Blog 15 Research question

1. What role does codeswitching play in the classroom  and how does it affect student literacy?
2. What connections are made between teacher performance and  student identities when code switching is used in the classroom and how does it affect student learning?

So my paper is off to a late start and a change of topic is leaving me quite stumped in what is my research paper question. I am researching the connections teachers make with students when they use code switching in the classroom as a means of communication and how does it affect student learning. In this sense code switching is the use of black english/spanglish wich is a deviance from the typical standard english that teachers are expected to speak and teach their students. Code
swithcing focuses little on language structure and more on language use, and speaking. My goal is to find the positive effects it has on student learning and how it helps teachers make connections to their students home culture. The important question is in what context is code switching used. Is it in informal settings or part of the curriculum. The focus is on minority students; my subject teaches in an urban area. I don't know if that makes the topic to broad. I want to disprove the idea that the use of  code switching or black english is correlated with low achievement or low standards for students. Student are still capable of learning the same basic skills as any other student or non minority.
Here are some questions I will ask:

What is your:

Occupation?

Race?
Educational background?
Family life?
How were you influenced by literacy as a young child?
Where do you work/teach?
How did make the decision to teach at this program?
What type of student do have in your program?
 Are you familiar with code-switching?
Is code switching part of your teaching repertoire/ and where do you use it in the curriculum?
How do you make decisions about you are going to use black English in the classroom?
Does code-switching help you make connections to your students?
Does code switching help your students identify with you?
What connections are made between black speaking attitudes and underachievement, poverty, and low expectations by teachers?
Does a teacher’s negative attitude toward black language negatively affect student achievement?
When and where is code switching acceptable?
During your teaching instruction what did u or did you learn about standard english and it’s use in the AA community?
Do your students meet all the basic learning standards for the school curriculum?

 

 

Blog 13&14 Short Analysis Draft

I did my research on Literacy Narrative 2. The writer is introduced to literacy through the interpersonal relationships with her family, friends and environment. Through storytelling the writer shows us how the process of writing helped her form identies as a co-author, a good academic writer, someone who does not conceptualize as a writer herself. My research question This essay is based on the cultural story of this writer. It shows the affects that family, friends, and culture have on literacy. It also shows the myth and assumptions that this writer had to face when excepting her role in literacy. My research question is How do cultural stories and assumptions about writing affect the writer's ability to form identities as a legitimate writer?

p=paragraph

Coding

Assumptions and myths about writing
 
 Family influence on writing

  Cultural story development

Writer's personal relationship with writing















 p= paragraphs in essay (1-23)

p1.
- Does not attribute self as writer.
- Writers are innately inspired, don't mind long hours of deskwork.
- Writing is a solitary exiperience.
-  This image is a cultural story supported by mainstream sociey presents false assumptions.
- Misconceptions seem harmless but have consequences ( for those labeled as a writer/ and not    labeled).
-  Growing up development in literacy was bouncing off cultural stories to become writer I am.

p2.
-Started relationship with writing by reading.
- Involved with stories as an audience member.
- Mother passed along love of reading ( read children to sleep every night).
- took on task independantly as we got older.

p3.
- Love of books fed by family visiting library weekly.
- My sister and I read every book in kid branch of library.
- Read books in all other branches of library.
- by highschool we read through two more branches of library.
- Eventually resorted to sneaking out books because of maxed out book fines.

P4.
- My older sister Melanie had a habit of reading aloud during car rides.
- She is another person who influenced ny early life of literacy.
- books read were her reccommendation.
- read books together, took turns with it, discussed our readings with each other afterward.

p5.
- I use "we" because I consider reading a shared activity.
- In my experience , stories are found in the context of relationships.
- My sisters, parents and friends all had a direct and indirect influence on my reading.
- Stories formed by people, affected choices, and preferences.
- Reading does not need to be in fact a "solitary" activity.

p6.
- When my sister and I weren't sharing in someon else's story, we were making up our own
- Story observation and creation went hand in hand.
- vivid imaginations/  mother locked us out of the house for long afternoons of playtime
- Used imaginary play to become characters.
- This kind of imaginative playtime is something that carried longer into adult life than I care to admit.

p7.
- Through these activities I gained valuable experience from a young age at the art of story creation.
- I developed characters with voices and personalities.
- I created dialogue, described settings, established relationships.
- I invented plots, and subplots and knew how to make them progress.
- learned what was boring/funny.
- Everything made up jointly with support and interactions of my two best friends.
- I was a co-creator of stories, never facing potential judment of an audience.
- What was there to lose?

p8.
- This sense of innocence is exactly what gave story creation its power.
- Some suggest playtime and writing are two seperate things.
- Imagined stories are every bit as valid as written ones.
- Just as oral tradition of story telling is legitimate, stories created through verbal interaction in playtime are real stories, although may never face an audience.
- written word is a tool, choice of avatar, for communicating a story.
- A person's language may affect how their message is received adn understood, but does not ultimately change core of intended message.
- Heart of story remains true regardless of the format it is created in.

p9.
- The effect of the cultural story was that, although I enoyed playtime immensely, I didn't think of myself as a writer.
- As I learned how to write it didn't occur to me I could use this record for my own stories.
- There was no connection between my rich imagination and the writing world.
- Since stories were invented jointly I had no part in ownership for myself.
- I still believe in misconception that the legitimate story is created alone.

p10.
-My older sister was the one who filled the role of "writer" in the family
- She could write stories indepandtly, and have a natural talent "true" writers have
- My younger sister and I were allocated to more valuable roles.
- Sisters early works are chronicled in the attic/my only evidence of early literacy is perserved in homework
- I was always a good academic writer, but I placed this attribute under" good at school" heading but did not keep the "writer" part as my own identity.
- That would have been infringing on my sister, claiming what is rightfully hers.

p11.
- This kind of role placement affected my development as a writer.
- Saw writing as a tool for completing academic work
- Without encouragement and support that comes from being labeled a "writer" there is no reason to work hard to become a better one
- Cultural stories, unbeknownst to me, influenced how people saw me and therefore how I saw myself.

p12.
- I was on track to become another nameless non writer
- Technology revelution stepped in and altered the course I was on
- First windows 93 computer came to house when I was 10
-My adjustment to writing started gradually
-Melanie used computer to write, I watched
- She used play stories for inspiration
-Soon we were creating stories through play and then dashing in to record them.
- I became a cowriter and unbeknownst to me, writing stories jointy through process of interaction.

p13.
-When the internet came to my house , my relationship with writing adjusted again.
-Online forums became new source of creative energy
- Forums formed through different books and movies
- Members talk about RPG's
- Role playing games, members start off a story prompt and invite others to join in on it.

p14
- I threw myself whole heartedly into this setting
- I learned that my words set out in  a cyberworld could be used to entertain people.
- Could be used against me if I did not phrase them correctly.
- Kept going though, compelled by the love of a good story
-I still didn't consider myself a wrtiter though.

p15.
-Online writing is a new concept, society is still learning how to approach it.
- Writing through cyberspace is somehow less respectable that writing intended for print.
- If work is not formally published, does it have value?
- I think this is related to  the idea of imagination vs. writing, and I contend that no matter the format
it is the heart of the peice that counts.
- Although fanfiction and jointly created RPG's may never be presented for publication, they are no less valid stories.
- They were created through the passion of an author and passionate audience.

p16
- RPG's could not be formatted for publication/copywrite issues.
- Fanfiction uses characters and ideas directly from books or movies.
- Issues around plagiarism
- The cultural story which accompanies this trouble goes onto suggest that fanfiction does not constitute real writing/ideas not original to author.
- Simply false because, no one's ideas are truly original to themselves.
- People exist in context of other stories and ideas.

p17.
- Issues with RPG's that prevented me from recognizing it as legitimate writing/peices were co-authored.
- RPG means meant that different people through interaction were creating stories.
- The image of traditional writing goes like this: as silent figure by candle light, occasionally stopping to stroke their beard for inspiration.
-"True Authors" do their work alone.
- In reality authors, just like stories, exist in a social context.

p18
- The result of the cultural stories was that , I enjoyed RPG's but didn't take them as opportunities to call myself a writer.
- Getting genuine practice at writing: creating characters, dialogue and plot devices.
- Immediate audience to critique writing and to model better writing to me.
- Despite that, I  still continued my adolescent years still thinking that I was not a "writer" of the family and that I had no skill at writing.

p19
-Stories came to me in the midst of dreams.
- As I started to record my ideas/it occured to me that my stories would make a great book.
- Since I had no talent at writing, I asked Melanie to ghost write for me.
- Cultural stories kept me from realizing I had any merit as a potential author.

p20
-Melanie write stories/I provided her with first draft.
- Writing for myself kind of boring
- Nervous about allowing other people to see and make potentially negative comments.
- My writing deserved to be shared/ posted stories on forums.
-Pen pal best supporter.
- Posted about how good my stories were/ and parts she didn't understand.

p21
-This kind of encouragement starting point to gradual change
- No longer the sister of a writer but an author in my own right.
-Developed a deeper commitment to my story
- Different events filled life after highschool but I hope to publish my book one day.

p22
-Cultural story had a lasting effect on my life.
-Told people I planned to write a book.
- Self perception started to grow
- I was seen as a good student/including talent of good academic writing
- Peoples perception of you can change how you develop
- If their perceptions are based on the presumptions of a false cultural stories the results can be negative

p23
-This is related to nurture vs nature
- Do people develop based on how they are naturally or because of the influence of their environment?
- Cultural stories have a potentially dangerous power to change how writers develop.
- In my case cultural stories affected how other people saw me and how I saw myself.
-It is hard to say what could have happened if these negative influences were removed.
-Now I face the challenge of forging my own identity.
- Strip the labels and ideas others placed on me/ find myself standing over a great void
- Perhaps there are parts of me that constitute real talent
-The rest can be filled with endless number of options: skills I can develop, passions I can create, and other elements I can use to form a new identity as a writer.

Interesting patterns
  Family, friends and community play a primary role in literacy development. Through the love of reading books as a shared experience, and through imaginative play,story, character and voice development. Literacy is strongly influenced by the authors sister, who she labels a "true writer", that is the label her sister has earned. For the author writing, is used as an academic tool. Author is labeled a "good academic writer" but is not labed a legitimate "writer". Author does not identify with  the role of writer, based on the assumptions and myths about writing adn other poeples judgment of her writing.  Through these myths about writing she lost her potential as a "writer" claiming an identity of co-authorShe felt writer was her sisters identity and felt she owned the title in the family. Her claiming wrtier, would be taking her sisters identity.The author identifies her writing process as co-authoring. She identifies with someone with a vision not a voice, because her writing is through a shared experience. She takes on the role of writing through online forums and Role playing Games, where others can assist her vision, once again taking the backseat. As a young child she depended on her sister to write for her, now she had a forum or online community she could exist in without judgement. Poeple enjoyed her writing, and helped better herself as a writer. Cultural stories suggest that writing is a solitary act. One does not include he love of story telling, creating characters, and interacting with the environment. Legitimate writers are instinctual in their minds and not devoled through a process, or social context. Through the whole writing process the author could not commit to published any of her ideas independantly. She needed an audience, someone to critique and share in the  experience of her writing. If she had only been influenced and labeled a writer as she developed it may have been easier for her to accept her role in literacy.

  Some connections made are that life experiences, family, culture define our writing abilities,and form idenitities as a writer. We are influenced by our environment and society as whole. Through adolescence some of us tend to lose our identities as "real writers" expressing our own ideas through our own use of language. Instead we become "performers" for those who will judge and grade our work. The role of performer, influenced this author a great deal. The cultural story story and assumptions about writing has a negative influence on how the writer form their identity. If an author is labeled as an effective writer and cultivated in that direction, their experience is positive. The author of this story suffered she didn't think like a writer. She did not own it. although it had little direct effect on her writing, it had more of an effect on her thoughts about her writing. She could not clearly see the legitimacy of her stories, and her own potential The author opens the essay with this passive voice about writing. The writer does not consider herself as a writer, not taking ownership as if writing is seperate entity that takes on it own self. Writing is actually done by the "writer". She ends with the same passive that at the end of her process still has not found her voice, or style.

Blog 12 Short Analysis Project

My short analysis project will be on Sample Literacy Narrative 2. This essay is based on the cultural story of a writer. It shows the affects that family, friends, and culture have on literacy. It also shows the myth and assumptions that this writer had to face when excepting her role in literacy. My research question is How do cultural stories and assumptions about writing affect the writer's ability to form identities as a legitimate writer? I plan to code the data to show patterns, and connections to literacy throughout the writers childhood, adolescents and adulthood. The end of the essay will tie in all the elements and connections that I found based on my research question.

These are some of the questions I will look at when coding:

What is the writers cultural story?
How did writing start?
How did reading manifest in youth?
What role did family play in literacy?
What myths or assumptions about literacy did the writer face?

Some of these questions should lead me to categories and coding to form connections to my question.
I am having a little difficulty trying to process all the information needed for these short analysis essays and blogs. It can be overwhelming but I will try. I just need to organize the data and make relevant connections.

Blog 11 Gee Discourse analysis

Gees chapter 1-4 was a great tool for me. My research topic is researching Ebonics"black language" which ties into the Gees first four chapters. Gee explains thoroughly language and we use it to apply our meaning into a global society. Language is not just words but it is action, "saying", doing, and "being". There are important connections in what a person is saying and what identity they are forming at that time, and what it does for the listener. This concept is the foundation of my research questin "How do people make decisions about how they are going to speak"?  I find chapter 4 to be particullary useful as it is closely related to my topic. The chapter is called Social Languages, Conversations, and Intertextuality. Gee describes social languages as different varieties of language that allow us to express different socially signficant identities and enact different socially meaningful practices or activities. I immediately associated this with the idea of performing those "black identities" and when and what context is it appropriate.  Gee describes intertextuality as oral written text that idirectly or directly quote another text in a more subtle way. This helped develop my ideas of "code switching" from white english to black english. These ideas of how people communicate and what they are doing through language. Gee uses an example of young lady explaining a situation to her parents and the same to her boyfriend on seperate occasions. Although it is the same story the young lady uses different language in the separate social situations. Her language represents who she is and what she is doing in the separate situations. There are two versions of herself, the one she represents in front of her parents and the self that has conversations with her boyfriend. It shows how we use language to form identities.

Blog 10 Developing a Research Plan

 

After meeting with Dr. Chandler I found a great book on (Ebonics) or as the book calls it The Language of Black America. Talkin and Testifying by Geneva Smitherman, helped me familiarize myself with the topic of Ebonics, which is the first step in developing a research plan. I learned Non blacks perceive ebonics as language identities, synonymous with hustlers, pimps, street slang, rap music, and violence. In actually it a form of English termed "black english", or non standard english. With the standard form of English of course being termed "white english". When looking at the sociocultural context of "black english" is really a verbal art, used to explain the black experience. It is a verbal performance used as teaching and socializing with deep roots in the African American church. The book talks about ebonics as an oral tradition, a language that allows group approval and recognition of the speaker. It a part of black cultural heritage. Well how does "White America feel about it and why is it making its way into the mainstream language of non-blacks, including White America. There are black cultural influences everywhere. In music, the media, sports, art,clothing, advertisements etc... It seems befitting it would make its way into mainstream. A lot of the non-black population use Ebonics and are not even aware of it. It presents itself in the form of "code switching". Which is switching between two dialects in social situations. In the case of ebonics between black and white english.
Some of the questions we came up with are:
How do people make decisions about how they are going to speak?
How do people make decisions about forming black identities?
Is code switching a part of teaching repitoire.
What connections are made between black speaking attitudes, and underachievement, poverty, and low expectations by teachers?
Does a teacher's negative attitude toward black language negatively affect student acheivement?
What are the negative effects of teacher attitudes toward black speaking identities?

My plan is to interview about 3 professors at Kean University, and to do some connections between their ideas about "code switching" and "black identities" and student achievement. I am still fine tuning the ideas and plans behind my research. I was also thinking of doing surveys of students use of black language. In a sense of when is it acceptable to use it. College dialect vs. Street dialect, or work vs. play? When are we turning the switch on and off? How do you speak at home among family?

There are a lot of ideas in my head, I just have a hard time narrowing one down to make a great research paper.

Blog 8 Research questions

In researching Ebonics and how it is mainstreamed into non-black speakers some of the research questions I have are:

What context does the non black speaker use ebonics?
What are some of the ways people think of ebonics?
What pushes anger buttons?
Is language cultural?
What are the assumptions of black language?

These are all great questions to ask, that can easily be answere by a small population of college students to generalize what are the mainstream ideas about Ebonics and their use in society.

Blog 7 Research Plan

I would like to research language and how it affects the way we perceive each other. I would like to focus on the African American community. The idea that Ebonics is a form of broken English used to communicate in a percieved slang manner in the African American community or is it a  restructed form of English used by AA in opposition to the white form of english. The use of language in the African American community is a sensitive topic in terms of race. Speaking in white form of English can be considered to parts of the African American community as "acting white". The use of Ebonics or an AA form of english or ebonics can be considered to non African American as "ignorant".

Some questions I will have toward my topic are:

Is Ebonics a form of the english language or is it a slang?
Do you need to know proper english to fit into society, if you are a minority?
What context do people use Ebonics in shcool, or at home, or the office and to what extent?
Should Ebonics be taught in school?

In developing a research plan I would:

• Outline the topic
• research articles on the topic and other works in the field.
• Develop how my data will expound upon or differ from the sources researched.
• I will pose a question and show evdidence to be considered.
• Methods of research include, interviews, surveys etc..
• Development of topic based on all coded data and themes to form a hypothesis and conclusion.

Blog 6 Literacy Narratives (A Cultural Story)

Literacy Narratives 2

Questions:
How does the writer find a relationship with literacy?

• Started relationship with writing by reading.
• Mother passed on love of reading to author and two sisters (read to the every night/frequent library trips).
• Sister had an influence on early life of literacy in the author through reccomendations of books, reading together, and follow up discussions.

What challenge does the writer face accepting their role in literacy?

• Did not consider his/herself in the role of a "writer" (Sister filled the role of " writer").
• Considered writing as an academic tool, claimed the role of "good at school" in terms of their writing.
• Fears of judment of work, and judment of audience  
• Cultural Stories keep him/her from realizing they had any merit as a potential author.

How does the writer connect literacy to childhood experiences?

• Used imaginitive play and role playing to connect the art of story creation
• Developed ideas, characters, dialogue and settings through verbal interactions with sisters and friends
• Used this time to piece together stories and ideas through shared experiences.
• Learned to use online communities as an audience

 In Literacy Narrative 2 we meet the author of the piece who struggles to attribute the term "writer" as a self label. Although the author fostered the love of literacy through the influence of family and friends, therer is this self conflict to identify as  a writer because of this "cultural story", or traditions and misconceptions about writing.  I found that this is the theme throughout all of the Narratives read in class. This whole idea of the "literacy myth", or "cultural story" that serves as this connection to the authors story and the effects it had on their roles in literacy. They are these misconceptions and assumptions that literacy or "writing" the challenge the author of this story faces, is this lonely, solitary act, where inspiration comes from the intellegence of ones mind and not their actions. On the contrary literacy for the writer was a shared experience, nurtured through family and friendships. An influence started early with a mother being a role model for literacy and a sister being a peer model. Through these experiences a "story" and a "writer" were developed. The writer had to understand that imagination, play, interactive dialogue and characterization would serve as the framework for his/her ability to create stories. The writer could not connect to writing as and individual like the sister could. The writer connected through environmental responses, being a co-author, or a member of the audience, or an online community where his/her talent could be nurtured through  a social context. Being introduced at a young age to the computer the writer was able to find his/her indivuality or identity as a writer. However just as in childhood their needed to be an audience creating a shared experience. Encouragement was a starting point to a gradual change to "author". Letting go of the cultural story and releasing the labels society puts on writing and literacy shaped the writer's confidence. The writer may have developed into the role sooner if he/she would have honed in on the skill, instead of letting the fear of individuality, and  labeling to define their acheivements.

Blog 5 Shaggy Dog Stories

Reading the Shaggy Dog stories are very amuzing. Some of them are really draw you in and have a great punchline. There are some however that in my opinion are very dull but still serve the purpose of drawing you in and delivering a punchline. Here is how I predicted how the other class would rank the stories.

(1) String
(3) Dentist
(4) Ghandi
(2) Lawyer


String- I predict that the other class would like String the best because it met the most criteria for what we percieve as funny.
Legnth= was the longest of all stories, and it offered a back and forth dialogue between the string and bartender which showed character and scene development.
Connections to the Audience= String is something we can all identify with. As well as a scene in a bar where this is dialogue between the bartender and subject. The back and forth banter and conflict  draws you in and you anticipate the punchline.You can imagine in your head this piece of string sitting at the bar and asking for a drink. It was the most absurd because it dealt with ther personification of an inanimate object. That always makes for a funny story.
Ironic contrast= In the story it seemed the string the "underdog" you wonder if he will ever get his drink. He is being refused by bartender after bartender and bar after, bar.
Surprise= The string "the inanimate object" uses his wit and smarts, which is absurd and comes up with an idea or plan to get his way. "He had a passerby tie him up into a bow and frazzle his ends. Then he went back into the bar, and climbed up on the barstool. "Bartender, gimme a beer!" he said loudly.
 Conflict/Wordplay= At the end of the story you assume the string gets his beer, but the bartender recognizes him. "Hey, aren't you that string that was in here a few minutes ago?" The string replied coolly, "Nope, I'm a frayed knot." A simple word phrase that we have all used and can all imagine as funny.

Lawyer-I predicted this would be in second place because I think the majority of people could relate to a good lawyer joke. At the college level it safe to assume that everyone knows what a lawyer is and the stereotypes that are associated.
Legnth=The legnth of the story worked well for what is considered funny. The plot developed very well with a beginning, middle, and end. The character development worked well with different characters being introduced into the story. The wealthy lawyer, the Czech friends, the sheriff and the absurd and infamous bears. The bears bought an element of violence which of course is an element in what the reader finds to be funny according to our analysis.
Ironic Contrast=The idea of a bear eating the Czech friend whole, and the cowardly lawyer running away is absurd and funny. One female bear and a male bear are presented which sets up the elements for the punchline. The female bear in the story gets shot which is an element of surprise.
Conflict/Wordplay="The sheriff grabbed his shotgun and dashed back to the berry patch with the lawyer. Sure enough, the two bears were still there. "He's in that one," cried the lawyer, pointing to the male, while visions of lawsuits from his friend's family danced in his head. He just had to save his friend. The sheriff looked at the bears, and without batting an eye, leveled his gun, took careful aim, and shot the female". This was a great presentation of conflict and conflict resolution which makes the punchline "getable". I like the fact that there were two references in this story, one for the Nutcracker."What did you do that for?" exclaimed the lawyer. "I said he was in the other one!

"Exactly," replied the sheriff. "Would you believe a lawyer who told you the Czech was in the male?"

Connection to audience=Again the violence panned out to a spoonerism reference the chech is in the mail, which is a phrase that a college level student can identify with.

Dentist- I predicted this would be in third place. It was not very funny to me but a little more funny than the Ghandi. It met some of the criteria for what we percieve as funny in the Shaggy Dog stories.

Length= Not very long. Story does develop with the man and dentist in a dialogue, however it lacks and overall conflict the reader likes.

Ironic Contrast= the story was just rediculous as well as the reference to the hollandaise sauce.

Word play= The word play was developed throughout the story, with the hollandaise being introduced at the very beginning and followed throughout. The punchline was definitley unexpected with a reference to "No place like home for the holidays."

Connection to audience= This is a punchline that all readers may not be able to connect with if they dont celebrate the holidays. It wasnt violent in nature and did not meet a lot of the criteria for what is perceived as funny

 

Ghandi- I predicted Ghandi to be in fourth place because of its  length and element of surprise makes it the least funniest of all the stories.

Legnth=It was the shortest of all the stories, which may take away of what the reader percieves as funny according to our analysis of the funnier stories being the longest. It didn't develop over a long period of time, and the punchline was very quick. Reader did not have time to be drawn in.
Ironic Contrast= Ghandi is a very serious religious leader. The overall joke was definitley not something the reader could have imagined when thinking about a serious of character as Ghandi. The story was initially filled with facts, that didn't draw you into the aburdity of we aspect to be funny. "He walked barefoot everywhere,his feet became quite thick and hard. Even when he wasn't on a hunger strike, he did not eat much and became quite thin and frail. He also was quite a spiritual person." These are all serious facts and then your thrown off with "Furthermore, due to his diet, he ended up with very bad breath. Served as a disconnet while eluding to the punchline.
Word Play=He became known as a super-calloused fragile mystic plagued with halitosis.
Connections to Audience= Readers would have to have seen Mary Poppins and understand the phrase "supercalifragilisticespalidoshes" in order to get the spoonerism. They would also need to know who Ghandi was in order to get the joke. It is a little harder of all the pieces to connect to a broader audience.

Blog 3 Oral History

I interviewed Joe Palinsky. I was the interviewer, and I shared with Joe the details of my account of what happened that day.

 How old are you and were do you live?
Joe: 26 years old and I live in Colonia, NJ.
Me: I live in Rahway, NJ (Joe and I realize how close we live to each other, 5 minutes away.)


Where were you on 9/11?
Joe: I was 15 years old at the time, a sophmore in Union Catholic H.S. I remember being in Italian class it was about 9:30am when the anouncement came over the PA system about a small plane colliding into the world trade. We had inaccurate accounts about what actually happpened but class went on anyway. At 11:30 am my third period chemistry class teacher was all distraught and acting very confused. Her account was that a plane hit disney land. In Union Catholic we all had individual laptops so I went online but couldn't get any info, cause the server was down. We didn't have hi-tech connections back then. It was shear pandemonium as people started finding out what really happened.
At 11:30 in gym class people had found out that the news of what really happened and some students got picked up, the rest of the students stayed in school the rest of the day.




Me: I am can't believe you all had a full day of school. I was 24 and in college at Middlesex County, which has a large Middle Eastern population. No one new what happened initially, the professor in my first class said the world trade was bombed and told everyone to leave immediatley.


What was the sentiment of the people around you?

Joe: It was a lot of fear. I am not a person who is afraid of much. I don't usually get in a state of paranioa , but I was afraid. My religion class teacher showed us the tower falling. There were conflicting views on what happened it was overwhelming. I was hoping it wasn't as bad as it seemed. I had hope as we saw people being pulled out of the wreckage.




Me: As I was leaving school I saw some students of Middle Eastern decent laughing and cheering about the catastrophic event. (Joe is in shock, he could not believe that anyone would cheer at the demise of others.)


Did you have a connection to anyone at the twin towers, pentagon, or on a plane that was affected by 9/11?
Joe: I wasn't really worried about my immediate family no one lived in NY at the time. I did have a friend that it was ironic that both of his parents called out of work that day, and they worked at the towers. I was a little guilty that I was happy about that but it was a small victory. I was happy they survived. I also knew a priest who was connected with my high school who died at the towers.


Me: I didn't have anyone who directly connected but I realized in an instant that I was going to be connected to 9/11. While people around me were thinking of others, I was thinking of how it was going to effect my family. At the time I was a reservist in the United States Army, and I knew after watching the news and hearing a war would be waged on terrorist that I may be called to go overseas.


What did you think about the attackers?
Joe: At the time it happened I didn't know anything about the attackers. I later found out that the terrorist used a computer in William Paterson, the college I was in. He used the library to book a ticket for one of the planes.


How has 9/11 changed the world?
Joe: The world has never been the same. The world is definitley much more bizarre. People are more fearful, there was more profiling of middle eastern groups. Muslims were being treated badly, more wrongs came from the event. The political premise was unecessary, people were patriotic and unpatriotic at the same time. I hated that people were capitilizing off of it. People were afraid to go to NY after that. My parents were not afraid of NY they went to a show in Times Square a couple of weeks later.


Me: I remember people becoming upatriotic and profiling groups that had nothing to do with 9/11. I also remember the boom in cell phones, and no contract cell phones, before that you needed a big deposit to put down if you wanted one, and phones and plans were very expensive.

Blog 4 Oral History Analysis

I interviewed Joe Palinsky. Joe gave me great in depth details of the events that unfolded on 9/11.
 Our interview was a little unique. Talking about 9/11 brings both us to share our feelings together. As I am interviewing Joe I could not help to reflect on what I felt that day. As I listened to Joe answer the questions I asked, he listened to my account based on those same questions. My account is denoted in dark blue font. I chose to analyze my interview with Joe and Arlene and Daniel's interview because they both in a high school setting when they found out about 9/11. Being teenagers and myself a young adult we were able to formulate our own opinions about what it meant to us, how we searched for the real events after hearing different accounts.

Coding:
Pink= Age , location and detail
Yellow=feelings after an accurate account of what happened
Green=Ways of dealing with attack after accurate information was recieved
Orange= Knowing someone directly involved in attack



How old are you and were do you live?
 Joe: 26 years old and I live in Colonia, NJ.
Me: I live in Rahway, NJ (Joe and I realize how close we live to each other, 5 minutes away.)

Where were you on 9/11?
Joe: I was 15 years old at the time, a sophmore in Union Catholic H.S. I remember being in Italian class it was about 9:30am when the anouncement came over the PA system about a small plane colliding into the world trade. We  had inaccurate accounts about what actually happpened but class went on anyway.  At 11:30 am my third period chemistry class teacher was all distraught and acting very confused. Her account was that a plane hit disney land. In Union Catholic we all had individual laptops so I went online but couldn't get any info, cause the server was down. We didn't have hi-tech connections back then. It was shear pandemonium as people started finding out what really happened.
At 11:30 in gym class people had found out that the news of what really happened and some students got picked up, the rest of the students stayed in school the rest of the day.



Me: I am can't believe you all had a full day of school. I was 24 and in college at Middlesex County, which has a large Middle Eastern population. No one new what happened initially, the professor in my first class said the world trade was bombed and told everyone to leave immediatley.


What was the sentiment of the people around you?
Joe: It was a lot of fear. I am not a person who is afraid of much. I don't usually get in a state of paranioa , but I was afraid. My religion class teacher showed us the tower falling. There were conflicting views on what happened it was overwhelming. I was hoping it wasn't as bad as it seemed. I had hope as we saw people being pulled out of the wreckage.



 Me: As I was leaving school I saw some students of Middle Eastern decent laughing and cheering about the catastrophic event. (Joe is in shock, he could not believe that anyone would cheer at the demise of others.)

Did you have a connection to anyone at the twin towers, pentagon, or on a plane that was affected by 9/11?
Joe: I wasn't really worried about my immediate family no one lived in NY at the time. I did have a friend that it was ironic that both of his parents called out of work that day, and they worked at the towers. I was a little guilty that I was happy about that but it was a small victory. I was happy they survived. I also knew  a priest who was connected with my high school who died at the towers.

Me: I didn't have anyone who directly  connected but I realized in an instant that I was going to be connected to 9/11. While people around me were thinking of others, I was thinking of how it was going to effect my family. At the time I was a reservist in the United States Army, and I knew after watching the news and hearing a war would be waged on terrorist that I may be called to go overseas.

What did you think about the attackers?
Joe: At the time it happened I didn't know anything about the attackers. I later found out that the terrorist used a computer in William Paterson, the college I was in. He used the  library to book  a ticket for one of the planes.

How has 9/11 changed the world?
Joe: The world has never been the same. The world is definitley much more bizarre. People are more fearful, there was more profiling of middle eastern groups. Muslims were being treated badly, more wrongs came from the event. The political premise was unecessary, people were patriotic and unpatriotic at the same time. I hated that people were capitilizing off of it. People were afraid to go to NY after that. My parents were not afraid of NY they went to a show in Times Square a couple of weeks later.

Me: I remember people becoming upatriotic and profiling groups that had nothing to do with 9/11. I also remember the boom in cell phones, and no contract cell phones, before that you needed a big deposit to put down if you wanted one, and phones and plans were very expensive.





Arlene and Danielle
Where were you on 9/11? Interview
On this occassion I was the interviewer. I spoke to Danielle on what her 9/11 experince was. She lived here in New Jersey, and was a senior in high school when it happened. She had a very descriptive story, and remembered the 9/11 events in more detail than myself (I was only in the sixth grade).

Q: Where were you on that day? How did you find out?
A: She walked into class and saw the news footage on T.V. As soon as the images of the plane crashing into the first building appeared, the teacher had her class shut everything off. There were people screaming, very scared and worried about what happened. Later on there was a school lock. There were students trying desperately to get out of school to get their loved ones.
Q: Compare & contrast your feelings about 9/11 from then and now.
A: At the time there was a lot of anger. There was very strong anti- Muslim sentiment, since everyone needed to put the blame on someone in order to feel (somewhat) better about what happened. However, after she found out what was really the cause of this incident (incompetence in our leaders) there was more a sense of disappointment in our leaders.
Q: What do you feel was the mood overall of the nation/others at that time? How does that vary from your point of view?
A: She says there was more of a sense of camaraderie and brotherhood following the 9/11 events. I point out that it is a travesty that these horrific events are often times what it takes for there to be sense of togetherness in a nation.

Q: Could you tell a story of a friend or someone you know and their experience?
A: Danielle's best friend lost a loved one. After they saw the footage in class, they went to the senior lounge to listen to the radio about what happened. She just remembers her friend screaming and very overcome with emotion.
Q: How do you feel about the memorials?
Danielle points out that there has been debate over whether or not these 9/11 memorials should take place anymore, since it has been eleven years since the attacks. She says that she feels it is very important to conduct memorials, since it is important to pass on to our children the significance of these events. 

After analyzing the data the seemed to be a direct correlation of the age of the subjects being interviewed and the detail of 9/11 account as well as their sentiments. The facts that I chose to focus on presented high school students and post high school. All subjects were in school at the time, and were given accounts based on what was know at the time. No information was concealed, because of the assumed maturity of students. All persons were able to get an accurate account of what happened on 9/11 either through searching for the truth and being told at a later time after events had already unfolded. One the thruth was found the sentiment of those around the subjects were fear, overwhelmed, sadness and  pandomonium. Students were upset and wanted to leave shcool, and parents came for their kids. Myself, I found that those were the sentiment of those who did not sympathize with the attackers. Where I was in middlesex county some students were cheering and they empathized with the attackers which is very interesting because we dont't think of those who support the attackers views. There were other ways of dealing with the attacks. Some blamed the attackers and the government to try to make sense of things. Joe found solice in knowing that people were being pulled out of the wreckage. Althought none of the subjects were in NY that day, all the subjects knew someone who was effected. One family called out of work and lived, and new someone who died, another subject knew someone who had a family member that died. I would be directly effected because of my military status. Together all subjects were in a state of fear and found ways to deal with it. Reading all the blogs we find that for the most part those of who live in New Jersey were effected differently than those who lived and worked in NY. We also formed our opinions of the attacked based on our age and understanding the truth of what happened. The initial reaction was fear followed by ways to make sense of it all. However one coped it was a sad day for all the subjects being interviewed...

Blog 2 Analysis

Analysis is taking a set of data and comparing and contrasting it to come up with a result that will prove or disapprove an idea. Analysis looks at data and breaks it down into components that will help come to some conclusion in defining the data. In class we looked at a sort of puzzle with a missing peice and had to come up with what piece was missing based on data already presented. We looked at the content such as the shapes, colors and orientation of the puzzle. As a group the most important part was analyzing the data and looking for patters to complete the puzzle. We had to come up with ideas and test our theories which is an important part of anylizing data.
In researching my topic of interest writing, I can look at different pieces and compare their gramatical styles, vernacular style, language usage and overall context. That is breaking it down into components. Trying these different aspects of writing and applying them to my creative process would help become a better writer which is my overall goal.

Blog 1

Research done in English and writing studies take a look at language, words and grammar and how we apply it in society. In English research Language is looked at in the form of words, that convey varying meanings and messages depending on the user, and the context of which it is used. Grammar and usage is also an important component.  Research in writing studies looks at how words inform, show emotion, action and convey a message to a reader. How it is done allows us to connect and interact with one another. Language and how we use it gives a description of oneself. In it can manifest ones age, identity, economic status, education and place in the world so to speak. Research methods allows us to see how this effects us and makes us think as a whole society.
I am interested in researching writing and how to perfect my writing skills. I like to write, and put alot of my personality in anything that I create. I would like to research different writing styles to become an more effective writer.