Final portfolio...may 2nd

http://joshsenglishportfolio.weebly.com/

4/15

Acording to Field Working, revision isn't failure but oportunity.  This is important for creating many drafts and communicating significant meaning to a reader. Revision even happens before the first draft is written down, this happens when the writer speaks to himself, takes notes, or even drafts in his head.  DO NOT look for error, instead look for what works and what is good.  Strengths are often found in failures and other writting problems.  "revision is fun, because it is full of surprises"(461). 
http://www.unc.edu/depts/wcweb/handouts/revision.html

interview

To have an affective and good interview, people must first learn to ask correctly and to listen correctly.  peInterviews isn't just going in with a set list of questions, sometimes you have to go with the flow and ask questions that get triggered by a story or an artifact or something the person said.  You want the interview and the questions that you are asking to flow, and not to be like "a dentist pulling teeth."  There are two types of questions that can be asked: closed questions, which are those questions that most people think of and you may find in like a magazine; how old are you, where did you go to school, ect.  The other type of question is open questions, which is more like a regular conversation.  Some examples of this are: how would you describe yourself, or tell me about a person who you think is your hero.  To have a good interview, you must also learn to listen well.  You must listen to your informant and take what they say seriously and not distract them or change the conversation or interupt them.  The interviewer must be able to listen and at the same time take what they heard and continue to make the conversation flow and ask more questions aswell as continuing to listen. 

friday 3/25

Today I am doing a blog on the readings that I read this week.  The reading was an essay that Nicole Williams wrote when she was a student.  It is called interview bowling.  In this essay, Nicole talks about the bowling ally and what she sees on a thursday night.  When she first arives, the place is PACKED, she even had to park her car across the street just to find a spot.  When she enters the bowling ally, she notices that the guys are on the left and the women on the right.  It is thursday night bowling leage night, and she decides to go over and shit with the women at a teams spot whose name is red ruby. She talks to the ladies and find out some information for example how long they have been bowling for and the fact that most of them arnt competitive.  Doing this reseach she was able to expand her knowledge about who bowls and what it is like.  She also learned through these interviews and research that Hank, the owner, has owned more then one bowling ally and has been working with bowling allys for over 30 years! this information explains to her why this particular bowling ally hasnt changed much since the old days, because Hank was old fashioned and stuck in his ways.

group presentations

I am doing a presentation with my group on sources.  Me inparticular am doing arguments and background involving sources.  we are presenting on monday, and it has to be around 10 minutes long.  My group is doing a powerpoint most likely as a visual.

Josh's midterm portfolio

http://joshsenglishportfolio.weebly.com/

15 min research

I went to my mom's work and sat down and researched the place for about 10 to 15 min.  My mom works at the VNA which is the visiting nurses agency.  When I first walked in, I noticed that there was two receptionist's desks and the phones where "ringing off the hook." However, the receptionists were no where to be seen, so I dont know where they were.  As I followed my mother into her boss's office, I noticed that it was highly decorated with many plants and pictures.  There was also two big comfy chairs.  The VNA was always busy and 'alive'.  There were people constanly coming and going, people barely had time to stop and talk to each other.  One thing that I found out that I really liked, was that there was free food for anyone down in the cafeteria!

lay of the land

The essay lay of the land is about a bowling ally that Nicole Williams visted and did her research on for her ethnography project. She went and visited this bowling ally on a monday night, which was mens bowling league night. She went up and got permission from the manager/owner to sit in and observe the mens bowling league. Nicole was able to observe many dfferent aspects, for example she determed alot of the ages for the bowlers, and also what they liked and how serious they took the sport. Williams also walked around the site, and saw different signs that said sentences such as "employees only beyond this site". through walking around and researching she was able to find out the different prices for bowling. Overall Nicole Williams was able to find out alot more about the site that she is researching by visitng, asking questions, and just wondering and looking around.

location info and questions

      I am doing a firestation in my home town of Attleboro. I know a few things about the place already, some of which are: they work 24 hour shifts, unless they work over time. Also, they still use the pole to slide down when a fire alarm is sounded. I know that each shift there is a particular guy assigned to be the disignated "cook". I also know that in order to become a fire fighter now a days, you must also take classes to be a paramedic.

      There are many questions that I have that I am going to ask them. Some of those consist of what is the life like while waiting for a fire call, and what is it like acually going into a fire. Im curious to see what they think about everytime they enter a building that is caught on fire. I want to know if the fire fighters had a second chance would they choose to become fire fighters again, or choose a different job. What is it like living at the station for atleast 24 hrs at a time? Also how is the food!?!

Iowa80

Iowa80 was about a person interviewing truckers at a truck stop, to find out what they were like. Reading this essay, expanded my knowledge of what I thought I knew about truckers and truck stops.  I learned about their way of life, aswell as what their work was like. Their way of life is both hard and dangerous, most people dont appreciate the work that they do; but after reading this, I sure do.

English 102

Its the start of a new semester, and now I am in English 102. We will be writing essays on Ethnography.