Extra Credit: Penscape 2009

When I first went to Penscape, I had no idea what to expect. I did not even know what Penscape was or who it involved. To be honest, I was just there to get the extra credit points. But after listening to all of the showcase readers, I realized how there are so many different styles of writing. That night, I got to listen to many pieces of poetry, fiction and creative nonfiction. There were many pieces that I enjoyed listening to, but the pieces that stuck to me the most were Rachel Hartley-Smith’s creative nonfiction pieces, The Terminal, Figuring Diameter and Boy and Son. All three of Rachel’s works were put together in three segments based on her personal experience when she was pregnant as a teenager. What stuck out to me was how descriptive she was and how real it was. Just from her pieces that she read, I felt like I knew her because of what she went through. I couldn’t imagine being pregnant at the age of fourteen and having to hide it. Not only that, but she had to lie to her mom and grandma that she wasn’t pregnant. After she was done reading, I wanted to hear more about what happened after she had her son. I wanted to know more about how she provided for her son and the struggles she faced.

Blog #18

Throughout the fifteen weeks, I think I have really improved on my research and organizational skills. At the beginning, my research consisted of just going on Google and typing in a key term. But now, after going to the library, I have learned more on how to use Ball State’s databases and resources that I didn’t know how to use before. My organizational skills have also improved and I think that is all because of the blog postings. Doing the blog postings throughout the year have helped me to keep track of all my information from beginning to end.

I have to say that I still struggle with the writing process. I still wait until the last minute to write a paper and I think it reflects in my writing. All the papers we have done this year have been very new to me, so that has definitely had an effect on my writing. I think the main thing that I still need to work on is conducting a better rough draft. I think at times, I turned in a very rough draft, which didn’t help me because there was less to work with and in the end it hurt me because I had more work to do for myself.

Overall, I was really happy with this class. The only suggestion I would make is not having the blog postings due the same day as a paper. I felt like it was a little overwhelming with the two being due at the same time because I wanted to focus more on my paper, but at the same time I didn’t want to miss out on the blog points. I could have avoided that problem by not procrastinating, but I think it would be helpful if you did have the blog postings due on a different day.

I wouldn’t rework any of the assignments. I think they were very beneficial for our final mini-ethnography. However, I would have benefitted from more conferences. Conferences are very helpful to me because it gives me a chance to look over any comments that were made and allows me to ask any questions that I have. I would have really liked to conference with my mini-ethnography paper, but for lack of time I know we couldn’t.

Blog #17

I emailed a survey out to 37 Ball State students on campus who live in Lafollette and 23 of those students responded. Most of the questions I asked regarded their stereotypes and preconceptions of Lafollette dining, where they ate the most, what they thought of the employees, etc. I found that most of their answers were similar to many of the student employees that I surveyed. Majority of the students felt that Lafollette Dining isn’t healthy and that it isn’t sanitary.

The point of this survey was to get an outsider’s point of view looking in of what they thought about Lafollette’s food and employees. This survey only confirmed that there are many stereotypes out there towards Lafollette Dining. This is my favorite piece of data because statistically I can use this survey to prove that there are many stereotypes and misconceptions towards Lafollette dining. Also, one of my themes that I want to address in my mini-ethnography are the misconceptions and stereotypes that many outsiders believe, and I plan on using my observations and interviews to help clear some of those up. I plan on explaining my story of how, at one time, I was an outsider with many misconceptions towards Lafollette dining. But once I started working more for Lafollette, I was able to see and realize what really goes on and many of those misconceptions no longer existed.

Blog #16

Every Monday night, from four to eight, I am scheduled to work at America’s Buffet in Lafollette. On Mondays, I am in charge of the appearance of the Buffet. I make sure that the salad bar is clean, as well as, all the tables. The good thing about my job is that it is very laid back. When it is not busy, I am able to converse and observe other employees and customers. March 30, was one of those nights. The Buffet was very empty with only a few students eating. I took advantage of the situation and started talking to one of my co-workers, Brena, about how she became a cashier and what she likes and dislikes about working at the Buffet. Just to give you some background about Brena, she is someone who loves to talk and talk. She is so outgoing and if you need any information about anyone or what is going on, you go to her. After talking with Brena for a period of time, I didn’t have to ask as many questions because she just kept going. I could sense that she enjoyed our conversation because she started focusing her attention more on me rather than the customers coming in. When we got on the topic of student workers and non-student workers, she commented that non-student employees “treat students like crap.” She also mentioned that most employees have been working at the Buffet for many years, which makes them feel like they can have authority over others. Brena also said how hard it is to get a job in Lafollette as a non-student employee because they are starting to rely more on student employees. My research has shown that there has been an increase in student employees here at Ball State and one of those reasons is because of the increase in pay. Working for dining services pays more than any other job on campus.

Blog #15

The first time I ever heard or learned about rhetoric was in my English 103 class first semester. We learned that rhetoric was the usage and shaping of language in the art of persuasion. To do this, we talked about incorporating ethos, logos and pathos, which are all important elements of rhetoric. My teacher explained ethos having more of an ethical appeal, logos being more about logical appeal, and pathos having emotional appeal. It is hard for me to formulate my own definition other than it is simply being able to communicate effectively. It is a term that is very confusing to me and I don’t think it is commonly used in society other than in English classes. I think rhetoric can include our appearance, the way we dress, the things we say and how we act because they are all ways of shaping language for different purposes and audiences. Generally, I think rhetoric can be used in a positive or negative context because of the fact it allows us to incorporate our own voice, purpose and audience into our usage of language.

I believe that there is a rhetoric that coincides with my subculture because of the fact that my subculture is very diverse and how you communicate with one person is not how you would communicate with someone else. When constructing my mini-ethnography, I plan on utilizing rhetoric to shape all my interviews and observations so that my voice is being heard in an effective way.

In-Class

I am convinced procrastination is a disease. It is an incurable disease that I can't seem to get rid of. I wait until the last minute and end up spending hours and hours staring at the computer waiting for an excuse to get up and do something else. It's awful!

Blog #14

Throughout this semester, my actual writing process has not changed. I still wait until the last possible minute to write a blog or paper, and I still don’t outline before I start writing. However, since starting this course I have been opened to different types of writing. The Research Proposal was probably the assignment that gave me the most trouble. I was aware of how to do it, but I had trouble actually writing it and determining my research question. Also, I felt like throughout this assignment I was very repetitive and that I was saying the same thing over and over again. On the other hand, I found that the annotated bibliography was one assignment that I had the least trouble on. I expected it to be very difficult, but in the end it was just a matter of summarizing eight sources and explaining how those sources could be used in our mini-ethnography.

I write because it is a great way for me to communicate to others and to stay in contact with people that I wouldn’t have otherwise. I do this by emailing and going on facebook. There is not a day where I am not on the computer checking my email or going on facebook. I also write daily in my journal to reflect and pray about things going on in my life, and believe it or not, I have to write papers in my other classes too.

As much as I am excited to get done with my English credits, writing will still be apart of my life in the future. I will have to fill out job applications, write papers for other classes, and I know I will have to create a portfolio at the end of my dietetic internship.