Claims and Styles

Transmissions from Camp Trans

• Claim: Transsexual women are still consider “men” to the women of Michigan Womyn’s Music Festive (MWMF). Camp Trans offers safe haven for transsexual women.
• Style: Classical

Dark Webs Goth Subcultures in Cyberspace

• Claim: Goths uses the Internet just like everybody else, but they have different sites such as dark wave blogging, development of music, and fashion.
• Style: Rogerian

The Truck Stop as Community and Culture

• Claim: Truckers have there own little community at the Iowa truck stop. Truckers are suspicious of “outsiders,” thinking that they are highway patrol men. Truck stops are building a “destination” truckers.
• Style: Toulmin method

House for the Homeless

• Claim: Homeless people ranges from various types of background and most of them once had goals and dreams. The homeless needs to believe in themselves in order to get out of the situation that they are in.
• Style: Toulmin method.

I am in the process of doing more research for the paper and interviews. I have done some research on different sororities in GSU, an interview with on of my friend, who is in a sorority, at VSU. I need to do more field sites and more interviews. I am doing that on Monday before the sororities’ weekly charter meeting. Does my paper make sense or do my paper give a better understanding of the subculture?

Observation

What is going on in the field site?
Many sororities have certain philanthropy/charities that they work to help by fund raising. It is usually by car wash, selling tickets, bake sells, putting on a show, and etc. I am at a bowling ally watching sorority sisters selling tickets.

How do the members of the subculture interact with each other?
I think sorority sisters interact with each other the same way any girls would, except with the hand-signs that represent their sorority‘s Greek name, screaming each others names, and constant hugging each other. All sororities have different hand-signs.

Make a list of terminology used at the field site with which you might be unfamiliar.

• Philanthropy
• National Panhellenic Conference (NPC)
• Colony
• Chapter Advisor
• Badge
• Alumni Associations

What details, behaviors, surroundings did you have questions about?
I really did not have any questions for the sorority members, except for the terminology. The decorations are decorated in the colors of the sorority; every sororities have their own colors. There is also a sign with the Greek letters of the sorority’s name.

Find at least one person at your field site you can speak to and ask them a question about something you observed that you didn't understand.
The only question I have for the sorority members is the terminologies.

• Philanthropy- Community services that the sorority donate time, money, and energy towards.
• National Panhellenic Conference (NPC)- The governing body of twenty-six national and international sororities.
• Colony- A new organization working towards becoming a charter of a international fraternity and/or sorority
• Chapter Advisor- An alumna/ alumnus who establishes and maintain a close advisory relationship with a charter and serves as a teacher, counselor, and friend.
• Badge- The pin of a initial member.
• Alumni Associations- An organization of alumni from a individual fraternity or sorority.

ACT V Questions

What make this fieldsite a good fieldsite in studying this particular subculture?
The author of the paper was studying Prison Performing Arts Program and what better way to get to know the subculture than to actually involve yourself in that subculture.

What observations did the author make that is particularly useful in this subculture?
the author first observe the inmates as actors, then realize that they (inmates) are convected murderers and rapists. the author explain the way the actors were on stage as if they were completely different people.

What are the norms and values of the subculture?
The inmates value the respect that the program offers. The inmates fill like they are treated like humans. The inmates also values the knowledge that they obtained.

What interview techniques did the author us to understand the subculture?
The author uses interviews from participates, from the play, to enhance the pathos appeal. The author uses the interviews as a way to get the inmates to describe the subculture. The interviews also shows how much the inmates has changed over the years since their condemnation.

Greek Life

Topic: Greek Life

Huchting, Karen, Andrew Lac, and Joseph W. LaBrie. “An Application of the Theory of Planned Behaviors to Sorority Alcohol Consumption.” Addictive Behaviors 33:4 (2008): 583-551. ScienceDirect. Georgia State University Lib., Atlanta, GA. 13 Mar. 2008.

Valen, Kelly. “My Sorority Pledge? I Swore Off Sisterhood.” New York Times. 157:54146 (2007): 6. LexisNexis Academic. Georgia State University Lib., Atlanta, GA. 13 Mar. 2008. <www.lexisnexis.com/us/inacademic>

Johnson, Kristen B. and Bryan K. Saville. “Years In College and Sorority Membership In Predicting Self-Esteem of a Sample of College Women.” Psychological Report 101:3 (2007): 907-912. EBSCOhost. Georgia State University Lib., Atlanta, GA. 13 Mar. 2008. <http://www.ebscohost.com>

Basow, Susan A., Jamila Bookwala, and Kelly A. Foran. “Body Objectification, Social Pressure, and Distorted Eating Behavior in College Women: The Role of Sorority Membership.” Psychology of Women Quarterly 31:4 (2007): 394-400. EBSCOhost. Georgia State University Lib., Atlanta, Ga. 13 Mar. 2008. <http://www.ebscohost.com>

Robbins, Alexandra. Pledged: The Secret Life of Sororities. New York: Hyperion, 2004.

Reflection:

Greek life have always interest me. Since coming to college, I have wanted to join a sorority because it seems fun and a good way to meet new people; at least that is what the sororities said. Honestly I do not know what exactly to expect from joining a sorority, but I am willing to find out. But I changed my view of sororities after reading “My Sorority Pledge? I Swore Off Sisterhood.” My view of sorority is most likely all people’s view of sorority; the stereotypical view of sororities. Sure sorority girls go out and party, but I did not know about the dangers that are involved and the humiliation of your actions.

Craig Brewer

I am doing my hip-hop cultural paper on Hustle and Flow written by Craig Brewer. First and for most I had to look at the DVD cover to find the director’s name. The process in which I found information on Craig Brewer, basically I used Google. Yes I am addicted to Google and that is the only search engine I use, until I find a better one. I click on the first couple of links that shows up; they are usually the best ones to use.
The first website I went on is http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0108132/ (The Internet Movie Database). The Internet Movie Database is a website created just for movies and gives information on the cast, director, summery of the movie, and various movies that the director has produce, written, and directed. Plus the website includes photos of the movie, cast, director, and other celebrates.
The second website I went on is http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Craig_Brewer. I must say wikipedia is my favorite website to go on in order to find information on just about anything. You can say I am a wikipedia addict, as well as Google addict. What I like about wikipedia is that the website cites all of the sources that the writer of the article uses and provides links to them.
The third website I went on is http://movies.aol.com/celebrity/craig-brewer/299159/biography, which gives a brief history of Brewer.
The advantage of looking at the sources that I did is that I know the information is valid because all three sources stated the same thing. The first two websites gives information on Brewer’s professional life, but the third websites gives a brief biography about his life as a whole. The first two sources cite their information and provide links to the actual articles or quotes made by the person the researcher is researching on.

Holler if You Hear Me: Searchin for Tupac Shakur by M. E. Dyson

Dr. Michael Eric Dyson is an ordained Baptist minister. Dr. Dyson taught at numerous universities and is now currently teaching in Georgetown University. He teaches theology, English, and African-American studies. Dr. Dyson has written fourteen books and has been named by Ebony as one of the hundred most influential black Americans. “Dr. Dyson is a leading scholar on hip-hop music and the culture that surrounds it, as well as its roots in Africa and Africa-American cultures and influence on American popular culture” (wikipedia.com). Dr. Dyson wrote his book Holler If You Hear Me: Searching for Tupac Shakur in 2001, on the fifth anniversary of Tupac Shakur’s death.

The first thing that pops up in my mind whenever I hear the name Tupac Shakur is that he was a rapper, he probably belong in a gang, and he was killed in the 1990s. What Dr. Dyson wrote in his book about Tupac Shakur is almost the complete opposite of my opinion. Dr. Dyson described Tupac as an intellectual person, who actually has something to say, with an “appetite” for reading; from Nietzsche to Homer. Dr. Dyson stated that Tupac, before becoming famous, shared arguments about the impact of race and class on all American people as well as his mother’s life, who is a former Black Panther.

The Streets

Many people associate rap or hip hop with African-Americans, but other parts of the world has its own version of hip hop. Hip hop is not limited to African-Americans. The Streets started out as a group, but soon fell apart into a one-man band. Mike Skinner, Caucasian, was born in Birmingham, England. His music is a combination of United Kingdom garage, electronica, and hip hop. Skinner music consists of vocals, keyboard, and guitar. Skinner recorded his first album, Original Pirate Material, in his bedroom at his mother’s house in Birmingham, England. Skinner’s album has been described as one of the most authentic voices of British youth in many years. Skinner has been compared to Eminem. The Streets released the Original Pirate Material in the United States in 2002, but did not catch the attention of the American public. The album became a favorite with Rollin Stone, Spin Magazine, The New York Times, Blender, USA Today, and LA Times. Unlike many American rappers, Skinner rap, on his first album, about the life of a “geezer,” of lager, fast food, and failure with women. Skinner described himself as "Barratt class: suburban estates, not poor but not much money about, really boring." Skinner wanted to portray the lifestyle of clubbers in Britain; his single “Let’s Push Things Forward” reflects the “philosophy” of the Original Pirate Material album.
The Streets released The Hardest Way to Make an Easy Living on April 10, 2006. The lyrics of this album moved away from the stories about working class Britain and moved toward the ups and downs of fame. The first single released from this album was “When You Wasn’t Famous.” The song deals with Skinner dating a famous person, following his new found fame. The second single “Never Went to Church” is a tribute to Skinner’s late father.