Final Research Project.

Britt Grady Jr.
Dr. Chandler

Research in Language & Literature
Final Research Project
                 Before you even begin writing a novel, an author should first strongly develop his or her characters, settings, and plot. In doing so there are a lot of things that you should take into consideration. For my focus I focused on a particular city which was Elizabeth, NJ. With this city I looked at the community and the people who live in it. In addition to the general sense I would also look at different age groups, family life, levels of education, different jobs and the different people that others in the community look up to. All of these factors allow me to create a realistic and interesting novel for my reader. This takes away from the work being one dimensional, which no author wants.

For me personally I am a reader. I love sitting back with a really good book to read. All of my favorite books have that fiction feel to it but they are also very realistic. They allow me to get lost in the story and also recognize with it. This is due to the fact that authors spend so much time developing and working on ideas and all that goes into creating a novel. When people think about writing a book, they think it is very easy. They think that a person just begins to write and that is it. But they fail to realize all the work and research that goes into a novel.

As far as my research goes I wanted to use interviewing and ethnography as my main methods of choice. But while discussing my project with a fellow classmate, she referred me to oral history. My classmate suggested this method because for a novel that I am already working on it is about two young brothers. One is dealing with his sexuality and the other dealing with becoming a teen parent. She explained that by them telling and explaining their lives and the things they went through not only is it interviewing but is in fact oral history. These three methods are extremely beneficial to my research.

The novel that I am working on centers on two African-American high school aged brothers, one seventeen and the other fifteen. The seventeen year old is battling and trying to come to terms with his sexuality. The fifteen year old is dealing with becoming a parent at such a young age. The novel follows them as they go through their trials and tribulations in their own personal lives while also trying to be there for one another. I would like for this research process to help me discover even more than I already know about young African-American teenagers and the settings in which they grow up in. In addition to this I also want to discover more about people who have dealt and battled with their sexuality and teenage parents. I am writing this novel because I love to write but also because one of the characters is based off of me. The character battling with his sexuality is indeed modeled after me. I wanted to take some things about myself and create a character. I also wanted to create a controversial piece of work that caught people’s attention.

For ethnography this method involves me looking at a group of people as a whole. I would be looking at how they interact with one another, the different actions they partake in and intently watching basically everything that they do. Ethnography gives me the opportunity to sit back, look at people and take in everything. I’d be able to take their mannerisms and base characters off of them, to make them as realistic as possible. When you are using ethnography there is so much to pay attention to for your research. You have to pay close attention to how they talk, if how they talk changes when talking to different people, their body language, the fashion in which they dress amongst other things. For my ethnographic research I would not want the people that I’m watching them to know that I’m doing so. I say this because if someone knows that you are watching them they will not fully be themselves. I would go to a location where I know that my target audience that I wanted to focus on would be and conduct research undetected.

Interviewing and Oral History go hand in hand as far as my research topic goes. I chose interviewing because in addition to getting the general sense of a specific people as I would with ethnography, interviewing would allow me to go a little deeper. Using the novel that I am working on as an example, I would interview someone who has had troubles dealing their sexuality and someone who has experienced being a teenage parent. This would give even more insight on what it is like, rather than solely depending on statistics. I would also want to interview people from the particular city that I chose to focus on. With that interview I would ask the following; How do people in the community act? If there is, how much violence is there in the community? Which age groups are the main ones involved in the violence? Do different levels of education factor as to whom in the community does what? What are the family dynamics like? What kind of people look up to others in the community? (ex: Do young boys without a father look up to the “dope boys” or drug dealers in the community?) How is it living in this city?. I feel that by asking these questions I would gain a better understanding of the city itself. It would allow me to create a realistic setting for my novel.

Interviewing and Oral History would also be used with members of the LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender) community and teenage parents. By interviewing these people and them telling me about their history dealing with these problems it would help me a lot. It would allow me to not only have realistic characters but also their story lines and situations would be realistic as well. Any reader that fits the mold of this would be able to recognize with it and be interested in the story even more. I would want the person that I am interviewing to be completely comfortable with me and asking them questions. Some questions I would ask them would be, How did going through this change your life? What kind of, if any traumatic experiences do you go through? How did people react to your coming out or being a teen parent? These questions would help me get a better understanding of all that they went through in addition to me giving my own experiences.

Now even though I would want this research to go smoothly, there may be some problems I run into. With using ethnography people may not want you to watch them. They may seem uncomfortable with it and when this happens a person cannot do much but deal with that and try to find another group of people to watch. There could also be problems with Interviewing and Oral History because people may not be upfront and feel comfortable with you to discuss their lives. They may not want to share such personal information. Even in this situation one would not be able do much, unless they have other people that would be comfortable with telling their stories.

Overall this Research Project benefits me greatly. It allows me to develop better and more complex ideas, characters, settings etc. Being an author there is a lot of research that comes with creating a novel. One has to be extremely dedicated to the research and also putting it together for the work. In addition to making me a stronger writer it also makes me a stronger research.

Draft for Research Project .

Britt Grady Jr.
Dr. Chandler
Research in Language & Literature
Research Project
Before you even begin writing a novel, an author should first strongly develop his or her characters, settings, and plot. In doing so there are a lot of things that you should take into consideration. For my focus I focused on a particular city which was Elizabeth, NJ. With this city I looked at the community and the people who live in it. In addition to the general sense I would also look at different age groups, family life, levels of education, different jobs and the different people that others in the community look up to. All of these factors allow me to create a realistic and interesting novel for my reader. This takes away from the work being one dimensional, which no author wants.
For me personally I am a reader. I love sitting back with a really good book to read. All of my favorite books have that fiction feel to it but they are also very realistic. They allow me to get lost in the story and also recognize with it. This is due to the fact that authors spend so much time developing and working on ideas and all that goes into creating a novel. When people think about writing a book, they think it is very easy. They think that a person just begins to write and that is it. But they fail to realize all the work and research that goes into a novel.
As far as my research goes I wanted to use interviewing and ethnography as my main methods of choice. But while discussing my project with a fellow classmate, she referred me to oral history. My classmate suggested this method because for a novel that I am already working on it is about two young brothers. One is dealing with his sexuality and the other dealing with becoming a teen parent. She explained that by them telling and explaining their lives and the things they went through not only is it interviewing but is in fact oral history. These three methods are extremely beneficial to my research.
For ethnography this method involves me looking at a group of people as a whole. I would be looking at how they interact with one another, the different actions they partake in and intently watching basically everything that they do. Ethnography gives me the opportunity to sit back, look at people and take in everything. I’d be able to take their mannerisms and base characters off of them, to make them as realistic as possible. When conducting ethnography there is so much to pay attention to for your research. You have to pay close attention to how they talk, if how they talk changes when talking to different people, their body language, the fashion in which they dress amongst other things. For my ethnographic research I would not want the people that I’m watching them to know that I’m doing so. I say this because if someone knows that you are watching them they will not fully be themselves. I would go to a location where I know that my target audience that I wanted to focus on would be and conduct research undetected.
Interviewing and Oral History go hand in hand as far as my research topic goes. I chose interviewing because in addition to getting the general sense of a specific people as I would with ethnography, interviewing would allow me to go a little deeper. Using the novel that I am working on as an example, I would interview someone who has had troubles dealing their sexuality and someone who has experienced being a teenage parent. This would give even more insight on what it is like, rather than solely depending on statistics. I would also want to interview people from the particular city that I chose to focus on. With that interview I would ask the following; How do people in the community act? If there is, how much violence is there in the community? Which age groups are the main ones involved in the violence? Do different levels of education factor as to whom in the community does what? What are the family dynamics like? What kind of people look up to others in the community? (ex: Do young boys without a father look up to the “dope boys” or drug dealers in the community?) How is it living in this city?.
I feel that by asking these questions I would gain a better understanding of the city itself. It would allow me to create a realistic setting for my novel.

Blog #17.

When Dr. Chandler  used me as an example to discuss the Research Project in class she hit it on the nose of what I wanted to focus on. But after my conference with her she helped me not only narrow down my focus but also go deeper in what I wanted and needed to do. For my focus I wanted to focus on a particular city and pretty much everything that entails with it. As far as my methods go I would like to use Ethnography, Oral History & Interviewing.

Questions for Research:

- How do people in the community act?

- If there is, how much violence is there in the community?

- Which age groups are the main ones involved in the violence?

- Do different levels of education factor as to who in the community does what?

- What are the family dynamics like?

- What kind of people look up to others in the community? (ex: Do young boys without a father look up to the “dope boys” or drug dealers in the community?)

- How are females treated?

- What does the community expect of young boys and girls?

Revised Essay.

Britt Grady Jr.

Research Language & Literature

November 16^th, 2011

Dr. Chandler

Adult Learners and New Literacies Transcript

Discourse Analysis is a form of research that is used a lot in the Research field, more than people know. It allows the researcher or person reading to basically break down the piece of work to a smaller form and be able to understand almost any and everything about it. When doing this it gives you the chance to realize how a person must have felt and what they were thinking towards the subject and at the time the interview was going on. In this class we have used discourse analysis plenty of times especially when reading essays, interviews or articles. Before this class I had no idea on what a discourse analysis was or how to do it. At first conducting Discourse was tough but after going through it a couple times it became more understandable. In the beginning of the semester what I got from Dr. Chandler is that discourse is how you talk and interact with people. Also how you use the language to present yourself.

In this transcript the main theme is about an adult, M who is getting back into learning. Unfortunately for her computer usage and technology comes into play with her education. The two different excerpts show two different outcomes of the same situation that she is in. For this discourse analysis I want to focus on, why did M feel that she didn’t need to use the computer in a more complex way than she was? Why she didn’t learn more about the computer when she noticed classmates weren’t in the same situation, and how she felt when she finally did learn more about computer literacy. There are many contributing factors that could be beneficial to answering these questions. The way she answers questions asked by Chandler, the length of her responses, the words she uses and the manner in which she uses them are useful to my analysis and the answering of the questions.

In Excerpt 1 M, the person being interviewed talks about how she had a fear to learn new things about and use the computer. Even though the classes she was taking required that she learn more about computers and use the different programs that come with it, instead she felt she could do without it. M feels that it did not pertain to her education. She claims that she didn’t trust herself to use the computer in the way she needed to. A prime example being:

M         Maybe I didn't relate the computer to education in the right way, that I didn't think it, was necessary

Ch        mm hm, and what do you mean, like, didn't relate the computer to education?

M         I guess I thought I could go through without - without having to do this.

Ch        It seemed like something extra?

M         Yeah, and even though I guess I wasn't you know comprehending that this was supposed to make my life easier, it made it more difficult

From this you can conclude that she didn’t want to give learning and using the computer a chance. Basically she wrote it off and that was the end of it.  She also didn’t trust the computer when putting her information into it. She only wanted to use the computer to type and that’s about it. She is extremely doubtful of herself and does not give herself a chance in order to see if she is able to learn more about the computer. Her choice of words and the answers to the questions shows the reader how she felt about herself and the situation at hand. She seems passive at the idea of using the computer for other than typing and learning more about different programs. M also seems to feel unsure of herself when answering the questions. She uses the phrase “I guess” four different times. This phrase adds to the self-doubt and almost defeat that she is presenting thus far in the transcript. This is also evident as she uses “I” frequently. I believe that by her using “I” she knows that she is responsible for her lack of computer skills. She uses I to separate herself and show how that while others may have wanted to use the computers in a more advanced way, she herself did not want to.

. In Excerpt 2 the gears switch and you can already see a difference. The statement in which M says, It was different, and ah, it was a fun experience because the teacher was very good, very willing to work with us she asked us where we were all, part of the class it was you know, twice a week, once we would meet in the classroom, and the other time we would meet in the computer lab, so it was the history of computers, so we learned about the history of computers, and then it was the actual hands on, how we would use it, so and we had to do projects, each project, we had to do an excel project, we had to do a word project, we had to do what else, what other programs are there, we did excel we did word, we did (thinking) what's it? slides? show how her feelings towards the class she took and computer literacy in itself have changed. M seems much happier and content that she actually learned more about computers and used much more than just Notepad. In the class she was required to take called The History of Computer she not only learned about computers but how to use one as well. In the class she had to do projects using Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint amongst others. In this excerpt you can tell that because it is required of her course she is more open to using computers and its different programs. In this excerpt it seems as if the fact that because she almost clueless on computer usage worked in her favor. She mentions that, So ahm, some kids knew how to use the computer but they didn't know how to use it in the way she wanted it to be used, they would zip by all their work. .  .By her not really knowing how to use the computer as well as they did she was able to learn from the beginning and use it properly as it was expected of her.

From Excerpt 2 it also seems like she was more comfortable talking about her successes with computer literacy rather than her talking about not willing to expand her knowledge about computers. I have concurred this because her answers are lengthier and she goes into depth with them more than in Excerpt 1. She still uses “I guess” when she speaks just not as many times as previously before. However this time she seems a little more self-sufficient in the fact that she is more knowledgeable with computer literacy.

Through the Discourse Analysis of this transcript one was able to detect many different things through the language that she was using. One was also able to see the type of person M was and the way she reacted to the computer literacy. Between the two excerpts you can see the complete difference from in the beginning when she wasn’t willing to learn until when she actually learned and felt about it. This goes to show that you can find out so much under the “surface” of the writing and gain knowledge on not only the interviewer but the interviewee.  Through discourse analysis a person would also be able to learn more about what isn’t so easy to realize when just blatantly reading something.

Blog #16 .

In class Dr. Chandler used me as an example to explain exactly what the research project was and what she expected. In this example she used me saying that since I want to write urban books and for example for the book if I wanted to use a specific setting like Newark or Jersey City. I'd have to investigate and do my research on the area and the people that live there to get a better understanding to make the book seem as realistic as possible. When she gave this example she hit it right on the nose because I am in the process of writing a book and I will need to know a lot more about urban cities.

Some questions that I would ask would be, "How was it growing up there?" , "What types of crime go in?" , "What type of people occupy the city?" and things of that nature. I would most likely use interviewing and ethnography because those two methods would help me out the most.

Blog #15.

For revising my Discourse Analysis, I will take what I put for Blog #14 and also the comments that Dr. Chandler sent in my email to finish and revise my paper. I will pay great attention to what it is she feels that I need to work on and strengthen in order to conduct a proper Discourse Analysis.

Blog #14.

I feel as though that for my Discourse Analysis paper I did a good job on explaining what the transcript was about and the main points I wanted to focus on. But I think that my weakness was pulling parts from the transcript to back up these points. I need to read into the transcript more and bring out important facts to make my focuses more relevant.

Draft for Discourse Analysis / Blog #13.

Britt Grady Jr.

Research in Language & Literature

November 2^nd, 2011

Dr. Chandler

Adult Learners and New Literacies Transcript

Discourse Analysis is a form of research that is used a lot in the Research field, more than people know. It allows the researcher or person reading to basically break down the piece of work to a smaller form and be able to understand almost any and everything about it. When doing this it gives you the chance to realize how a person must have felt and what they were thinking towards the subject and at the time the interview was going on. In this class we have used discourse analysis plenty of times especially when reading essays, interviews or articles. Before this class I had no idea on what a discourse analysis was or how to do it. At first conducting Discourse was tough but after going through it a couple times it became more understandable. In the beginning of the semester what I got from Dr. Chandler is that discourse is how you talk and interact with people. Also how you use the language to present yourself.

For this discourse analysis I want to focus on, why did M feel that she didn’t need to use the computer in a more complex way than she was? Why she didn’t learn more about the computer when she noticed classmates weren’t in the same situation, and how she felt when she finally did learn more about computer literacy. There are many contributing factors that could be beneficial to answering these questions. The way she answers questions asked by Chandler, the length of her responses, the words she uses and the manner in which she uses them are useful to my analysis and the answering of the questions.  

In Excerpt 1 M, the person being interviewed talks about how she had a fear to learn new things about and use the computer. Even though the classes she was taking required that she learn more about computers and use the different programs that come with it, instead she felt she could do without it. M feels that it did not pertain to her education. She claims that she didn’t trust herself to use the computer in the way she needed to. She also didn’t trust the computer when putting her information into it. She only wanted to use the computer to type and that’s about it. She is extremely doubtful of herself and does not give herself a chance in order to see if she is able to learn more about the computer. Her choice of words and the answers to the questions shows the reader how she felt about herself and the situation at hand. She seems passive at the idea of using the computer for other than typing and learning more about different programs. M also seems to feel unsure of herself when answering the questions. She uses the phrase “I guess” four different times. This phrase adds to the self-doubt and almost defeat that she is presenting thus far in the transcript.

In Excerpt 2 M seems much more happy that she actually learned more about computer and used much more than just Notepad. In the class she was required to take called The History of Computer she not only learned about computers but how to use one as well. In the class she had to do projects using Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint amongst others.

She still uses “I guess” when she speaks. However this time she seems a little more self-sufficient in the fact that she is more knowledgeable with computer literacy.

Blog #11.

For my Discourse Analysis paper, I've chosen to do the Adult Learners and New Literacies Transcript. In this paper I want to focus on Why M felt that she didn't need to use the computer more, Why she didn’t learn more about the computer when she noticed people around her didn't feel the same as her, and How she felt when she finally did learn more about computer literacy.

2. Focus: The focus of this article is basically on young people and their knowledge and use of the internet. In the article Livingstone talks about kids having the upper-hand in this situation because most of their parents are clueless on how to use the internet. She profiles three different children as a part of her research. She also talks about computer use a literacy and how there is a certain learning form to using the computer and internet.

Supporting Points: The biggest supporting points are when she gives examples on the the young people. Megan is a young girl monitored and watched by her parents when she’s on the internet. She uses the internet for educational purposes, Nickelodeon games and sites pertaining to pets. But when she gets older she uses it for playing The Sums and Neopets. Anisah is also a young girl and uses the internet for educational purposes as hell due to the fact that her parents are highly educated. She uses it for school projects and research as well. She knows a lot about what to use the internet for and what not to use it for. She says that she’s never seen pornography and she doesn’t use chat rooms. Ted is a 14 year old dyslexic. He’s over protected, privately educated and watches a lot of TV. Education is not really enforced in his home as it is with the two young girls.

Essay Organization: For each main point that Livingstone makes she goes into great detail when describing that point and using facts to prove it. For example in the beginning under the point Introducing Three Children she introduces who they are, their living situations, the way internet effects their life and the different ways they use it.

Methodology: I think that as far as methodologies go Livingstone went into this with the preconceived notion that the younger generation is more educated when it comes to the internet and computer literacy. Also she goes into it knowing what computer literacy is but goes into detail to further inform the reader.

Methods: For methods Livingstone seemed to have deeply evaluated the lives of these three young people and the internet generation in itself. She had a lot of information on the main points that she wanted to talk about. She more than likely did extensive research on everything pertaining to young people and the internet. The prime example being the chart she used explaining the risks amongst teenagers.

Blog #10 .

In the Chat transripct the emotions shift from in Excerpt 1 to Excerpt 2. In the beginning of Excerpt 1 she explains how she loved the interenet when she first discovered for herself. She was able to basically do whatever because her parents knew nothing of the internet or WebTV. She knew that she was doing was dangerous. She ran into an encounter like that when a pedophile called her, after she gave him her number after talking to her online in a Chat Room. After that she was definitely more cautious with what she did and with her younger siblings as well. She didn't want them to experience the same as she did.

A question I would want to have answered is even though her parents weren't familiar with the internet, Why did they give her free reign to do whatever? Because they didn't know much of it they still should have monitored her.

Then again in Excerpt 2 she seems to be more in a playful/funny mood. She sort of down plays the situation that happened earlier. She and her friend go right back into the Chat Rooms talking to strangers. They experienced another situation when someone they were talking to turned out to be the Pastor's son.

Question: Why didn't she learn from her mistakes from before? The same thing could have happened again contrary to whether or not she thought it could.

Blog #9 Part 1 & 2.

Smith = social linguistic (interactional) approach




message units = an utterance - something said
interactional units = sets of messages that are connected - such as questions and answers
sets of interactional units = larger clusters of interactions focused on a common purpose, line of exploration etc.

Ch        I wanted to talk a little, you  talk about your self as a hardware expert, you said software novice, although I bullied you into being competent, what software do you know how to use?

B          you know, what everyone else knows how to use, word, frontpage, powerpoint, excell, spreadsheet things

Ch        so it's interesting, games aren't really considered software are they?
B          they are -
Ch        so you know lots of software
B          yeah, but it's just games (laughing)
Ch        so what kind of crossover did you find between learning the games and learning the software everyone needs to know?  Obviously it wasn't real hard for you to learn, frontpage
B          I think it's because I had ah, background exposure
Ch        what background?
B          Well, just in learning how to learn a program, I just see buttons, tool tips and ah I make a go at it, the scissors mean I can cut in here, and I can just cut and drag and drop - these a simple things everyone knows, I guess the only reason I can pick up learning a program is that I just have that knack, no other way to explain it.
Ch        that's literacy - you have the basic tools, the right basic set of assumptions for how to read, understand, interpret a program.  And so what I'm looking for is the connection between all the gaming experience you have and your ability to do that with the applications - the academic applications
B          well like a lot of games, in the beginning, there's menus.  You don't just start playing.  There's menus, you get to customize your decal your spray, clothes, laughing. It's not all playing the game it's a lot of process to prepare for it, there's like box, scripts, you practice it, and you're not playing with other people, you're just like fooling around.
Ch        OK so all those things - same kinds of processes, same kinds of moves - so navigating menus is something you learned from games that can carry over - anything else?
B          I think that is the main thing, I can't connect a First person shooter with Microsoft word, that would be a real stretch
Ch        how about file systems and gaming spaces?
B          you know, you're right, because the game, the games are still software, and they're still files, so there are certain organization of a game that is different from regular files
Ch  - so what's another thing - so playing those games when you were a little kid set you up to be able to disentangle that DOS system more easily than your stepfather, so what were you doing?
B          like I was navigating through menus
Ch        you got used to trial and error
B          I wasn't being graded - there's no - all right man, let's pass this class you've got to
Ch        so you're completely comfortable with messing it up and starting over.
B          Oh yeah
Ch        I think the print generation has a lot of hangups with that - what's something else
B          there's a song by Natasha Ben ? I hear it on the radio - it goes like, she says in her song, that we're taught not to make mistakes, we really can't live that way

For the most part in this article Chandler is in "charge" of the interview. She is asking the questions and pulling information from him. He seems to hold back a pit because she is a high ranking educator and his teacher and also from a different (print) generation. After the interview really gets flowing he seems to be more comfortable with answering the questions being thrown his way.


Carter - Black feminist, micro-ethnographic

Ch I wanted to talk a little, you talk about your self as a hardware expert, you said software novice, although I bullied you into being competent, what software do you know how to use?

B you know, what everyone else knows how to use, word, frontpage, powerpoint, excell, spreadsheet things

Ch so it's interesting, games aren't really considered software are they?
B they are -
Ch so you know lots of software
B yeah, but it's just games (laughing)
Ch so what kind of crossover did you find between learning the games and learning the software everyone needs to know? Obviously it wasn't real hard for you to learn, frontpage
B I think it's because I had ah, background exposure
Ch what background?
B Well, just in learning how to learn a program, I just see buttons, tool tips and ah I make a go at it, the scissors mean I can cut in here, and I can just cut and drag and drop - these a simple things everyone knows, I guess the only reason I can pick up learning a program is that I just have that knack, no other way to explain it.
Ch that's literacy - you have the basic tools, the right basic set of assumptions for how to read, understand, interpret a program. And so what I'm looking for is the connection between all the gaming experience you have and your ability to do that with the applications - the academic applications
B well like a lot of games, in the beginning, there's menus. You don't just start playing. There's menus, you get to customize your decal your spray, clothes, laughing. It's not all playing the game it's a lot of process to prepare for it, there's like box, scripts, you practice it, and you're not playing with other people, you're just like fooling around.
Ch OK so all those things - same kinds of processes, same kinds of moves - so navigating menus is something you learned from games that can carry over - anything else?
B I think that is the main thing, I can't connect a First person shooter with Microsoft word, that would be a real stretch
Ch how about file systems and gaming spaces?
B you know, you're right, because the game, the games are still software, and they're still files, so there are certain organization of a game that is different from regular files
Ch - so what's another thing - so playing those games when you were a little kid set you up to be able to disentangle that DOS system more easily than your stepfather, so what were you doing?
B like I was navigating through menus
Ch you got used to trial and error
B I wasn't being graded - there's no - all right man, let's pass this class you've got to
Ch so you're completely comfortable with messing it up and starting over.
B Oh yeah
Ch I think the print generation has a lot of hangups with that - what's something else
B there's a song by Natasha Ben ? I hear it on the radio - it goes like, she says in her song, that we're taught not to make mistakes, we really can't live that way


By using this method you're able to tell that the interviewer and the person being interviewed come from two different generations. Not just by age but by things that they say and the different ways they react to the gaming/computer systems.

Blog #8 .

I feel that in this interview she was holding back a little bit and wasn't being completely honest because she was being interviewed by a professor. I think she was holding back because she didn't want to offened anyone. But I feel that as it progressed she opened up and answered the questions as she should have initially. In this interview I noticed that she talks about the test taking in three different ways. At first she explains how she was totally scared and didn't think she would pass. Then the second time she was scared because she had no friends but the third time she passed and actually had a close friend in Paula. I also noticed that she talks about friends a lot. Just like every young child around that age she focuses a lot on whether or not she has any friends.

Blog #7.

In class I’ve learned that with discourse analysis it’s really just breaking down the language in a specific writing and analyzing to where you can understand it. Discourse is all based on a number of things. What a person says, how they say it, their body language etc. We used discourse in class when Dr. Chandler gave us the short scene that included Michelle, David, Katie and Oscar. We were able to figure out who stayed in control during the conversations, who “bow downed” to someone, who looked for validation and who didn’t say much all from that small scene. We were able to realize a few things but the writer of that piece went into great detail about it all. They supplied us with character backgrounds and insight on who they wanted these characters to be.

With discourse analysis I am still confused a little bit on exactly how to conduct it. But I feel that with Monday's lesson and the in class assignment we had, I have a better understanding of it. There is still a lot I want and need to know about discourse analysis. I also believe that with more assignments like that given on Monday which are interesting to read and think about would help me learn more on this topic.

Blog #6 .

There are three different definitions for the word discourse. These three include 1. communication of thought by words; talk; conversation, 2. a formal discussion of a subject in speech or writing, as a dissertation, treatise, sermon, etc., 3. Linguistics . any unit of connected speech or writing longer than a sentence. Discourse Analysis is a general term for a number of approaches to analyzing written, spoken, signed language use or any significant semiotic event.

Discourse would be helpful to me as a method because being an author you have to have formal way of writing and everything has to connect and make sense. An author has to make sure the language of the characters is genuine and everything that pertains to the novel written clearly.

Blog #5 .

The creative writing text I chose is The Coldest Winter Ever by Sister Souljah. It is an urban novel centered around a young woman named Winter Santiaga as she goes through the ups and downs of being the daughter of a drug king pin. Being that the author was born and raised in the Bronx, New York I believe that most of her research was done around her. She more than likely used her the things she saw, encountered, her neighborhood and surrounding areas to create this work of fiction. I also believe she probably interviewed peers who were living in the same situation. I have the collectors edition of the book and in it she talks about write the book so well because of her upbringing in the area.

The creative project I started in class revolves around death in my family. My way of research and the writing process would most likely be reflecting on myself. Reflecting on how I felt, how I reacted, how I dealt with the deaths etc. I would use most of the examples given in the blog, discussion with peers, clustering, talk with peers and free writing. The discussion and talking with peers could be used for interviewing. I would interview the people closest to me and see if they noticed any types of changes in my behavior and what not. The clustering and free writing would give me a way to formulate my ideas and write whatever comes to me.

Blog #4 .

Project 1. Being that I want to be an author and take an interest in Creative Writing, I would want to take the personal experiences I’ve been through regarding my personal life and turn that into a work of fiction. I have already started on something like this but I would want to go further with it. I would talk to other people who have been through the same or similar situations as myself. I would also do research and see what else other people have went through, how they dealt with judgments and other people and everything they went through. I would relate them to what I’ve been through as well. I would also exaggerate just a little bit to give the fiction piece sort of a little extra something. This is something that is my biggest goal to finish. I know it will be easy since it's taking my personal life and turning it into a creative piece of work.

Project 2. Being an African American I tend to lean more towards stories and books that I can relate to. I would do research on how writing has been apart of the African American community dating back to slavery. I would talk about how in Slavery times writing was prohibited for blacks. The masters feared it would give them the power and education to run away. Then I would talk about how writing has become such a big thing in the African Americna community. This would not be the easiest since it entails a lot of historical research but dedication and hard work would make it alright.

Project 3. In my Research & Tech class, which pretty much goes hand in hand with this one we have to choose a topic for a research paper. The topic I chose is "Why is writing so theraputic for some?". Even though I'm using this for a paper in this class. I would not only depend on research from the internet but I'd do my own personal interviews and see how writing has personally affected their lives and how it has helped them.

Blog #3 Lives for Boundary .

Purpose = The Main purpose is talking about the American Educational system and how its failed students considered to be "America's poor". The author also gives ways of  how it can be handled. He uses not only the story of his own life but of others as well to enforce his point and that of the story. I think his purpose is not only to enform about the US educational system but to also inspire. And show that you can grow up poor and what people consider illiterate but you can also grow from that and work hard towards an education. Much like Laura in the first chapter who went from being poor in Tijuana to being a student at UCLA.

Process = I think that the author did a study on his life as well as the lives of others, that grew up in situations like him.

Methods/Sources = I think the biggest method he used was interviewing in order to get the information from the other people he used as examples in the book. And he also reflected on his past and what he went through when he was younger and his life today.

Blog #2 .

Creative Writing would have been the one most relevant to my interestes and career goals, being that I want to become an author. Since we could not choose Creative Writing as one of the research essays it was hard to find one that would also work with my career goal. I think that all of these reasearch essays could help me in my research but of the ones we could chose none of them would solely benefit my research. I may be wrong but I think that these essays are more beneficial to those taking the education career route. Creative Writing and Textual Analysis are the two that would help me out the most. Besides these two I think that Ethnography would also help me in my career. This could be relevant because when writing on a certain subject that you don't really know to much about doing a study or getting the information from the group of people it pertains to is extremely helpful. For example when I began to write a short story about a young woman with HIV, I didn't really know about the disease but after researching and reading stories about people with it. That helped me a lot.

A Rose for Emily .

The main focus of this essay is talking about the short story "A Rose for Emily". I think that in this essay Judith Fetterley describes what she believes is the overall theme of the story. Fetterley goes into great detail of how the story really goes into what a woman is, how society and men create this image of what a lady is and the double standards that go for women as well as men. I believe this because at one point in the essay she says that Emily Grierson basically got away with the murder of Homer Barron. Throughout the essay she uses text from the story to prove her points. In addition she also breaks down the story and the character of Emily. For this essay Fetterley uses textual analysis. She analyzes the story, gave details on what happened, the reasoning behind it amongst other things. She not only states her opinions but also facts from the story itself. She makes you understand basically everything about "A Rose for Emily" without having to actually read the short story. This authors approach would be good for college essays when you have to analyze a story or certain information and write an essay on what it is specifically about.

Questions for Moreno.

1. Do people believe that by enforcing the English language as the primary literacy/learning launguage it is taking away from these students cultures?