Week 11 - Posting 11

Looking back on my posting that I made in week 1, I have noticed that there are few changes that I have made with my writing process. In that posting, I wrote how on that paper, I procrastinated a great deal and found myself putting in information that was unnecessary to the final product. However, after being enrolled in this course, I feel as though I am spending more time on my writing and not cramming to do the papers the night before they are due, even in the case that it is merely a rough draft. I have also learned to cut out unneeded material. This course has also taught me to be less wordy and go straight to the point and elaborating on only what is essential. Previously, I would add words and phrases into my writing without realizing, which made my writing very wordy and unnecessarily long.

The only assignment that has seemed to give me any trouble thus far has been the annotated bibliography. The annotations themselves did not seem to cause me with any difficulty, but finding enough sources proved to be fairly difficult. With all of the sources that are available on the internet, it was hard to find sites that were creditable enough to use. Most of the sites that I found had to do with specific college cheerleading teams and that would not provide me with any use. There are also not very many books available that supply me with information that would be useful for my fieldworking.

The first writing assignment that we were given I found very easy to write. I easily was able to make my point clear. I also thought that the assignment was very simple because I am a member of the subculture that I am researching. I felt that this made the writing process a lot easier because I was able to give more information that other people would not know if they were not involved in that subculture.

One of the main reasons that I write is to express myself that way that I feel is not possible with speaking. It is also easier to get thoughts down on paper. I personally do not keep any kind of diary or journal to channel my thoughts in, but I know many people who do this and they feel that it really helps them to get their thought together. In my life personally, writing plays the biggest part for me in the school setting. Writing notes and papers is a very big part of college. Without acquiring good writing skills, college would be very difficult to get through. 

Being an elementary education major, writing is going to be a very big part of my career when I am older. I will need to use writing to create lesson plans, and to help teach my students. In my family life, writing will be necessary in helping my children with homework. Writing will even play very minor roles in my life with things such as grocery lists and event invitations. Writing will always play a very large role in my life no matter where I end up going in life. No matter where the road takes me, writing is something that is nearly impossible to get away from.

On my dad's side of the family, one of my aunts always seems to cause family drama. Her name is Jane. At every holiday get-together, she always makes a scene and says that she is not going to come because no one wants her there. This causes my dad to always have to leave the family gathering and pick her up at the other side of town and literally almost have to drag her into the car. When she gets there, she constantly talks about her ex-husband that divorced her 13 years ago and complains about how poorly he treated her and how he was such a bad person. To top that little part off, she still lives in the house that they bought together when they got married.

I remember this one time when I was in elementary school, my parents were not home and I had a few girlfriends over to spend the night. Aunt Jane called and asked to talk to my mom and after I told her that she wasn't home, she started talking to me, knowing that I had company, and she would not stop. This phone conversation, that was completely one-sided because I could not seem to get a word in, lasted for a complete half hour. After the half hour mark, I couldn't take it anymore and said, "I'm sorry Aunt Jane but I have to go," and I hung up before she could say anything. I know it was rude but I couldn't listen to another word about how terrible her life is and memories about her and my 'ex-uncle.' However, after she realized that I was no longer on the line, she called back and told me that her phone must have disconnected her.

Aunt Jane always seems to cause some kind of uproar with our family and is the butt of the family jokes. We don't do this to be mean to her and she knows that we are just joking when we are making fun of her because deep down, she knows that she overreacts and dwells on everything.

In Class Blog: Tuesday, March 24th, 2009 (Glossary of Words)

Glossary of Words for my subculture

- Bring it on: a large pyramid involving the whole team with two liberties in the back at an extension level that are hitched on to two groups in the front. The flyers in the front on attached to a middle group that stands in an elevator and their legs are shaped in the form of an upside down L.

- Liberty: a stunt requiring 4 people, 3 on bottom and one on top, that holds the top girl on one foot and the top girl places the side of her foot to the side of her knee to form the shape of a triangle

Documentray American Tongues

1.I would not that much different than the interviewer did with the research. However, I would ask a varying about of people what they thought about the way that the talked.
2. The flaws with the studies are that the majority of the people that were interviewed were underclass. I feel that the middle and upperclass were under-represented and the underclass what over represented. I would make the study more appealing to the audience by adding more variation.
3. I think that it is very important on how we percieve people. When we talk, it reveals where we come from and the style in which they live.

Week 9 - Posting 9

The hardest thing about my research thus far is gathering enough information that can be useful to my project. There is not a large selection of books and internet sites that would fit into my research. A lot of the information that I am finding has to do with specific university's cheerleading squads. This would not fit well in my research because I am focusing on Ball State's all-girl cheerleading program. The easiest part of my research has been conducting the interviews and interpreting what is going on at the events. If I could start this research over again, I would have spent more time on finding books. I feel that books allow you to have more information than internet sites. The information found in books is also much more creditable. Keeping a blog has helped me to document my progression in my mini-ethnography. It also helps to keep everything organized. I think that keeping a blog will help me to pull everything together when I have completed my fieldworking.

In Class Blog: Tuesday, March 17, 2009

My reader will care about this subculture because they will want to know the truth about cheerleading. They will want to know what goes on with the Ball State cheerleaders and will be curious as to why I am trying to persuade the audience that they are a real sport.

My readers would want to know all of the details that are involved in this subculture. this is because details are very important to being able to understand what is going on in the subculture. for instance, they would wnat to know things as what a standing tuck is in my subculture and how a liberty is performed. They would also want to know how a practice is organized.

They want to know about this subculture because they want to have a better understanding on what cheerleading really is. They want to be informed on what the Ball State cheerleaders do at any given game, and they want to know other things that fall across those lines.

I want them to learn all the specifics about cheerleading as a sport and not as a club. I also want them to learn about what the Ball State Cheerleaders do when they are at practice. This will prove to the audience that cheerleading is much more than a "club" and it requires as much hard work as football or basketball would require.

I am trying to persuade my readers that cheerleading is a sport. However, I do not think that they will be easily persuaded because the media feeds to the general public that cheerleading is not a real sport. This may cause them to form a bias about the sport and it is usually hard to change someone's mind when they already have their mind made up.

They will use it to know how cheerleading really is as a sport.

WEEK 8

The main theme that I see that is present in my research is that I am emphasizing the intensity of Ball State cheerleading. Most of my research consists of sources that cover the physical fitness that is needed for cheerleading and the recommended nutrition that you should have to remain healthy while being a part of a cheerleading squad. The other main theme that I see in my research is that I am really trying to get the point across that cheerleading really is a sport. After visiting my fieldsite, I see that this theme is strongly stringed through it. 

Eight weeks into this project, I am just as strongly a member in this subculture as I was at the beginning considering that I am a member of the cheerleading squad. However, I do feel that I notice things and see things more clearly since I was paying attention to things that I would otherwise not notice if I was not to be doing this project. The thing that has changed the most is that I have gotten to know what some of the cheerleaders thoughts on are how the program is ran and how they feel about the 'sport' in general. I feel that I now have a better grasp on what the Ball State University cheerleading program is about now that I am more deeply informed about the program.