Memorandum
This paper is aimed at examining my work on the book Radioactive: Marie and Pierre Curie, A Tale of Love and Fallout by Lauren Redniss. The assignment consists of two sections, namely, the descriptions of fictional and non-fictional activities. In particular, the first section depicts various learning activities such as reading the text, preparing presentations, group discussions and writing the essay on this book. In turn, the second part portrays some of my future activities, such as coordinating the work of other people.
Description of reading and learning activities
The reading of Radioactive: Marie and Pierre Curie, A Tale of Love and Fallout written by Lauren Redniss has been a unique experience for me because this book gave me deep insight into the work of two prominent scientists and their relations with one another. In the beginning, I browsed through the table of contents which included several scientific terms such as magnetism, fusion, instability of matter, symmetry, and so forth (Redniss 1). They are often used by physicists and mathematicians. So, at first, it seemed to me that this book had been mostly about the research on radioactivity carried out by Pierre and Marie Curie; nevertheless, it turned out that I had been mistaken. In particular, Lauren Redniss creates an engaging narrative that enables readers to understand the emotions of these two people and their inner world. Moreover, the technical terms used by the author perfectly capture the relations between the major characters. This is one of the details that attracted my attention. Furthermore, while reading this text, I paid close attention to the pictures included in this book. Overall, the images that I saw surprised me because they resembled the drawings of a child. In my opinion, they act as valuable supplements to the text. In particular, they can enable the audience to visualize the characters and their emotional reactions to various situations. This is one of the points that can be made.
While taking part in the discussion, I heard various viewpoints on the behaviour of characters, their choices, and their emotions. Sometimes, I could disagree with other students; nevertheless, these disputes were usually very productive. To a great extent, they enabled me to gain a better idea about this book. For instance, I can speak about such issues as the combination of fiction and non-fiction within the text. Additionally, I had a chance to look at the presentations prepared by other students. In my view, they were able to combine visual aids and text in a very skilful way. When I asked one of my fellow students to express his opinion about this book, he described it as a very strange one. I did not fully agree with this assessment, because this book was unconventional, rather than strange. This is one of the arguments that I put forward while discussing this text.
Furthermore, while writing my essay, I decided to focus on the role of images in the text. I chose this particular topic because Lauren Redniss’ book offers many examples showing how verbal language and pictures can be related to one another. More importantly, the author skillfully incorporates these visual aids in a non-fiction book. I believed that the discussion of this issue could be both challenging and thought-provoking. These are the main details that can be identified.
Depiction of future activities
Overall, it is quite easy for me to imagine myself as a person who leads the group work of other people. In my opinion, such activities will be primarily related to my workplace duties. Hopefully, I will be able to work in a large organization in which a person should have various competencies in order to attain success. My long-term ambition is to guide the research activities of other people. To some degree, I have been inspired by the work of Pierre and Marie Curie, who became leaders in a separate field of science. In addition to that, I will be delighted to work on projects that require leadership qualities. Moreover, it will be of great interest to me to cooperate with people who have diverse skills. Such cooperation can be very productive and informative at the same time. I will also enjoy helping other people understand complex problems. This is one of the scenarios that I can imagine. To a great extent, this scene reflects some of the main goals that I would like to attain in the future.
Nevertheless, as a student, I may also take part in various group activities. For instance, I want to work on the presentation and reports on various readings, such as the book written by Lauren Redniss. Additionally, I would like to coordinate the work of other people. It seems that such activities can enrich the experiences of a person who wants to achieve ambitious goals. Such individuals should be able to work in the environment in which their opinions can be questioned in a critical way. This experience can make them ready for future challenges. These are the key points that I can single out.
Works Cited
Redniss, Laureen. Radioactive: Marie & Pierre Curie: A Tale of Love and Fallout, New York: It Books, 2010. Print.