on my project. I am struggling to figure out how to complete my product with one week lost of work and several days left to finish my project.

Illustration Examples

These are some examples of illustrations I've done. I decided to keep that simple and "not perfect" look. I want my reader (a child) to see the coloring over the lines and be comfortable having his/her own perspective on what the illustrations represent. They are very simple, but I did try to add and create the images with vibrant colors. 

Day Eight/Nine

Since I had an overnight Field trip, I decided to do two days work in one day. I have continued translating the story with my dad. I have learned some Fijian myself just from assisting my dad in translating my book into Fijian. I have also continued creating my illustrations on Sketchbook Pro. I think that the illustrations have been the most difficult for me. I've been making several illustrations for each page and getting an idea from my younger brothers to get their perspectives on it. The illustrations are very very time consuming. Overall, I have been continuing to make progress on my illustrations because I have come to realize it is the more difficult part of the project.

Day Seven

I have continued my work with my illustrations. I think that in the process of creating this book, the hardest part was creating illustrations. I am really trying to think of how to capture a kid's attention, but also make the  picture simple enough for them to understand and keep their own open mind about the story. I've been asking my younger brother about what they thought about my illustrations giving them some background on the story line, and I am using their feedback as I continue with the illustrations.

Day Six

Today, I completed typing the dialogue into my publishing program. I went back and began translating my story with the help of my dad. Throughout most of the seven hours, I have been translating from English to Fijian. Since I've finished my story, I have also begun to make my illustrations for my story on Sketchbook Pro app. I've learned that this is the most efficient way to make my illustrations since creating physical paintings would be hard to convert onto a digital screen.

Day Five

I have continued translating my story and continued writing out songs for the "song" section of my book. I have found that if I create my own art for my story, I won't really have any way of making my paintings/drawings digital on the program that I have begun to use. I have an idea to photograph myself for the story, or I can use an app called, "Sketchbook pro" on the iPad. I have experience and taken classes using each of these ideas.

Sketchbook Pro app

Day Four

Today, I have found a great website that provides a program where I can create my own book with customized or provided templates/layouts. It is difficult trying to 'get the hang' of this program, but it is definitely worth creating my book on. I have also begun translating the first portion of my book from English to Fijian. I have contacted several family members about interviews.

Program that I will use to self-publish: http://www.blurb.com/

Day Three

Today, I have finished my story line for my children's book. I have begun on the second section of my book where I will include songs, cuisine, and other traditions in the Fijian culture. I have also been searching for a reliable and good priced book creator that I can use to create my children's book. I have learned so far that once I stay fixed and focused on the development of my product I can get a lot done in a short amount of time.

Day Two

Today, I had planned on completing the second half. However, I encountered some difficulties like previously before. It is definitely hard to create a story's format and layout when you have such a strict time limit. I have also begun writing my story line just so I have produced both some of a story line and gotten far with my formatting. My main goal for the day was to finish and complete the second half. Although that did not happen, I am still continuing.

Day One

As the Senior Project has just begun, I have just begun writing out my layout for my children's book. I have begun by creating a title and cover page. From there, I continued to brainstorm layouts for each page. My goal throughout the day was to complete my layout for the whole story. However, I had been able to complete the first half of the story. It was much more difficult than I had expected creating this whole layout. As I approach Day 2, I plan to get far in my layouts and formatting for the second half.

The Tabua!

Post #4

1) What are the five most important "To Do's" I need to focus on this week in order to move my project along.
The five most important things I need to focus right now are:
-Meet with Celia Docto about children's books to get help and feedback on how to form my product of a book
-Meet with Mr. Whiton about the digital an illustration aspects of my children's book
-Send my cover letter to the Pacific Islanders' Cultural Association
-Finish Part II of my Proposal (making sure I have most of my research resources and financial costs in mind)
-Begin searching for local children's book authors and a local elementary to work with in order to get a close-up perspective of a child's mentality in order to really get my audiences attention for my children's book


2) Building on today's class discussion, what are some specific ways I make an awesome product for my Senior Project and what do I need to learn in order to make this happen?

Something I really want to focus on while creating my children's book is making sure my audience (children around 8 years old perhaps) understand my story line and what morals I am trying to get across them. In order for my product to be awesome the context of it has to be clearly understood. Along with this, I have to use vocabulary that an elementary student can be able to understand and read. I also have to make my product kid-friendly. In order for my product to be great and successful, I have to get a better understanding of what a young child thinks when he/she is reading. In addition, I need to learn how to create a well-made book. 

Post #3

Iris Qasevakatini

2434 Geary Blvd #1

San Francisco, CA 94115

March 7, 2013

Pacific Islanders’ Cultural Association

1016 Lincoln Blvd #5

San Francisco, CA 94129

Dear Volunteer Coordinator,

I am currently a senior attending Drew School and I am presently in the process of completing a Senior Project. My project focuses on the different aspects of Melanesian, Polynesian, and Micronesian culture with a specific emphasis on Fijian culture, as I am Fijian.

I was particularly excited to have found a Pacific Islanders’ Cultural Association in San Francisco. As I have been to many of the San Francisco Aloha Festivals, I thought it is great that you host a fantastic festival and show of events that explore each of the South Pacific cultures.

 As I read through your website, I noticed that you keep the traditions thriving through music, dance, cuisine, language, etc. This is exactly what I hope to explore and discover within the Melanesian, Micronesian, and Polynesian cultures in the duration of my project. I hope to keep these customs alive as well to pass down to future generations.

In addition, I am a fast and neat writer. I like to keep my notes organized and tidily written. I also have artistic abilities in which I like to draw and sketch. While focusing on my academics, I am very active in playing volleyball year-round and church activities.

I love every facet of my culture, but I still have so much more to learn about it. I am willing to learn it all and I hope you may help me in doing so. I think my experiences in and out of my culture will satisfy a chance to work with you.

If you would like to contact me, please call me at 415-637-0899 after 3pm from Monday to Friday or email: irisqasevakatini@drewschool.org. I hope you will consider me for an internship position or as a full-time volunteer. 

Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,

Iris Qasevakatini

Road Blocks/Moving Forward

Some potential road blocks that I could face would be how exactly to create a children's book. I have some artistic ability to be able to create a good enough children's book that specifically portrays cultural traditions, etc. However, how 'legitimate' will this idea become in the future when it comes to actually making it. A way to work with this and make the book possible is probably talking to the art teachers at Drew about the possibilities of creating a simple book that I can complete within the time I have. Another issue would be transportation for those or myself on whom I will be interviewing/interacting with for my project. I have more than enough peers and family to really help build and be a part of my project, but a good majority of them live in Sacramento, East Bay, Marin or San Jose/San Mateo areas. One thing would be to work our schedules out around my volleyball schedule and their school/work schedules. A possible solution for this is the ability to video chat for interviews. Another solution would be just spending a good amount of time in the different areas.

Within the next week, I could begin my networking and communicate with who I want to be involved with this project. I can plan for future dates ahead of time to make sure they and myself are open to work on my project, interview, etc. I can also continue to look for other Polynesian (Samoan, Tongan, Maori) people outside of who I know to be included in my project too.

#1 Post

Reflecting on the Revolution of an Idea:

1.       During the summer, I spent much time with my friends around the Bay Area who are of Polynesian or Melanesian race who were brought up back in the islands. We attended many events from weddings and religious events to barbeques and funerals. After experiencing all of these events, I realized that I am not as familiar with my culture as I thought. I knew the basics, but there was so much more to know about all the traditions and relations within the island community that I had yet to learn. This drove me to the idea of comparing how older generations are more knowledge and “old school” than the younger generations and how exactly I fit in this issue and what more I can learn about my own culture.

2.       Since the fall, I hadn’t really thought about how this is a widespread issue. I thought that this idea was mostly just about me. However, I have come to see that this can have a greater public purpose. I can easily talk about the greater community rather than myself or my siblings in comparison to our friends, but this can include anyone. I’ve learned that there’s value and significance in culture and this has inspired to hopefully reach out to the public.

3.       1. Communication – between me and my peers, interviewees, etc.

2. Research/Sources – Will I have enough resources to turn to

3.