Blog Post #9 - Meme Critique

"18 Things You Will Miss If You’re A Brit In America"
URL: http://www.buzzfeed.com/scottybryan/18-things-you-will-miss-if-youre-a-brit-in-america

As I searched for an article to analyze on Buzzfeed, I came across a perspective of what it is like to live in America as an individual from Great Britain. Although I am not British nor have I visited the country, I consider myself an “insider” of the American culture and can conclude that the author of this post, in ways, is incorrect depicting our country while comparing it to Britain. The images throughout the list are mixed when it comes to accurately representing what the writer is trying to say. For example on meme number nine, two U.S. newspaper covers are compared to a British front page. He implies ours are quite boring and there is a stark difference to the stunning and colorful example given. The images he chose directly link to the provided text and his valid point attempted to be made. However on number eleven, there is a picture of Boots which is the author’s opinion of the best pharmacy in the world. Right beneath it, the author then goes on to make the claim that U.S. pharmacies sell cigarettes. Even though this may be the case, his picture used to link this claim shows cigarettes behind the counter of a gas station. This is an invalid representation. After comparing the size and drive times across both countries, The Simpsons picture has one of the main characters from the show commenting regardless how small Britain is, everything it has to offer could not fit in America. I find that this was a strange choice made by the author since the Simpsons is widely known as an American television show and contains nothing but culture of the United States. Recycling this meme from the intended culture is a clash while it is currently being used to positively comment about Britain. I believe everyone should have the right to their own opinion, but it is necessary to appropriately and accurately address these opinions with support. When this author places mismatched images to his text, it shows that he has incorrect stereotypes about particular aspects of the American culture. 

Blog Post #8 - Ethnography Revisions

               While reviewing the rough draft of my ethnography essay, the first major revision that will improve my paper is the descriptive content that is presented to the reader about the physical space of the Johnson Center Gym. In this particular paragraph, I gave long and descriptive details about the appearance and sounds of the gym. While this gives a vivid picture and some background information for the reader, some of the content isn't necessary since it may not connect to the central argument of my paper. If I do keep some of these sentences in the paragraph, I will connect how those aspects can contribute towards gender discrimination. This was pointed out by Ms. Hoy and will improve the focus of the content.  

                A second important addition I will need to make to my paper will require adding meaningful transitions. Most of my paragraphs have main ideas that ultimately contribute to my argument, but there are few, if any, transitions that connect the paragraphs. Quality transitions will help improve the logical flow and clarity of how each explained topic is related, building up to the significant point. When the paragraph content jumps from the background information of the gym to my methodology and then a descriptive scene of the gym without transitions identifies that there is a lack of connectivity among the supporting evidence.

                Lastly in one of the final paragraphs before concluding the ethnography, I present the information about how the open concept of the Johnson Center facility can contribute an intimidating factor among the gym visitors. The concerns of being judged by others, comparing oneself to others based on whether he or she is good enough to attend a gym and perceptions of feeling inexperienced are likely to develop. This topic can be expanded by describing if this problem is specifically worse for one gender as well as if one gender is more concerned with this over another. I imagine this would help the main evidence highlight the psychological aspects behind the different genders.

Blog Post #7 - Ethnography Project Research

After searching the keywords “gyms” and “gender” for scholarly sources to support my ethnography, I came across a document called, “Gender in the Gym: Evaluation Concerns as Barriers to Women’s Weight Lifting”. This thirteen page secondary source provides multiple detailed studies of gender differences taking place in a standard gym. The specific article contains supported evidence of women who are less likely to lift weights compared to men due to image/self-evaluation issues as well as the emotional discomfort due to the psychological aspects of the gender difference. For example the source states, “The theme of feeling watched, scrutinized, or judged by others was present in 12 of the 37 incident reports. Eleven of these incident reports were written by women (44% of the women who wrote an incident report) and only one by a man (8% of the men who wrote a report).” Since this is a scholarly source and the studies were completed through a Department of Psychology, it appears to be accurate. Reading this report confirms that my proposed argument about gender discrimination due to male dominance present in the Johnson Center Gym is perfect for my ethnography since the findings match what I am attempting to argue about the culture of my space.

References

Salvatore, J., & Marecek, J. (2010). Gender in the Gym: Evaluation Concerns as Barriers to Women’s Weight Lifting. Sex Roles,63(7/8), 556-567. doi:10.1007/s11199-010-9800-8

Blog Post #6: Sucked Beneath the Tunnels of Las Vegas

After listening to Adam Burke's "Sucked Beneath the Tunnels of Las Vegas" story, it provides an eye opening experience for the average listener. When most people think of Las Vegas, the city is best known for interesting buildings and sights as well as thriving casinos with millions of dollars being spent on slot machines daily. Many are hoping with every gambling move that is made, it will be a step closer to someday striking the jackpot that will make all of their dreams come true and live the “good life”. Not too far underneath these bustling casinos, it is a parallel world in which some are just trying to survive through the day. What we call the “good life” is excess, but the struggling population will give anything to live a life with a warm plate of food and a place to stay. As the story progresses to identify Matt O’Brian, a man who searches the underground storm tunnels unknown to most visitors walking the streets above, I became amazed to think how curiosity lead him to explore these. After identifying the overlooked homeless living in them, he continues to show compassion and selflessness while providing meals for some. The amount of unawareness of what takes place beneath the streets continues to stand out to me. The fact that the homeless silver mine the slot machines for left over credits is depressing to think about when others are around, too busy to even notice.”You can be in the Hard Rock Café watching people betting thousands of dollars per hand, and right underneath Hard Rock is one of the worst areas in the tunnels I’ve ever seen in my life,” states O’Brian. Matt O’Brian is truly someone who makes an effort to take notice of the details out of the larger picture. Hopefully more can do the same and continue to aid those who suffer in a city with so much excess.

Blog Post #5 - Speech Reflection

Reflecting on my proposal speech after watching it on the class website, I feel like it went pretty well. Based off of the content section on the rubric, my speech seemed to fall under the proper time restraint using a correct format through my purpose to persuade with supporting details. In the macrostructure, I hit most of the main parts including the introduction, body and conclusion, but probably needed to speak with more transitions to create a better flow. In the delivery, my conversational tone added more emotion that the audience could relate to while imagining a visit to the Johnson Center Gym. However, there were times when I had several pauses using filler words such as "uh", adding unnecessary space that slightly disrupted the flow of the speech. I appeared to use some facial expressions and gestured at my presentation on the board at appropriate times. Eye contact appeared to be good with the audience, but could be improved from the occasional glances at my notecards. If I could work on my speech anxiety, I could improve my delivery with fewer pauses and filler words and make use of the space around me by moving around more. Less movement did identify some anxiety since it showed I was not comfortable walking around. Overall, I am satisfied with the outcome of my speech.

Blog Post #4

I have planned to persuade my audience that my space/cultural group is worthy of study through my speech's content and delivery by using ethos, pathos and logos. Through the appeal of ethos, I will present an informative and uplifting tone/voice through my words such as, “Fear not!” I believe that this will be effective to the audience because it gives variation and breaks up the monotony of a typical speech. It should make it more interesting and easier to be persuaded as to why the Johnson Center should be studied through its social themes. Through pathos, I plan to communicate emotion by explaining some of my first impressions while walking into the gym. I was amazed at how much activity goes on all at once. This will be persuasive because it shows that there are multiple areas to study for the project. Finally using logos, my speech contains several statistics and expert opinions about the relationship between social aspects and physical exercise. For example, according to Paul Steinbach, “Findings suggest that friendships involving exercising together and the social contacts that result from exercising in public places such as health clubs may motivate exercise behavior.” This method should be persuasive because it shows how prevalent social relationships are in a gym to study.

Blog Post #3: Research Memo

After searching for information related to college campus gyms, I came across an article from Purdue University's website. According to a recent study gathered at the university, data has proven a link between visiting a campus gym and better grades of a student. Facts and statistics are used within the text as evidence of the findings. For example, the article states, "students who visit the facility at least 16 times a month earned a GPA of 3.10 or higher." This information will help me support my speech because it shows that there are multiple benefits of visiting the gym. It also mentions how visiting with friends or study groups can be beneficial since the social aspect aids in reducing stress from school while converting it to physical activity. Before reading this article, I didn't know that visiting the gym on a regular basis would ever have a positive effect on grade point average. The article should be highly credible since the author is from Purdue University and is a school nationally known for their research. I believe these details will help me to better persuade the audience to visit the Johnson Center regularly.

Citation

Patterson Neubert, Amy. " College students working out at campus gyms get better grades." Research University | Purdue University. N.p., 15 Apr. 2013. Web. 18 Sept. 2013. <http://www.purdue.edu/newsroom/releases/2013/Q2/college-students-working-out-at-campus-gyms-get-better-grades.html>.