Blog 15

Out of all the things I have learned this semester, I would have to say I have grown most in my ability to research a topic. Before this class started, I tended to just google my topic and pick the first thing that came up. This mini-ethnography has taught me many other techniques of research other than the simple googling such as interviews, observing the field site, and taking notes on the different interactions that occur with what is being researched.
I believe the class worked very efficiently throughout the year. I have never had a class that was structured to work on one big project through the entire semester and at first, I had doubts on whether I would learn anything if I was just doing one project but I was definitely proved wrong. Each many project had its own point in teaching one thing or another and it was a gradual learning process as each project built up to the final ethnography. The only thing I had a problem with was the repetition. In my eyes, I had felt many of the project had common similarities that ran through each assignment. Some of them felt like I was just doing another rough draft with just a little bit different of a spin. Other than that, I believe the class was very educational. I don't think that you can go wrong with the student-teacher conferences. I believe the more the better and would probably recommend one after each rough draft has been completely to ensure the student fully understands what they did right and wrong with the assignment.

Blog 14

We have done more writing in this class then I think I have ever done. I believe this class has definitely helped my writing overall and will prepare me for the next three years in college. I believe that my Mini-Ethnography will be my best piece of writing for the year. One of the problems I have had throughout the year is writing about just a particular section of the sub-culture instead of just writing everything in general about it. I believe that with the Mini-Ethnography I will be able to tie up all of the loose ends and put it all together. This whole semester has basically just been building up for the final project and I believe that I will be more than ready for it.

CUTOUT

We still do the old tradition of personally handing out each bid./Hands shaking, thoughts flying through my mind, I felt as if I were on a trial for murder, so scared and anxious and deeply desiring knowing my future fate. My hands clenched the small white, folded piece of paper and I slowly opened it, with eyes closed before I was prepared enough to open them to peer onto the three sororities I was going to see that night for preference rounds./I was nervous, afterwards Tyler said he was too, but he sure didn't show it. /There is a feeling in our lives that we are the only ones who are living as one person and we have to fight to get noticed as individuals.

3 titles

The Real Greek Way of Life:

The Greek Experience:

The Day in the Life of a "Frat Boy"

Blog 13

Probably one of the best experiences that has occured while doing my reasearch has been after rush week when we give out the bids to the rushees. We still do the old tradition of personally handing out each bid. After conversating with each pledge before and after they got their bid it was exciting to see their face and how surprised each one was. Also, as I just went through this this past fall, it was interesting to be on the other side of things. Pledgeship is a period full of twists that can keep you on your heels and its generally called "the best time that you never want to do again."

6 words.

In America, Everyone should speak English.

My Theta Chi is for life.

Blog 12

I have a decent amount of understanding for rhetoric. It is the use of language with the purpose to persuade someone one way or another. I think the way we act and our body language can describe our position on the topic. If we are trying to persuade someone we most likely have a confident body position because you have to know a lot about your topic in order to effectively persuade someone. I hear rhetoric mostly on the television and mostly during elections. It is generally in a positive index. My subculture definitely uses rhetoric to influences potential new members to join the fraternity. I can include this in my mini-ethnography by explaining and showing examples of how we recruit.

writing quote.

"Anyone can just describe what they see but it takes some balls to actually get the point across in what you believe in. "


This best describes how I feel about writing. Over your many years of education, you are asked to write about various topics. It takes some practice and patience to be able to put on paper how you really feel about a specific topic.

Blog 11

I would say my writing has changed a little over this past semester. I seem to research my topic more now than before where I would just start writing with no true direction where I was going. I have never been one to brainstorm and do the diagrams before I write because I just do not see the significance of it. My toughest assignment this year would have to be the annotated bibliography. I could not come up with things to write about in describing how the different sources would be useful. I wouldn't say any of the assignments were but the rough draft was probably the easiest to come up with information for. I believe we write as a form of communication that we can keep. It is a hard copy of what we want to be discussed and considered. It is also a way of easily spreading your word to many different places. It is also more reliable then communication through the word of mouth. I believe writing will become more and more prevalent in my life as my career unfolds especially while I am in college.

FAMILY

As the years have gone by, the traditional view of a family has been constantly changing. People can have a large family with multiple cousins and grandparents to a small family with only one or two cousins. As for me, I have been able to experience both sides. My Dad's family is an enormous family as my Grandmother had seven kids. I have a good amount of cousins and we are all pretty close. On my Mom's side of the family, I have just one cousin and one Aunt. The family is much smaller and much different from my Dads side. I would have to say that the people on my Mom's side are a lot closer than my Dad's side. They typically do not go a day without talking to each other and they all live relatively close to each other. No matter how big or small the family is, I still love them and would do just about anything for them.

Glossary of Fraternity Words

Rush Week - Week in which members interested in joining a fraternity go to the fraternities rush week events to learn more about the fraternity.
I-Week - The last week of pledgeship before initiation. Typically the toughest week and generally considered "Hell week" for the various activities required.
Pan Hellenic - means relating to all Greek letter organizations.
Brotherhood - Male friendship bond.
Philanthropy - Event run by a greek organization to raise money for community service.

Video

(Question 1): This research project was done in the 1986. If you were to re-do this project today, at the end of the first decade of the 21st century, what might you as a researcher do differently? What would you do the same?
I do not think the accents would be as distinct as they were. Now people move around so much that I believe that it is mixed up a lot. There is also many different languages that we would have to account for today with all the different immigrants in different places. That would be another kind of spin you could put on this project.

(Question 2): What are some of the flaws with the study? Are there any groups that are under-represented? Over-represented? How might you make the study more appealing to an audience (visually, instructionally, etc?)
Not as many of the popular accents were cover. It seemed that Westerns and Texans were overlooked. They emphasized more on the urban accents rather than exploring the rural areas. There was also not much racial diversity included. It would make the study easier to follow if subtitles were included.


(Question 3): In your opinion (and based on some of the things discussed in the clips), how important is language in terms of how we perceive others? What is revealed (or others think is revealed) about us when we talk?

It is most important in the business world to be able to have a proper accent. I myself, do not have any problems with them as long as they are comprehendable. I tend to find accents interesting and something that you can use to show where you are from.

3 questions.

1. The setting of my field site is my fraternity house. It is located on 1100 Riverside. It houses 28 brothers and one graduate assistant. Many events take place here such as initiation, pledgeship, and I-week. The House contains every picture of past brothers, awards, a study lounge, a furnished basement where we hold chapter and three television and lounge areas.

2. My fixed position at the house doesn't change much. As I am a member I am for the most part equal to all of my other brothers. The only exception is that we each have PIN numbers which state when we got initiated into the fraternity by pledge class. Not very many people use that to their advantage as we are all brothers and treat each other like family.

3. The people I interviewed kind of had various feelings I would expect. My brothers would feel very comfortable as they would be on the same level I am and can relate to what I am asking. The pledges would most likely be the least comfortable as they have a brother interviewing them about Greek life who controls on whether or not they get into the fraternity or not.

Blog 9

The hardest thing for me was coming up with interview questions that would produce relevant information for my project. It has seemed like most people all came up with the same answers and there is not much diversity. The easiest has probably been being able to find information' about my topic that I own. I have a variety of paper sources that I can go to. That's very helpful considering there isn't much of anything relevant online about my topic. I would have started off with my topic just for fraternal life instead trying to do all Greek life. A blog has helped me keep track of my progress and work on it progressively rather than waiting to the last minute to do everything. It will help me by having every separate piece organized and I will know exactly what I need.

Questions in class

1. why will my readers care about this subculture
Greek Life is a highly controversial topic that many college students have at least some interest in. You either know a lot about it or know nothing about it, there's not much in between. Most people not affiliated with Greek life would like to know what it is all about.
2. what will my readers want or need to know about this subculture
They will want to know why it exists, the types of people in it, and what is it really like other than the view of the media.
3. what do my readers already know about this subculture
They most likely know some basic stereotypes of Greek life but the people who do not know much about Greek life do not know anymore about it.
4. what do i want my readers to learn about this subculture?
I want my readers to be able to look past the stereotypes of Greek life and be more educated overall about Greeks.
5. if i am trying to persuade my readers of something, how easily will they be persuaded?
Depending on if they are overly anti-Greek or not, I believe my paper can be fairly influential. I believe most people are curious about Greek life and don't know much about it.

6. what will my readers use my writing for?
I hope they will use it to make a decision on if they believe Greek life is right for them.

Blog 8

The main theme that I have discovered is how unsure non-members are with where they stand with fraternities. Most people, myself included, don't understand that fraternities need them a lot more than they think. Before I went through, I thought that you had to know someone in a fraternity to be able to rush or get a bid into a fraternity. Almost all of my interviewees have expressed a misunderstanding of this. My place remains the same within the subculture as I am still a member of it. I have changed my topic from all of Greek life to just fraternities due to the easy accessibility.

Blog 7

The most useful information I can give back to my culture would be the interviews of the non-Greeks. It can help my fraternity see how others view different subjects involving Greek life. It will be able to help us tend to non-Greeks needs and overall help us recruit. It can also help us become closer as a brotherhood by using specific examples given in the texts have read. Recruitment is the biggest worry for fraternities and I believe with my research, I will be able to become a big help in recruiting.

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first impressions

I didn't know what to expect when I first set foot into my subculture. I had been texting the recruiter but had never actually met him before and here I was letting him take me to someplace I've never even heard of. Once I got to our house I seemed very nervous. Everyone was talking and having a good time and it seemed like everyone knew each other. Before I became involved with the fraternity I had always thought you needed to know someone to get in and that you were lucky to be able to get in. I had no clue how much fraternities needed you. I started talking to a couple people but I mainly just tried to stick with the recruiter and follow him around since he was the only person I have ever talked to before. Looking back, it seems very dumb to be nervous and now I am the complete opposite around my brothers. The fraternity has definitely helped me with my social skills.

I was a total outsider coming to the site for the first time. I had never been involved or knew anyone in the Greek system. I just kept thinking about the movie "Animal House" and how they had just left the bidders in a corner and didn't talk to them. It wasn't really like that at all. Most everyone was fairly friendly and seemed interested in who you were. Going through pledgeship I didn't really shed my skin until about my third week.

As I am now an insider, there are a couple things that limit me from having full accessiblity. Such as, at the moment, I do not hold any major or executive positions in my chapter. I also have not been to a National Grand Chapter before and have not experienced what it is like to be there.

Blog 6

The Fraternity Experience.North-American Interfraternity Conference.19 Feb. 2009.

This website is an overview of all fraternities. It isn't designated to any particular fraternity and it explains what Greek life is meant to be. It goes in-depth of the positive aspects of fraternal life and it dismembers some of the common myths of Greek life. It explains hazing and how it is a thing of the past and how Greek life is not all that similar as it is portrayed in film.


This site can definitely help me as it has a lot of raw information about what fraternities are for, the history, and common questions about fraternities. It will help me become less biased towards my particular fraternity and be able to explain all of Greek life more.




Slivinske, Dale A. and David L. Westol.The Manual of Theta Chi Fraternity.Indianapolis,IN: Theta Chi Fraternity Inc, 1998.

This is the main source of information I can pull from my particular fraternity. It hold our traditions and ideals as well as our history. It explains the nation headquarters and grand chapter and explains the meaning of being a Theta Chi.


This text will be able to get more in-depth about my person fraternity. It will help me explain the meaning and the true values of my fraternity. It is an easy direct source of our history. The book holds special meaning to me as it is given solely to Theta Chi pledges and is the main writing for my fraternity.

Box 18

For my culture, my site would be the Theta Chi fraternity house. I see this place as a host to social aspiration. It is the best place to just go hang out with your friends or when you are feeling down a place to go cheer up. There is always something going on at the house and there is always someone willing to listen. I know this due to the fact that I am a member of the fraternity but from an outsider standpoint, it might not seem as welcoming. As a new member or someone not correlated with fraternities at all, you could observe others interacting but it might be a very intimidating place to be when you don't know anyone that well. They could be nervous or unsure of how to act around the members. The biggest part of getting around the nervousness is just relaxing and being yourself.

In Class Writing: Culture Shock.

My most recent form of "culture shock" would have to be when I came to Indiana this summer for fall semester. As I have lived in Virginia my whole life, there was quite a bit of differences between the two. A main short of struggle I have everyday is with the word "pop." My roommate says it and just about everyone I know says it and I have promised myself that no matter if I spend the rest of my life in Indiana, I will never say pop. It is called soda. Another thing would be living on the east coast you would see movies such as "Rudy" and "Hoosiers." I believed that basketball was life in Indiana and that everyone would be good at it to an extent. I don't know if it's because I'm at a smaller school or what but most people just seem to be average at it just like everyone else. In Virginia, I was probably one of the bigger, taller people in my school. Standing at 6'1 and 180 pounds I thought I was at a decent size. I wouldn't realize that I was so small until I came here during orientation and saw how huge most of the men here were.

Blog 5

The main thing i need to focus on is getting more information about Greek life from outsiders. For example, what their perspective is of it and why they choose not to be Greek. This can be researched by just interviewing more people. I would like to investigate how the new pledges interact in the environment now that they are pledges instead of rushers. I can accomplish this by being at the fieldsite more often. I plan on finishing it by basically tieing up the loose ends and researching every aspect of the assignment thoroughly.

These are just some of the pictures I have accumulated over the years.

Box 15

The best sensory image for me was going to the soccer pitch. You could hear children happily playing on the nearby playground. As a player, you could feel the pressure mounting on you as your parents and other spectators watched your every move. The smell of sweat and Gatorade seemed to follow you wherever you went. As the beginning whistle blew, everything you had been thinking about whether it was school work or girl problems had vanished and it was just you and the other team standing in front of your goal.

DogTown

Do you feel this is an ethnographic study, a work of entertainment, both? Explain your answer.

I believe that it is both. It’s an ethnographic study because they are examining the skateboarding and surfing scene. It is also interesting to see from a skateboarder or surfers perspective how they see the life.
Who are the interview subjects and why are they important? What roles do the interviews play? Do they move the story along? Lend a perspective on the subculture?
The interview subjects are skaters and surfer from dogtown back when the culture was just starting. They basically started the revolution. The interviews give the perspective of the revolutionaries.

What are some of the attitudes, beliefs, rituals, artifacts, etc. that make this group a subculture?

The way they dress, long hair, the laid-back kind of style of the way they talk. They wanted it to be locals only, they did whatever possible to disallow outsiders from coming and surfing.

What is the structure of the piece? How is it organized? Does this help or inhibit your understanding of the subculture?

It is structured with clips of people skating with the interviews audio patched over it. It is not very organized but it gives you the feel of the culture more that way.

What were some of the stereotypes you held about skateboarders before watching this? Do those stereotypes still hold true? If so, why? If not, what changed your perspective?

I had believed that they were for the most part a whole separate cliche from everyone else and that they were kind of individualistic. My view changed by finding out that many more people used to skateboard and how surfing and skateboarding are correlated.

The rhetorical triangle (ethos – do we trust what the creator of this is telling us…? What if you knew the filmmaker was also one of the skaters? Pathos – what emotional response did you have and why? Logos – how was the piece constructed?)

I believe the creator is an outsider who is interviewing insiders directly from the source. He has some sort of connections to be able to access the people he is interviewing. I would consider the documentary to be bias if the creator was an insider but not to an extent to where I wouldn’t believe in the documentary. The documentary made me more interested in the skateboarding culture. The piece was structured with clips of what was happening and the interviews taped over them with the people being interviewed explaining what was going on at that time.

Blog 4

I do believe that my subculture most likely is unique due to multiple reasons. Since I did Greek life, all the essential rituals should be the same across the nation but the way they are carried out could possibly be different. Schools such as Indiana University and Purdue probably much different ways of carrying out their objectives due to the size of their school resulting in the size of the Greek life. Also different schools have different rules and regulations as well that could dictate how things may be carries out. My general conclusion is that the basis for Greek life remains intact but the way things are carried on vary.

Box 12 Unlearning Our Privilege

Privileges:

Ability to smoke(age)
Bill of Rights freedoms(nationality)
Good grades to get into a division one school
Grew up in a good family
Grew in a safe city
Came from a top school system
Have created a good social network
Grew up in a financially secure family


The privileges I have allowed me to research without interruption or worry for my safety. It allows me to interact with my field and access any possible information i may need. Also the way I grew up affects my beliefs and the experiences I have been through affect my judgment in certain situations.

Blog 3

So far I have researched facts about fraternities on the internet and various stereotypes that are associated with them. I have also established what medias and films portray these stereotypes. I plan on asking people how they feel about Greek life and to find out what the overall consensus of it is. For members, I plan on asking them how they feel about the stereotypes and if they thought they would be in a fraternity when they arrived to Ball State. Upon visiting my field site, I plan to examine the house and how people interact within it. I have done academic research on the internet and I plan to go to the library to see what they would have about Greek life. I believed there isn't much of a difference between academic and non-academic research. Academic research is more book study as non-academic research is more applied and inserted in your field site. Regardless of the type of research you do, I feel that research is research and they both aim at the same goal.

Blog 2

The subculture that I am planning on doing my project about is the Greek life on campus. As I am in a fraternity I have easy access to many of the required materials. My main field site would be the Theta Chi fraternity house. This is where 28 of the brothers live and would be the best place to interview my brothers. I will also be able to interview my friends in other fraternities and sororities. I plan on talking to non-greeks and rushees as well. I hope to delve deeper onto Greek life and learn more about other Greek life traditions other than the one I already know.

Box 11 Positioning Yourself:

My reason for choosing to do the Greek life subculture is mainly for the convenience of the subculture and my want to explore deeper into the Greek life system. I believe that it will help me understand the Greek system more easily. My gender might be a factor for finding more information about sororities. As I am an active member in the Greek system that is for the most part the only problem with my fixed position. As I am an active member, I may be more pro-Greek than an average person would be.

Examining The Greek Life Culture

I am planning to examine the Greek life culture for my project. There are various texts such as a fraternity or sorority's charter or member's manual. These materials would not be hard to get a hold of as I have multiple friends and myself included have access to these materials. I can also go to a fraternity or sorority's chapter and observe what kind of topics are discussed, how they interact, and the difference between the fraternity and sorority's chapter. As an "insider" I will have easy access to members in which I can be able to interview them. This project is also during the time of rush week so I will be able to interview non-members, pledges, and members. I hope to be able to break some of the common stereotypes of Greek life.

Subcultures I belong to

From the east coast(Virginia):
Say soda and not pop.
Not used to the extremely cold weather.
Virginia is typically known for their football.

Athlete:
People tend to misinterpret athletes as "Jocks."

From the south:
People tend to think of southerners as "hicks" or "hillbillies" but I was born and raised in a suburb and do not have the farm raised typical southern lifestyle.


Being an athlete, the common sterotypes are being uneducated, and having a snotty kind of additude. Thry think that the only way the get through school is that their teachers bump up their grades just because they benefit the school athletically. I think that I set an example for this stereotype being untrue as I have been accepted into this institution without any athletic schlorship. Also if you get to know me, I most likely have the opposite additude of the typical "jock." I definitely accept everyone that I come across and am very easy to get along with.

Last Minute Book Report

For my history final, I had to write a six page book report for the novel "On the Beach". As I was piled up with other homework, I waited until the night before to write it.I had spent most of the days before trying frantically to finish reading the book. I ended up staying up until three in the morning trying to finish it. When I write, I typically start off with music playing but I tend to get distracted easily and when I really need to focus I go to the study lounge where it is completely quiet. Every since high school teachers have promoted outlining and brainstorming before you write a paper. I have never found good use of that and I like to just jot down all of my ideas as I go. Last semester I definitely saw my writing level get better. Throughout high school, I was comfortable with writing about three to four pages and not much more. With this last semester, I feel that I can go about six to eight pages comfortably on just about any subject. I hope to improve a lot more this semester.