Project 1 Reflection: Incremental Development

When I first heard about this project, I snatched onto the key words of 'place,' 'observation' and '4 pages.'  It was during this time that I raised my eyebrows  scoffed, and looked around to see if my peers shared the same reaction. "This assignment is totally in the bag!" I foolishly thought to myself. 

My initial reaction was reminiscent of Don from Napoleon Dynamite. Source.wikia

In the next week, I was making progress. I analyzed my place ahead of time and started to mentally draw the outline to my paper. I thought I knew exactly what to say and how to say it. 
However, with the integration of the weekly workshop, I quickly discovered incorporating Vanclay into my paper was going to turn the project upside down. It was a critical error and I needed to step back and regroup. 
During peer-review week I became so bogged down with all the uninteresting details and blank conclusions of my observation notes and failed to prioritize my time. I couldn't get a grip on being so overwhelmed, and shortly thereafter I became sick. Sick enough to miss a Monday. 
Peer-review week sunk me. If I would have been more proactive with my time, it would have made catch-up week easier. Now in the future I will know to go straight to the source and speak to Professor Linthicum, or read over the notes and draft a whole new essay.

Reading the things my group said about my paper helped me to understand how my audience is going to view my paper. It really brought a new side to the project. 

The first time I observed at the Hayden Library entrance, I quickly grasped onto the small details  instead of the main points.  This is the reason my paper fell apart in week two. When I observed again I was able to compare and contrast from the last time I observed. Then, I saw what changed and what stayed the same. It helped to clear my mind and I was able to focus on something that would work in conjunction with Vanclay. 

Frustration was just an inevitable part of the process. After a while I became so sick with analyzing the front of the Hayden Library I just wanted to say, "it's dirty, too crowded, kids ignore you and most of them inconsiderately smoke in your face."  Obviously this wouldn't have been an adequate representation.  I just had to push through it and keep asking myself, "So what?" 

Once I focused on the place, and how it directly affected the behavior of the people in the library, I was able to gain a better understanding of the human behavior present. that without this space, none of this could be possible. It was like a stage. It affected the actors and I needed to view the stage before the actors had a chance to come out from behind the wings and tell me the story.  

In my future college endeavors, I hope to come away from this project with many critiques on my paper. I'm going to focus on my weaknesses and work to improve them. This is the first English class that has challenged me since 2008. 

Project #1 Worksheet

Hayden Library Entrance

What are the intended functions of the place?                  

To enter into the underground library, a place to sit and rest in the courtyard, and enjoy something from the Café.

What overt messages does the place send (i.e., openly communicated through signs)?

It’s a place of study and knowledge.  Café Bibliotecha means cafe library or something to do with books. I saw a sign listing the hours of the library and a sign saying to not smoke within 25 ft of the entrance.

What covert messages does the place send (i.e., hidden messages)?

There’s only one way in, and one way out.

Have previous users left traces behind in the place?

I didn’t see any signs of littering—which is surprising. Some ash is in the ashtrays but nothing else. Cardboard boxes sat near the café’s rear entrance because the café workers were restocking their inventory.

Has the place been re-appropriated (i.e., beyond its original functions)?

Obviously the entrance was installed after the library was built. It looks more 90s and the fact of a café being there lets me know it was added during a time when cafes became popular and synonymous with books.

What social or cultural customs did you observe (i.e., rules governing appropriate behavior)?

Groups of friends talked to each other on the stairs. It was a busy environment, but people found time to socialize between classes. Sometimes people ran into familiar faces on the steps and chatted right then and there; people had to walk around them.  Some people held doors open for people; I saw a lot of students making an effort to do this. Nobody skateboarded because there were stairs. I didn’t see anyone use the elevator because disabled people should use it. Smokers smoked EVERYWHERE.  25 feet doesn’t make a difference when you’re in a giant underground concrete square with not a lot of ventilation.

Who has access to the place?  Are there insiders and outsiders?

Inside and outside kind of fuses here.  You go from outside/ASU, walk downstairs to an enclosed courtyard, then walk through the doors of the library.

Who owns the place?

Arizona State University

What is the place’s value (i.e., monetary or otherwise)?

A critical aid in study and intellect. Studying simply revolves around using resources.

Are there official representations of the place (i.e., online, in promotional materials)?  Do they accurately capture the place as you experienced it?

My parking pass has a picture of it, but it’s only showing the entrance—and shielding the fact that it’s underground.

Is the place in transition, a changing place?

I don’t see any remodeling taking place.

What conflicts or tensions are there in the place?

People who were late for class seemed frustrated at the fact they were late. I saw boredom on the faces of the people standing in the café line.   

What is the place’s history?  Do you see evidence of the past there in the present?

There are some architectural and design representations of Arizona: through the Santa Fe style metal beams, terra-cotta  paint, teal blue color on the ceiling, and smooth concrete exterior. It’s not a typical ‘library’ building of wood molding, bricks and iron work, it has an Arizona feel.

How does this place differentiate itself from other places?  What other places is it similar to, but how is it different from those places?

I’d say that every ASU building is completely unique in every way.  There aren’t a lot of buildings on the ASU campus that look like each other. I think this was done on purpose to create a special ‘place’ for certain majors and to separate interests from each other.

What questions do you have about your place?

Why did they decide to have part of the library underground? Do people really not know about smoking laws? Was the underground entrance added later?

Key Features / Profiles (taken from the Norton Field Guide (Goggin and Bullock) Chapter 16, pages 165-166)

An interesting subject.  What is unusual about your place?  Alternatively, is there something ordinary about it that you can show in an intriguing way?  Not a lot of libraries have underground entrances.  And the entrance looks very different than the library building next to it.  The building is white and very 1970s, and the entrance is underground, desert-themed, and looks like it was constructed in the 90s.

Any necessary background.  What background information will you need to include about the place in order to situate readers? This is the only way to get in and out of the Hayden Library building.

An interesting angle.  Rather than trying to tell readers everything about the place, what angle(s) might you use? It’s a very busy place and people either ignore others, keep to themselves, or block out the world through music or electronics.

A firsthand account.  Did you interact with people in the place or participate in some way?  What experiences did you have there that you can write about using “I”?  (Yes, first person point of view is encouraged, especially for this paper.) I asked the girl working at the café what music was playing and she didn’t have a clue and didn’t really understand why I was asking.  Not a people person, for sure. The point of this paper is to highlight the fact that people only interact with others if they’re comfortable with them, or out of pure necessity.  

Engaging details.  What specific information must you include in your description of the place?  What potential does your place have for the use of sensory images, figurative language, dialogue, anecdotes, and showing rather than telling?  What do you want the dominant impression to be?

I took a lot of notes about the building design and the way the rain fell. I used figurative language and sensory images. I don’t think they transferred well to my rough draft.  The only dialogue was found in the café. People didn’t like to speak outside of that environment.

I want the impression of my analysis to be slightly scientific, yet engaging and documentarian.

Generating Ideas and Text (taken from the Norton Field Guide (Goggin and Bullock) Chapter 16, pages 168-169)

Explore what you already know about your subject.  Why do you find this place interesting?  What did you already know about it? People walk through these doors every day and I can tell a lot of them don’t think much about it or try to analyze it.

If you’re planning to interview someone, prepare questions.  What would you like to ask someone in the place in order to better understand it?

When was the last time you talked to somebody in the Hayden Library Entrance?  What do you usually do when you arrive? What time do you usually arrive? Do you come here often? How does an underground setting influence your studies?

Do additional research.  Does your place have an online component?  How else might you gather additional research? There’s a website to search for books in the library but other than that, it’s not very helpful.

Analyze your findings.  What patterns, images, or recurring ideas or phrases did you use to describe your place?  What contrasts or discrepancies do you see? I focused a lot on the people walking in an out of the doors. They were a constant presence and there was always something new to notice as I sat there for an hour. When I analyzed the second time, I saw that people were more open to congregating with friends. But they still didn’t talk to strangers unless it was necessary.

Come up with an angle.  What is most memorable about your subject?  What most interests you?  What will interest your audience? I liked that the Hayden Library changed when it was rainy. It wasn’t the same place as it was when the sun was shining. When it was rainy, it caused me to reflect more, slow down, and realize that I wasn’t going anywhere for the time being (unless I wanted to get drenched.)  I might as well just be ‘in the moment.’  When it was sunny, I tried to do this, but there wasn’t anything out of the ordinary to fix my eyes upon.  There was a harsh glare from the sun, and about 6 people smoking, so I sat in the café and looked out the window because my lungs hurt.  I didn’t feel ‘involved’ as I had when I sat outside.  

Project 1 Notes

Hayden Library notes:

From where I sit, I see bobbing heads ascending the stairs.
The smart, prepared people brought umbrellas to school today.  Humidity permeates the air.
People walk through the puddles with sloppy shuffling sounds.  The mesquite trees drip as it rains.
A girl seated in the cafe smiles to herself and reads a text message. She's beaming but doesn't know that I'm watching her.
People around me are all moving to the same destination. This underground entrance is the only way to get into the library.
Water stains the concrete walls. I feel like I'm in a concrete basin. The water is collecting everywhere--on the stairs and in the walkway.
A guy typing on a mac with headphones, stops to stare intently at a puddle. He stares for at least a minute.  I start to wonder if he's doing the same assignment as I am.
People unknowingly dash their feet against tiny bubbles left by the raindrops.  It's interesting really, right as the bubbles surface, they're stepped on by students hurriedly stomping up and down the stairs.
People are literally smoking in my face. I think the law is that you have to be 20 ft from a public place.  But I guess the law doesn't apply when it's raining.
A man in sunglasses, a dress suit, and holding a briefcase walks down the stairs, pauses at the last step for fifteen seconds before trudging up the stairs again. Go figure, he was the only person who wasn't dashing about frantically trying to escape the rain and clutching some sort of pathetic excuse for a head-covering. Instead he moved slowly without an umbrella, with his head up, and didn't seem to care that he was getting drenched in his business attire.
There's some interesting types of people walking into the library today. We have girls in matching velour track suits, guys in bro tanks, people in ASU colors, people in things that might be pajamas, skaters unable to longboard, smart people with umbrellas. Right as a smoker leaves, another takes its place.
Everybody is staring at some sort of electronic device.
I can't really hear the sound of the rain because the cafe is playing loud, ambient, jazz.  It sounds almost like trip-hop. It's been produced in the late 90's, I can tell that already.
People only speak when spoken to.
I saw one person share an umbrella out of kindness. Everyone else is just thinking about themselves.
Even though the rain is drawing all of us the same place of cover, nobody ventures out of solitude to connect with someone.  We're all unreachable in our own realms.  It takes a marked invasion of our personal space for any sort of communication to occur. I think elevators are livelier than this courtyard.

An Analysis of an Image: Garden and Gun Magazine

Source

This is the cover of Garden and Gun magazine, November 2008 issue.  Garden and Gun seems like a strange combination at first, but makes sense when paired with the magazine's description:  "21st Century Southern American."  The color scheme of forest green, pumpkin orange, and off-white fits with the autumn theme.  On the cover is a black and white picture of a couple shooting a rifle.  The camera angle is on a lower level than the subjects; therefore catching the soft light on the curve of the lady's cheekbone and the calm, watchful eye of her male companion.  She wears an expensive hunting shift of a custom long-sleeved blazer with black piping, plaid cuffs, leather belt and gloves.  The gentleman is dressed in a wool sport coat.  The classic aesthetics in this cover gives it a timeless illusion that it could be from 1957 or 2012.  This cover is the embodiment of the true southern couple.  Southern women are generally known for being demure, intelligent, and outspoken.  In this situation, the model or 'ideal southern woman' is concentrating on shooting her firearm. She's not flighty or unsure of herself, she's fully confident in her abilities.  There is another side to the lady that lies beneath the surface: her trust and reliance on the man for correct advice and guidance.  This markets to a broad spectrum of southern women who desire men to be gallant and gentlemanly.  Following the social customs is very important to southern women, as a boorish and chauvinistic man would not be appealing.  See how the gentleman has his eye fixed firmly on the horizon and his left hand on her back?  He wants to protect her from the recoil of the gun, and allow her to walk away with a good experience.

The magazine features articles that include exciting outdoor sporting activities, like wrestling Reds on the Biloxi.  It mentions the Mississippi--which most southerners relate to proudly as, "mighty."  There's an article about the Greenbrier resort in West Virginia,  and the traditional,  invitation-only "Belle Meade foxhunt."   We have things central to southern culture here:  fishing, hunting, shooting, relaxing, and boasting. 

With all of this, it's easy to overlook the main point of this magazine. We've established that is appeals to the '21st Century Southern American' but what does that mean?  Gathered by the article choices and places, this magazine is enjoyed by people with substantial amounts of disposable income.  Using money, they can explore the Mississippi river, go on foxhunts, fish in Biloxi, and stay in pristine, historical resorts.  If they have the money, why not spent it?  People should be allowed to have an opportunity to enjoy themselves and participate in the classic aspects of southern American culture--without sacrificing style and class. 

Analysis of a Writing Situation--Harvard Students in Cheating Scandal Say Collaboration Was Accepted

Harvard Students in Cheating Scandal Say Collaboration Was Accepted

Recently, an investigation of Harvard university students has uncovered that almost 125 students have been linked to plagiarism in a class that concluded last spring.  Harvard—an institution known for educating exceptionally smart minds—is dealing with a problem that has become increasingly renown:  academic dishonesty in the 21^st century.   A deeper look into the story shows that the accused students felt that many of their ‘collaboration’ methods had been accepted in the past by other students and the graduate-student teachers.  Students taking the seemingly-easy class would mass-produce and distribute notes of the lecture topics to other students for use on the take-home exams.  The accused students also point out that the take-home exams included the use of the internet, notes, and textbook.  The students find these rules to be extremely lenient and wonder why the test couldn’t include other’s notes.  Now, because of their actions, the students are facing a possible mark of plagiarism on their record, or suspension from the university.  Some students could have their degrees revoked.

The story was written using a wide variety of sources to explain and provide an inside look into the incident.  Students were interviewed and direct quotes were used.  Harvard’s Q Guide (an online, university-sanctioned, database of student feedback relating to Arts and Science courses) was referenced, along with press statements from the university.  

Plagiarism allegations are severe and should be treated as such—especially when involving an institution of higher learning.  As usual with any academia investigation, the process can be perceived as messy and chaotic.  This whole article has the undertone of the foreboding frenzy that will follow in the upcoming weeks of scrutiny. 

This story seems to be targeted at the young adult category in the professional world (the ages of 18-35).  Its purpose was to educate the public regarding a current event involving the prosecution of plagiarism on a university level.  Students and adults need to understand the gravity of participating in academic dishonesty.  A few questions relating to this case were raised in my mind.  Were the students completely clueless of their acts of fraud?  Or had they chosen to fall into the proverbial sheep-mentality and hope to get away with it?  Every time a student plagiarizes, they commit academic dishonesty and take a great risk of their actions being discovered.  This leads me to another question.  Is it possible for students in this day and age to grasp the concept that actions always precede consequences?  It is certainly attainable; universities should be crucial in educating students about academic dishonesty in every aspect.   It is important to pay attention to the compilation of the investigation and note the disciplinary actions taken by Harvard.  They could shape future standards for every college in the country.

The crest of Harvard University.  It reads, "Veritas" which is Latin for "Truth." Source: Wikimedia Commons.