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Roots

by William :: Wednesday May 18, 2005

In 9th grade English, the spring semester’s major assignment is called The Roots Project. It culminates in writing a sort of personal research paper on anything or anyone having to do with your family. I chose my grandfather on my father’s side. I knew very little about him, and unfortunately, he died early last year, so I had to get third person accounts of his life from others. I started asking around my family, and began getting amazing troves of information. It was very gratifying to learn about my grandfather’s life.

After collecting reams of data, I started writing. This was a rather free-form research paper, both in structure and style (we were encouraged to write in the “I), so writing it was a rather enjoyable experience. Ten pages later I was done. After editing and revising, I had my final version. I turned it in and waited. I received a very good score on the paper but that was nowhere near the most gratifying part of the experience. That would have to be my grandmother reading over it and enjoying it greatly. I was delighted that the widow of my subject was pleased with the results of the paper. I also found my self in a state of happiness being forced to cobble together what information there was available on my grandfather, and turning it into something that I can treasure for ever.

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