The Scholar: Jefu Lee

The Project: Don Quixote, But with a Modern Twist

The Essential Question: “I wrote my own version of the novel Don Quixote, and I based it off of chapters 1-8, which are the chapters that are most known. It’s a really long book, but that’s where the main plot of the book happens. I wrote my own, more modern version. I used the help of Ms. Kokoska, because at first I couldn’t come up with an idea and she suggested to me maybe a book that I read, and Don Quixote popped into my mind instantly and I decided I was going to do my own version.”

Surprising Discovery: “I found the reading pretty challenging. I’m usually comfortable reading in Spanish, but it was a really old book so the language was different and it was hard to comprehend sometimes.”

Biggest Challenge: “Writing it. I kind of had an idea in my mind, but it wasn’t solidified yet. I was just writing along every chapter I wrote. And just finding the time to write it. First trimester senior year is very stressful–lot of homework, lot of college stuff, so it was hard to find the time to write it.”

Tip for future scholars: “You’ll have fun. It’s a small class so you’ll have time to talk to your teacher a lot, ask for help. It might be a little stressful, but it’s very rewarding once you finish it and once you make the presentation, after that you’ll feel a lot more relieved.”

Was there a specific story or account that you recreated that really stood out as memorable? “Yeah, the windmill chapter in the book. It’s the most famous part of the book, a lot of people know it even if they haven’t read it. Writing my own version of that was fun and exciting–coming up with ideas that would relate to our era right now.”