Reflective Memo
The goal of this paper is to try to determine the difference between Diane Wilsons book, An Unreasonable Woman, and when she came and spoke about it to Fairfield University’s freshman class of 2013. After reading my paper, I want my audience to think that Diane Wilson is a better writer than public speaker. Also, a lot of the information mentioned in the book was repeated in her speech several times.
The writing strategy I used to complete this paper was making a chart comparing her speech to the novel itself. Once I completed that, then it was easy to put all of the information into paragraphs. I started this paper with the body and then I went back to do my introduction and conclusion. I believe that this is an easier method for me because the body is the main part of the paper. My essay changed through the drafting process because after I finished it, I went back and made a lot of corrections. I had to switch some paragraphs around and correct my grammar and punctuation. The problems that I encountered while writing this paper was trying to not say all the negatives in her speech, but also some of the positive points. The lesson that I learned after writing this paper was that its a lot easier to make an outline before writing a paper where you are going to be arguing two different topics. However, I believe that I still need to work on going into more detail in my outline so when it comes time to writing the paper, it will be even easier!
The Diane Wilson paper has compared to other writings I have completed in the past because this was the first time I was able to listen to an author speak about her novel. It was very interesting to get a different viewpoint of a book after seeing the author in person. Also, after hearing the author speak, it made me enjoy listening to her talk about her life journey, rather than reading it in a 300-page book.
Diane Wilson Essay
Diane Wilson is an extraordinary woman that many individuals should look up too and admire for her wonderful achievements. Diane Wilson is an astonishing writer, but lacks as a speaker. The difference in her writing and listening to her speak to an audience is almost like comparing two different people. Her writing seems to make the audience understand her story better. Whereas, her speech seemed to be unorganized because she repeated the same topics over and over again. Speaking to an audience may be painless for her, however Wilson should, without a doubt, continue her life as a writer.
It was amazing to see how she defeated one of the world’s most powerful industrial polluters because at the same time, she was a mother of five children and the captain of the shrimp boat. She overcame her goal to hold the corporate polluter Formosa Plastics to a “zero emissions” policy for dumping garbage in the bay in Seadrift, Texas. Wilson started shrimping at the young age of 8 years old on a shrimp boat. During her oral presentation, Wilson kept saying that she was very shy growing up and avoided many people. Wilson started calling meetings together to argue what the chemical plants were doing to the bays and to try to solve the problem of living in a very polluted area. She believes that this problem helped her open up to reality. Wilson had an objective and no one was stopping her, regardless of what others said. This had begun her life as an environmental activist to try to stop the industries from throwing chemicals into the bay.
An Unreasonable Woman and Diane Wilson’s speech were extremely similar, but also exceptionally different at the same time. In another words, she just retold her whole story as if we didn’t even read the book in the summer. The book was more of a story because there was a plot and it was in chronological order. While Diane was making her speech, she didn’t have any guidelines and was going off on some tangents that were not even important in the book. In addition, in her book, she went into depth with some of the important people that helped her along the way. Whereas in her speech, she did not mention any people, except her husband who divorced her and her five children. Furthermore, I thought she had poor grammar in her speech and even used some abbreviations instead of actually saying the words. I felt that Wilson had more passion in her speech, but overall, she is a better writer.
When I first heard Diane Wilson speak, I was genuinely shocked along with everyone else in the audience. First off, I knew she was from Texas but I didn’t realize she was going to have a southern accent. It sounded different to hear her telling her story in that tone of voice. If I had heard Diane Wilson speak before reading the book, then I would have never thought she wrote it as well. I believe the way that she writes and speaks is from two totally different viewpoints. In person, she seems to be a very outspoken country girl from the south and I didn’t get that vibe while reading the book. While I was reading, I just thought of her as any ordinary woman trying to fight for what she enjoys.
Despite her southern accent, I actually enjoyed listening to her tell her story compared to reading it. When Diane Wilson came to Fairfield University, I had a clear and better understanding of her life journey. She has inspired me to never give up and if I have a passion, then I have to do what I believe inn. Wilson knew that living in a polluted area would affect her life as a shrimper. Wilson made it obvious that even if no one supports you, you must do what your heart is telling you to do. She knew that no one was going to take her bay away even if it meant she had to break the law. After learning that she didn’t get any support from her friends or family, I did not believe this because usually your immediate family stays by your side whatever the situation is. Yet, while listening to her speak, she couldn’t stress it enough that she only had herself and integrity by her side. It was sad to hear that not even her own husband supported her, but he sided with all the reporters that thought she was acting like a crazy woman.
In order for Wilson to prove that she was serious and not just any other activist, she decided to start a hunger strike on a shrimp boat. Everyone thought she was ridiculous and no one visited her on the boat, except chemical company’s that told her how stupid she was acting. Wilson put that behind her and actually had 3 different hunger strikes. Each and every hunger strike led her into the right direction to try to help stop all the toxins that were going in the bay. I agreed with the chemical company’s that thought she was crazy because I personally know that I would never go on a hunger strike over a bay. Though, after hearing her elaborate on her passion for the bay, I probably would have done the same thing she did. Shrimping was not a hobby for Wilson; it became what she lived for. She did not care that she had little in common with the rest of the world. When Formosa ignored her after she questioned them about the toxic discharges, she decided to sink her shrimp boat in the area of the illegal discharge. As a result, Wilson was able to get Formosa and Alcoa to drastically reduce the amount of toxins they release into the bay.
Being a shrimper on a boat was what kept Diane Wilson happy. In the end, it was depressing to hear that Wilson lost her job at the fish house, divorced her husband, and lost her boat all within 5 years. Numerous people disliked her for her actions, but Wilson was proud because she kept fighting for her rights. Wilson had clear commitment, intent, and was willing to put herself at risk. Even though Diane Wilson lost some things throughout her journey, she is still pleased of herself and wouldn’t have wanted it any other way. She is a unique woman because her obsession with pollution overshadows the rest of her life. It made such a difference actually listening to her in person than reading what she wrote because you get a greater feel for what she went through in her life as an environmental activist.
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