Final Ethonography

Here is my final project. I spent a lot of time on this so i hope you all enjoy it :)

http://english102jill.weebly.com

Interview

The reading assigned for this week was about interviewing. The section of reading gave good ways on how to set up an interview with someone. One of the most important parts of an interview is asking because the person being interviewed does not know what your thinking, so you have to explain to them what you need to know for your research. The best way to ask questions is with open questions because you will get a lopt of information that way because there is not a direct answer you are looking for. This will also give you a good opportunity to start a good conversation, which makes for a good interview.

Mid-Term

Here is my midterm portfolio! Enjoy :)http://english102jill.weebly.com/

the safety bus

waiting in shea/durgin hill lobby
called at 7:41 for the safety bus and got picked up at 7:54
the bus that picked me up i was in the commuter parking lot from the time i called till it picked me up
i dont know why it took so long to pick me up
the van door is very squeaky and difficult to close because there is no door handle to pull on the inside
there are three other people on the safety van including the driver
the seats are grey and there are four rows of seats
the driver is playing country music
we just drove through a red light which i dont think they are suppose to do by any means
the girl in the front seat seems to be his girlfriend and her friend is in the backseat
they are all talking together about random topics and singing country music
the girl in the front seat is being mad fun of for never having apple pie before
she likes apples cinnamon and pastry's but she is scared to try it
she says it looks gross but smells really good
the driver and the girl in the front seat are now making fun of the girl in the back because she has never had fruit punch with sherbet in it
they ask me if i have and i say yes
we then pick up a girl at pope
shes very quiet and doesn't tell the driver were she wants to go she doesn't seem like she knows were she wants to go either
not a lot of people are on the bus tonight because it is so nice out
the driver has the windows down
i got off the van at 8:20 at woodward and a group of people all dressed up are getting on the van
they look like they are going out for the night



While observing my time on the safety bus I found it easy to write down details of whats going on and my surroundings. It got boring after the first five minutes having to write down a lot of details, but it was interesting to listen and look at what went on. While looking over my notes I think I spent too much time writing down full sentences, rather then just jotting down notes. I need to go more detail into the people and note just what they are saying or doing. I am excited to read over my notes from the Hill for my research site because I want to find parts I need to go into more detail. Here is a link to the information about the safety  van.
http://www.bridgew.edu/Police/Escort2008.cfm

summer camp

In class on wensday we listened to an interview on a radio series called "This American Life." The interview was about a summer camp in Michigan. The author had many details in the interview about the camp, the people, the activities, and the community the camp builds. Children who atteneded the camp had there best memories there they said. They became the people they are by attending camp because they spent so much time there, and when they were not at camp they were always talking about camp. Most of the counselors at the camp at been there since they were young campers. The counselors looked out for the campers and the campers looked to them for advice. It was a upscale camp were they took part in activities like rifle shooting, sailing, and horseback riding. They loved to sing and had songs for everything. At lunch each cabin sang a song, but the older girls were always the loudest.


When I was younger I went to softball camp at the Stonleigh Burnham school in Greenfield and I went to a Summer Enrichment camp in my town. I loved camp, but like the campers in the interview , no one could understand why I loved camp so much. The summer enrichment camp I went to from the age of four until I was sixteen. I was a camper at first and then was a counselor when I turned twelve. I loved the camp and loved my campers. I was a counselor for the Children in first grade and I loved each and everyone of them. They could be fresh at times, but the things they came up with were always so funny. Even today I see some of the children who were in my group and they remeber who I am. It makes me feel good that I made an impact on these childrens lives.

Shea/Durgin Hill

             For my English 102 class we have to pick a place that we can study for the entire semester. I am a resident at Bridgewater, so it is hard to pick a place that I know I can go to at least once a week. After thinking for a few days I finally realized that perfect place was right outside the front door of my building. The hill in front of Shea/ Durgin Hall is a big hang out spot for a lot of the freshmen. When it is nice out there are always people outside sunbathing, playing games, and sometimes even rolling down the hill. A lot of people smoke on the bench that it right on top of the hill and you always see the same group of people at the bench. In the winter there are people sledding, having snowball fights, and building snowman. During the day the town children even hangout there when there is a snow day.

           I do not really have a lot of specific questions yet for this site. I want to know more about the people who commonly hang out t the bench or what attracts the town children to a college campus. I wonder what the college students think of the campus being a hot spot for children to sled in the winter? What kind of outrageous activities have happened on this hill? Has anything bad happened to this hang out spot? I am not sure what specifically I can research about the hill yet, but I hope by watching what goes on I can get a deeper meaning of what goes on at the She/ Durgin Hill.

first blog January 30, 2011

        In my writing 102 class this week we had to read an essay that was written by my teacher called "The Town Hangout". In her essay you could get a sense of who she was without her directly telling you. She wrote about a bowling alley that she use to go bowling at with her family, but she had first gone there with her aunt as a child. The author had a large family and they went bowling at the bowling alley in Hanover, because it was a cheap way to have fun. From the reading you can come to the conclusion that her family did not have a lot of money so the bowling alley was the prefect place to have fun together. You can see that the author has been to the bowling alley many times because she knew a lot about the place. She noticed the people who worked there seemed to be family, so it was a family owned bowling alley. The author talked a lot about the food that was served at the snack stand and that it was a random variety of snacks. They even had onion rings, which I never thought they would serve at a bowling alley.
          After reading her essay you almost feel as though you have been to that bowling alley before because of the way she talks about what goes on at the bowling alley and the details of what you see when you are there. When I was younger my dad use to take me to a bowling alley in Arlington called Lanes and Games that had lanes on the first and second floor. For some reason I could not get over the idea that you could have bowling lanes on the second floor of a building. The food at the pub at the bowling alley was so good. I remember the curly fries were so perfectly curly and always made my hand feel greasy. I hated the shoes too because they were so smelly, but yo had to wear them if you wanted to bowl. I'll never forget bowling there as a child and remember the smell and the taste of those curly fries whenever I go bowling.