Research Journals

#1: “Sponsors of Literacy” by Deborah Brandt

September 15, 2009

Before you read:

1: Who or what has encouraged you the most in your efforts to become a more effective reader or writer in a particular context? Do you have any memories of someone or something specific that may have discouraged your efforts to read and/or write more pleasurably or flexibly?

I was homeschooled until freshman year in high school, so my mom was always encouraging reading and writing. I’ve grown up loving to read as a hobby. On the other hand, my senior year teacher affected my writing in a very positive way because of her grading style and simply because we wrote so constantly. The assignments we had made me feel the need to upgrade my writing skills not only for the constant grades I would recieve, but because every time I wrote I felt the need to write more. Critiques are my discouragement, however horrible that might sound. I would feel judged and pressured to have things done differently than I normally would, even before the critique.

2: From your own observations or experience, what factors prevent people, especially adults, from increasing their literacy skills?

I think it’s pretty much the same reason why people who wait a year before college just decide not to go half of the time. When learning isn’t a daily activity, like in school, people don’t seem to want to return to it. But sometimes people don’t increase their literacy skills because they can’t or don’t have the means to do it.

3: What experiences does the term “sponsor” bring up for you? What do you think about when you hear that word? How do you think someone may actually “sponsor” a particular facet of education?

When I was about ten, my sister and I would go to Christian Adventure Camp every summer, and we would have to get sponsors to be able to pay for it. the church would host an all-nighter and sponsors would give us “x” amount of money if we stayed up all night. Our dad would bring the list to work and we’d go around the neighborhood. Every time I hear the word “sponsor” now, I either think of this experience or NASCAR and Wonderbread. In education, I see sponsoring either as someone promoting a certain facet or someone who has donated a lot of money to a school or campus and is therefore a sponsor with a pretty plaque.

Now that you’ve read:

1: What is the function of a “sponsor of literacy,” according to Brandt?

According to Brandt, a “sponsor of literacy” serves the purpose of teaching and improving one’s literacy or promoting literacy. These sponsors are an initial step to an individual’s pursuit of literacy.

2: Brandt argues that you are not just in pursuit of literacy but that “literacy is in pursuit of [you].” What does she mean by this? How might a sponsor “permit” literacy? How might a sponsor “prohibit” literacy?

As the article suggested, literacy is a growing skill in society, and as it is growing, it relies on intelligent minds to further advance it. And so, not only is a person looking to perfect his/her own literacy skills, society is in pursuit of this person to perfect literacy as a whole. The economic development of literacy depends on individual literacy.

Sponsors may “permit” literacy to secure and assist others, as parents teach children. This permission opens a world of literacy to the sponsored. However, a sponsor might “prohibit” literacy as a way to be superior to the sponsored, much like how masters banned slaves from learning to read. In all, any permission or prohibition is within the sponsor’s own interest.

3: Is your experience more like Raymond Branch or Dora Lopez’s? How?

I’ve experienced a background like Raymond Branch’s because all I ever needed to become literate was handed to me. I was never a minority, which automatically gave me access to any form of reference or teaching style. Being raised to become literate was a way of life to me.

4: Who are the key agents sponsoring your own literacy history? How do you know?

My biggest sponsors of literacy have been my parents and my teachers, of all grades. These people permitted me to learn what I needed to know to be literate. I know this because any early memory I have concerning learning to read and write includes either my mom or my kindergarten teacher. All others have been a part of enhancing or developing my literacy.

5: Who may be the agents “prohibiting” literacy? What advantages might they gain froom this prohibition?

Agents “prohibiting” literacy may be leaders who either feel the need to be superior to their followers or people who simply need someone to get a  job done. If agents prohibit literacy for the purpose of being more intelligent and having more power than others, they would have the advantage of being the first in line for a promotion or they would have the power to make everything go their way. Other agents prohibiting literacy may subtlely take away access to literate resources so that they have someone to complete a very mundane job – one that people who did have literate skills would leave. If everyone was literate, they’d feel the need to do something more or better, and said mundane job would never get finished.

 #2: About WA1

September 17, 2009

          For the first writing assignment, I tried to not only summarize my childhood experiences, but to link them in some way with Deborah Brandt’s article on sponsors. The direction of my writing was to emphasize two of my sponsors and tell of my experiences with them as well as connect to how those experiences have influenced my literacy. I also wanted a focal point of my essay to be the fact that I decided early on to turn away from reading. This brings me to a key concept that I want readers of my essay to understand: my sponsors are the reasons why I came to love reading and why I came back and accepted literacy. I wanted to point out that literacy doesn’t only pursue people because it wants literacy to advance through these people, but that literaccy takes the format of sponsors to pursue those who have remained ignorant of it.

          My writing process for this essay, and any other essays or journals I write, doesn’t involve too much pen and paper. I’ve come to prefer drafting directly onto the computer becasue it’s easier for me to see, read, and edit things. It also gives me an automatic copy on my computer so I don’t lose it and won’t have to spend extra time typing it out. Before writing, I write a very basic outline of what I want to include, though, so I can get my thoughts in order and so I know what I want to write about.

          I haven’t gotten around to thinking up a precise idea for a research question quite yet. I’ve had a couple of thoughts, but I’m not quite sure what is being asked of us. (This was written about a week ago, and so I’ve got a couple of ideas pinned down awaiting discussion )

#3: WA1 Peer Review

My final WA1 draft is different from my rough draft because it elaborates on some of my stories so I could further explain how my sponsors have impacted me. My peer review was helpful; it pointed out which areas I should write more about. Ms. Bridges didn’t really recieve as much credit as she deserved in my rough, for instance, so I made sure I added more on how she helped my writing skills through timed writings and poetry analyses. At first, my essay’s title was the same as the example essay’s because I thought we were supposed to go generic, but after seeing my peer’s essay, and his title recommendations, I started brainstorming. I like my title now, because it ties in with my hook fairly well. Other suggestions from the peer review didn’t make it into my paper, not because they weren’t good suggestions, I just found it difficult to change or add on to certain areas. The review said to elaborate on the books I couldn’t get into – ones I discarded – but I didn’t find a way to do this without disrupting the flow of that section.

For my final project, I might have a topic on literacy as a child – to see what comes of people who have trouble in the beginning as I had – or poetry, but I can’t seem to think up something concrete. Or, if I do think of something interesting, I’m not sure if it applies or how I would attempt to research it. It helped to hear examples last class period, though; they helped give me some direction.

#4 (part 1): “Literacy in School and Out” by Lauren B. Resnick

September 14, 2009

Before Reading:

        I agree with Resnick’s statement that “schools are not the only-or perhaps even the primary-source of literacy competence” because in my experience, schooling only enhanced or developed what I had already learned from my own primary source, my mom. (However, keep in mind that I may be a bit biased towards this opinion, seeing as I was homeschooled until high school.) For the most part, though, the pursuit of literacy begins at a very young age, before schooling begins, when toddlers learn their alphabets from songs, or flashcards, or magnetic letters. I didn’t begin homeschooling until after kindergarten, but even before kindergarten I remember learning my letters by taking magnetic letters and making “cookies” with them, baking them on magnetic trays. Although they were quite inedible, they presented a great way to digest the alphabet. Once I began kindergarten, I only reviewed what I had learned and began developing my spelling skills and such. Even now, my literacy competence is not only provided to me through textbooks, but through books that I read on my own time at home, or through the newspaper, or even a magazine. There are so many other resources available than ones that schools provide. I will admit that for some, the option of learning at home wasn’t available, so they had to rely on schooling, but to name school as their “only” source of literacy competence is questionable because of the many other sponsors of literacy.

After Reading:

         Apprenticeship. Every time I encounter this word I immediately think of a silversmith teaching someone his trade. A scene of wooden shops and cobblestone streets fills my mind, complete with people who look like more realistic forms of the Monty Python and the Holy Grail characters. Since I always associate this term with older times, it was a breath of fresh air to read Resnick’s article and apply the word “apprenticeship” to its role in society today. After reading her article, I have opened my mind to what exactly an apprenticeship is – a mode of learning having to do with acting the part and applying knowledge to a certain physical task, not just learning about it – and I found that I myself am an apprentice! I’m an art major, and I’ve filled the apprentice position by taking art courses in high school and college, learning all I can from the teachers and professors by applying the techniques they teach to the pieces I create. Now that I think of it, apprenticeships are everywhere, from internships to working on a farm.

             The way Resnick approaches literacy as a cultural practice rather than basing it off of individual skills seems to be, to me, a better way of viewing literacy in society. By doing this, she allows literacy to expand beyond what the specific skills are to a realm where it matters what it is that is being read, how people interact with literacy and each other, and why it is they read and write in the first place. Exploring the inner works of literacy helps to view it as a more concrete concept instead of just stopping at reading and writing abilities. Her way of describing literacy in different groups – such as the useful, informational, and pleasurable that she wrote about in this article – further explains how literacy is more in-depth than I ever realized.

            Useful literacy, Resnick explains, is the most practical use; reading recipes, instructions, schedules are all forms of this type. I’ve found that college life is very dependent on this form of literacy because I need it to follow every course’s syllabus, every schedule, all of the homework, and more. In a way, I think useful literacy has the most in common with time management. According to Resnick, useful literacy involves “preparing to do something without actually doing it” (120), which directly coincides with planning a day-to-day college agenda. Apprenticing this type of literacy, I think, is very intriguing because as a child, one may learn the actions to a certain task without being able to read the directions, whereas an older child may be able to read the directions without necessarily being able to act them out. It is a whole different way of thinking when it comes to instruction; not only do people have to be able to read them, but they have to be able to transfer the words to make a mental picture of what it is they have to do. This level of thinking seems way more difficult than just following some directions, and I like how Resnick zoomed in on it. This functional literacy is not represented in schools enough because it is hard to get hands-on with the actions that it includes – other than science class. I was lucky because I attended a vocational school my junior year in high school, so I was able to learn and immediately do the lesson in an activity. Plus, any art class is set up in this form, where you learn and then draw; even if I wasn’t able to attend the vocational school, I would still have opportunity to apply this type of literacy.

            Informational literacy is a whole different matter. It revolves around gaining knowledge, usually through newspapers, magazine articles, and textbooks, and often ends in a discussion. Because of these attributes, it is the most common of the three types of literacies found in schools. It depresses me how Resnick explains this, because it’s so true! School literacy usually involves cramming the most information possible into your head by rote, only to forget it after an assignment or test on it, which, in the end, is useless work. It’s hard to apprentice such a literacy because in order to do it, the apprentice has to appreciate the information they are given, and that normally only happens because it has something to do with their future profession. In all, I’m not quite sure I like the way informational literacy has taken control over schools, and I’m going to head on to my favorite type.

            Pleasurable literacy! Does informal writing include smiley emoticons? For me, it’s the easiest to talk about, and the easiest to apply to apprenticing. Since childhood I’ve enjoyed – and I’m sure many others have enjoyed – storytime in class and reading book series which actually interest me. Harry Potter anyone? Resnick believes that it is the pleasurable literacy that promotes children to liking reading. If they don’t like to read at a young age, there’s no telling how it will affect later years of reading and writing. Reading just for the heck of it increases literacy competence because it introduces a variety of authors and their differing writing styles. I enjoy reading immensely and I have to say it has helped my writing style develop as well as helping me be a better reader in topics that I may not like so much. In schooling, reading for pleasure is limited because there are always books that you have to read, usually textbooks,  in order to complete the assignment afterwards. To word it differently, pleasurable literacy in school is limited because informational literacy in school is unlimited. 

            Reading about the three types of literacy I’ve  just talked about only confirmed my opinions about schooling and literacy, of which I wrote before reading this article. Resnick demonstrated how only one of these three, informational literacy, is largely enforced in schooling through textbook and in order for students to gain more literary competence I strongly support Resnick when she says that the other types of literacy should be introduced to schooling systems in some form.

#4 (part 2): “Writing in the 21st Century” by Kathleen B. Yancey

September 15, 2009

        My English class has been reading literacy article after literacy article and answering questions and writing journals on them, but until now I haven’t noticed that I emphasize my reading literacy way more than my writing. I’ve said how I really enjoy reading, how it has always come kind of naturally to me, but my writing has become a benchwarmer. I guess this has to do with the way people commonly view reading versus the way they view writing; whereas reading is often seen as emotionally pleasing, writing is seen as being full of labor and isolation.

        The history of writing that was explained by Yancey completely surprised me when she started to talk about the way they perceived children’s compositions. I never would’ve made that connection, that reading and listening were “desired modes” (2) for children simply because they didn’t allow the same kind of control that writing did. I made a note while I was reading the article that children were required to read adults’ writings; it sounds kind of dumb – duh! – but when I thought about it in context of what the article was talking about, I found it maddening because it was just another way of controlling children’s literacy. Also, it’s hard for me to grasp that they thought children weren’t ready to compose yet, while my own six and eleven year old sisters have been writing their own stories for a while now.

        In a way, it was weird to think about the history of writing because I keep thinking about my mom. While she was growing up, they were still kicking the kinks out of the process writing! It’s crazy thinking back like that. Plus, personal computers weren’t big until four years (four years!)  before I was born. Now here I am, blogging on my laptop. Cool.

            Throughout the article, I noticed that Yancey was trying to prove a point by repeatedly saying “and still outside of school, people wrote” (4). It goes hand in hand with the article “Literacy in School and Out” by Lauren B. Resnick because it seemed to surprise people early on that anyone would even bother contributing to their literacy competence outside school halls. It seems laughable looking back because people seemed to have no idea how many factors there were that influenced literacy.

            I enjoyed reading the last portion of Yancey’s article the most because it talked about students communicating with the 21^st century technology that’s available. Facebook, MySpace, and text messaging have become so common, so routine, that when you step back and see how much impact they really have it’s quite astonishing. Through these technologies, students have not only been able to remain in contact with people they’ve never met in Timbuktu, but they’ve been able to learn what it means to compose, organize, and relate to people of various statuses. These qualities in themselves make great composers and, with a little charm, great leaders.

#5: “Where Brains Had a Chance” by David Gold

September 16, 2009

Just a few thoughts on the article:

When I began to read, I didn’t really expect Mayo to have had the same view on students that people in Kathleen B. Yancey’s article had in the early stages of writing, that students didn’t or couldn’t have their own perspective on things, or have the “right to language”. It’s hard for me to understand how he both believed this and promoted contemporary, student-centered, changing curricula. Whatever his beliefs, his accomplishments truly astound me. It takes patience, motivation, and a whole barrel of similar characteristics to be able to independently raise a university without the state’s financial help, while accepting students who may not have had the means to pay for an education! I also didn’t expect that he would give as much attention to educating women as well as men, seeing as women hardly had any rights when he was teaching.

I can imagine a schooling system with only lectures and note-taking and memorization perfectly. Oh, the glorious days of high school. What I love about college is that I’m taught to think for myself and to reach conclusions based on my own research, not others. It’s cool how Mayo taught his students like this while Yale (Yale of all colleges!) was stuck in the high school zone. He focused on teaching people how to teach, rather than just relaying facts to students.

A topic that I have brought up previously (in my “before you read” assignment for Brandt) is that some adults do not advance their literate skills outside of high school because they may not have the means to do it. Mayo’s actions in the enrollment of and payment from local people who couldn’t pay for schooling prevented this lack of literacy from happening. He brought education to people who, otherwise, may not have even attempted college because of financial problems or simply because they hadn’t been presented with the idea of higher education. So, in short, he advanced the literacy of the whole Commerce community by placing his normal college there and presenting education to a rural population. In return, the community supported his college amongst the competition of other colleges, contributing to its success.

I especially liked reading about how exactly he taught his students how to be literate, through Shakespeare readings, group readings, oral presentations, debates, essays, poems, etc. It seems that every student became excited about literacy and about learning, and that’s a huge step in education. Not only did Mayo sponsor their literacy, he sponsored it in a way that set them up to be positive sponsors when they teach after college.

#6: Comments

September 21, 2009

I liked seeing what other people had to say on their research journals and how far along they were with thinking of a research question. I was surprised to find out that some people had already looked for people to interview and even some who already had contacts! I liked this research journal, because it helped me see what my classmates are thinking and how they responded to the articles. I think that I’ll continue to check up on their blogs from now on.

#7: Resources

September 23, 2009

I’m really glad to know about the resources available through the library’s arhives even though I’m not exactly sure how the history of Commerce will help my research project topic. I’m still focusing on children’s art and growing literacy, so the closest collection that I think will help my research lies within the Photographic Collection. I’m also hoping they will have records of elementary level education.

The maps are distinctly different as the university grew over the years. I’m not sure that the maps will be too helpful in my research, though, at least not in this stage. My research will be conducted off-campus in either daycare centers or kindergarten level classes.

What I read of the interviews were really interesting! They’re easy to get through (which I honestly didn’t expect) and I liked knowing which questions the interviewer asked and how real it was. It put me more at ease with going out and interviewing people.

So in all, these resources, I think, will help a lot. I may not need the maps at all, or use much of the historical archives, but having them there is already helping me find more direction to my research.

#8: “Fieldworking” Chapters One and Two

September 29, 2009

I really enjoyed reading chapter one of this book a lot more than I thought I would! After hearing my classmates’ opinions on it I was kind of reluctant to begin. It totally captured my attention with the different stories of ethnographers’ studies and it was easy to get through. I especially liked Horace Miner’s article “Body Ritual among the Nacirema”; it is brilliant. I understood how to step back and gain a new perspective on certain environments after reading it. Describing American life from an outsider standpoint makes us look so retarded! It helps me see how different cultures must see our customs and it made me appreciate their “weird” traditions. The truck stop article by Rick Zollo (no last name is cooler) also intrigued me and although it seemed overwhelmingly long at first, I was finished before I knew it! His article calmed my nerves about interviewing people; stepping into his shoes was a comfort. It also gave me an example of putting images along with text for my second writing assignment. The second chapter didn’t go by as easily, but there is definitely a lot of information that I know will be useful to me once I delve deeper into my final project.

#9 (part one): Fieldnotes

September 30, 2009

Art Building- TAMU Commerce, 2:30 p.m., Sep. 30

OBSERVATIONS (THOUGHTS): Entrance: Posters on doors and walls/events  (Text literacy) Art collection of paintings line walls                           Colorful; displays 2D and 3D  (What if no color? no art? How does this affect community literacy?) Messy hallway                                                                                                  Gallery: Silent, awe Drone of video presentation  (Example of other types of literacy / art language) Sculptures, paintings, multi-media,                 photos Mutters of viewers like screams   Upstairs: Ceiling falling apart / leaking Art on walls on staircase   Classrooms: Studios: no order, chairs everywhere,                  stuffed animals and bike parts  (Professor encourages text literacy with writing assignments)     Lectures: uniform table desks, diligent                 writing, utter silence   Smells like paint; toxic   Discussions / Chatter: Gossip – “he’s so spoiled” Silence Athletics Projects due Gallery schedule (community members have various backgrounds with a common trait )  

#9 (part two): “Fieldworking” Ch.3

September 30, 2009

Chapter three, although it is reeeaaaally long, was as easy a read as chapters one and two. I enjoyed reading the excerpt from Mama Day and my sister read it last year in high school, telling me it was really good. I’m thinking of reading it now. At the end of the article, they said that many readers sympathized with Reema’s boy, but I didn’t sympathize with him at all. I found him annoying because he didn’t take the time to understand the culture of the island community and because of this he misinterpreted their history. I saw the situation from the community’s perspective, and I hope I’ll be able to create the same effect when I write my final project. I kind of got the 18&23 reference, but I’m not going to elaborate on that because I’m not confident at all about it.

Intersubjectivity is awesome, not only because it sounds smart, but because it encompasses all perspectives in one study. I really hope to achieve this in my project also, which will take quite a few interviews and a lot of fieldnotes. After reading this chapter, I realize that I took the objective standpoint on my WA2 without very much subjectivity. I didn’t know about the difference, really, but now I know, so I’m going to make my major research a bit more personal.

I was excited to find that artifacts are not limited to the library archives, but consist of any objects found within the environment of study. I’m still not sure what I’ll do with this new information, but it’s nice having that option now.

It was hilarious reading the “Confessions of a Blog Addict” by Skye Angus, especially the WT…? section! It reminded me of my mom and her T9 skills. Every “cool” turns to “book”. 

“That’s so book!”  

#10: Activity pg 218 and Questions

October 6, 2009

Based on Deborah Brandt’s article “Sponsors of Literacy”

A. (Space) What is (are) the location(s) in which this analysis took place?

            The analysis took place all over the United States; Brandt interviewed more than one hundred people. Some people were Mexican Americans like Dora Lopez, who may not have had direct access to literary resources, and some people were European Americans like Raymond Branch, who had access to computers, books, you name it.

B. (Actors) Who are the members of this group/subgroup as represented in this article? Describe them.

            As I said above, Dora Lopez and Raymond Branch are key actors in Brandt’s article by describing the differences in how a person’s environment and upbringing can affect their literacy. Whereas the European Americans of the white middle class had access to literacy through libraries and technology at home, the Mexican Americans lived miles away from groceries even and strove to learn. Another actor is Dwayne Lowery, an Eastern European who started in an assembly line job and ended up being a representative for a union. His change in literacy was dramatic because of the union training he went to and because of the speaking and writing he was having to do.

C. (Activities) In what activities do the members of this group or subgroup engage?

            Some of the people Brandt interviewed were clerks and secretaries, like Dora Lopez, Carol White, and Sarah Steele. These women learned to use computer programs, speak publicly, file credit reports, and even be bilingual. Dwayne Lowery juggled schooling, conferences, and writing briefs for appeals.

D. (Acts) Describe one or more of the “single actions” within an activity (as described in response to the previous question).

            A single action used by most of the actors is using a computer. This opened many opportunities to advance their literacies technologically as they were at work or at home.

E. (Objects) What are some of the objects used as a regular part of the activities in which the members of this group engage?

            Computers     Novels     Newspapers     Telephones     Briefs

F. (Events) What are some of the related activities as carried out by the group?

            Using computers relate Dora Lopez, Carol White, Raymond Branch, and Sarah Steele. The women were also related in the fact that they all did clerical work in an office, consisting of answering phones, doing paperwork, and speaking to or leading people.

G. (Times) When do these events take place and how long do they generally take?

            The actors normally began their literacy journey at younger ages, from twelve to maybe mid-twenties. As for the duration of the events, that’s hard to say; it depends on the jobs they had and other obstacles such as raising children.

H. (Goals) what do the members of this group or the group as a whole want to achieve and/or accomplish?

            All of the members of Brandt’s interviews shown in the article had the common goal of wanting to increase their literacy. They increased their literacies by learning different languages, learning to read and write, and learning how to speak publicly.

For my project, I wanted to focus on the gallery in the Art Building, but I might have to focus on actual studio classes because the gallery doesn’t really have ideal situations. I won’t be able to take pictures or talk in too much detail about the art on display and I’m not sure how people will react when I ask them questions once they exit. After reading chapter five I have a bit of a better outlook on where I should be starting, and the permission slip is what made my conservations about the gallery concrete.

I keep trying to concentrate on the place in the Art Building more than the community inside, and I think the activity I did above helped me focus more on the people, what they want, how they think, and what they do.

1. What is your major research question?

How does the environment in the Art Building affect the community’s visual literacy?

1. What is your proposed research site and how will this choice affect your question?

I think I’d like to focus on a studio classroom if the gallery doesn’t work out. This choice will affect the actions I take to answer the research question.

1. What sorts of access do you have to this community?

I have access to the building weekdays until five, and I’m a student in the building, so I know my way around.

1. Where and how will you conduct your research?

I think my research will involve quite a few interviews and a lot of observations on the interactions between the students and between them and the art.

1. How will you go about obtaining permission? Who will you approach? How?

I’ll start at the office and ask the secretaries, because they’re the first ones around the building and they have resources such as keys and contact with many people. I think I should also ask Professor Daun, the Head of Art, because he’s the main man.

#11 (part 1): “Ethnography and Composition” by Beverly Moss

October 6, 2009

I like how personable Moss is for the first couple of pages; it really made me pay attention because I could relate to the kind of research she was preparing to do. I never thought of the implications that might arise because I am a member of the community I am studying, just like she was. I really need to set aside any knowledge that I go in with so I can see the big picture from a new perspective. I’ve realized that I’ve already begun to think of what people might say during the interviews and what my observations will be like and I really need to stop that or I won’t encompass the true community. This goes a bit hand in hand with my conservations about using the gallery, because I felt that I wouldn’t be able to accurately describe the scene without pictures, but after my appointment with my English professor, I think I’ll be able to pull it off.

Moss really emphasizes the need to see a community from a new perspective and to be open-minded, even if you have previous knowledge or biases. This is a huge obstacle to overcome and I hope it won’t be too difficult, because this simple rule defines what it means to be an ethnographer: to “study, explore, and describe a group’s culture” (pg 2). The Mama Day excerpt describes the difficulties that could come from being a member of the community I’m researching, and I hope I can portray it correctly.

I’m happy to have chosen the gallery in the Art Building because I already have access to the community there; I am a student in the building, it is open from one to five on weekdays, and I volunteer to monitor the gallery for a couple of hours a week for extra credit. This gives me the great advantage of being able to use my time to make fieldnotes and observe the people going in and out before making contact with them through interviews. Asking permission to do so is another task, but I don’t think it will be a problem. I plan on making use of artifacts, such as flyers and ads for the gallery, newspapers, and interviews for my study. I’m not quite sure if surveys are the right way to go in my case because of the randomness of the people coming through.

Moss also emphasizes analyzing fieldwork bit by bit as it is accumulating, because if a researcher leaves it all until it is complete, then there’s too much information and patterns could be lost. I wonder if there will be patterns with the people who visit the gallery…

A huge tip given by Moss is to write absolutely everything down, even if it is familiar to you or seems unimportant. Every detail can be useful, because without the small picture, it’s hard to get the big picture. This can also be incorporated into interviews. Everything someone says is important. Everything. Moss says listening is a key component to becoming a good ethnographer, because missing a few quotes here and there could mean drastic changes in a study. In order to make sense of everything, having someone who isn’t a member of my community could be loads of help because they already have blank slates. If they don’t understand what I’m saying, I’m not observing correctly or writing enough information down.

#11 (part 2): Mama Day Excerpt

October 6, 2009

What assumptions did you bring to this text, this region’s geography, the group of sea islanders, and the rural family beliefs?

I assumed that it would be necessary for the islanders to rely on Georgia and/or South Carolina for imports and economic stability. This makes me feel that the group of islanders seemed proud of their community’s independence and especially their past with Sapphira Wade. The story of Sapphira Wade was really interesting to read, and I liked how everything that related to those events were referred to as “18&23″. Could the stories have blown up in proportion to what really happened?

What other books/movies are you reminded of?

This reminds me of an article I’ve read recently for history on an African American woman named Mum Bett. The style of the writing and the story of becoming a free community are similar to how Mum Bett sued her master for restricting her rights and won.

What was hard for you to understand in this text?

The reference to “18&23″ confused me a lot at first, but as I kept reading it became clearer and clearer how the events relate, like the girls making the boys swoon or men trying to buy things dishonestly.

What stood out for you? Where did you find yourself entertained or immersed?

Again, the phrase “18&23″ caught my eye quite a few times, there’s something about it that leaves me thinking that I’m missing something and I want to read it over and over to understand. I also was intrigued by Reema’s boy and his conclusion, how he totally misinterpreted the culture and history of the islanders.

#12: Groundwork Activity and Responses

October 7, 2009

Groundwork Activity (pg 166 “Fieldworking”)

 Try to identify the codes or behaviors you’re unfamiliar with in your site.

In what situations must you act with care?

            Because I will be taking fieldnotes and doing my research in the gallery, I’ll have to observe very quietly. The gallery is a place of silence – other than the video presentation on display – where people go to view and ponder artwork and have “quiet time.” I will also need to act with care for my interviews since the people I talk to I most likely will not know and I don’t want to scare them off by asking too many questions at once or making my purposes unclear.

 Learn new rules of politeness?

            The rules of politeness usually follow alongside acting with care concerning being quiet, not interrupting, and approaching strangers to interview them. I plan on waiting outside the door to the gallery and talk to people once they exit in order not to disturb those still inside viewing pieces. The greatest act of politeness, however, is obtaining permission to study, which my project also depends on.

 Wait to be told what to do?

            I don’t think I’ll have to wait for anything. As long as I get permission and talk to the Head of Art, I’ll be good to continue my research without interruption hopefully. 

What behaviors do you need to observe quietly to master?

            I need to quietly observe people’s interactions with other people in the gallery and with the artwork, and also behaviors such as loudness, quietness, touching art, or standing a yard away from it. I should also observe concentration on the pieces versus quickly skimming through or texting and talking instead. 

In what ways do the people in that culture expect you to behave like them and will they excuse you for doing things your own way?

            The people in this community expect me to follow the above rules on politeness and courtesy within the gallery just like everyone else should. As long as I do not interrupt anyone’s concentration, I am basically free to do things my own way because everyone has different ways of viewing art. Some stare blankly, some are in deep thought, some skim, some talk to themselves or jot down notes. My notes will just include fieldnotes : ) 

QUESTIONS:

What makes you stare at one piece, but skip past another? Is it a matter of subject, style, size, or media?

Why do you come to the gallery? Why do you return? What motivates you?

Are you a student at the university? High school?

How far do you have to travel to get to the gallery?

Why do you come? Pleasure? An assignment? Work?

Do you know an artist whose work is on display?

Are you an artist? If so, do you take classes or is it a hobby?

Are you inspired by the artwork on display? How so?

Who do you know that hasn’t gone to the gallery, and why do you think they don’t visit?

Do you think the community of Commerce has good enough access to the campus gallery?

Response to “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker

The values put on certain artifacts throughout the story are vastly different. It surprised me at first that Dee (Wangero) was so interested in the benches, churn, and quilts! I figured that, because of her introduction, she would be horrified to see everything the way it had been in the old house. After experiencing college, it seemed to me that with her personality Dee would look down upon anything hand-made and worn down. Especially since she is such an extravagent person and wants people to know this through her appearance and new name, Wangero Leewanika Kemanjo.

Dee’s reaction to the artifacts found in her mother’s house wasn’t what I expected at all. Whereas the narrator and Maggie found the objects insignificant and normal, Dee looked upon them with a reverence to the work put into them – “Didn’t Uncle Buddy whittle it out of a tree you all used to have?” – and how much value they held to the family history. It gets both easier and harder for me to understand why she feels this way towards the items; is she really that interested in the crafting of the items and the heritage they have, or does she only see how “priceless” they are? I can’t see her as being this shallow, but it’s also strange to think of how college could have changed her views on the artifacts so drastically.

The narrator and Maggie were in the position of using the artifacts every day, sitting on the benches, laboring over churning butter, sewing meticulous quilts. They had reason not to be impressed with their surroundings, especially since they were of poorer class and the narrator had no background education to benefit from. Race also affects the way they view their possessions because they weren’t used to elaborate surroundings or being of equal status to white people. Dee apparently never had a problem standing up for herself and knowing what she felt the family should do or own; this affected her hatred of the old house that burned down, and it was expected that she would feel the same about the new house. I think college changed her perspective on the artifacts because her surroundings probably changed to manufactured goods, with plastics and uniformity without unique qualities. She must have learned to appreciate things that she knows people hand crafted and labored over, with a part of them in the product, like her grandma’s quilt. It’s like comparing a cradle found in a baby store, smooth and cold, with twenty more of them in the back room, with a cradle that was made from a tree in the back woods, sanded and carved, the only one like it, handed down from generation to generation within a family.

The culture Maggie and her mother lived in intrigued me and made the article incredibly easy for me to read. I’m automatically interested whenever this kind of lifestyle is narrated, one where people work for everything they have and it’s just a way of life. In a way, this makes me relate to Dee in that I have experienced the easy lifestyle, of buying items and working from the comfort of my desk, and as such I am fascinated by anyone who doesn’t have these opportunities.

 Response to “Creating a Community” by Beverly Moss

This article really gave me more in-depth advice on how to conduct research in a community of which I am a member. I think it’s cool how Moss expanded her ethnography research to other churches as well as her own, and this helped me understand why my professor told me it would be helpful to interview people in the community of Commerce who don’t go to the gallery. I felt that this would be extra needless work and I didn’t see the point in it, but now it makes sense to use in order to gain all perspectives on the gallery within the community.

The way the manuscript minister brought his experiences through his sermons reminded me of how artist’s bring their experiences and views through their pieces. It astounded me to read of all of the programs the church has! Tutorial sessions, counseling, daycare, it has everything. I really want to go to Chicago just to look at this church from the outside.

Whenever I think of a pastor’s education, I normally visualize more of an apprenticeship than a bachelor’s degree. It was really cool to learn how many different degrees and classes there are. Having these educational backgrounds are key components to these pastors’ sermons, because they incorporate things they’ve learned plus things they’ve seen and experienced. I’m still wondering what kind of political views they advocate to their congregations, though.

After reading about the manuscript minister, I thought his church was unique in that it offered education as well as services. I never expected that each church would have this feature, or any church for that matter.

The communication within the churches, particularly the partial-manuscript minister’s church, is distinctly different inside the service and out. The ministers’ sermons depend on the reactions of the congregations, and whether the minister gets loud with passion or quiet with climax, the congregation responds similarly. It was interesting how outgoing the members were after the sermons when they talked to Moss. The way Moss didn’t tell them she was a researcher reminded me of one of my classmates who noticed a pattern in behavior when people realized she was a member of the Honors College.

#13: Barton and Hamilton article and Chapter 4 in “Fieldworking”

October 12, 2009

Response to “A Social Theory of Literacy Practices and Events”

By David Barton and Mary Hamilton

 I’ve grown accustomed to the idea that there can be many different types of literacy – such as body literacy, textual literacy, computer literacy, and even my topic of visual literacy – but what I liked about this article was the way Barton and Hamilton spelled their theory out with steps and examples. They came up with six propositions on the nature of literacy. Two of these propositions especially caught my eye because I’d never really thought of literacy as being. One was kind of a “duh” moment that deepened my definition of literacy, that it is associated with different domains of life. I had kind of thought of this before, thinking of how people’s backgrounds and environments affect their literacy levels, but I hadn’t yet applied this to my research in the gallery. I need to consider where the visitors are coming from in the community and what their backgrounds in art are. People with a lot of art expertise, who may even be artists themselves, will have a totally different view on the gallery and the pieces in it than people who have no understanding of art. The second proposition was that “literacy is historically situated.” Huh. I knew the archives in the library would be useful to some students’ research and I should rummage through old newspapers and pamphlets concerning the gallery, but I never thought of these resources as being necessary to how literacy functions. So basically the gist of both of these points is that background is key, whether it be personal or historical.

Another tidbit I came across was that because literacy is a social practice, the people’s awareness of the literacy is vital to find out for my research. When I interview, I’m going to definitely make sure I ask questions concerning the way visitors view their visual literacy and whether the gallery influences it or not. However important the artworks are to the visitors’ visual literacies and to my research, I should also observe the textual literacy found in the gallery through signs and advertisements because Barton and Hamilton feel “texts are a crucial part to literacy events.” I’m not sure if this would be taking my research too far and making it too broad though…I’ll run it past my professor first.

At first, when I was reading through the article, I was a bit worried about everything involving textual literacy and hardly applying to my topic of visual literacy…up until the pudding. The cooking literacy section applied to the other range of non-textual literacies, which can include “mathematical systems, musical notation, [and] maps.” And art. As they continued to write about separate domains, and how there are private and public behaviors within each community, I realized that I should take fieldnotes and possibly interview some artists whose work is being introduced to the gallery. I have gone to one of the openings so far and I was really drawn to a specific piece and kept drifting back to it. A while later, a woman was standing beside me, looking at the same photograph, and started talking to me about what she thought of it. Turns out she was the creator of my favorite piece! The openings are the events where the visual literacy is concrete and where interactions between viewer and artwork are more visual than any other afternoon. Fieldnotes that I have taken so far could hardly pass as informational on the interactions because the gallery is quite vacant on weekdays, and so I have extended notes on the appearance of the gallery rather than the community within it. This must change!

Chapter Four: “Fieldworking”

 One thing that I have yet to get a firm grip on is “looking at my fish”! I still need to practice applying my readings by not applying previous knowledge of my place of research, within the gallery. I keep realizing this over and over again; it just won’t stick with me! I find reading this book to be difficult, not because the information isn’t useful – because it is, really – but because of the length and my apparently undiscovered, un-medicated ADD.

I like the concept of “personal geography.” I can relate to it easily because I’ve moved around a lot throughout my life and have been surrounded by many different cultures and constitutions. Even though I have a pretty firm grip of the concept of different location’s cultures, I have not really been exposed to many galleries, so this is a new experience for me even though I am an art major! Fun stuff.

The mapping space section was really helpful, because it gave me directions on how to use my fieldnotes on the gallery’s appearance (which I have already said I have too much of…) in a constructive manner. The most beneficial way to take my fieldnotes one step further would be to remain in the art gallery from one to five, which are the hours of operation, in order to get a glimpse of how the community truly functions, how many people come, and how they react to and interact with the pieces.

The portfolio section gave me more insight on why exactly a portfolio could be useful because I honestly didn’t see why before. I like how she sketched her fieldsite, and I think this will be really useful in my descriptions and later extended fieldnotes. Portfolios are great places to compile everything that has been collected, researched, and analyzed by a researcher. I think that having an audio section with interviews would be extremely useful also, complete with a typed version to follow like a script. This brings me to introducing the idea of an audio essay for the symposium? Maybe? Pictures might be okay, but they would have to be outside of the actual gallery for the artists’ privacy. A video might be cool, of interviews done outside of the gallery exit once viewers have seen – and been influenced by? – the artworks. Well here’s something to debate…

#14: Box 8 in “Fieldworking” and #13 Expanded Fieldnotes

October 14, 2009

Box 8 in “Fieldworking” and Expanded Fieldnotes

Gallery: October 7, 2009

I was excited to learn more about the community within the gallery when I went to take my fieldnotes in the gallery last week. I had already brushed up on it as I took notes around the whole Art Building before I chose my specific area to research and I really wanted to learn more about the environment there and see the relationship between viewer and art. Fortunately for me, my art professor gives one extra credit point per hour spent monitoring the gallery, making sure people don’t touch the pieces and the like, so I went on a day I would be there watching the gallery anyway.

I didn’t expect many people to come through the gallery in only one hour on a Wednesday, but to my surprise (and horror) no one came at all except for one woman who was there for about five minutes and another woman who left upon my arrival. Sad day! This made me realize that my only fieldnotes that day would consist of “looking at my fish,” or in other words, simply describing what I saw in the gallery instead of observing the community inside it. And so, my assumptions on the community within the gallery changed from being able to easily express the community through all of the visitors that would be walking through to assuming that people wouldn’t be coming to the gallery, and that I would have to rely on extra time within the gallery to hunt down visitors, in a nice way, to interview them. This opened my eyes to what my English professor was implying about the gallery when she spoke to me about interviewing a man on campus who is working on making the gallery easier for the Commerce community to access.

And so my descriptions begin.

For the sake of the artist’s privacy and possible (probable) copyright on their work, I’m not going into specifics when I describe pieces; it’ll basically just be a bit of a layout. There are always two to three sculptures in the middle of the gallery, either sitting on the floor or presented on a stand if it’s small enough. These are what the monitors make sure people know not to sit on (!) or trip over. There are quite a few different media used within each show, sometimes there will be primarily paintings and collages, other times more photographs or three dimensional sculptures. The gallery that is currently shown consists of a happy mix of media. A collection of eleven small photos line one wall, next to an oil painting, while a bonsai tree lives next to an abstract sculpture of condiments. Panels upon panels of spotlights point out each piece individually, illuminating the room without use of any florescent lights overhead; these help the pieces avoid looking washed out. The room is quite quiet; the only sounds are the shuffling of feet and chatter of students outside, the air conditioning vents, and the drone of the video presentation. This video presentation is accompanied by six pictures of the family it conveys for seventeen minutes. This really intrigued me, actually. I never would have guessed a video biography would make it into a gallery; I guess I never really thought of videos as pieces of art. As I discussed this later with a friend, she told me about when she went to galleries in Dallas and Fortworth that contained many videos apiece! I am intrigued about the gallery in general because I know that what is in store for me there is a sense of peace (ah, the wonders of droning!) and a connection to my major in art. Appreciating someone else’s art is a part of what I enjoy because I can see what other artists are thinking and achieving. And so, every time the gallery opens, I’m eager to see what pieces made it into the twenty five or so slots available. This truly does make me aware of my own relationship with art and the gallery that may present bias to my research and will affect my writing and notes. “Look at your fish!”

To continue to the last portion of Box 8, I’ll go ahead and say what disturbed me as well. Although it may seem strangely over concerned, it deeply bothers me that hardly anyone comes to the gallery. There is a sheet on the monitor’s table where we put our names, ID numbers, time in and time out, and how many people visited while we were there. Only three people came the day I went. This includes the two people I tallied when I was there, one of which being the woman who exited a few minutes after I got there. I knew this woman was the only tally mark for the monitor before me, but I counted her again with a tally under my name, just to make myself feel better. Another thing that I caught myself being annoyed with was when a secretary from the Art Building obviously knew the woman who came for five minutes because they talked really loud and laughed really loud. No one else was in the gallery but me, so the echoing didn’t really matter, but I found myself thinking Really? Come on. Maybe I’m just weird to think that a gallery is supposed to be a place of silent contemplation of art and maybe life instead of a chatter box. My bad. (That was sarcastic.)

For Commerce Week on Writing I’m definitely going to “On Being an Artist: Daily Affirmations and Gang Jargon” with Professor Miller because it’s related to my research topic. I’ll be taking some notes and I will probably record his spiel so I can refer to what he says later on to take more in-depth expanded notes. Depending on what he ends up talking about, I’ll interview him for my research project; it might not even depend on anything if I decide I just want his outlook on visual literacy. I’m not sure yet. I hope to learn more about being in the art field in general for my own benefit, and I also hope he touches on either the gallery, or presenting one’s work, or how art affects those who aren’t artists. Or all of them : )  Another meeting I’d like to join is “Halls of Poetry (Creative Writing)” with Robin Reid, not for any research benefit, but because I’ve always had an interest in poetry and I’d like to see what will come out of it.

#15: Halls of Poetry, Expanded Fieldnotes

October 20, 2009

When I first entered the room in the Hall of Languages, there weren’t as many people as I thought there would be, this being the first meeting of Commerce Week on Writing and all. I didn’t see anyone I knew from English class, so I just nestled myself into the center of a middle row, allowing myself to see and hear a majority of my surroundings. There was a lot of chatter, only a few people came by themselves, everyone seemed to know everyone else. I later learned that a class was earning extra credit for coming, so obviously they knew each other and sat in little groups. As the program began, there were clicks of cameras, chewing gum smacks, quite a few rustlers, and a video camera zooming in and out. All around me were students expressing their nervousness about reading their creative writings, partly because of expected judgment and peer pressure, partly because of the video camera.

Among the topics of the readings were: 9/11, resumes, ballads, vampires, acid trips, and more. It wasn’t all poetry even; there were excerpts of short stories and pieces of drama as well. Some things I noticed while people were reading aloud at the podium were that a majority of those reading had no eye contact whatsoever with the audience, which I understand what with the mentioned pressure and whatnot. Because of this, the theatrical performances got the most attention from the audience, such as the drama or one of the comical short stories. The accompanying gestures and inflections in the voices of the readers caught people’s attention, and received the most reactions from the audience, mostly through laughter, and the loudest applause.

This showed me a point to literacy that I had never even thought about. I read about how people’s different backgrounds affect their literacy, but I never thought of the presenting side to literacy. The way literacy is presented to an audience affects the audience’s comprehension of the text as well as its appreciation for it. Reactions in the audience change with each reader, illustrating the relationship between the reader’s communication and the text. The readers who spoke with the most confidence and who had a certain casual presence on the stage not only got the best reactions from the audience, but they related the text to every person there to where anyone could value it. Even the atmosphere of the room changed between readers. For some, it was light and casual as they breezed through their text and the room got giggly and loud. For others, the room got so quiet you could hear the silent flash of a camera go off as the reader shifted uncomfortably at the podium while reading softly.

This could also relate to the visual literacy that I’m researching, because one of the key components to the gallery’s exhibitions is the composition of the space, or the presentation. If all of the art pieces were strewn together without spacing or alignment, a sense of structure and importance would be lost. The visual interpretation of the actual piece wouldn’t even matter anymore because of the distractions of the mess. Also, within individual pieces, presentation is essentially what the piece is; presentations are visual depictions of a concept or idea, otherwise known as art.

One of the more enthusiastic “readings”, and definitely an obvious favorite of the group, was a musician who wrote two original songs, and sang them accompanied by her guitar and some sing-alongs from the crowd. By interpreting the lyrics with ease, interrupting her own text to talk to the audience, everyone in the room lit up, tapping their hands on their laps, clapping, and bobbing their heads.

Going to the first meeting of Commerce Week on Writing was very beneficial to my broadened understanding of the definition of literacy. With every article I read or meeting I attend, literacy is becoming clearer and clearer to me.

#16: CWoW session and “Fieldworking” Chapter 5

October 31, 2009

“On Being an Artist: Daily Affirmations and Gang Jargon”

Oct. 22, 1:00-2:00 

I went to this Commerce Week on Writing meeting because it was directly related to my research project on visual literacy. However, I had no idea what I was walking into. The meeting was held in the Art History room of the Art Building, and Mr. Miller – one of the art professors – was the speaker. I had seen three of his pieces in the first exhibition in the gallery, and, needless to say, I was very befuddled by them. His art incorporates many different fabrics as background media and texts that spell out daily affirmations, such as “Today, I promise I’ll email.” I’ll be honest and say that I merely glanced at his pieces for a few seconds and then moved on, unable to comprehend the reasons behind his artistic decisions. Once everyone filed in, Mr. Miller dubbed himself as click-master and began the slideshow. After the hour we spent sitting in the dark, watching the slideshow of his work, I had new information on how visual literacy integrates text that I had never thought of. It struck me when he said, “I’m not writing text, I’m drawing and painting text.” It seems really obvious, because duh, he painted the picture, but when I thought about it literacy-wise, art opens free interpretation and representation of text. Because he viewed the text in his pieces this way, he improvised any mistakes he might have made while painting, like putting letters too far apart or misspelling a word. Mr. Miller would simply put a circle around one of the letters that was spaced too wide to pull the word back together, or squeeze in a letter or two he may have forgotten, like the “e” in the middle of “vegetable”. In one piece, he accidentally painted the word “what” twice. He calls these “pictorial instances”. I thought they were hilarious. Another really good point Mr. Miller made during his presentation was that images can change the meanings of texts around them. The example he showed us included a painting with the phrase “I’m painting the town red,” but the placement of a hand grenade at the bottom of the piece puts a totally different perspective on it! This Commerce Week on Writing session helped me find a new perspective on visual literacy, and even though I knew to mention that pieces of art can have texts in them, I now have some valid points to make about them! 

“Fieldworking” Chapter 5 

I’m going to be interviewing very soon, so reading chapter five wasn’t as horrible as I imagined. I don’t feel any less nervous, per say, but I definitely have learned a few tips. I’ll be working on specific questions to ask Mr. Odom and Professor Huber, and I was glad to have read about open and closed questions, so I’ll be sure to avoid yes or no questions and focus on questions that will give me stories and more in-depth answers. I’m excited to hear about Mr. Odom’s project with the gallery, and Professor Huber is so filled with stories, opinions, and random facts that I’ll be sure to get more of an insider’s view. The story “I Can Read and I Can Write” by Jennette Edwards was my favorite, because while I read, I could picture the whole scene the way Edwards observed and the way Lee lived. This will most likely come to good use as I begin writing my fourth Writing Assignment. I will be using a tape recorder for my interviews – as long as the interviewee says it’s alright, of course – so I didn’t think much of actually taking notes, maybe some here and there. This article changed my mind; now I want to pay attention to my interviewee’s posture, grammar, surroundings, etc. so the reader of my research can relate to the scene. I think it’s so endearing the way Lee is so proud of his accomplishments and yet so humble, especially when he states at the end that he’s the secretary of his union, for the second time. 

Box 22: 

I interviewed a freshman of the Honors College at TAMU-Commerce about the gallery, about literacy, and about visual literacy. I tried to incorporate her background and thoughts about art in general as well. 

Where do you live? 

On campus: Prairie Crossing 

What is your major?

Undecided 

Have you ever been to a gallery off-campus?

Nope. 

Have you been to the gallery on campus?

No.

 Why not?

It’s really hard to find time between schoolwork and work, and it’s more of a frivolous activity to me anyway. It’s not on the top of my priorities. 

Would it benefit you at all to visit? How or how not?

In all honesty, I don’t think it would because I know I won’t be an art major. It could give me a chance to relax (frivolous!) but it wouldn’t help me at all academically. 

Do you think the gallery is well enough advertised?

Personally, I don’t ever hear about it and it’s never really advertised on campus; I probably wouldn’t pay attention even if it was. 

Are you interested in seeing other people’s art?

Yeah! I’ve always liked art, it’s just I never have time to see it. I can never find time to expand on what I enjoy. 

Do you have any art classes?

I’ll be in Art History next semester. 

What is your interpretation of literacy?

Literacy is any way to convey an idea or belief or emotion, not just through writing, but through expressions, body language, music, etc. 

Of visual literacy?

The same as literacy; people interpret things differently. People will interpret a piece of art in different ways. Literacy is the way your mind shapes something, and it won’t mean the same thing to everyone.

#17: Expanded Fieldnotes and “Fieldworking” Chapter 7

October 31, 2009

Halls of Poetry: 

I was surprised upon entering the session because I really didn’t expect the hustle and bustle, much less the chatter. When I envisioned this first session, I thought maybe it would be a workshop where people came to learn about poetry and to write some. I definitely didn’t think it would be as airy and carefree as it was, and I was totally wrong about the goings-on of the meeting. I’m really glad it didn’t turn out to be a workshop, though, because the student readings that it turned out to be was more fun! Each reading kept my close attention, and when students switched out or if there was a dull moment, I was examining my surroundings. The most intriguing aspects of the session were, as mentioned before, the more dramatic performances, especially the hilarious excerpt from a student’s narrative. The way he spoke and presented his work contributed to his style of writing perfectly. It is one of the highlights of my memory from this meeting. There weren’t any instances where I felt at all disturbed, the atmosphere the whole time was laid back and easygoing, and even if a certain poem was morbid or depressing, it was more interesting rather than alarming.

On Being an Artist: Daily Affirmations and Gang Jargon 

As I said earlier in #16, I really had no idea what this session would entail. I never imagined that it would be a slideshow solely of Mr. Miller’s work, I was expecting more of an analysis of art around the world and how it’s changed. Maybe some graffiti, I had no idea. At first, I was mildly disappointed that it would be just a portfolio of one artist’s work, but I warmed up to the idea quickly because they were so out-of-the-box that I wanted to know the reasons why he did the things he did. It was extremely intriguing; without Mr. Miller there to explain the thoughts behind each piece, I would never have understood his style. I still hardly understand it! But I appreciate it more, because of his passion for what he does. One of the pieces was a bit disturbing because included a nude woman, which wouldn’t have bothered me otherwise, some artists draw nude people all the time, it was just the way it was presented in the painting that was a bit uncomfortable. 

“Fieldworking” : Chapter 7 : Box 31: 

The major search engine I used was Google because it’s basically the only search engine I use; it’s da bomb. I wanted to research the different definitions of visual literacy. When I began my research, I wasn’t even sure if “visual literacy” was a real term, I just thought saying it that way best represented what I was trying to prove through the artwork in the gallery. Sure enough, once I typed it into Google, I found the website of an organization called International Visual Literacy Association, which was founded through researchers, educators, artists, and more who recognized the power and importance of visual literacy. I browsed a bit to find that the term “visual literacy” was actually coined in 1969 by John Debes. He believed that visual literacy is a competency that is learned through years of sight, and that “the development of these competencies is fundamental to normal human learning. When developed, they enable a visually literate person to discriminate and interpret the visible actions, objects, symbols, natural or man-made, that he encounters in his environment. Through the creative use of these competencies, he is able to communicate with others.” This was the only benefit to this particular site – seeing as it was a membership join-now organization – so I went back to Google and typed in “tamu-commerce gallery” in hopes of getting more information on the background of the gallery that is my fieldsite. Unfortunately, no matter what I changed in the search engine, there was no official site dedicated to the gallery other than a summary of the first exhibition without updates on the most recent one. I tried to specify my intent by typing “tamu-commerce Art Building gallery,” but to no avail. I ended up going back to the original search and I actually found Michael Odom’s website with his resume of shows he’s participated in and his background education. This was very unexpected and I was really glad to find it! During all of this searching, I made absolutely sure to avoid any curriculum sites for teachers and lessons and to especially avoid Wikipedia. Even though many people use this, I still don’t feel comfortable in believing it’s a totally credible source.

#18: “Fieldworking” Chapter 6

October 31, 2009

As the chapter delved into the importance of body language as well as verbal language, I realized that it directly links to what I found in #15 during the Halls of Poetry session, that presentation is everything and represents who a writer is and what they are representing. This comes into research projects because the body language of who I observe and who I interview will show a lot, whether they look comfortable, what makes them tense, if they’re excited about what they’re talking about, etc. I’ll be sure to jot down notes on body language during interviews and as I observe people in the gallery. Observing the clothing of the viewers in the gallery might prove quite interesting! Who knows what the artists will wear… 

BOX 25: 

There are many, many different words in the terminology of artwork that could be confusing to an outsider. As I listened in my art classes and fieldsite, I understood the terms people used to describe how to create pieces or the composition of a certain piece because I am an insider to this community that I am researching. I never thought about having to explain each term an outsider may not understand as I write up my studies. This first hit me when I read Hunter’s blog about the CWoW meeting on gang jargon that I went to with him, and he wrote about being super confused about what Mr. Miller was talking about when he described each piece whereas I easily comprehending. This helped me realize just how effective my background in art is and how it’s influencing my research. And so, I’ve made a glossary of words that are commonly heard in the art world that may help any outsider understand better.

COLOR:

Tint – any color with white added

Tone – any color with grey added

Shade – any color with black added

Chroma – the strength or pureness of a color

Achromatic – a piece that only incorporates blacks, whites, and greys; without color

Monochromatic – a piece that uses tints, shades, and tones of only one color

ELEMENTS:

Line, Shape, Color, Value, Form, Texture, Space

Value – the lightness or darkness of a color

Form – the volume of an object that makes it 3D, whether it really is or if it is an illusion

Space – the illusion of a foreground, middle ground, and a background

PRINCIPLES:

Contrast, Unity, Rhythm, Balance, Emphasis, Pattern

Contrast – created by placing opposites beside each other; smooth vs. rough; light vs. dark

Rhythm – a suggestion of motion through repeating elements or forms

Emphasis – the focal point of a piece that can easily stand out via contrast

Class dismissed.

#19: “Fieldworking” Chapter 7

November 4, 2009

See #17 for Box Activity

#20: Research Portfolio

November 4, 2009

Research Portfolio Table of Contents:

Fieldnotes over gallery

Fieldnotes over CWoW meetings – art and poetry

WA2 and Research Proposal

Research Journals pertaining to visual literacy

Interview questions

Recorded interview with Mr. Odom

Permission slip for interviews

Pictures of Art Building

Map of gallery

Last year’s registration sheet for visitors at gallery

What else to include:

Permission slips from Head of Art and secretaries

Typed version of Odom interview

Flyers for gallery

Picture of town square

When I chose the gallery in the Art Building, I was looking forward to interviewing visitors and taking many fieldnotes over the interactions between them and the artwork. This would link visual literacy to the community within the gallery relatively easily. However, the more I went to take fieldnotes, the more I came to realize no one comes to the gallery. I could sit there for an hour just hoping that one person comes in. It’s really disappointing, and this is a major theme throughout my artifacts. I was lucky to interview Mr. Michael Odom, who is currently working on opening a gallery on the town square, so this will help my research in that a group of people have also realized the lack of visual literacy being presented through the university gallery and what they are trying to do to encourage Commerce’s visual literacy. In lieu of the circumstances, my research question is evolving to emphasize not the people who visit the gallery, or the community within it, but the lack thereof. In order to fully encompass this, I might end up interviewing random students on campus as well as people of the community, asking them if they’ve visited the gallery, what art means to them, their views on visual literacy, and so on to get a glimpse of why it is so extremely unpopular. Interviewing some participants in Odom’s project would also provide useful information as well, I would think. I also need to attend the next opening, which has been delayed because of construction, to research the most populated moments of the gallery and also in hopes of interviewing some of the artists themselves. It would be really interesting to hear what the artists have to say about the importance of galleries and how they influence literacy.

#21: Thoughts on Fourth Writing Assignment

November 9, 2009

I’m going to be using my interview with Mr. Odom as the insider’s perspective on my fourth writing assignment. I got to record him (thank goodness!) and it’s helped a lot with remembering what he talked about and his views and accomplishments. I’m hoping to use this recording to make an audio essay for WA4. I’ve already typed out the interview so I know where everything is and what exactly he says so I can mix up the audio with ease. I interviewed Mr. Odom in the first place because he’s trying to renovate a free space in the town square into an art gallery for the community of Commerce. He recognized the problem of non-traffic in the campus gallery and is working to make a gallery accessible to the whole community. It’s not only to benefit those who like art either; he explains how it could benefit all of Commerce by bringing in more visitors who could help boost business for other local stores. During the audio essay, if I’m able to, I’d like to have a slideshow of a few pictures in the background so my classmates can picture what he’s talking about during certain parts of the interview. Especially as he points out the building that will hopefully become the gallery and as he describes a specific sculpture. That would be nifty. This conversation will most definitely feed into my research project because it shows what people are trying to do to get visual literacy recognized, but I’m still confused as to how I’ll be able to consistently talk of my fieldsite – the gallery – since it has turned out to be so vacant. The interview helped with my codebook because as I typed it out, I began seeing trends, like how subjective art is, non-traffic in galleries, relationships between businesses, and especially the mentioning of quite a few other universities with off-campus galleries. What I’ve noticed also is how many different definitions of visual literacy there are; there are so many perceptions on it! I honestly didn’t get any fieldnotes over the in-class video at all; I simply couldn’t get a hold of any information at all. Once we discussed it with Dr. Carter, though, I sort of understood the importance of coding, but I still had trouble relating it to my studies. I’ll have to work on it more as I continue with my research so I can organize better and find relationships.

#22: What I Have

November 11, 2009

 Research Portfolio Table of Contents:

Fieldnotes over gallery – excludes community though

Fieldnotes over CWoW meetings – art and poetry

WA2 and Research Proposal

Research Journals pertaining to visual literacy – each one broadens definition of visual literacy

Interview questions

Recorded, and typed, interview with Mr. Odom

Audacity audio essay – work in progress

Permission slip for interviews

Pictures of Art Building

Map of gallery

Last year’s registration sheet for visitors at gallery

Analysis:

My research has been on hold fieldsite-wise because of the construction there, but I’ve arranged an interview with my art professor because I know he’ll have interesting stories to tell about the gallery among other things involving visual literacy. Other than that, I’m going to take pictures of the space in the town square for lease that’s mentioned in the Odom interview. I’m planning on having a slideshow running in the background of my audio essay as long as I have enough pictures to choose from. I think I’ll be able to pull it off, though, if I figure out how to do it. Something that I’ve had trouble with is figuring out what my research question is now that I know my fieldsite doesn’t exactly produce community information. I’m unsure of how to use this fieldsite anymore, at least how to use it productively, so I’m considering only using it to an extent…maybe only mentioning it to illustrate the fact that it’s hardly visited.

Codes:

NT – Non-traffic

S – Subjectivity

St – Style

OC – Other off-campus galleries

V – Has visited

NV – Hasn’t visited

A – Access

CC – Campus/Community relationship

VL – Different definitions of visual literacy

#23: Research Question and Data

November 18, 2009

After going to the symposium in Mesquite with Dr. Carter and my classmates, I’ve come to a more concrete research topic having to do with the gallery. As I mentioned in #22, I’ve been having a rough time deciding on how to continue with my research in the gallery of the Art Building, but after presenting the research I have so far to the middle schoolers, I was able to step back and see where my research has taken me. Plus, practicing how to explain my research studies has definitely helped me prepare for the symposium that’s coming up in December.

Instead of avoiding the fact that the gallery isn’t visited often, I’m going to make this the center of my research, asking questions like: Why isn’t it visited? What prevents people from coming? Why is it important in the first place? What can we do to make its existence known to the community? I’ll gather artifacts like brochures, flyers, and any other advertising products that I can find and I’ll have to conduct more interviews on students and faculty, and possibly members of the group trying to construct a new gallery downtown. I’ll also need to gather more fieldnotes, not only in the Art Building, but on the town square as well to fully encompass both areas that I’m now studying. I’d like to observe the atmosphere outside of the gallery – since it is still under construction – and outside of the space for lease on the square.

#24: Analysis

December 1, 2009

Research Portfolio Table of Contents:

Multiple fieldnotes over gallery – contains notes mostly over what it looks like seeing as viewers are few and far between

Fieldnotes over CWoW meetings – art and poetry, these have helped with my definition of visual literacy as well as observations on different ways art can be presented

WA2, WA3, WA 4, and Research Proposal – these are the vital papers that contribute to my study, WA1 was helpful in defining literacy, but has less relevance to art

Research Journals pertaining to visual literacy – each one broadens definition of visual literacy

Interview questions – a list of fifteen or so questions to ask Odom about the gallery, his project, and visual literacy

Recorded, and typed, interview with Mr. Odom – used in WA4 and *vital* to my project seeing as it pertains to the use of the gallery and what can be done to improve the conditions

Audacity audio essay – interview with Mr. Odom, helps with flow of ideas

Permission slip for interviews – really important! Allows me to use information gained by interviewees

Pictures of Art Building – visual representation of surroundings in Art Building and in Commerce town square

Map of gallery

Last year’s registration sheet for visitors at gallery – shows how many people attend an opening night

Postcard for Holiday Art Sale

Holiday Art Sale flyer

Postcard for Faculty Exhibition

Art Department Head Joseph Daun’s business card

Photography exhibition flyer

2 Mane Event Preview Days flyers

Analysis:

My project has turned from observing visual literacy in the gallery community to understanding the importance of having this visual literacy in the first place and how it should be recognized within this forgotten fieldsite. Recurring themes in my project have been focusing around the fact that people on and off-campus either don’t know about the gallery’s existence or if they do, they just don’t visit. As I continued my research, I found connections between different definitions of literacy and visual literacy alike, and I hope to convey each as portions of a whole in my final project. My interview with Mr. Odom helped tremendously, and I’ll be using a lot of the information I gained on his project of constructing a gallery in the town square of Commerce as well as the use of the gallery on campus, or lack thereof. What’s exciting is that there will be a Holiday Art Sale in the gallery from Wednesday through Friday of this week, and I’m curious as to who will attend, and who will not. Has the sale been advertised properly? Will anyone who’s not an art major attend? I’ll be attending this event as a volunteer, and I hope I’ll get some insight on who is paying attention to the goings-on within the gallery besides the other volunteers and the artists themselves. I would like to conduct an interview with my art teacher, because I think he’ll be able to give me even more insight as an artist whose art has been on display in the gallery before.

Fieldworking: Chapter 8 

Chapter eight was fairly helpful since it reviewed how to compile all the research data that I’ve gotten so far and make sense of all of it! I’m really intimidated by all of the information that I’ve collected, and I think this chapter really helped get my thoughts in order. The next step in my research is to put all of my artifacts, interviews, fieldnotes, etc. into one huge lump and go through and see exactly what I have to work with for my final project. It’s been fairly easy to get lost in all of this information!

#25: What else?

December 1, 2009

In order to fully comprehend all of the data that I’ve collected for my research, I’m going to look through every set of fieldnotes that I’ve taken so far, reread them, and make extended fieldnotes. More reflection is definitely needed at this point in order for me to do well on my final project. Also, I’ve set up a meeting this afternoon with my art professor to hold an interview with him over the gallery. This is something that I’ve been putting off, and I’ve mentioned interviewing him several times in previous research journals but haven’t done anything about it yet. So, I’m hoping that this interview goes well today and gives me even more insight on the gallery and its use not only for viewers but for the artists whose artwork is on display. It’ll help me get a different perspective on the community members there. I’ve definitely collected enough artifacts so far, complete with flyers, postcards, and attendance sheets. Once I interview my art professor, I’ll have three interviews…but I’m only going to account for two because the third one really doesn’t help me at all. Fieldnotes-wise, I need to work on them a lot in order to benefit from them. I’ve memorized scenes and interactions more than I’ve written them down. I also need to add to my codebook, and hopefully I’ll actually find some use for it. I understand how categorizing can help…but I don’t really see how the codebook is so vital as it’s said to be. As I delve into all of my information, I hope to find even more relationships and patterns to add to the ones that I’ve already found.

#26: WA5 so far

December 2, 2009

My preparations toward WA5 are going smoothly…so far. I don’t expect too much turbulence, but I know that making the annotated bibliography and putting everything where it belongs online will take loads of time. I’ve already scanned all of my artifacts, fieldnotes, and permission slips into my computer and I’ve set my existing blog up as my research portfolio blog. (Ta-da! You already know this, you’re here!) So now the only obstacle is time and figuring out what to use in my annotated bibliography: what’s important enough, what’s not, and if I have enough in the first place. I think I have enough to use, it’s the matter of importance that irks me. The final project really worries me right now. I’ve used an audio essay to convey my studies thus far with the insider’s perspective, and I’d really like to add to this including another interview I held with Mr. Huber, my art professor. The trouble is having strictly this audio essay as my final project; are visuals necessary? And if so, how could I create a slideshow in the background? I’m sure I’ll find use for the pictures I’ve taken thus far and even some that I can cite from books that relate to Odom’s topics, such as the sculpture he spends some time talking about. This would be pretty neat, maybe on PowerPoint or something, but it would take a heck of a lot of time to complete, not to mention what I would have to do for the Celebration of Student Writing? Have them stand there for about 15 minutes and listen in, or take even more time to make a poster of some sort? Gah!