Inquiry 4

Throughout the semester we wrote four essays, each one taking a different approach to our writing and thinking. I think the most interesting one was inquiry one where we did a close reading. This inquiry was the most difficult for me. It challenged my normal thinking and writing process. Normally, if I have to do a writing assignment I can just sit down, put some music in my ears and brainstorm. Once I have brain stormed and thought about how I am going to set up my paper and what key points I want to talk about, I will start writing and fill in the gaps while I am writing. When I am done writing I will close my computer and not look at it for a day or so. I always write my papers way before the deadline. I find I do my best writing when I am not stressed about a deadline or any other impediments. After that time goes by I will revise my paper. Sometimes it hardly needs any revision and some times they need a lot of revision. Inquiry one I had to treat much different then my normal writing and thought process. We had to watch a tracking shot and make observations, which took me a great deal of time. I watched the video maybe five or six times just jotting down things I noticed and from the colors to the music. To me they all had a significant role in the shot. Once I found a great deal of observations I had to sort them into importance and figure out if they each one could be part of a pattern so it could ultimately become a theme. This process is similar to my normal thought process except it is more in depth then mine. As I stated above I more or less get key point and then fill in from there. In the new process I had to use far more detail and connectivity before I could even begin to write.  This project made me extend outside my comfort zone for it made me think much more critically and effectively. The reading “Water” by Abbey helped me to redefine my ways of reading space and thought process.

            I think the first and the second project correlated well with me. I was able to take what I learned from close reading of visual digital space and parlay that into an actual space on our campus. I think the biggest thing I took from the first assignment was attention to detail. In the first inquiry we need to look closely at details of the videos so we could come up with some patterns and themes. I wrote in the first Inquiry “She is wearing black and the camera only stays on her for a couple of seconds but it is long enough to take in the expression on her face and the clothes she is wearing. The dress she has on is black with white flowers going down both sides. Flowers seem to be very important, all the people are throwing them from the balconies of the buildings.” which shows my attention to detail and through that I was able to make a pattern of flowers along with other things, which lead to a theme of a funeral of a country. This helped me in my second inquiry describing the space I was observing and the forces that were acting on it. Because of the first inquiry, I was able to pick up on this observation and I wrote, “On either side of the entrance of the space it has small shrubs and flowers. The half circle shape is made to be inviting and engulfs you into the pathway”, which lead me to figure out that most things on the campus are done in the idea to attract you to come to Miami University.

I believe that because of the challenges of the Inquiry’s and readings we did in the class, I altered my writing and thought process to become a better writer then I already was. I think my new thought process will help me in my business degree by paying attention to detail and being able to see what forces are shaping the space or spaces I will be working with and how I can make them better or more productive by doing a close reading of them.

Writers Letter

Dear Ryan,

            My role in the project was to be the group leader. I gave duties to Reis and Stanley in a positive manner. I made sure they were staying focused and staying on track. It is easy to get off topic when trying to type two thousand words, so when we were working as a group I helped keep us on topic. Everyone in the group participated up to my standards in their areas. Being the group leader, I took the liberty of working in every area of the project. I did not expect Reis and Stanley to do that as well because I took on the responsibility of being the group leader. It also helped me to check in on all areas of the project to make sure we were doing it right and answering the questions effectively. I wrote a significant amount of the essay with Stanley, and Reis helped fill in some of the areas we had trouble writing, like about the rhetorical tools we used because Reis did the majority of the Prezi. I helped do some finishing touches on the Prezi so Reis was not the only one making the Prezi. When It came to revising the paper I spent an hour to two on revising and making sure it flowed properly and filled in on areas that were either unclear or that were lacking information. Reis and Stanley helped adding and taking out what was needed and what was not needed. I enjoyed being the group leader because I got to see the development of all the parts of the project. From the brain storming of what media to use all the way to the revising. I liked being able to see the project grow and being able to add to areas that may have been lacking. It was also really interesting to read a collective essay that we had all contributed to because when it came to revising you could sort of tell that three separate people had input to the paper. All three of us have different styles of writing, so when it came to revising, I, along with Reis and Stanley had the challenge of taking the essay and shaping it into one voice instead of three. I think with me working in all areas of the project helped to pull it all together because I knew what was going on in the other parts and I knew how each could relate and how we could tie it all together. In all, I think our group did a great job and I think we did a great project! 

Observations

I am studying the path leading from E Spring Street down to the sundial and the area surrounding it and i am studying why it is a popular place to take pictures. To be more specific of the space and give you and actual image look to the picture above.

Describing the space:

The space starts from E Spring Street with a pathway that starts in the center half circle. On either side of the entrence of the space it has small shrubs and flowers. I think the half circle shape is made to be inviting and engulfs you into the pathway. On either side of the pathway leading toward the sundial are flowers and shrubs of all different colors. It is well manicured, just like the garden, with two styles of mulching and two different styles of mulch being different colors to accentuate a wavy patten in between the flowers and shrubs. Toward the end of the path is a monument dubbed the "sundial" even though it does not resemble your normal sundial. It is very ornate with turtles holding a globe shape on there shells. The entire surface itself is raised about six to eight inches above the normal walking ground to express it is more then just a work of art but a memorial of sort. At the very end of the path comes places to sit and either look over the beautiful quad or look back down the path. Looking down the quad you see dorms and at the end of the quad is the biggest building called Mckraken. It is the nicest looking building in the quad and is the center of attention for such reasons. The whole area has lamp post, lining down the path and then around quad. Even during the night is the space fighting for your attention.

Invisible forces on this space:

Ive noticed that the invisible forces at this space do not really apply to the students that go here, for they more adhere to the visitor of the space. When tour groups come through, this space it is often recognized. I over heard visitor A talking to visitor B. A: where are we? B: this is the sorority quad. A; O yeah! ive seen pictures of this place online. Through my research i have found that this spot has somewhat been place branded, which means that this place is what has been accentuated to represent miami and there fore recognized. 

Things i have observed while visiting the space were:

-students passing by walking

-students passing by biking

-students passing by running

-squirrels

-birds

-students play quiditch

-tour groups coming through

-visitors not in tour groups

-mostly females passing by

-mostly female visitors

Patterns i came to recognize:

-students not paying attention to the space

-visitors paying attention to the space

-tour groups making a stop infront of the sundial to talk to groups signifying this was an important space.

A theme i came to conclusion of:

-students did not seem to pay attention to the space while visitors and tour groups where pretty much forced to recognize the space but enjoyed the space. The enjoyment of the space was not forced on them but it was something that came to them through the invitation of the space.

barry lopez

I develop a sense of history in Lopez's essay when he talks about learning the landscape through the people that are indigenous to the area and are more inclined to know the weather patterns then to know know current events. Through these people Lopez gets a sense of history by learning the lay of the land and how it has changed and how the environment has changed the area.

Lopez creates a sense of culture through the history and also through the landscape and how the landscape effects the people. He says that unless you spend time somewhere its hard to understand the history and culture, and even then you need to go to the country and talk to the people before you go to a museum. I think he was trying to tell us in this article that to understand culture you need to understand landscape and the people and through them you can understand culture because going to a museum does not show the significance of the culture.

Coffee and Shopping Citing Methods

              Both authors of Coffee and Shopping use many different sources in their papers to make them more credible and be academic papers. Each of them uses case studies. That is a process or record of research in which detailed consideration is given to the development of a particular matter over a period of time. Both authors research there spaces thoroughly. They both also use ethnography, which is studying people’s cultures.

            I think I am going to have to use a case study method. I am going to have to sit at the space and research. I am going to have to use the method of survey. I am going to have to ask people questions that are tagged along with specific answers to choose from. I am also going to have to use the interview method. I will be asking people a series of questions to figure out why they were interested in taking a picture by the sundial. I think these methods will help to make it more credible.

Proposal

Have you ever wondered why the picture of the sorority quad from the sundial is so popular? I’m sure you know at least one person that has a picture of them and their friend standing in front of the wall looking down the quad toward McCracken Hall on their Facebook or Twitter. I know I can say I do. Why is this space so popular? It’s just a quad with grass right? Not so much. There are many discourses that play into the popularity of this picture.

I am asking you to considerer letting me research this space to find out why it is so popular. My plan is to sit by the sundial on a weekend day and a weekday to see which day would get the most traffic. I figure this is one factor that can contribute to the amount of pictures taken there. Next, I would like to find out is it students taking the majority of the pictures, or is it future students, or is it just people that happen to be visiting. Thirdly, what landscape discourses contribute to the appeal of this space? Is there something in particular that makes this space popular?  These are just some of the things I would like to research in this space to answer the question why is this a popular space to take pictures?

I think I am qualified to study this space because I live in the sorority quad (not in a sorority hall) and I notice quite often people take pictures there. I always think to myself, why out of the entire campus do people choose to take a picture there. Maybe they have taken pictures elsewhere but I do not notice that as often as I do in this particular space. I would like to answer this question and see if this has to contribute to a social following, or is it just coincidence.

Coffee

There are many discourses that are considered invisible forces that drive us to consumerism. One is the language used in the association with Starbucks. People that work there are no longer “employees”, they are called baristas. This makes it sound like you are receiving a product created by a professional. This I turn makes can make your cup of coffee more then just a cup of coffee. It becomes a cup of perfection. Would you rather have a cup of perfection from a barista of a cup of dunkin donuts coffee from and employee? You would probably want the cup of perfection from a barista. This is an invisible force that drives you to consumerism. He also talks about the vibe inside of the Starbucks. Employees work in an assembly line with the espresso machine being the center of the line. The Employees are dressed matching and complement the silver and bronze interior of Starbucks. The logo and the quotes on the cups are a huge invisible force on the consumer. The logo possibly expressing sexuality attracts the male audience while the quotes appeal to anyone the reads them, from the passer byers to the guy collecting the trash. I see invisible forces everywhere everyday in life. Anytime you are on the internet and go to google there are ads and when you go to website there are ads down the sides of the website. Have you ever noticed that the ads reflect the things you search on google? This is no coincidence. It is an “invisible force” that pushes products on you even when you are not searching those products now. I think they exist in non-commerce places. They lie everywhere when your not even looking.