I've never visited myself. I've never even been to the Czech Republic--but I was raised in a rural setting, just like my extended family, and my great-great grandfather. Because of this, for the first half of the semester I would like to find out more about how the political changes we're reading about affected farming families and rural communities, and turn those finding/thoughts into a narrative loosely based on my family's background, hopefully also incorporating my mother's side of the family (also Czech) into my writing as well by also looking into how Roma Gypsies were treated in this period (my family oh my mother's side is very mysterious and Bohemian), and definitely taking advantage of any personal narratives I can get from my family members about the time period that we're studying.
This is a great project, though pretty ambitious! I think it's possible that you will have to choose between you two basic ideas, or come up with a way of integrating them without committing to much more work than I'm asking for. Of course, you're free to do as much as you want, and "above and beyond" gets rewarded. I know a good deal about the Roma in the Czech Republic and have lots of books and other resources, so talk to me if that's the way you want to go.
ReplyDeleteAnicka says: My work schedule is going to be to write 900 words a week minimum. I'm going to start writing this weekend after having a long talk with various family members who know more about our family history than I do.
ReplyDeleteI'd like to be evaluated on the quality of my writing, and how well I manage to combine history with fiction. I'm going to be sending my work as it progresses to my very favorite eccentric Bohemian aunt for advice along the way.