Week 15

This semester has really changed my writing process. I've never spent an entire semester on one subject prior to this course. This meant that after writing a paper and turning it in, I couldn't just forget about it. Each paper helped me write the next one. Before this class, the longest paper I had ever written was eight pages long, and wasn't for an English class. Writing such a long paper required me to be more organized and creative in my set-up of the paper. I found that utilizing headings really helped keep me organized and on topic when writing the mini-ethnography. 

I think that it would be very beneficial to this course if we were required to turn in three drafts of papers, rather than two. Along with that, more conferences would have been great. Conferences were nice because they allowed us to hear exactly what we needed to work on.

Blog 14

Throughout my research I've found many helpful sources to assist me in understanding the employees at the Fossil store in Greenwood Park Mall. The academic sources, though helpful in understanding broad trends, were probably the least helpful. They couldn't describe anything inherently specific to my subculture. Since there wasn't a lot of  academic information about my subculture, the interviews seemed to be the most useful to me. Who better to learn about a subculture from than the people in the subculture? The interviewees gave me a lot of information to work with and answered my questions thoroughly. Almost everyone in the subculture agreed to answer my interview questions and help me with my assignment. Along with the interviews, the observations I made were also very helpful. There's only so much the informants could tell me about the behaviors in the store. It was easier to find what I was looking for if I watched, instead of asked. The interviews helped me understand the subcultures attitudes and beliefs while the observations helped me understand their behaviors.

Cut-Up

After I talked to some of the people involved in the show, I helped the cast tear down the set.This system usually works very well and everything flows like a well-oiled machine. Occasionally, however, the system derails. I wanted to go out with a bang. I didn't want to just run through the same boring routine the people had seen time and time before. I wanted to do something memorable. I immediately fly to my left in the assailant’s direction, near the side of the grey vinyl house. I could tell from the used fireworks and beer cans lying around the course that the boys had a pretty good time.

Section Titles

Research Question

My Place in the Subculture

So What?

Lingo

Gender

Possible Titles

"Fossil Fuel"

"Fossil's Fuel"

"The Fossil Family"

"Employee versus Customer"

Week 13

As I've observed my fieldsite, I've noticed that the relationships between employees and customers flow very well. If one employee isn't ‘vibing’ well with a customer, another employee will smoothly intervene and take over. This system usually works very well and everything flows like a well-oiled machine. Occasionally, however, the system derails. These moments are the most informing and entertaining. 
         During one of my observations an interesting woman came into the store and tested the system. She was a blonde, attractive, teenager. Nathan, a 21-year-old married employee, was assigned to be the greeter that day. He was also assigned to assist anyone in the front of the store. He greeted the young woman and helped her find sizes she needed. After taking her to a dressing room, Nathan approached Caitlin, an employee that has been working as Fossil since it opened in Greenwood. He informed her that he felt uncomfortable with the teenage girl and that she had been incessantly flirting with him. Caitlin agreed to take over the sale and went to the dressing room to ask the girl if she needed any new sizes. Caitlin continued to help the girl. The teenager than asked why Nathan had stopped helping her. Caitlin tried to make up an excuse, saying that Nathan was on break. Nathan, posted behind the cash wrap, was obviously not on break. This upset the customer and she left.
 Customers like that teenage girl disrupt the norm in the subculture and force the employees to think on their feet. 

6 Words

Self: Rain falls, so do I. Ouch.

Subculture: I only need two, family bonding.

Week 12

Rhetoric means to use language to persuade. The things we say and the things we write can be rhetoric. Even though the way we dress and act are ways to persuade, I don't think they are necessarily rhetoric. I know that a lot of people consider rhetoric to include almost everything about a person, but I like the more specific definition. If it included everything, it would be persuasion and there would be no point to have the word rhetoric. I've only heard the word rhetoric in English classes. It's not used in day-to-day conversations in American society as I've seen. I haven't noticed if the word is considered negative or positive. I feel like it's more neutral. It could go either way. Rhetoric is definitely used in my subculture. Working retail, we are constantly using language to persuade customers to buy our products. In my mini-ethnography I will write a lot about this rhetoric that we're constantly using. Not only will I discuss the rhetoric used in my subculture, but I'll also use rhetoric to persuade my readers to believe that the employees at the Fossil store in Greenwood Park Mall are unique and different from the employees at other similar stores. Though the main focus of my mini-ethnography will be to inform and explain the behaviors and rituals of the people in my subculture, it will have an underlying theme meant to persuade. 

Writing Quote

A writer starts as free, then gets chained in with rules and formats, at which point it is impossible to go back. 

I wrote that because when I was younger writing class was my favorite class. I always did well and I just loved to write. Seventh grade is when we really began to get bombarded by writing rules and formatting issues. Since then, I've haven't enjoyed writing for a class.

Week 11

My writing process has had to change for this class. I've never been in a situation where all of my writings for the semester are working towards a final paper. I think because of that, I've been forced to put a little more effort into the revising processes. The first paper was probably the most difficult for me. That's usually how it is in any class for me though. I wasn't sure exactly what was expected for it. None of the writings have been particularly easy for me. 

I don't really know how to answer the "why do you write?" question. I write for class. I'm writing about my subculture because it's required. I wouldn't be writing about it at all if it weren't required. On a broader basis I write to give voices to people no one is listening to. I write to protest what's happening in the world and to spark change. In my future, I think writing will play a similar role in my life that it does now. I won't be writing for required classes, but I'll still be writing to open people's eyes to the tragedies in today's world.

Family

.

Week 10

When I first started this project I was planning on writing my mini ethnography in chronological order. After doing most of my research, however, I've realized that that's not going to work for me. Being that it's a longer paper, I think I would probably go off on tangents and not the paper wouldn't be as effective as I would like if I wrote it chronologically. I think I'm going to start my mini ethnography by concentrating on a specific informant. After that, I want to write my paper by topic. I think that will be most effective for me because it will make it easier for me to go into detail and to concentrate on one section of the subculture at a time. I'll probably conclude my mini ethnography with a specific informant much like I'll begin the paper. I want to concentrate a lot on the insiders in the subculture because they can give the best insight into the subculture. 

Lingo

cash wrap- where the merchandise is purchased

water resistant ring- part of the watch that tends to get in the way when changing a battery

inventory- counting the merchandise

floor set-rearranging the store

form- mannequin with no head, arms, or legs

back stock- the back room of the store where we keep extra merchandise

types of folds: roadkill, board fold

watch repair form-form filled out by customer when we can't fix the watch and have to send it in link form-form with the phone number to order extra links on it

watch pog- rearranging the watches 

audit- double checking

Week 9

The hardest part of the research process has definitely been the academic research. Since there aren't many websites or book about Fossil, let alone Fossil in the Greenwood Park Mall, I've really had to broaden my search. Most of the things I've come up with in the broad searches haven't been very helpful. The easiest part of the research has been the interviews. I feel like the employees' honest, detailed answers really helped me discover what I want to write about in my mini ethnography. If I could start this project over, I think I would have come up with a different subculture. My choice wasn't very unique and I chose it completely out of convenience. I would've learned more had I stepped out of my comfort zone and explored a subculture I wasn't completely familiar with.

Keeping this blog has helped my with my research because it allows me to go back and see what I was thinking at different points in my research. My opinions and biases have changed and keeping this blog allows me to acknowledge that better and take that into account when writing my mini ethnography.

Week 8

This is my one late assignment that can be turned in.

The main theme I've noticed throughout my research is the camaraderie felt between the members of the subculture. All of them emphasize a strong bond amoungst each other that they had never experienced in previous jobs. This bond can be seen on the fieldsite because employees are constantly joking with one another and helping each other with sales. The employees refer to themselves as the "Fossil Family." My place in my subculture has change a little over the past eight weeks. Since I only work one weekend a month, I'm slowly becoming less involved and less "in-the-know" in my subculture. It's almost like I'm starting to become an outsider. This has to do with the amount of hours I'm there, and I'm sure I'll go back to being a full insider once summer begins and I work more often.

In Class Writing

Why will my readers care about this issue?

My target audience is probably going to consist of people interested in the retail world. They'll care about my subculture because it's a unique perspective on a specific store. There isn't a lot of other information, other than the actual Fossil website, that gives insight into my subculture.

What will my readers want or need to know about this issue?

My readers are going to want to know what makes Fossil different from other retail stores. Often times the store is overlooked, or grouped with stores people feel it is similar to. I want to show how the Fossil store in Greenwood is unique and how it's vastly different from the stores some people tend to group it with.

What do my readers already know about this issue?

My readers probably know the store as nothing more than a watch store. Many people tend to overlook the fact that Fossil also carries handbags, tops, pants, dresses, messenger bags, hats, socks, jewelry, wallets, key chains, and, coming soon, shoes.

What do I want my readers to learn about this issue?

I want my readers to learn about the people that sell the products. The products sold are important too, but I feel like the employees are what really make my subculture unique and different from other retail store in the Greenwood Park Mall.

If I am trying to persuade my readers of something, how easily will they be persuaded?

I suppose I'm trying to persuade my readers to believe that my subculture differs from other retail stores in the Greenwood Park Mall. I think it should be relatively easy to persuade them once they have the information. I think the main reason people tend to group Fossil with other stores in the mall is because they don't know a lot about Fossil.

What will my readers use my writing for?

My readers will use my writing to better understand my subculture. They could use it for research if they're doing a project similar to this one.

Week 7

The main thing my subculture needs is for corporate to pay attention to the needs of the stores. This is evident in many of the interviews that I did and in the basic research. Certain items sell well in our region and yet corporate makes no changes based on store location and demographic. Many interviewees described corporate's lack of caring as their least favorite thing about the subculture. I don't really know how I could give back to the subculture. I work there, so I can continue to work hard and put forth effort when I work. As far as making corporate understand our needs, I don't think that is ever going to happen. We've tried to communicate with corporate before, but it always somehow gets lost in the web that we have to go through to talk to the higher-ups.  

Box 19

Observations:

red/black/green/yellow plaid flats. black soles. used for walking outdoors. stylish.

flats differ from other shoes in a number of ways. they're less athletic than tennis shoes. more dressy than flip flops. not as dressy as heels. assuming she bought them at a shoe store. they also could've potentially been a gift. they're clean so I'm assuming they're relatively new. 

Interview:

Are they your favorite shoes?

no, but they're cute

Where did you get them?

Payless

Who were you with when you got them?

mom

Is there any signifant meaning they have to you?

no, just like how they look

Theorize:

To better understand the artifact and further understand its significance I can research flats and Payless shoes.

Survey

Click here to take my survey.

Survey

Click here to take my survey.

Groundwork Activity

First Impressions: The first time I became aware of my subculture was about four years ago. At that point, I was an outsider. I was a customer. I don't really remember anything about the people in the store, just that I liked the clothes, so I shopped there. I do remember that the manager at that particular time was always super friendly and got along with my mom really well. The 'landscape' of the store was well organized and not cluttered. There was never very many people shopping there, so it was easy to move around. It was a convenient place to shop. The Fossil I know now is much different than that Fossil I experienced then. The main things I would like to ask questions about are; why has the store changed so much? and is it all the new management's doing that it has changed?

How You Feel in the New Space: Four years ago, when the store was a 'new place' to me, I felt very comfortable there. I liked that the music was soft and that not many other people where ever in the store. There were never tons of employees crowded me to 'try to make the sale' and it was all just really laid back. 

How do you Know You're an Outsider: When I was an outsider, this was marked by the places in the store I wasn't allowed to be in. As an outsider, I couldn't go behind the counter where the cash registers were. I wasn't allowed to go into the back rooms of the store either. I also had to ask an insider anytime I wanted into a dressing room or a watch case. As an outsider, most of the insiders would talk to me differently than they would talk to each other. They were much more casual in their talk with each other, and with me the conversations almost always only revolved around items in the store. 

Week 6

"Fossil." Fossil. 2009. 18 Feb 2009 .

            This source is the official website for the subculture my subculture is a part of. The main purpose of the site is to display the different products Fossil stores sell. They also have a “style guide” that helps the viewer figure out how to put a Fossil outfit together. At the bottom of each page there are links that take you to various things like “customer care” and “investor relations.”  

            This source will be helpful in creating my mini ethnography because it’s the main site for my subculture. It will give insight into the subculture my subculture stems off of. Learning the different policies the corporation has will make the behaviors in the Greenwood Park Mall Fossil more easily explainable.  

 

 "Fossil Appoints a New Retail Division President." Internet Retailer. 13 February 2009. 18 Feb 2009 .

            This source is an article announcing that the Fossil Corporation appointed a new retail division president. This was a newly invented position given to women named Jennifer Pritchard. For the job, Pritchard reports directly to the CEO of Fossil. She is mainly responsible for the retail concepts in all of the Fossil stores worldwide.

            This article will be helpful to my mini ethnography because it shows how Fossil has changed. The article was written in 2006. Pritchard has had an effect on every Fossil store, including the one in the Greenwood Park Mall, since that point in time. The article also outlines the number of each type of Fossil store worldwide. The fact that Fossil is a relatively small chain corporation is telling.

Box 18

One focal point I've noticed in my subculture is the check out area. When the members interact with one another, they are usually standing on either side of the check out area. When I did a few of my interviews, they were conducted by the check out area. This seems to be the main gathering area in the store for the members. This is the spot that they feel most comfortable. I would assume that that is because it's located in the direct center of the store. Every part of the store can be easily viewed from the check out area. The thought that the members of the subculture feel most comfortable at the check out area is sort of ironic though. It is store policy not to be around the check out area unless there is a customer that needs to be helped there. Socializing around the check out area is really a sort of deviation from the subculture's higher powers. 

Week 5

I have done some observations at the field-site of my subculture. I've also researched some online. I'm having difficulty figuring out where I want to go with my ethnography, however. I don't really know what central idea I want to focus on, or what I really want to share about the subculture. This is making research really difficult too. It's not like there are tons of blogs and other sites about Fossil stores, so I need to broaden my research. I don't really know what I want to broaden it to, though. I was hoping to already have interviewed most of the members of the subculture, but couldn't come up with good questions. I thought that after observing the field-site, I would be more clear on what I wanted to ask and where I wanted to take the ethnography. That wasn't the case. Interviews are deffinitely going to play a major role in my ethnography, so I want to get those done as soon as possible, but I also want them to be informative and useful. I also need to get the interviews done and ready for the anotated bibliography, which is coming up soon. 

Box 15

Sitting in my room at my parents’ house is my favorite chair.  It’s a pea green color, the color often associated with the seventies. This association is heightened with the surrounding rust orange colored walls and patchouli sent. The chair is the same style as a Lazy Boy, a knock off, of course. The fabric of the chair is old and worn to the point that it almost looks like it’s covered in shag carpeting. The chair sits in the corner of the room. The blinds in my room are meant to keep out all sunlight, but an uncovered edge of the window allows light to pour in during the early afternoon, hitting the chair’s corner. Sitting in the chair is unlike sitting in any other chair. It’s almost like it gives you a big, warm, cozy hug. Immediately after getting the chair I felt a sense of belongingness and safety with it. I bought the chair at a garage sale a number of years ago for twenty dollars. It was worth every penny. 

In Class Writing

I think the video was both an ethnography and a work of entertainment. There was significant research and tons of interviews that really gave the viewer insight into the culture.

The interview subjects were the main people in the subculture. That was important because, since the subculture was so exclusive, an outsider's view would be very different than the reality of the subculture. The interviews tell the story. The narrative just fills in a few places with the facts of what was happening during the time period. The narrator would inform the viewer that there was a drought in California, and then the interview subjects would talk about skating in dried up pools.

The subculture was very exclusive and very territorial. They grew up in poor neighborhoods and felt like the outsiders couldn't relate. The saw themselves as surfers, first and foremost. Because of the wind, they could only surf in the mornings. That gave them the rest of the day to skateboard. They acted as a group and never allowed someone else into the group without consulting the rest of the group. The obvious artifacts that played a major role in the subculture were surfboards and skateboards.

The documentary was organized chronologically. The interviews were edited to tell the majority of the story and the narrator filled in the blanks. I think this really helped the viewer understand the subculture. The filming and the editing all seemed very raw, which played into the overall feel of the subculture.

I previously thought that skateboarders were very anti-mainstream. This still holds true after seeing the video. The subculture did everything in its power to stay exclusive and not mainstream.

I trust what the creator is telling us because there are so many interviews. You don't ever get an outsider's view of the subculture, but I think the insider's perspective is more interesting. Sure, it is bias because there are no outside interviews, but I don't think it makes it any less credible. I don't think the video would be as entertaining if it had the outsider's opinions intermixed.

Week 4

So far I haven't officially observed my subculture. I'm going to do that this weekend, so right now I can't make any specific conclusions. However, I definitely think that geography does play a huge role in the behaviors of my subculture. The only other Fossil retail store in Indiana is located in Castleton. That's not too far from Greenwood, but the store is completely different. Even though the employees are mostly Caucasian, the Castleton store is more diverse than the Greenwood store. The Castleton store is also much larger than the Greenwood store meaning that they have more employees. Having more employees means that the workers aren't as close to one another. I don't think that different religions will affect the different stores. The employees at the Greenwood store have religious beliefs ranging from Pentecostalism to Athism. Those different beliefs haven't really had much of an impact on the relationships or the subculture as a whole.

In Class Writing

*never been hungry

*parents together

*have a sibling

*white

*easy job

*able to go to college

*middle class family

*own room at parents' house

My privileges are going to have an influence on my research. In my subculture I share many of the same privileges as the other members. None of them have ever been hungry, most of them have an easy job (except for the manager), all of them have gone to college for some amount of time, most of them have at least one sibling, and most were raised in a middle class family. Many of them, however, don't still have parents that are married. I don't think that's going to make too much of a difference in my research, especially since no one that works there still lives with their parents. 

Week 3

Some interview questions I may use include basic facts like "How long have you worked at Fossil?" and "How old are you?" I feel like these sort of factual questions will help me be more objective in my research. Even though I've been to my cultural site many times, I have yet to visit it for this specific assignment. I'm going to visit it for this assignment next weekend. I hope that since I'll be visiting the site with a research purpose, I'll find different things than what I've noticed before. These new observations will also help me further construct my interview questions.

After reading different definitions of "academic" I definitely think that there's a difference between academic research and non academic research. Academic research deals primarily with things learned from books or teachers. Non academic research is more about getting out there and learning things as they are first hand.

In Class Writing

Why should anyone be interested in their chosen subculture anyway? People should be interested in this subculture just because it exists and since it exists it affects a number of other subcultures. People belong to multiple subcultures and every one of them influences the person, which in turn influences the other subcultures that the person belongs to.

Why do they feel their subculture is important? This subculture is important because it's unique and offers insight into individuals' lives.

What do you want outsiders to know about the subculture? Basically I just want outsiders to know that the subculture is there. I want to show how unique the subculture is compared to similar subcultures.

In Class Writing

I'm visiting my cultural site next weekend. During that time I'll also be able to conduct interviews. Ideally, I would like to interview all employees at the Fossil store in Greenwood Park Mall since there are only 12 of them(11 not including myself). Being that the store is an hour and a half away and I'm only there for one day once a month, that's probably not going to happen. Instead I should be able to get at least 6 interviews. If I really feel like I would benefit more from having more interview, I can always later conduct them via phone. The best time to meet with the employees is going to be during actual work hours. I'm planning on starting on my library and outside research before actually visiting the cultural site. I'll probably just spend a couple hours on that beforehand just to get prepared and develop interview questions that will be most helpful.  

Box 8 in Class Writing

What surprised me? I was surprised by the importance of taking a closer look at things. What at first appeared to be nothing more than a book with letters on the front, turned out to be a persons notebook. There were pages torn out and writing on only one page. This stirred up many questions like, "why are the pages torn out?" and "why was this single written on page left in the notebook?" 

What intrigued me? I was intrigued by the relationship between many of the items. The majority of the artifacts tended to be music related. Were these items specific to the subculture or to the individual?

What disturbed me? Some of the artifacts stood out from the others and made associating them with eachother more difficult. Everything seemed to do with music in some way or another except for the necklace and the book. Is the book used for inspiration in music writing? That would be assuming that the culture was about music writing and not just listening to music. How does the necklace fit into all of it?

Subculture

The subculture I've decided to examine is the Fossil store at the Greenwood Park Mall. Upon entering the store one notices that the store is much cooler in temperature than the rest of the store. The store also smells like scented plug-ins. The store is smaller in size than many other ones in the mall. Placed around the store are a variety of clothes, watches, purses, jewelry, socks, and other like items. There are usually three members of the subculture in the store at all times. This number, however, does vary depending on the time of day and time of year. The members are dressed in a trendy, yet professional way. I'm already in insider in this culture, so it's kind of difficult to think of something new I hope to discover. I guess one thing I could examine more is how the members of the subculture interact outside of the main meeting place. I could also examine members' behaviors when not associating with anyone in the subculture. That would prove to be very difficult, however, since I'm part of the subculture. 

Box 11 In Class Writing

Within the past few minutes, I've already changed my plan on the subculture I would like to research. I'm now planning on researching the Fossil store in the Greenwood Park Mall. I chose this subculture because it's one that I'm a part of, making it easily accessible to me. This could also be a negative because I already have an opinion on the subculture. Some fixed positions that may affect my research are my age and my gender. A subjective position I'll carry with me is that I've been part of the subculture for two and a half years. All of these things can have both positive and negative affects on my research when studying this subculture.

In Class Writing

As of now I'm planning on describing the subculture of political science majors. I'll most likely focus on doing interviews with professors of political science classes and actual students with the major. I'll also find books and websites with information on careers based in political science. I think the interviews will be most useful for me. Since I'm capable of direct contact with members in the subculture I think 'hearing it straight from the horses mouth' is the best strategy. I expect to find members in the subculture to be very opinionated and well informed on current events in the political arena. I really want to conduct surveys for my subculture, however, I think that may be difficult.

Making the Familiar New

Once every month I travel an hour and a half south, using up a quarter of a tank of gas. Once reaching my destination(which looks a lot like the place I was at before) I paint my face and attach spikes to my feet. This sort of attire is applied in preparation for the place I spend most of my time. I go into this crazed building full of loud people and different smells. I quickly walk down a hall of this zoo-like place until I reach a room of comfort. I spend eight hours of my life in this room. I mostly just stand and wait, sometimes one of the people from the hall venture into the room and give me green sqares of paper when I give them cloth or metal to wear around their wrists. Once my time is done in the room, I'm rewarded with some of the green squares of paper.

In Class Writing

Subcultures:

Fossil: employee, change batteries, dress nicely, movie nights, work during mall hours or after if we have inventory or a floor set, know clothing/bag/watch names, show up to work on time, have a monthly IPC average above the store average

College student: lots of studying, not a lot of money, late nights, go to class, on a college campus, language(credit hours, major, minor, etc.) 

Piercings: has piercings, goes to piercing parlors, knows different piercings (dermal anchors, conch, etc.)

Tattoos: has tattoos, goes to tattoo parlors, vocabulary (tattoo gun, ink, etc.)

The "Fossil Family" at the Greenwood Park Mall is one of the subcultures I belong to. To stay in the subculture and avoid being fired one must show up to work on time and have a monthly IPC average above the store average. One must always come to work dressed nicely and appropriately. It's also important to know the store lingo. Every style of shirt, pants, and dress has a different name. The bags and the watches also have different names depending on their style. This subculture rarely completely comes together unless there's a store meeting or some sort of outing like a movie night or a party. 

Past Writing

When first thinking about the topic for this blog, I wanted to write about my writing process when the final product was something worthwhile. After I thought back on my past writing experiences I realize that I haven’t really liked anything I’ve written or enjoyed writing anything since sixth grade.  The last paper I wrote in sixth grade was for my social studies class and was about the Northwest Passage.  I completely messed up all the facts and confused two different time periods, but my teacher still gave me an A because it was so creative. When writing that paper I was sitting in the piano room at my parents’ house using the piano bench as a desk like I always did. I was listening to music, most likely Kansas or Don McLean (there was only a record player in the piano room and those where the two records I enjoyed then).  Before starting the actual essay, I did prewriting in the form of a sort of bubbled web. I then wrote the essay and transferred the product to a nicer paper. The only difference between the “first draft” and the “final draft” was some simple editing. I fixed the spelling and grammar and that was it. Had I made more massive changes, such as with organization and word choice, and actually revised the first draft instead of just editing it, I think the final product would’ve been even more successful.