Last Blog

My writing skills and researching methods have improved during the 15 weeks.  I have learned how to more successfully research specific topics and have learned how to get answers to my questions.  I still struggle with organizational issues and procrastination.  Sometimes I don't know where to begin and therefore, put everything off until the last minute.  I would suggest that we don't stick on the same topic the entire semester.  I often got tired of writing about the same topic the entire semester.  I also didn't like writing the blogs.  I often found them pointless.  The same with the readings.  I didn't find them helpful most of the time.

Annotated Bibliography- Week 6 posting

Cameron Ackroyd "Study: Jobs come before school work." Independent Florida Alligator 18 April 2002. LexisNexis Academic. 24 February 2009

This source is exploring how college students balance their work and school responsibilities.  One of the main reasons students work is because of the rising costs to attend college.  For this reason, they feel like they are forced to spend more time working than studying.  This has caused students to notice that if they spend 25 or more hours per week working, their grades drop.  One person said that working is not an option, but a necessity for him.  He has made sacrifices in his life such as having to study on weekends and sleep few hours.  Out of the people studied, 63 percent of them said that college would not be an option if they weren't working.  Another student stated that she didn't think working affected her studies.  She says it's all about balancing your workloads.

I will be able to use this in my mini-ethnography because it discusses the pros and cons of working and some of the reasons students work.  Students are now working for more than just extra spending money; they are working to stay in college.

Michael Borunda. "Working Cal State-Fresno students struggle to find balance." The Collegian 11 May 2006. LexisNexis Academic. 23 February 2009

This document talks about different reasons more students are working now.  About 57 percents of full-time college students are working full or part-time jobs so they will be able to stay in college.  Some reasons this is happening could be that financial aid has become harder to get and college tuition rates have risen five times faster than the average family income since 1981.  There are also less people receiving grants and financial aid.  One student said that she works because  she has to support not only herself but her child as well.  Another simply works so she doesn't have to ask her parents for money.

I will be able to use this piece in my mini-ethnography because it describes the reasons some students work and has facts and statistics to support the information.

Portfolio reflection

One of the strategies I developed to analyze my data for my mini-ethnography was to begin with my interviews.  I looked at my interviews and reread them to refresh my memory.  Then, I looked at my research for quotes from people they had interviewed.  By doing this, I was able to get a first hand perspective of my subculture.  After that, I went back and read my notes I had taken from the articles I read.  I compared the information I had collected with the information I got from my sources.

Cut-up

As you walk into the Cardinal B at 6:45 all you see is fifty or so girls crowded around one another talking about the past week events. The environment was one that was loud and intense. It started with us playing three games the first day and one game the second day. The fact that they are eight hours ahead of our time zone made it very difficult to get a time when we could all speak, so I chose the easiest route and sent an e-mail. I kept my distance, being unsure of whom the group of people was. Not to my surprise, but maybe to the surprise of others, it was nothing like that. After the show, I talked to some of the people involved in the show and asked them how they thought the show went.

Brief description

One of the field-sites I observed was the Out of Bounds market in the bottom of Lafollette.  My friend works in there so I went to observe him during one of his shifts.  Out of Bounds is usually very busy and this was no exception.  It was a Friday evening around 6 p.m.  There were so many people in there at one point that the line to check out was wrapped around the entire store.  The smells were overwhelming when I first walked in.  I am no stranger to this eating place but for some reason the smell was amplified this particular evening.  Out of Bounds serves hot food and prepackaged cold food.  A lot of the hot food consists of fried foods like fried chicken, curly fries, popcorn chicken etc.  They also serve hot dogs, hamburgers, grilled cheese among many other choices.  The stench of the hot dogs and the water they were in is what hit me first.  It has an overwhelming smell and just fills the store.  It was so loud in the store that I could barely hear myself think.  People that were waiting in line almost had to shout to be heard.  Out of Bounds is a fairly cramped store to begin with so when you get that many people in there, it makes it almost impossible to move.  People waiting for their order to come up have practically no place to stand out of the way.  They are constantly having to move so that other people can get what they came for.  There are the people that know exactly what they want and waste no time getting it.  They know the layout of the store like the back of their hand.  They go in, get what they want, and get out.  Then there are the people that know the optimal order to get their food so something doesn't get cold when it's supposed to be hot or visa versa.  They go up and order their food from the grille, the proceed to get any prepackaged food they want.  Lastly, they get their drinks or anything frozen.  And lastly, there are the people that have no idea what they want.  They wander the isles contemplating what they are really hungry for.  These people tend to clog up the isles because they just walk around, getting in pretty much everyone's way.  I watched one person go down a single isle four times.  I think they were getting more and more desperate each time.

6 word stories

Who needs to work? Ask mom!

 

Music calms the mind and soul

What is rhetoric?

I first learned about the term rhetoric in english 103 last semester.  I remember talking about ethos, logos, and pathos.  Rhetoric means to me when you write or speak to persuade something or someone.  I think rhetoric is used in everyday speech, even in speaking.  I think that whenever you talk to someone, most of the time you are trying to persuade them to do something or think a certain way, whether the person believes it or not.  Rhetoric can be both positive and negative.

Writing quotes

Why feel relieved and relaxed the night before when you can feel stressed and rushed the day it's due?!

Procrastination is like trying to not eat a piece of chocolate cake, you tell yourself that NEXT time you won't eat it, but you end up eating it anyway...

Reflecting

I don't think my writing process has changed a whole lot since the first week of this semester.  I have been forced to put a little more thought into the parts of my paper since we are generally writing it in steps.  I do like this better though.  I like not having to pull a 12-15 page paper out of no where all at once.  I will have papers to look back on and refer to when that time comes.  None of the assignments really gave me trouble, but this last assignment was easier than I thought it was going to be.  At first, I felt overwhelmed because it seemed like a really long process, but once I got started, it went really fast.  I write because it expands my abilities.  It forces me to think about topics or subjects that I may not have put any thought into otherwise.