Vegan living website
www.wix.com/rawliving/vegan

Quakers
http://prezi.com/dh4tyudhlr-w/quakers/?auth_key=1e8ff75233250fea66ee3110345cffd88041d4e6
My final project is a Prezi. It is a generalized look at my research paper about Quakers, and touches on what I've learned this semester.

Cecily Terhune
My multimodal project is a website about jazz music and its history.
cecilyterhune.moonfruit.com

Project 4

Javonte Anderson has created a website that provides basic information, and minimal insight on the research he conducted. The website link is: http://searchforclarity.weebly.com

Improving Wellness

Cassie is doing an xtranormal story Hospitals often overlook preventable mistakes, therefore leading to patient re-admissions. This costs the hospital, as well as patients, a lot of money.. http://www.xtranormal.com/watch/13367367/informing-the-public-of-hospitals-mistakes

Tori is also doing an xtranormal story which is entitled Redesigning Our World. Her focus is on a woman who wants to design her potential baby boy's genes, thus giving him desirable traits. She discusses her decision with a doctor. http://www.xtranormal.com/watch/13370360/designer-babies-take-two

Shelby is doing an xtranormal activity as well, which will focus on relocation. This will be a discussion between an upcoming college graduate and a professor talking about the steps to relocation. http://www.xtranormal.com/watch/13264061/relocation-project

Clayton is presenting a powerpoint presentation called Saving A Generation From PTSD. He will be focusing on the ways to prevent PSTD and giving much information on the subject, including how and why it is formed. http://www.slideshare.net/ceramer/ptsd-eng-104-proj-4?from=share_email

Influences on a High School Athlete's College Decision.

David Ryan Vander Meer - I did a Prezi presentation on what influences high school athletes to choose the college that they do. I focused on the 4 biggest influences and their importance in the decision-making process.

http://prezi.com/bqag6feiegfx/an-athletes-college-decision/

Daybreak -Tori Vaughan

For my project, I will be presenting a magazine/newsletter on issuu, an online magazine publisher and virtual reader. My magazine, Daybreak will feature the historical context of and present issue of the integration of religious and spiritual practices in psychological treatment for depression, anxiety and personality disorders. The magazine will also discuss both positive and negative aspects of the integration of religion and practices of spirituality within treatment.

http://issuu.com/torivaughan/docs/multi_modal_1

Communication in Professional Settings

Megan Mansfield- I did a PowerPoint on the importance of genealogy.  I focused on the benefits and how to do personal research.  I learned many interesting stories about my family history in the process.

 

Embarking on the Journey of Diversity

Trista Guthrie- I did a PowerPoint on the importance of vaccines.  This PowerPoint focuses on why parents should have their children vaccinated. It also gives reasons on why parents are reluctant to have their children vaccinated.

Write at 3:30: Urban Living

Write at 3:30: Urban Living: Stephanie, Megan, and Hallie  Stephanie:  Creativity of Design Creativity and design, when used effectively, can create transcendent ch...

 My multimodel project includes a message not only for triathletes, but anyone consuming or wanting to consume vitamin supplements . In my video message it shows healthy triathletes that donot use vitamin supplements and still being successful at what they are passionate about. In the video I wanted the music to attract people without being distracting so they would watch to the end to understand the message. Megan Chase

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TIRM7_jZ6G8&feature=plcp
This project includes the causative agents behind Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, as well as statistics associated with this disorder. An example of the facial deformities that define FAS are highlighted in the picture of the child at the beginning of the presentation. Hallie

About the Inca Empire

For my multimodal project, I did a website on Inca civilization. My main objective is to inform the general audience on how this tribe became an empire: About the Inca Empire

Music, Marriage, Milltown

Parker:
My PowerPoint presentation will tell everyone how, through interviewing citizens of Milltown, I learned beyond the expected history of the town and gained knowledge on life, relationships, and what it truly means to be a Milltown Miller.

Urban Living

Stephanie, Megan, and Hallie 


Stephanie: 
Creativity of Design

Creativity and design, when used effectively, can create transcendent change. They work independently but also have strong relations in design professions such as architecture. 

Green Living

Lynne, Ashley, and Adam

Lynne - I am making a website that will be covering the environmental impacts, positive health effects, and ethical treatment of animals on factory farms and how you can help by living a vegan lifestyle. I will have lots of links and how to get started with the lifestyle changes. www.wix.com/rawliving/vegan

Peer Review: Megan, Leah, and Shannon

Megan- Her brochure includes her own family tree. Her PowerPoint allows the viewer to stay entertained.

Shannon- Her website is full of information, videos, and photos that all get the attention of the viewer.


Leah- Her website looks very professional and she included all of her sources. She has different tabs for each subject too.

Peer Review: Cayleigh, Trey, and Cecily

Cayleigh is doing a video on xtranormal
Trey is doing  a powerpoint
Cecily is doing a website.

Peer Review: Lynne, Ashley, Adam

Lynne is creating a website over vegan diets and the reasons and benefits related to health, the environment, and the welfare of animals. She is including links and will be explaining each link topic. The website looks very professional and is easy to read. As well, she will be passing out pamphlets to help the audience follow along with what she's showing/talking about.

Ashley is creating an xtranormal animated video that explains the purpose of her assignment. She will then talk a little about her research after showing the video. The video itself is an interesting way to present her topic while also keeping the attention of the audience.

Adam is making a powerpoint presentation to explain benefits and history of hemp in the American society. I think adam will present this topic in a professional way and it was be very informative to the audience.

Peer Review: Hallie, Megan, Stephanie

Hallie is creating a video and power point presentation on fetal syndromes. The video will cover over abnormalities of children.  Megan is doing a video over triathletes and vitamin abuse. The video has pictures and music to act as a silent film.

Stephanie is doing a prezi over creativity and designs and its influences. She will do this by showing pictures of architecture.

Peer Review: Cassie, Tori, Shelby, Clayton

Cassie is doing an xtranormal story, which does not have a specific title yet but will most likely be entitled Doctor Story. Her story will casually include statistics of hospitals and talk about a man who acquired an infection while he stayed at the hospital from diabetes complications.He is talking with one of his friends he ran into at the office. Her project is over halfway done.

Tori is also doing an xtranormal story which is already finished and entitled Redesigning Our World. Her focus is on a woman who wants to design her potential baby boy's genes, thus giving him desirable traits. She discusses her decision with a doctor.

Shelby is doing an xtranormal activity as well, which will focus on relocation. Although she is not here and we do not know her title or specific purpose, we do know that she is almost finished.

Clayton is presenting a powerpoint presentation called Saving A Generation From PTSD. He will be focusing on the ways to prevent PSTD and giving much information on the subject, including how and why it is formed. He is still in the process of working.

Peer Review: Victoria, Kory, David, Mariah

Victoria, Kory, David, and Mariah are all using functional and rhetorical literacy by each using a different mix of technology, fair use materials, and the information they gained from their research this semester to create their final projects.

Kory and Mariah are making websites with information pertinent to their topics. Victoria is making an online newsletter using Issue for the same purpose, and David is making a powerpoint about his topic.

None of us have much more than the general form of our projects created (example: Kory and Mariah both started their websites, but neither has any content up yet.), but we all have an idea of what we're doing and a plan for it.

First Peer Review on Multimodal Project

Today during class, your peer review group will meet to determine where everyone is so far on their project and to commit to a title for your panel presentation. Each group should respond to this post with the title of its panel, along with one sentence for each individual student's presentation that describes its focus and its format.

Multimodal Project: What is your tentative plan?

In 250 words, write what you are thinking about doing for your multimodal project. You might want to mention your topic, what aspect of your previous research you will focus on, what the purpose of your message will be, who you see as your audience, the types of platforms that you are considering using and why, and what ideas you have for creating in that platform. This is just a starting point for discussion and planning. If you have questions or concerns--and probably everyone does at this stage--include them in your post.

For Thursday, March 1: Write a Brief Abstract

Write 100-125 words that sum up the scope of your research project.

For Tuesday, February 28: Sorting Through Public Archives (Box 31)

For this activity you'll need to find a public archive, where you can view public and private records, historical documents, and/or artifacts. If you don't have time to access a site in person, try one of the online archives mentioned in Chapter Seven in FieldWorking, or do an online search using key terms about your topic plus "online archive." Or try one of these sites: The National Archives, Indiana State Archives, or the Ball State Archives and Special Interest Collections.

For Thursday, February 23: Finding a Focal Point (Box 19)

For this activity, you need to review all the data you have collected and find the clusters of themes and patterns in your field site or topic (instructions on p. 193 in your text). By the way, did you know that the word "topic" comes from the Greek word topos, which means "place"? Now you know. So whether your "place" is geographical or metaphorical, this activity still works.

For Tuesday, February 21: Writing a Verbal Snapshot (Box 18)

Write a couple paragraphs describing a place, using the example presented in Box 18 of your textbook and on the FieldWorking Web site. If you can, describe a place that relates to your research project.

For Tuesday, February 14: Locating Online Cultures (Box 15)

Choose a Web site related to your research focus to analyze for this activity, which appears on page 158 in FieldWorking. Sunstein and Chiseri-Strater argue that some Web sites are online communities, with gatekeepers, rituals, and rules of behavior. Other sites might seem merely to provide information, but pay attention to how language is used. For example, a Web site devoted to an Art History academic community might use language differently from one devoted to Computer Science: They might use specialized terminology; they might limit the site's discussions to certain topics; or they might present information in a way that assumes that all visitors to the site are members of that academic discipline.

Read through Box 15 to get a fuller idea of how to analyze and evaluate potential Web sites. In addition, notice whether the site is a .edu, .com, .org, .mil., .gov, or .net. Who is the author of the site? How credible is this person or organization?  Has the site been updated recently? How does the arrangement and design affect the usability and overall experience of the site?

For Thursday, February 9: Positioning Yourself (Box 10)

Read the instructions and the example for "Positioning Yourself" on page 113 in your FieldWorking textbook. The purpose of this activity is to "help you uncover the assumptions, preconceptions, personal experiences, and feelings that influence you...throughout your research process" (113). In other words, consider how your own experiences and biases might influence how you select, read, interpret, and interact with your sources. Note that the authors refer to a "fieldsite," but the same approach is useful for thinking about the kinds of books and articles you will encounter on your topic: After all, real people are behind those texts.

For Tuesday, February 7: Find two books on your topic

It's time to look for sources on your research topic, so that you can start getting an idea of the conversations taking place: Go to Bracken Library's site, click on the "books" link, and then log into CardCat. Play around with possible key search terms until you find a couple books that look promising. Next, go to the library to find those books. You should also look at the books shelved in the same area to see if you can find anything else interesting that didn't show up on your CardCat search.

Check out the books you want (yes, more than two, if you find good ones), and then reply below, creating a bibliographic entry in MLA format to list the books. You might also want to explain what interested you about the books you chose. Finally, bring those books to class on Thursday--and remember, your First Major Writing Project is also due that day.

Exploratory Writing (Box 4)

At this point, you have conducted two interviews and written your first draft of an essay synthesizing the information you learned from those primary sources. You may have decided to explore the topic that has emerged from your interviews, or you may want to embark on an entirely new inquiry. Whatever choice you have made, start writing about where you want to go next. Use the questions on page 62 of your textbook to prompt your writing activity: Just get some ideas down and post them here.

Establishing Rapport (Box 21)

My dad claimed he had no stories, but I really wasn't expecting him to tell me stories, just supply a few clues here and there about what life was like in his family and our neighborhood during the '30s, '40s, and '50s. It was kind of funny at times because I'd ask him a question, and he'd look at me like I was crazy and say something like, "We didn't have things like that back then!" or "That place wasn't even built yet!" and I had to keep reminding him that I wasn't around in those days.

My dad has a tendency to be suspicious of school assignments, especially when he's being interrogated about himself. He's not a big conversationalist, either. I did my best to reassure him by clearly explaining what I was doing. Another thing I noticed was that he seemed reluctant to answer some questions with my mom sitting right there: in particular, when I asked about his high school years and whether he had a girlfriend. It suddenly hit me that I probably should have found a time to talk to him when nobody else was around.

My aunt, on the other hand, was completely open about talking to me, and we spent more than three hours talking and reminiscing. We both like to talk, so we didn't have any lulls in the conversation. Each question seemed to trigger multiple memories that she was eager to share. A few times my aunt did get frustrated with herself because she couldn't remember certain names or facts. She said there were things she always meant to write down and figured she would get around to it, but didn't realize how much she would forget. Some of her recollections differed from what my dad told me, but that didn't surprise me because my dad admits that he wasn't always paying attention.

After my interviews with my dad and aunt, I realized there were questions I had meant to ask and forgot, questions I didn't think to ask until later, and information I needed to clarify. Still, I also learned a few things I never would have thought to ask about, just through the course of our conversations.

A verbal portrait (Box 25)

Below is a verbal portrait that I wrote on February 18, 2007:

When Feedback is a Bad Thing: Verbal Portrait of a 12-year-old Halo 2 Informant

            I took advantage of a snow day to interview my son about video games. I’m taking a class in ethnography, which is the study of groups, and I’m studying a group I don’t belong to: Halo 2 players.

            At first, Daniel was an eager informant, but he became resistant when he saw there were sixty-five questions on my list. I bribed him with a cheeseburger and a mug of hot chocolate, but that wasn’t enough to keep him from fidgeting.

“Come on, Mom, it’s a snow day. I was in the middle of game.” 

I resorted to parental authority. He continued to exhibit symptoms of withdrawal, his excessive thumb twitching evidence of my contention that his gaming is obsessive.

            The interview provided useful background information for someone who has little knowledge of and even less interest in video games. The very first question provided insight: “Why do you like video games?”

“’Cause they’re fun! Interactive!”

He actually said the word “interactive.” Ah, so this is not a passive medium, and it even has the potential to improve vocabulary.

Daniel’s favorite game is Halo 2. It takes a lot of practice to get good at the game, and yet Daniel insists that age and skill don’t matter so much among Halo 2 players.

 “What matters is how you act. How you treat people. That you’re a good sport.” An ethical code of conduct among group members!

Daniel gets angry at “modders,” people who modify the game to take unfair advantage of other players. Modders can be reported by providing “feedback” online to the “Bungee people” who represent the manufacturer.

“Another player gave feedback on me ‘cause I beat him.”

My poor, innocent—wait a second. I remember seeing a copy of Halo 2 Hacks in Daniel’s book bag. Ambiguity here.

Daniel has X-Box Live, which provides audio so players can talk to each other.

“Is there is anything people say that makes you laugh?”

“Yeah, people acting like they’re constipated.” So potty humor is accepted and appreciated by group members.

            I asked about team etiquette on Halo 2.

“Huh?”

I rephrased my question: “Is there any particular behavior that is not tolerated among teammates?”

“What?”

I rephrased again: “What makes people think you’re a jerk?”

Instant recognition.

 “Running over your teammates with the wart-hog,” he said. Apparently a

wart-hog is a type of transport vehicle.

My husband, Brad, sometimes plays, but Daniel said he’d rather play with other kids: “Dad’s not that good at Halo.”

 Daniel said that once when they were playing Halo 2 together on X-Box Live, Brad could hear their teammates saying that he “sucked.” So Brad blew up the teammates and logged off. Apparently Dad’s not a very good sport.

           

           

           

Listening for Words: Creating a Glossary (Box 27)

Sunstein and Chiseri-Strater argue that, "Special words, jargon, slang, and the unique uses of everyday language are important clues to understanding a culture or subculture. Knowing what terms insiders use will help you step away from your outsider status, and analyzing the words--and their uses--will assist you in seeing what's important to insiders" (279).  If you are already an insider, you need to try to imagine what aspects of the group's language you take for granted that others might not understand. For example, I used to work in advertising. In my dissertation proposal for a study about the evolution of advertising agency rhetoric, I had to consider that my committee members have not worked in advertising and may not be familiar with certain terms or define them the same way that I do.

Definition of Terms

Advertisement: A persuasive message created with text and/or images and used to sell products and services.

Advertiser: This term is used interchangeably to refer both to companies that produce products and services and the advertising agencies that create and place advertisements for those companies.

Advertising Agency: A business organization, working on behalf of itself or another organization, that both creates persuasive advertising and purchases media space in which those advertisements appear.

Advertising Publications: Refers to Advertising Publications archive housed in the Emergence of Advertising in America Online Database. These publications cover a variety of topics, including why manufacturers should advertise, how to advertise, descriptions of publications in which advertising was sold, and rates and data for newspapers and magazines around the nation.

Advertising Space: Space purchased within a print medium for the placement of advertisements.

Consumer: Although, technically, the JWT House Ads are directed to “consumers” of advertising services, they were placed in publications considered to be trade, rather than consumer. Consumer, in the sense that I use it, refers to the end-user of products and services purchased for personal use.

House Ads: For the purposes of this study, the J. Walter Thompson House Advertisements archive in the Emergence of Advertising in America Online Database. These advertisements appeared primarily in the trade publication Printer’s Ink, and were used to promote the advertising agency services of J. Walter Thompson.

Media: The plural form of what refers to any medium, primarily print, during the era discussed, that supports editorial and/or advertisements in text, and/or images.

Work Cited

Sunstein, Bonnie Stone, and Elizabeth Chiseri-Strater. FieldWorking: Reading and Writing Research, 4th. ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2012. Print.

Silent-film Stunt Man

I've asked all of you to come up with a family story, so I'll share one of my own. You can post your stories as a response to this post.

Today I found a photo of my great-grandfather's burial site at www.findagrave.com, which I located after a short Google search.  I knew he died as a young man, but I wasn't sure of the exact years of his birth and death.

Alonzo Winfield Allen was a stunt man in the silent movies. He died in 1918 at age 29 or 30, when my grandmother, Luella Allen Lindquist, was about five years old. The only thing she knew about his passing was that he had died of kidney failure. That was the story I heard as a kid, and, of course, I felt sad for my grandma that she didn't have her father around when she was growing up.

It wasn't until somewhat recently that my mom learned that the kidney failure was the result of an accident that occurred during one of his stunts. The injury he received, although not fatal at the time it happened, damaged his kidneys. I don't know how the accident happened.

My mom learned this only because a relative on the Allen side of the family was doing genealogical research and had contacted my mom. Apparently, the marriage between my great-grandmother, Katherine Matilda Coorough, and my great-grandfather was a scandal, and it's possible they may have eloped. "Tillie" and Alonzo were married in 1911, and it is possible that Tillie's family was scandalized because Alonzo was in show business. At that time, people in show business were considered to be low class. In fact, a very brief Google search on stunt work in silent films led me to an article called "Stunt Man," where I learned that many stunts at that time were done by people who were desperate for work. 

The film industry provided little to no safety precautions. Many stuntmen--and women--died doing stunts. Now I'm more curious about the history of silent films, which might help me understand more about Alonzo in an indirect way. Since stuntmen rarely got credit for their work, chances are I could watch a silent film featuring Alonzo Allen, but I would have no way to prove it. I have never seen a photo of him.