Week 3-Posting 3

I have interviewed possible informants for my first subculture assignment.  I interviewed a girl who was running on a treadmill and a guy who played on the football team who was lifting free weights.  The girl on the treadmill was very patient and understanding to the fact that I was doing research for a paper in English 104.  I asked her how she feels after running and some other questions pertaining to that and she answered by saying that running helps her by alleviating the stress and anxiety from a normal day of school.  They weight lifter on the other hand was somewhat more in a hurry to get the interview done and through.  I asked him how many times he lifts on a normal week and why he does it.  He gave me straight forward answers like "4" and "because it feels good."  The most interesting and last informant that I interviewed was a gentleman I had noticed before I left the fitness room.  He was doing bench press which is a lift where you are lying down on an elevated bench-like seat and you push the weights up and down from the sternum to the air.  I noticed that when he racked the weights, or stopped lifting, he sat up with a disgusted and despaired look on his face after a few slight cuss words escaping his mouth.  I asked him why he was stressed or angry at what he just did.  He was surprisingly calm.  He said that one year ago exactly, he was in a car accident and broke his back.  He explained that the weight that he used to be able to lift has dropped by triple the amount and that made him upset.  The gentleman told me that after accidents like that happen, everything changes, but the fitness room is what can bring him back to normal.  I observed many things while I was in the fitness room such as the smell of sweat and antiperspirant, the sounds of music from the top 30 charts and clanking of weights, the feel of the wet and soggy towels that the weight lifters use after using equipment to sterilize it for the next user.  I have not yet attempted some academic research.  I do believe there is a difference between academic and non academic research  because you can either read books, journals, or magazines from somebody else's published research, or you can take you own observations into perspective and use that as non academic such as interviews, personal experience, or surveys.

Box 11 writing assignement

The subculture that I chose to do is the fitness room at Irving Gym in Ball State University.  I chose this subculture because I regularly go to the Irving fitness room on a daily basis and have come accustomed to the atmosphere and the certain people that workout there on a daily basis as so do I.  Some fixed positions that I can use to my advantage would be my age.  The majority of the people that I workout with are not but 2 years of difference from my age.  Gender is another big one.  Mainly males are in the fitness room when I am present, but I would also like to survey the female side of things in the fitness room.  Some subjective postitions I have date back to my early childhood.  As a boy and going into adolescence I was quite heavy and was not in good shape at all.  I was overweight and I knew that if I kept it up, my future would be in jeopardy, so I have began to eat healthier and live a physical lifestyle and this is why I spend an average of 2 hours in the fitness room per day.  

Week 2 Posting 2

I chose to do my culture on the dining area in the lafollette complex.  I have been a part of this so obviously I am going to give an insider observation on the dining area.  The sound, to start with, was very loud and filled with conversations because the time was around noon, and that's when everybody gets hungry for lunch and decides to eat.  The atmosphere was very relaxed.  People would go to their seats of choice, sit down, start a conversation, have a few laughs or expression of surprise, and then begin eating.  The smell of hamburger and pizza filled the air as that was the main dish for the restaurant.  If I were an outsider and never experienced this, I would probably me overwhelmed by the noise.  The smell, determining what your main dish is, could be either pleasant, curious, or disgusting. 

Box 2 Writing Assignment

Waking up every morning, I slowly and groggily walk to the restroom with half opened eyes.  The thoughts in my mind are going to class and looking decently presentable for it.  Looking in the mirror, I see the strands of follicles going every which way or flattened like a pancake on the top of my skull.  The imprints of static and my pillow sculpture a hideous piece of art on this soft and crazy landmass.  Two handfuls of water are washed over my face and then through my hair to make it moist and ready for it's awakening. Taking a tube of sculpting gel, I put the substance on the palm of my hand and smooth it out with the other.  Then I take both my hands and graze it through the undefined strands.  The gel then takes its course.  It crystalizes and stiffens to bring about a style in which proves to my satisfaction.  Suddenly, the mess that was once conceived from a long night's sleep, is perfected for a long day's labor. 

Box 1 writing assignment

Group: Weight lifting

Rituals: Daily stretches, Warm-up jog, Pump-up music, upper body, then lower body, then cardio/treadmill

Insider Phrases: “Bigger, Faster, Stronger” – “Never Say Never” – “No pain no gain”

Rules: Always put the weights back in the place that they belong once they’re used.  Always stretch the muscles that will be used.  Do not do a lift that you are not familiar with.  Always sanitize the workout station that you have finished using.

Locations: BSU Irving Gym Fitness Room

Behaviors: Intensity, Courage, Determination, Will power

 

            Determination is a major factor in the weight lifting process.  Without the extra boost of motivation and strength, you won’t get the full results in the end.  Determination could be driven by wanting to get a more physically fit body or an improved cardio respiratory system to sustain running for long distances.  The determination could even be driven to impress the ladies.  Unless you have a girlfriend…then you’re just committed to impressing her.

Week 1-Posting 1

I have written many papers back when I was in high school.  Some were interesting and a few were just boring topics to write about.  The most interesting paper I have ever written though would have to be a research paper that I wrote last semester for English 103.  I wrote about a personal experience that I had with gang intimidation's in my home community and did some research to find solutions that other communities around the nation had used.  While writing this paper, I had a specific process.  I put my headphones on and listened to my favorite songs to motivate me and keep me awake.  Then after about thirty minutes of typing, I would get up out of my bed, do some stretches, and get back to writing.  I did all of this a week in advance of the due because knowing that I have time takes a great deal of stress off my chest.  I feel that the difference between editing and revising is that editing is when we correct the grammatical and little errors.  Revising is when we look over it again and check the structure and make sure the paper is suitable for the type of audience we are writing it for.