Jennifer+Blassingame

=**__Article Reflections for 11-22 (Jennifer Blassingame)__**=

Visweswaran:
In my opinion, things can be viewed in many different ways. I never thought of being a hyphenated race as a negative thing. I am white. Black people are black, but they themselves chose to be called African-Americans. Honestly, I suppose white people are called Caucasian-Americans. I really am not sure about that. As narrow-minded as it may be, from that I assumed (which one should never do) that all cultures were pleased to include all of their origins in the name of their race. This article reveals a different side to the hyphen for me. Because I am not aware of the rules on obtaining a visa to visit India, I am not entirly sure how I feel about the questioning of the young lady at the beginning of the article. If the origin of the person is of need, then the young lady should have been prepared to offer that information. I feel as if the workers in the office should have been more personable and more forthcoming. They too should have been prepared to offer more information. It seemed as if this was the first time she had ever had to deal with her nationality. The situation turned into a racial issue and the customer service was in my opinion unacceptable. Now I will address what you told us to because I just found that on the page:) Okay... What stood out to me: the poor customer service of the traveling girl-- I was shocked by the way the customer service representatives treated the young girl getting a visa. Even though they had questions to ask her, it would have been respectful to not make her wait so long or just be honest about the time upfront. I understand the delay and the questioning process, however their was a breakdown in communcation that resulted in poor customer treatment which was racial. the lack of parental guidance on "who" she was-- Because of the cultural differences, the thought of children finding their own way is something I could see happening. However, it seems that because of the importance of girls remaining sheltered throughout their teen years, the parents would take an interest in ensuring that they know how to speak for themselves and how to carry themselves. By arming their children with little information on how to address issues relating to their heritage, the new generation is entering the next phase of life at a disadvantage. the narrow-minded world of inter-racial marriages-- I could not believe the fact about looking alike will allow a marriage to take place and that the rule was in affect until 1951. People should have the right to choose their life partners. Just because it is not something that I choose does not give me the right to impose my beliefs on the rest of the world. ignorace of people in general-- This is in relation to the section where the other person asked if she was mixed. She chose no response as the best response. I have a tendancy to speak before I think sometimes,so I admired her no response. I also couldn't help but think to consider the source. The way the piece was written played a huge part in my thoughts here because if it had not been written exactly like the words were spoken then I may not have thought about the social etiquettle of the questioner. I found myself trying to "walk in her shoes" during the reading of the article. Had the author written in a different form, the emotions and feelings would not have been provoked as well. I really enjoyed the article, and I could actually visualize the girl in the situations. I can see how the story would have been different written from a different perspective. The background and the sexuality must be comparable. Being a woman, I compared how I grew up and how I live now to the stories that I read. It is easy for me to judge the upbringing and the parental decisions that the people made when I, myself, was not the one having to make them. David spoke in his reflection of how we (the white americans) have given those hyphenated names to people with a different skin tone. I was under the impression that they chose those names for themselves. I may be completly wrong, but that's what I thought.

Chaudhry
I was moved by the adjectives used as descriptors of places, people and events throughout the article. I actually thought about the exercise we did in class. My thoughts ran to the more we told the story, the more descriptive we got. This piece really made me feel as if I were there, in the house. I could feel the emotions that all of the characters were feeling. I understood being torn, and I felt a familiar feeling of being torn between confidentiality and what needed to be done. Between the two articles, this one was my favorite. I followed this one more easily than I did the Visweswaran article. I really got into this story so much more than the other one, I think solely because of the descriptors used. I could feel my cheeks burning as she staggered to and from the podeum to speak from her heart. She felt so strongly, and then she had the courage enough to leave her handsome friend because he did not get her. I loved that. I was so proud of a woman who stood her ground in that moment. In that moment, she could have settled, but instead she defined her beliefs and did what she needed to do for herself. The final story in the series relates to this becasue the daughter has made something of herself by following in the father's footsteps. The mother's anger is evident throughout the piece. By punishing the father, she makes herself feel better. I really like the way the author writes thought to thought throughout the girl's day. Again, I put myself at her computer and in that exact same situation. I have screened my mother several times. However, my mother was not supressed by marriage. The mother in this story wants her daughter to succeed in ways that she was unable to. She is still filled with resentment and anger toward anything with education. The mother had no self worth and saw herself as a failure. She was unable to pursue the life she wanted and was then being rejected in the life she was forced to have. The woman's life was one battle after another. The whole story was very depressing and sad, but painted a portrait that would never have been seen had the story not been told in this manner. I love the narrative expression because even though it tells a specific story with specific events and even more specific details, the reader is left to create for themselves a story and a relataionship the characters. The story has different meanings for each reader, but to me it shows that it is difficult to overcome diversity and life is what you make of it regardless of your circumstances. Even though the mother was full of anger, regret and resentment, she still was there for her children. I think that may have been the best she could do in the circumstances. I feel as if the father was inherently a good man, and I'm not sure it was his fault even though he got blamed and punished for his wife's underdeveloped life. The wife chose to view her life in a way that portrayed all that she did not have as opposed to everything she did have. Life may not go as planned, but you take it and make the most of what comes along. The daughter chose the path of most resistance. She did not want to be a housewife, and she did not care about being a "suitable" match for marriage. Maybe she didn't want to be practical...maybe practical just wasn't enough.

I really liked how the author included questions the daughter was thinking, because at least in my case, I began to think and try to answer the questions. This article really encompasses the feminist perspective. It discusses the opression of women in a man's world. It shows the differences in the generations and in the cultures. Anita's definition helped show the feminist perspective in conjunction with the definintion from the handout section on our class website (which by the way, is very helpful to me). When I read Anita's reflection of this particular article, I gained more insight to the feminist perspective. She really describes things well where people can understand what she is saying. (Too bad you aren't a teacher!! :) Karen combined the articles which was nice to read because I had a difficult time putting them both together. Karen's ability to see beyond the words and get to the heart of the story was helpful for me to read after writing my own reflections. It made me rethink some of my own thoughts. I too had difficulty knowing exactly what the data was so I commented on the stories that I read. Now reading Karen's reflection, I see that the story itself is the data and the feelings provoked in the reader is the what the author is trying to convey. I began reading Gary's reflection, and I could hear him saying what he was writing. I know that this is totally random, but I never read other people's academic work that way until this class and well...right now. I guess this is an "ah-ha" moment for me. It is because of all of the discussions we have had in class, and I have gotten the opportunity to know all of you personally. It really has made a difference, and I look forward to hearing what you have had to say. This is why I know that I have to tell the stories of those who can't tell it for themselves. I hope that I can articulate the participants' feelings and emotions as well as you all have and as well as the authors we have had the opportunity to read have.

I want everyone to know that I have grown as a person during this class. This is the first time I have been involved with such a wonderfully diverse group of scholars. I am so proud to have been a part of this class. I don't feel as if I have contributed enough to all of you, but I want you all to know that you have made a contribution to my life. Thanks, Jennifer :) =__11/15/06---A note about the wiki project__= As I was listening to my group discuss the language that surrounds the politics of evidence, I really thought about the dualing bajoes (sp) and how well that whole scenario portrays the methods of qualitative and qualitative. I love the thought of each having their own instruments but in the end they are able to play together and compliment each other. They find that they are stronger together than they are separate. The quantitative world has yet to see that the best representation of information is one that informs and speaks to the readers. Qualitative methods, I believe, will soon be a requirement and be much more prevelant in the academic world. This information will be given to people earlier in their academic careers, rather than later. By including qualitative classes into the academic required curriculum, these different yet just as rigorous if not more and just as informative if not more methods will gain greater acceptance in the realm of academia.

=__10/4/06 Chunking Alex's information__=

__this is how I began:__ I. Reasons for People Escaping A. Crime B. Poverty C. Ugliness II. Fantasy Neighborhoods A. Kinds of 1. Stepford Wives a. nice b. no personality c. rich and wealthy people 2. Truman Show 3. Edward Scissor Hands III. Taking University Courses A. Regurgitation of information B. Overload of Information C. Lack of Meaning IV. Educational courses A. Results 1. paper 2. t-shirt V. Total Teachers Over Time A. Results 1. Polluted Brain 2. Dusty Facts 3. Dirtied Mind 4. Overstuffed Head From this point I came up with the theme I. Being Somebody That You Are Not A. Educational Experiences 1. Fact Overload 2. Retention 3. Meaningless Facts --all of this information was useless, BUT he couldn't have written this without it B. Escapes 1. leave crime 2. leave poverty --Leave Ugliness C. Fantasy Neighborhoods 1. Nice 2. Rich 3. Fake --Ultimatly impossible and must return to the real world

=__9/27/06 Spradley p. 113 x is a _ of y__= __INCLUDED TERMS__ -Crime, poverty and ugliness -Truman Show, Stepford Wives, and Edward Scissor Hands -His head got overstuffed -A paper and a t-shirt

__SEMANTIC RELATIONSHIP__ is a reason are kinds of is a result of are results of

__COVER TERMS__ for people to escape fantasy neighborhoods 67 teachers attacking his mind all of the courses he took This exercise was valuable; however I don't think I'm very good at it. I began thinking in one direction and quickly realized that I needed to be going in another. Alex seems to be a very talented writer. In past experiences with writers and based on the interviews we have witnessed in this class, I can see that he is a very insightful and deep young man. Through his random writing, he noted concepts that I personally would not have captured from the pictures. Once Alex discussed them, it of course became obvious what he was seeing. Alex has a talent to create a past and a life for a picture.

The poem was more difficult for me than the pictures were because I had to use his exact words. With the pictures, I could use my imagination and use what I thought he was saying about his pictures for this process.

Oak Court Mall Fieldnotes** __Narrative__ The question that I chose was "How do people select an item to purchase at a store in the mall?" -The location was the Oak Court Mall on a Wednesday night from 7:00-7:20 I began to look for people shopping and happened to go into a shoe store. This shoe store sells particulary trendy types of footwear. I noticed two people shopping. One man and a young girl. I assumed that it was a father and a daughter; however my assumptions were confirmed when I heard her call the man "Dad." Rock music was playing in the background, but it did not seem to affect the shoppers because they all continued looking at shoes. The daughter asked to try on a pair of shoes in a size 8. The daughter was wearing a black shirt and black, baggy pants. It reminded me of a "gothic" look. The salesman brought the shoes out to her, and she tried them on. The father spoke loud enough so that others could easily overhear his conversation with his daughter. One of the most important things about the athletic shoes was the color of the shoelaces which was pink. The daughter asked her father what he thought mom would think. The dad replied with " well, they're your shoes! What do you think?" The girl said that she loved them. The father then told her how much taller she was in those shoes. He said that he was excited because now he could throw away her old shoes. She quickly told him that she was keeping the old shoes and he better not throw them away. He told her to just wear them out of the store. The daughter then expressed concern about the salespeople thinking that she was stealing them. He told her that he was going to pay for them and it would be ok. While they were leaving another pair began looking at shoes. I found this interesting because it was another daughter but this time she was with her mother. She was dressed in a Catholic School uniform and was wearing New Balance athletic shoes. She was trying on a pair of lime green New Balance shoes, once again with pink shoelaces. The girl was unsure if she like them or not. Mom suggests that she try a different style shoe. The girl really wanted to stick with the style she was trying. The girl said "they make my feet look HUGE." The mom then said "then TRY SOMETHING DIFFERENT" (she seemed impatient to me). The girl only wanted to try those, so the mom told the daughter to get them or let's go. The daughter went to a pair of shoes and the mom told her that she could not buy what she already had. They decided to keep looking, but asked the salesperson to hold her shoes until closing because they felt like she was between sizes for that particular shoe. They left to continue their search for the perfect pair of shoes.
 * 9/24/06

Alright!! This is my first real post on the wiki. Simulated Case Study Reflection In Depth: The participant was shy at the beginning, but loosened up throughout the interview. I thought he did an excellent job responding to your questions. He elaborated on things that needed definitions without too much prompting. Because this was not his first interview with you, he probably was conditioned to the way that you conducted the interviews and the questions. I could tell that you had developed a rapport with him that made the interview smooth. During the interview, I observed descriptive, structural, and contrasting questions. I listened to the answers and the time in which the questions were asked. I also tried to write down when you took a note and the question that followed that note. In one area of the interview, he mentioned writing in first person. I noticed that you took a note and then the following question was “Tell me a little bit about writing in first person.” You began the interview with descriptive questions and then worked your way into the structural and contrasting questions. The interviewee did a great job of opening up, but he was careful to make sure that he answered only the questions that were asked. He wanted to be sure that he answered the question honestly, but also in a way that helped you. At the end of the interview, I really liked the way you asked a contrast question about how he would compare this interview to the other interviews. His response was that this interview was more of a question – answer format as opposed to the previous more conversational interviews. This interview will help me in conducting my interviews. It really depicted the use of the various question techniques that are so beneficial to the interview and data collection process.

More to come on other interviews.

Jennifer