Personal Interview with Catherine Hartigan-Go, Audio Clip 4
Dublin Core
Title
Personal Interview with Catherine Hartigan-Go, Audio Clip 4
Description
In this audio clip, the interviewer asks the interviewee if the school environment affected how she personally learned the book. The interviewee explains that some of the class activities they did in school helped in reinforcing the lessons; however, other academic requirements — such as essays and tests — sometimes made reading the novel discouraging and detracted from the overall experience.
Creator
Catherine Hartigan-Go
Kaylee Hartigan-Go
Source
Personal conversation between Catherine Hartigan-Go and Kaylee Hartigan-Go
Publisher
Kaylee Hartigan-Go
Date
November 20, 2020
Rights
Kaylee Hartigan-Go
Catherine Hartigan-Go
Format
Audio file (mp3)
Language
English
Coverage
Manila, Philippines
Oral History Item Type Metadata
Original Format
Audio file (mp3)
Duration
2 minutes 56 seconds
Transcription
Kaylee:
Do you think that the school environment — such as learning it with classmates, having to write essays about it, being quizzed on the novel — impacted how you personally learned the book?
Catherine:
[0:10] Yes, because, you know, one of the things that they had us do was do the role play; that's one way to reinforce the story. Of course having quizzes, long tests and, you know, having it be part of the exams, is no fun. You always had to remember, ‘Okay, which character was this?’ It’s more that you have to remember it because you need it for the tests. It was good to have classmates to suffer through it with you. But I think partly is, I'm just interested in literature, anyway. So it was not a difficulty for me to get into it. And the story really is compelling. But I do think probably, I would learn it better if it wasn't required. But it's possible that if it wasn't required, I wouldn't even have read it to begin with. So yeah, it's probably good to make you read it early on, and then later on you can read it as literature. And also in high school, you're not really, you know, as analytical and they don't make you discuss it in the way that you discuss literature in college, for instance. So it's really more about the details: Which happened first? Who’s doing this? Why is this character doing that? You don't really think of it as a whole so much; you think of it in chapters. Because, I mean, that's the way we learn it, right? You're assigned certain chapters, so those are the chapters you discuss. You don't really get a chance to discuss the whole book, as a whole.
[2:20] It's only later on when you're looking back and you’re looking at the whole story — not having to do with the dates, or the place, or the person — but you kind of see the entire backdrop against which it's happening that you understand why it had to happen like that. It's sort of like that for this book also. When you stop worrying about the little details, then you can get to see the bigger picture. And you understand better what the novel is about.
Do you think that the school environment — such as learning it with classmates, having to write essays about it, being quizzed on the novel — impacted how you personally learned the book?
Catherine:
[0:10] Yes, because, you know, one of the things that they had us do was do the role play; that's one way to reinforce the story. Of course having quizzes, long tests and, you know, having it be part of the exams, is no fun. You always had to remember, ‘Okay, which character was this?’ It’s more that you have to remember it because you need it for the tests. It was good to have classmates to suffer through it with you. But I think partly is, I'm just interested in literature, anyway. So it was not a difficulty for me to get into it. And the story really is compelling. But I do think probably, I would learn it better if it wasn't required. But it's possible that if it wasn't required, I wouldn't even have read it to begin with. So yeah, it's probably good to make you read it early on, and then later on you can read it as literature. And also in high school, you're not really, you know, as analytical and they don't make you discuss it in the way that you discuss literature in college, for instance. So it's really more about the details: Which happened first? Who’s doing this? Why is this character doing that? You don't really think of it as a whole so much; you think of it in chapters. Because, I mean, that's the way we learn it, right? You're assigned certain chapters, so those are the chapters you discuss. You don't really get a chance to discuss the whole book, as a whole.
[2:20] It's only later on when you're looking back and you’re looking at the whole story — not having to do with the dates, or the place, or the person — but you kind of see the entire backdrop against which it's happening that you understand why it had to happen like that. It's sort of like that for this book also. When you stop worrying about the little details, then you can get to see the bigger picture. And you understand better what the novel is about.
Interviewer
Kaylee Hartigan-Go
Interviewee
Catherine Hartigan-Go
Location
Manila, Philippines
Files
Citation
Catherine Hartigan-Go and Kaylee Hartigan-Go, “Personal Interview with Catherine Hartigan-Go, Audio Clip 4,” Spatial Humanities, accessed September 20, 2024, https://spatial-humanities.library.utoronto.ca/items/show/34360.