When I look back over this course there were many times when at first I was confused but then I just took a moment and tried to figure it out and I usually could. However I think there were a couple places this year where I really did Wobble.
The first place that I wobbled was during the process of writing my literacy narrative. I had my idea and I knew what I was going to write about. But after my first draft and having my group read over the draft I realized that no where in my paper where I talked about how this experience had affected my literacy. So that was a moment of wobble, actually a period of wobble because it took me till about the time I wrote my final draft to figure out how to incorporate literacy into the narrative. The real issue or wobble that I had after I figured out a way to incorporate it was "Am I doing this in the most effective way?, Does it make sense when I put it like this?, Does this sound good?, Will it keep people interested in my story?"
The only other place that I can think about when I might have "wobbled" was when I was trying to figure out how to go about the Ethnography Project. This moment of wobble was not that bad becasue when I was stuck on what questions to ask during the interview, or who to ask, or even how to ask the questions, there were people in my group who had the answers to all of these questions. They were the ones who kept me from wobbling too much on this project.
Saturday, December 15, 2012
Monday, December 3, 2012
Literacy Narrative Reflective Blog Post
When Lacy first gave us the assignment to write a Literacy Narrative that was telling a story it took me all of 5 seconds to decide that I wanted to talk about my week at Blue Ridge Leaders School in Black Mountain, North Carolina.
The intial writing of the Literacy Narrative was when it became a little more difficult for me to talk about Blue Ridge. I had many ideas of what I wanted to do with the paper. Whether it be writing it from my brothers perspective of when I came home or talking about it as a metaphor of a ship but nothing really connected to how Blue Ridge affected my Literacy. I could talk about how it changed me as a person and how it affected my attitudes toward life and other people but I still couldn't make the connection with how this had anything to do with my literacy. So when it came time to write my first draft I just ignored the concept of Literacy and just wrote down all the things I wanted to say about Blue Ridge and my experience. The one major editing technique that I used was going through the intro to the story and making sure that it grabbed the readers attention. https://docs.google.com/document/d/16XXUVGOj8cUWij0XytDqNW82-8IFezDJx7cbDtWUaro/edit
After going through my original draft and reading all the comments that my group members left as well as doing the revision strategy of re-reading my intro to make sure it grabbed people I realized that I had a lot of work to do on this paper if I wanted to get a good grade. Nowhere in the paper was how the trip had affected my Literacy so I knew I needed to start there in order to make this paper better. So for starters I completely added a whole new beginning paragraph which focused more on the concept of literacy and what it meant to me, which I think really gave the reader a new perspective on literacy. So that was one way that the revision strategies helped me. Then during one class period Lacy had us write a couple editing goals our paper and the final draft. My editing goals were to come up with something for the conclusion and to watch out for incomplete thoughts. After I went through my paper again looking for these things I completed a conclusion that I think is good and tried to tie up thoughts that I thought might be somewhat incomplete.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1By4jxyff-vA3NdkVNDzVha7gJ3bQmD0KU7-K0pHGOtk/edit
I think when I look back at the whole process it is really interesting to see how when I started there was so much missing from the paper to when I finished and I think that this paper completely conveys everything that I was trying to say. It was really hard to figure out how to incorporate the change in my literacy through this experience but with the help of the editing tools that we did in class, the comments my writing group left, and the comments that Lacy gave me everthing just fell into place. I wrote my Literacy Narrative about Blue Ridge because it is definitely one of those times in life that puts things into perspective for you, it really makes you realize what is important in life, and I just wanted to share my experience with everyone.
So heres my final draft if anyone wants to read it.......
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1XLouN2wR8tU78PDrpGbNvO67WX2LNg-R14oA3WY9x0c/edit
The intial writing of the Literacy Narrative was when it became a little more difficult for me to talk about Blue Ridge. I had many ideas of what I wanted to do with the paper. Whether it be writing it from my brothers perspective of when I came home or talking about it as a metaphor of a ship but nothing really connected to how Blue Ridge affected my Literacy. I could talk about how it changed me as a person and how it affected my attitudes toward life and other people but I still couldn't make the connection with how this had anything to do with my literacy. So when it came time to write my first draft I just ignored the concept of Literacy and just wrote down all the things I wanted to say about Blue Ridge and my experience. The one major editing technique that I used was going through the intro to the story and making sure that it grabbed the readers attention. https://docs.google.com/document/d/16XXUVGOj8cUWij0XytDqNW82-8IFezDJx7cbDtWUaro/edit
After going through my original draft and reading all the comments that my group members left as well as doing the revision strategy of re-reading my intro to make sure it grabbed people I realized that I had a lot of work to do on this paper if I wanted to get a good grade. Nowhere in the paper was how the trip had affected my Literacy so I knew I needed to start there in order to make this paper better. So for starters I completely added a whole new beginning paragraph which focused more on the concept of literacy and what it meant to me, which I think really gave the reader a new perspective on literacy. So that was one way that the revision strategies helped me. Then during one class period Lacy had us write a couple editing goals our paper and the final draft. My editing goals were to come up with something for the conclusion and to watch out for incomplete thoughts. After I went through my paper again looking for these things I completed a conclusion that I think is good and tried to tie up thoughts that I thought might be somewhat incomplete.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1By4jxyff-vA3NdkVNDzVha7gJ3bQmD0KU7-K0pHGOtk/edit
I think when I look back at the whole process it is really interesting to see how when I started there was so much missing from the paper to when I finished and I think that this paper completely conveys everything that I was trying to say. It was really hard to figure out how to incorporate the change in my literacy through this experience but with the help of the editing tools that we did in class, the comments my writing group left, and the comments that Lacy gave me everthing just fell into place. I wrote my Literacy Narrative about Blue Ridge because it is definitely one of those times in life that puts things into perspective for you, it really makes you realize what is important in life, and I just wanted to share my experience with everyone.
So heres my final draft if anyone wants to read it.......
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1XLouN2wR8tU78PDrpGbNvO67WX2LNg-R14oA3WY9x0c/edit
Sunday, December 2, 2012
Final Ethnography Post
When we were first given the Ethnography assignment I wasn't really sure that I understood what it was we were doing. But when I walked around and noticed all the different graffiti around campus I started thinking about how much can be taken from the various forms of art. I have always enjoyed looking at art and thinking about the many symbols/themes/feelings that can be taken from each piece. I also really respect art as a form of expresson. So when it came time to pick a topic I knew that I wanted to do something focused on art, so picking Sculptures as the focus of my Ethnography Project was probably the easiest thing about this project.
The thing that I really liked about this project was how easy it was to revise our work. When it came down to it we never really revised the work. We simply revised our ideas. We went from just discussng sculptures to interviewing people, to a video discussing sculptures, to finally having what we have. I also really enjoyed doing this project with a group of people because 1) it really helped with the revision process because we could really feed off each others ideas, so if we were stuck on an idea/thought, there were 3 other people in the group to offer input. 2) we all worked really well together. All our ideas flowed together so this project went by relatively smoothly. 3) it was just nice to be able to collaborate rather than have the entire project to do by yourself.
When it comes down to it, I would much rather do a project like this rather than write an essay. I think the collaboration between 4 people really enhanced the quality of the project. You can see this collaboration in our google document. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1wib3IBwH0WabP-I_lY946EP4ovXVsnF7pzYTWroscNA/edit I think it was a quality that couldnt be captured in an essay, especially with a topic like sculptures because sculptures are in turn visual so the power that these pieces convey couldnt be captured simply in words, there has to be that visual aspect.
The only other thing I have to say about this project is that I wish we had done more like it. I really enjoyed doing this project.
The thing that I really liked about this project was how easy it was to revise our work. When it came down to it we never really revised the work. We simply revised our ideas. We went from just discussng sculptures to interviewing people, to a video discussing sculptures, to finally having what we have. I also really enjoyed doing this project with a group of people because 1) it really helped with the revision process because we could really feed off each others ideas, so if we were stuck on an idea/thought, there were 3 other people in the group to offer input. 2) we all worked really well together. All our ideas flowed together so this project went by relatively smoothly. 3) it was just nice to be able to collaborate rather than have the entire project to do by yourself.
When it comes down to it, I would much rather do a project like this rather than write an essay. I think the collaboration between 4 people really enhanced the quality of the project. You can see this collaboration in our google document. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1wib3IBwH0WabP-I_lY946EP4ovXVsnF7pzYTWroscNA/edit I think it was a quality that couldnt be captured in an essay, especially with a topic like sculptures because sculptures are in turn visual so the power that these pieces convey couldnt be captured simply in words, there has to be that visual aspect.
The only other thing I have to say about this project is that I wish we had done more like it. I really enjoyed doing this project.
Sunday, November 18, 2012
A Post about Ethnography
The other day in class Lacy was talking to us about our Ethnography projects and making sure we were keeping up with things. So in order to do that she had us do an activity where we wrote down how we were feeling about the project and how we were feeling about gathering information about our project.
So here is what I wrote about my feelings when it came to doing my interviews.......
"When I was getting ready to do my interview I was excited to see what people had to say. Whenever I would ask a question I was excited to hear the person's answer and see if their opinion was similar to mine."
I think being excited about doing interviews, or being excited about gathering information in any form is one of the keys to having a good project. You have to want to put in the work and be happy with what you are doing otherwise that negative attitude will show through when presenting.
So here is what I wrote about my feelings when it came to doing my interviews.......
"When I was getting ready to do my interview I was excited to see what people had to say. Whenever I would ask a question I was excited to hear the person's answer and see if their opinion was similar to mine."
I think being excited about doing interviews, or being excited about gathering information in any form is one of the keys to having a good project. You have to want to put in the work and be happy with what you are doing otherwise that negative attitude will show through when presenting.
Sunday, November 11, 2012
The Things They Carried Response
This past week we had to read "The Things They Carried" and to be completely honest I only read the words at face value. I didn't really read deeper into the text to really figure out what the story was about. I mean, I got the fact that they listed the weight of all the gear the men carried to show just how much physical weight a soldier carries everyday. I also understood the idea of an emotional weight on each soldier as well.
^^^
That was the face value reading that I did but just last night the idea of an emotional weight really struck home with me when I was talking to a friend and they broke down because of the various stressful things that were going on in his life. While talking to him I realized that every single person on this planet has one or more things going on in their life which they have to "carry" with them everyday. Whether it be something happy or sad, a memory, a longing, everyone has something that no one else may know about. And I realized that wahtever the situation may be there needs to be people in each persons life that will be there to help share the weight of whatever their friend is having to "carry" just to make it a little bit easier on them.
I'm not really sure whether or not this would be considered a "good" blog post but it was just a thought that I could not get out of my mind since it happened so I figured "eh it kinda coincides with something we read, maybe I'll just talk it out". So there it is.
^^^
That was the face value reading that I did but just last night the idea of an emotional weight really struck home with me when I was talking to a friend and they broke down because of the various stressful things that were going on in his life. While talking to him I realized that every single person on this planet has one or more things going on in their life which they have to "carry" with them everyday. Whether it be something happy or sad, a memory, a longing, everyone has something that no one else may know about. And I realized that wahtever the situation may be there needs to be people in each persons life that will be there to help share the weight of whatever their friend is having to "carry" just to make it a little bit easier on them.
I'm not really sure whether or not this would be considered a "good" blog post but it was just a thought that I could not get out of my mind since it happened so I figured "eh it kinda coincides with something we read, maybe I'll just talk it out". So there it is.
Tuesday, November 6, 2012
Annotated Bibliography
Here are the citations for the two interviews and a picture that I need to use for my Ethnography project.
LaFuria, Nathan. Personal Interview. 30. Oct. 2012
My interview with Nathan is integral to the success of my project because my group as a whole decided to use interviews as our form of research. This interview also allowed me to understand what a person thinks of the sculpture that I have chosen to do. This will help when it comes time to discuss our interviews with the group.
Frommer, Elise. Personal Interview. 30. Oct. 2012
This interview was important because I got to get a girls point of view on the emerging man. This allowed me to get a more well rounded dynamic in the interviews I did so that I could look at both the male and female response to my sculpture. Although her answers were similar to Nathan's answers this provided me with a great deal of information about the underlife of my sculpture.
artist unknown, The Emerging Man, n.d, UNCC Campus, Charlotte,NC.
This is a picture of the sculpture that I chose to do this project on. The reason it is so important is because I used this picture during my interviews. It was cold and kinda rainy at the time I went out looking for interviews so I used this picture as a reference for the interviewees so that we didnt have to venture out into the rain just for a 5 minute interview.
LaFuria, Nathan. Personal Interview. 30. Oct. 2012
My interview with Nathan is integral to the success of my project because my group as a whole decided to use interviews as our form of research. This interview also allowed me to understand what a person thinks of the sculpture that I have chosen to do. This will help when it comes time to discuss our interviews with the group.
Frommer, Elise. Personal Interview. 30. Oct. 2012
This interview was important because I got to get a girls point of view on the emerging man. This allowed me to get a more well rounded dynamic in the interviews I did so that I could look at both the male and female response to my sculpture. Although her answers were similar to Nathan's answers this provided me with a great deal of information about the underlife of my sculpture.
This is a picture of the sculpture that I chose to do this project on. The reason it is so important is because I used this picture during my interviews. It was cold and kinda rainy at the time I went out looking for interviews so I used this picture as a reference for the interviewees so that we didnt have to venture out into the rain just for a 5 minute interview.
Tuesday, October 30, 2012
Hidden Literacy: The Emerging Man
For the Ethnography Project my group chose to investigate the hidden literacy behind some of the sculptures that can be found around campus. The sculpture I chose to investigate was "The Emerging Man" which is located between Cato, Fretwell, and Denny. What I wanted to do was interview people about this piece so I chose to interview both a boy and a girl to see if their responses would be similar or different.
Here is my interview with a guy named Nathan.
Cory: What statement do you think the sculpture makes?
Nathan: Work hard.
Cory: What do you think the theme behind this piece is?
Nathan: Power and Knowledge
Cory: How does this piece make you feel?
Nathan: It makes me feel like as long as I work hard I will be able to achieve something.
Cory: What message do you think the artist was trying to get across with this piece?
Nathan: To persevere through struggle.
After my interview with Nathan I interviewed a girl named Elise.
Cory: What statement do you think the sculpture makes?
Elise: Strength and Power
Cory: What do you think the theme behind this piece is?
Elise: Hercules
Cory: What do you think the theme behind this piece is?
Elise: Empowered, like I could go lift weights.
Cory: What message do you think the artist was trying to get across with this piece?
Elise: Great things come from little things.
I actually really enjoyed doing these interviews because it allowed me to see what other people think about the sculpture. I think with a piece as powerful as this one I think that the responses will be the same between both men and women. I think that it really speaks to the literacy of a piece that the themes of power and strength are so prevalent that you get similar answers when asking questions from various people. I perosnally think the theme of the piece is the struggle to find freedom, but I can see how others can see the theme as strength and power.
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