Personal Reflection

Writing this blog has been both time consuming and stressful, but at the same time it opened my mind to aspects of this book I would never have looked into. By researching the author, the book took on more meaning than I would’ve gathered. The fact that his racial background is brought into the book or that he himself is actually a doctor would’ve been lost on me.

This project got me thinking and questioning things that I normally would’ve just read, interpreted and digested as concrete. By examining the way in which he wrote this and the topics that he covered I have a greater understanding of my Canadian identity and what it means to be Canadian.

A misconception that many people have, and that I may have subconsciously had before working on this project, is that Canadian forms of media aren’t as good as their American and British counterparts. This book showed me that Canadian literature is just as good as any other book I have read (as I did truly enjoy reading Bloodletting and Miraculous Cures) in the past. It also opened up in my mind the reality that is the Canadian film and television industry, and I intend to watch the show based off of Vincent Lam’s book as soon as it debuts (I probably would have no idea it existed if it weren’t for this project).

Writing this project in blog form helped me strengthen my proofreading skills. I didn’t work first in a word processor, I instead wrote directly into my blog from start to finish, and everything in between. Where my word processor checks my grammar and spelling, the blog does not, and by doing it this way I was forced to do something I haven’t done in years.

This book and project not only helped further shape my Canadian identity, but it alleviated my subconscious underestimation of Canadian media and culture. It also showed me that doctors are people too, which is something I don’t really remember whenever I find myself in a doctor’s office or hospital. I also like to think that with everything I write, my skills as a writer are improved, just as my proofreading skills were rediscovered over the course of the project. I hope that next book I read, I am inspired to look at it (perhaps not as) in depth because it truly helped my understanding and gave the book a much deeper meaning.

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