Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close Project

          The Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close Project was an interesting one for me.  I loved reading the book, and even read it twice.  However, when it came time to do this project, I was stumped.  I had a lot of quotes that I liked and a lot of themes and events that I found intriguing, but no ideas popped into my head immediately.  When I really racked my brain for ideas, though, I managed to create a great project.

            ELAIC was and is one of my favorite books of all time.  When I read it, I fell in love with the characters and the style.  As I went through the book I bookmarked pages with my favorite quotes on them.  One overarching theme was ideas that I found true in my own life.  I categorized this as, in a way, my “religion”.  I’m not a religious person, but this book kind of showcased my version of religion.

            A skill that is demonstrated in this project is my ability to connect literature to my own life.  This is a skill that was not fully developed before I created this project.  I think being able to find quotes from this book and think about how they connect to me is an important skill.  It is not just important because it showcases my “school skills”, but it also shows that in real life I can make connections between different things.

            Another skill that I used in this project was my PowerPoint skill.  I’m generally good with computer stuff and good with PowerPoint, but this project went beyond my usual technical skills.  I learned how to manipulate PowerPoint so that it looked like a video even though it was really a PowerPoint.  I’m proud of the way that I made photos fade in and fade out, just like in video programs.

            A reason that this project stands out from others is because it had almost no directions.  I’m used to cookie cutter projects with a straightforward rubric and clear directions, but the directions for this project were to, “create an exhibition that is personal and relevant to the book, but also develops a specific voice.”  It was hard for me, at first, to interpret these directions and create a project with so little guidance.  However, I figured it out and managed to make a video that relates to me and showcases ELAIC.