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.