After reading Julie Beck’s writing about narratives, I have found my own opinion on narratives. She added what a narrative does to an individual when she says “this narrative becomes a form of identity, in which the things someone chooses to include in the story, and the way she tells it, can both reflect and shape who she is”. I agree with Beck’s statement because I believe that each narrative is unique to each person and no one’s narrative will be the same as someone else’s. I also began to wonder why we would want to be like someone else if we have different past experiences to make us different. Even if we try to be like a celebrity or another role model, we will never be able to be the same because we have different things in the past who make us who we are. I also related to the point Beck makes when she relates narratives to a book. She writes “there’s an old adage that everyone has a book inside of them” to show the metaphor that life is like a book. I believe that everyone has their own chapters in their life and each person can write their own unique story. People will have good moments and bad moments in life, but along the way, individuals will meet other people that can change the way someone thinks. Lastly, Beck writes “other common narrative structures seen in many cultures today are redemption sequences and contamination sequences” which shows that sometimes when you think something will happen, the opposite happens. As Beck adds as an example, a bad vacation can bring a family together or a cruise can be fun until people get food poisoning. I built a connection between this paragraph of the article and my life. This kind of concept has happened to me so many times in my life. I will think something will happen, like I didn’t do well on an exam, and then the opposite will follow it, so I end up doing okay on the exam. Overall, I liked Beck’s writing on narratives because it made me notice that there is more to a narrative than just a life story.
I felt like we took that same thing away from Beck’s writing we even pulled out some of the same quotes! I really like the idea that each person is an individual and will never share the same story, I wrote about this idea as well as I think it is really important and makes each person unique. I also liked the last piece of your writing about how in life you think one thing will happen and the opposite happens. I think that life is so unpredictable and that that is not always a bad thing I think it what makes like interesting and adds depth to each individual persons narrative.
The part where Beck talks about the redemption and contamination sequences really stood out to me too! I went on a little rant about this on my blog but I favor contamination stories just because they’re more interesting and unpredictable. These types of stories for me create a conversation and talking point and I usually love to talk about these things.
Also, I definitely agree with your point about everybody having a life story unique to themselves. No one should have the same life story as somebody else’s because I think it’s impossible. I think everyone should strive to make your life story your own because listening to a rewrite of another story will get old quick.
I agree with your peers that I enjoyed the particular moments that you pointed out. When you write: “I also began to wonder why we would want to be like someone else if we have different past experiences to make us different,” I felt so empowered! I love this connection that you built between owning one’s narrative and owning one’s uniqueness. Great work!