RJ 18

Chapter 6: This chapter is all about language. I found it very interesting. How do you read people? By looking at body language, spacial arrangement (use of space), and dress/adornment, you can learn a lot about a culture. Adding these extras in your fieldnotes will really help out your ethnography! “Listening to the spoken language of your informant is an important way to learn about a culture. One key word can unlock information about the habits, beliefs, geography, and history of a whole group of people. Your job as a fieldworker is to act as a cultural  translator, recording and questioning the meanings of key words, phrases, and ideas that might serve as clues to step in to your informant’s culture.” I think slang terms are so interesting, such as “cheek” that used to mean “attitude.” We have so many new slang terms in this day and age. I chose to do box 25 because I thought there are many terms Catholics use that other people probably do not know what they mean, or they may think they know what they mean but it may really mean something else. So I have compiled a short GLOSSARY of my insider lingo. I hope you all learn something by reading it. One last note- I found the “performance” section interesting because I can relate that to the Catholic church – looking at each mass as if it were a performance. But also each individual as they perform in their own little way – interesting to think about and observe.

Box 25 [page 314]: CATHOLIC GLOSSARY:

• ABORTION: Briefly defined as ‘the loss of a fetal life.’
• ADVENT: a period beginning with the Sunday nearest to the feast of St. Andrew the Apostle and embracing four Sundays.
• BAPTISM: One of the Seven Sacraments of the Christian Church; frequently called the ‘first sacrament’, the ‘door of the sacraments’, and the ‘door of the Church.’
• CANON LAW: Canon law is the body of laws and regulations made by or adopted by ecclesiastical authority, for the government of the Christian organization and its members.
• CHALISE: Occupies the first place among sacred vessels, and by a figure of speech the material cup is often used as if it were synonymous with the Precious Blood itself.
• CONFESSION: A sacrament of the New Law instituted by Christ in which forgiveness of sins committed after baptism is granted through the priest’s absolution to those who with true sorrow confess their sins and promise to satisfy for the same.
• DEACONS: The name means only minister or servant, and is employed in this sense both in the Septuagint (though only in the book of Esther, and in the New Testament).
• EUCHARIST: Since Christ is present under the appearances of bread and wine in a sacramental way, the Blessed Eucharist is unquestionably a sacrament of the Church; the word Mass (missa) first established itself as the general designation for the Eucharistic Sacrifice in the West after the time of Pope Gregory the Great, the early Church having used the expression the ‘breaking of bread’ (fractio panis) or ‘liturgy.’
• FAST: abstinence of food or drink.
• HALLOWEEN: Celebrated on the first of November. Instituted to honour all the saints, known and unknown, and, according to Urban IV, to supply any deficiencies in the faithful’s celebration of saints’ feasts during the year.
• LENT: forty days of fasting before Easter
• SABBOTH: The seventh day of the week among the Hebrews, the day being counted from sunset to sunset, that is, from Friday evening to Saturday evening.
• SACRAMENTS: Sacraments are outward signs of inward grace, instituted by Christ for our sanctification. There are seven sacraments: Baptism, Confirmation, Confession, Anointing of the Sick, Holy Orders, Marriage, and Eucharist.
• TABERNACLE: Vessel holding the Blessed Sacrament.
• TRINITY (Blessed Trinity): The term employed to signify the central doctrine of the Christian religion, the truth that in the unity of the Godhead there are three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, these three persons being truly distinct one from another.

These are just a few of the many, many definitions and lingo used within the lovely Catholic church. Researching these, I even learned new terms, and I hope you all do as well. This will help immensely on my ethnography.

Add a comment October 28, 2009

RJ 17

Analysis Memo: The CWOW was a huge success in my eyes. I attended three events total and learned many new things along the way. I didn’t think a week in writing could be so interesting, but this week sparked some interest in English for me, and it gave me motivation for my ethnographic project. I was surprised by the number of people in attendance. In all our sessions, I observed it was our class there, and only a few other students/staff. I guess this activity wasn’t as popular as other activities or maybe not well publicized, but I thought there would be a lot more people there. I was also surprised there was food there, but I loved having snacks to munch on throughout the presentations. I am very grateful for the speakers taking time out of their busy schedules to come talk to us and teach us about writing. I was intrigued by the presentation of Don’t Be Silent, as well as the PhD students. I thought the documentary was awesome and would have taken so much time to compile all the information he had, along with English subtitles. Luca himself was intriguing. His accent was awesome and he was so full of knowledge on the subject matter. He would pause a lot in his talking to think of an English word that would match the Italian one, and that was disturbing. I was intrigued by the interest of the students and the questions that they asked. I thought many of them were insightful and lead to the revelation of new material. I was disturbed by the squeaky chairs in the PhD presentation, but I thought the man who read his paper about all his sufferings (eating disorder, not social) was SO awesome. That was probably my favorite presentation all week. He had beautiful words intertwined to make a sad story. Being up there and telling us first hand would have taken a lot of courage, and I truly admire him. He was great. I also enjoyed the talks about religion and literacy, since this goes with my topic. I went to mass and Bible study Wednesday (10.21.09). We got served pizza and cookies – so spoiled! At mass there were 20 people, a minor let down from last week’s 23. I was shocked by the pumpkin decorations on the altar; they usually don’t have decorations in church. I was also intrigued by the lighting again, and it was the same on Sunday mass. The lights all go in a circle in the ceiling, and they are all pointed toward the altar. For this reason, if you sit in the back of the church like I usually do, you are sitting in somewhat darkness. I thought this was interesting because as you proceed up pews, you get closer to Jesus and the light. (Maybe I should start working my way up pews!) Ten CSO members were at Bible study, and it was such a success. We not only open our Bibles and got familiar with the readings for the next Sunday’s mass, we shared personal stories and learned more about God through Dr. Joe and his classes studying to become a deacon. I was intrigued by a connection Veronica made. She told us that at the Consecration when the priest puts a drop of water into the wine (blood of Christ) that resembles humanity; it is like we are becoming one with God. We can unite all our sufferings with his an offer them up. I thought this was really awesome, and now when this part takes place in the mass, I remember what she said. We had handouts with the reading numbers on them. This facilitated finding the readings. Just like Yancey said, technology can make things so much easier. A lot of this Bible study was about mercy and forgiveness, as well as confession. Most non-Catholics I have talked to (before interviews) don’t agree with confession. They wonder why you have to verbally say all your sins when you can just pray to God by yourself and have them forgiven. I think Confession is wonderful and holds you more accountable for your sins. If you knew you had to confess to doing something, I think it could potentially stop you from doing it. I should look more into the thoughts on confession, as I see patterns within society of disagreement. I was disturbed, but somewhat in a good way, by the final question we talked about at Bible study. What is it that doesn’t make you feel great? Maybe it is this that makes us see the Lord the way he wants us to see him. For instance, put it all in God’s hands and offer your sufferings to God. It may just be that our sufferings bring us closer to Him. He can provide us with consolation and love. He is amazing.  

Chapter 7 is all about researching archives (collections of documents and artifacts). The internet allows us to connect with archives and artifacts we never would have been able to many years ago without actually going to see them. Artifacts are useful to study because they are examples of tradition (rituals, behaviors, language, beliefs, culture in general). Archives are also important because they “strengthen your fieldwork through triangulation” (meaning they back up your data). When encountering archival material, the first step is to organize it. There is no right or wrong way to do this, it just must be done. It is important to know what the time period was. Diachronically means according to many points over a length of time and synchronically means according to events, environmental features, or artifacts or items that exist at one period of time. Ethnohistory is a study of the development of cultures. Electronic archives can be easier to research.

Box 31: The keyword I typed in was “Catholic discrimination.” I found many, many results, 3,790,000 to be exact. The first hyperlink took me to a website called Catholic online (catholic.org). It was a blog post of a deacon telling a story of him and his son that lead into discrimination of their religion. This story probably isn’t a good source for my research. The next website was the definition of “Anti-Catholicism” from Wikipedia. Instead of overlooking this source, I went to the bottom of the page and clicked on their sources, most of which usually provide valuable information. Most of the sources were books not found online, but The New Anti-Catholicism: The Last Acceptable Prejudice is a book that was hyperlinked and took me to a page about the book. It seems to be about Catholic bigotry, especially within the United States. I feel like this book may boost my knowledge and help my study. The third website was helium.com where anyone could write their thoughts on Catholic bashing: the accepted discrimination. Fourteen people replied to this. Some of them were interesting; some of them were out of control. I wouldn’t use these in my studies – I am focusing on Commerce, TX. But I may be able to parallel views I receive throughout interviews with views like these. The fourth was a lawsuit on Catholic discrimination. This may be interesting to look into- how far has this discrimination gone? All the way to the court system? Is it that serious?  The fifth item was a newsweek.washingtonpost.com where “Catholics are influenced by the bishops,” making it sound like bishops just tend to their “OWN agendas.” I thought the search was interesting. If I wanted to delve deeper and find out more specific information, I would change my keyword. For example, I could do Catholic discrimination in Texas; Catholic discrimination AND Texas; Catholic population in Texas; Catholic background in Texas. Any of these searches would yield different and wonderful results that can be potentially helpful to my research project. I plan to use some sort of internet archive or artifact or simple information to provide information for my ethnography.

Add a comment October 27, 2009

RJ 16

Chapter 5, FieldWorking: This chapter is all about listening. I have trouble sometimes listening to others. We need to be less egocentric and step back and open our ears. This chapter caught my interest because I am getting ready to start doing interviews, and it was very helpful to read this before I interview. I will focus on reading my interviewee’s answers to find anything that catches my ear that I can ask further questions on. Chapter 5 tells us not to ignore our hunches, but to go with them for they may lead us to new and interesting information. Open and closed questions are introduced. An open question allows for a conversation, whereas a closed question simply has one answer, and doesn’t expound further. Although both questions will be used throughout the course of an interview, the open questions will yield more information. Cultural artifacts are also important. Much like stories, they can tell a lot about a person. These can be included in the interview to gain deeper insights to such cultures. “Good listeners guide the direction of thoughts; they don’t interrupt or move conversation back to themselves.” This is such a true statement. Nothing is more annoying than trying to talk to someone who seems so full of themselves because every time you get a word out, they turn the conversation back on them. I find it interesting that body language can tell people so many things. As a listener you want to give off the body language that shows you are truly interested in what they have to say, and that their words are important. Like many other ethnographies, a strong amount of information for my ethnography will come from interviews. The steps they go through include obtaining supplies, preparation, organization, listen, transcribing, and bringing it home to your paper. Local histories come into play in this chapter as well. “A fieldworker records spoken recollections and personal reflections from living people about their past lives, creating a history.” Jennette Edwards wrote I Can Read and I Can Write. This is a great example of Jennette adding her own thoughts/observations and explaining what is happening and at the same time quoting directing from her source, Lee. In this story, you hear Lee’s entire story, but you also hear Jennette speaking as well. She uses a lot of the techniques described earlier in the chapter: she doesn’t alter his word choice, she keeps his language patterns, she records his body language, and she describes his clothing and mannerisms. Interviews may not always be as easy as they seem on paper in the final project, but with faith and perseverance, I believe I have the information and determination I need to start interviewing and get the ball rolling! Mistakes will happen, and learning from them is important unless you want to repeat that mistake. Stories, especially family stories, guide research. As the chapter states, they “preserve a culture’s values and beliefs, help individuals endure, transform, or reject cultural values for themselves, and they exist because of the interrelationship between tellers and audiences.” This is important to my research because in my interview prompt, I will ask my interviewees if they have ever been discriminated against due to their religion/have they ever discriminated against someone due to their religion. This is prime time story time! I feel like stories are a fun way to learn about someone. They aren’t just boring facts, and they usually have meaning behind them. Through all these techniques and practice, I will become one successful interviewer. Watch out, here I come.

Expanded Fieldnotes: The two CWoW events I decided to analyze are Writing Local Histories, and the documentary Don’t Be Silent. Both of these events took place in Gee library. The step up was very nice and the events were well-planned out and organized, not to mention, they had snacks and refreshments! We arrived early to the event on Tuesday, writing local histories. The step up was great at the back of the library. There were plenty of chairs for many attendees. There was a nice projector and speakers set up behind a table with microphones hooked up. Clearly, Commerce was prepared to host some writing events. I took notes on each of the speakers as they arrived. First, the cutest old man, Otha Spencer, dressed in slacks and a pretty lime green shirt. His philosophy was that “You are the author of your own life story.” The more I thought about this phrase, the more it intrigued me. I find this so true, our lives are like open books, some of us are in the middle, and some close to the end, but no one really knows where they are at in the book, they just need to accomplish their goals day by day to get to write the next page and eventually the next chapter. Spencer brought eight books he had written. He struck me as the adventurous type, he had flown a hurricane and flown through mountain ranges and wrote about those experiences. His latest book, entitled That Lonesome Whistle, is a tale of the Cottonbelt railroad. He really stressed to get an editor. His wife was his editor, and he seemed to cherish that. Spencer was enthusiastic about the events in his life and felt the need to share them with others. Next, we have John Hanners, with a nice bowtie. He spoke first and is thrilled to keep Commerce history alive. He states, “We are our stories.” He claims to be selfish and write about things he finds interesting, specializing in micro-history, little biological snapshots where everyday people do extraordinary things. Being active in the drama department, he prefers the villain any day. He likes this because it connects to his family history: he had outlaws in past generations. I found Hanners interesting because he stressed writing local history as being so important because you can see how you are connected to the people that were at this university before you, but also you can see how you are unconnected, and what they were all about. I love that his goal is to separate the myth from the fact. The third arrival was Jim Ainsworth, who I like to refer to as the cowboy of the group. This man, in cowboy boots and dress clothes, also brought his books with him. He had “connections” that allowed him to publish books. He had a CPA practice here in Commerce, and his best-selling book is a how-to book on successful financial consultants. I found his story of the biscuits to be compelling. Who would have thought a whole novel could have evolved around a story of biscuits from his father and his journey to investigate this. He specializes in fiction writing, and has a four-book series on stories of his lifetime. I think it’s awesome that he recorded this information. Now his family and the culture within and the values they uphold will never die. This almost inspired me to start jotting down notes just so I can pass on my own history to my family. With technology these days, saving some memories can be made very easy via the computer. The final speaker was Bobbie Purdy, a spunky Silver Leo. She talked about the joy writing memoirs gave her and her successful class with Dr. Tarpley. My favorite part was when she read a short story to us about a pig. She just got so excited to share her story with us, and I thought that was so precious. She stressed the face that you can write for simple enjoyment and pleasure, not necessarily for the thought of publishing your work. I really enjoyed this event because I realized how people are at work every day writing local histories and preserving memories. It is awesome that Commerce history is being preserved so that in years to come, future Lions can look back at these histories and realize what we stood for, and what we accomplished while we were here. This will be interesting to them, just like it is interesting to us to look back at people in previous years. After this session, I was very grateful for these four people and all others that work to preserve history. These people at the event inspired me to never underestimate my abilities!  This was also inspiration for my ethnography project. Sometimes you can get into those slumps and bogged down with everything to do, but this provided me with a motive. These people are writing about things they are interested in, as well as helping our community preserve history. I, too, can be a part of this reciprocal relationship. My research, done throughout the Catholic community, is interesting and enjoyable to me. I will not only be informing myself and enjoying the process, but I will also be helping my community preserve the history of this day, this time, this church. I find this fascinating! My ethnography can be a part of this history, showing current and future residents what is happening in 2009. My second event was also fun. Don’t Be Silent somewhat connects to my other event. In this documentary, the residents write down their problems and requests, hoping the city leaders will respond with compassion and help their situation. By documenting these predicaments, they are preserving their history as well. This film was interesting, and connected to my topic! A CATHOLIC priest by the name of Don Roberto Sardelli started School 725 in Italy (Rome) in the poorest of the poor. My heart went out to the people in the film. They lived in shacks and had no electricity or water. This made me very appreciative for the apartment I have provided for me at Commerce and the wonderful house and family I have at home in Kansas. These people survived with the bare essentials. I liked the effects of the movie: some scenes were black and white, whereas others were in color. I liked the music that they played when they were just scanning scenery. The opening song was very dramatic and set the stage very well for the rest of the film. Roberto wanted to prepare these kids for life and instill some political conscience in them. One boy told of his shack that consisted of two rooms with eight people residing there. It was such a sad story. Sometimes it was hard to keep up with the movie because I would catch myself staring at the scenes and not reading all the subtitles, but I definitely got the gist of it. Roberto was a good man looking to help provide schooling and housing for these poor shack people. This most interesting thing about this event was that one of the makers of the film, Luca Morazzano, was there to start the film and explain or answer questions afterward. I thought it was cool in the film when they talked about “living poor.” They were “poor” because they refused the lives of the rich and the habits that came with that. I thought that was an interesting point. Sometimes a humbling experience is a necessary and great one. There were not as many people as I thought there would be at this event, but it was still good to see Luca and his explanations. After the film, he answered questions and explained that some things are lost in the translation. I understood a lot more of the film after he talked, although his thick accent was sometimes hard to follow. I thought this was a very well-done documentary and was very impressed. This also gave me inspiration for my ethnographic project. Luca documented these people, and in years to come, they can look back at this and be thankful they have their history recorded. I hope Commerce will be happy to have my hard work and research. Luca was so excited about the people he documented, and I feel like I will get a closer connection to Commerce as I continue my research as well. Within two days, I have learned so much and gained an interest in writing, and more enthusiasm for my project. Such a wonderful Week on Writing!

Add a comment October 23, 2009

RJ 15

Expanded Fieldnotes: Mass on Tuesday and Wednesday was interesting. Father George was out of town, so it was a “communion service” instead of a complete mass. This was short and sweet, included one reading, the Gospel, and communion. A layman (Dr. Joe Webber) presented the service. Tuesday’s service was a bit longer than Wednesday’s, but there were 13 more people there on Wednesday. This is likely due to the fact that we have Bible study after mass on Wednesday, which had 14 CSO members plus Dr. Joe, Kay, and Veronica. Two visitors from Holland came, and they were very silent. They only spoke to introduce themselves, the woman was very shy and didn’t think her English was very clear, but we all understood her few sentences. I wondered throughout the study if she was confused or could keep up with what we were saying because we talk so much faster than they did. Perhaps she was silent because she was lost. We also got pizza and drinks at Bible study. We voted at the last one to do Bible study every week, instead of once every two weeks, and we will also now eat there. The pizzas were provided, and no students had to pay for them. I thought this was very generous of them. It was almost a little reward for coming, as if the information I get from going there isn’t reward enough. A new member accompanied by a 5th grader, who I suspected to be daughter, distracted me. She was a very nice, African-American woman who liked to voice her thoughts. She grew up in a Catholic family, but veered away from there and went to a Methodist church. She didn’t describe what made her come back or why she was back, she just said God is amazing, and I am back here. When Veronica would say opening prayers, this woman would say “MMMMhMMMM!” or “AMEN!” while everyone else remained silent. She didn’t shout these, so it wasn’t absurd, but she would say them so they were audible to everyone in the room. This reminded me of Moss’s study of African-American churches, and also the movie Sister Act. African-American churches seem to have more of a dialog going on throughout the service. The woman seems to have brought that with her. I think a lot of the CSO members were not expecting this behavior, being in a more structured mass. Catholics usually listen to the leader (in the mass, the priest) and respond when they are supposed to with a certain response. There are no voices of agreement that excite the crowd. I thought this was interesting. I am a much more reserved person than she is, so this action would have been hard for me to do. Also, no one else followed her in doing this action (saying AMEN after everything that inspired her or every deep thought presented in conversation or prayer). If I was her, I would have watched to see what everyone else did and follow. She took her own path and voiced her opinions. She might have taken the hint that that is not how we proceed with our Bible study, but we are a very accepting group. No one said anything; we let people express themselves however they want. I just found it someone distracting, and if I was the one saying the prayer, I would have lost my train of thought every time she voiced her agreement. It will be interesting to see if she continues this action in weeks to come. The theme for this week was about suffering, and how we should unite our sufferings to the cross. We need to offer our sufferings to God. Without suffering in the world, there would be no good, everything would just be the same. Therefore, suffering is necessary, and can be tunneled for good. We were in a different room this time since a women’s group was in the big room. The room was small and somewhat warm, but we made it work. All the walls were white, expect there was a column of bricks centered in the middle of one wall, and on the rocks was a beautiful crucifix. I thought this sight was awesome. We were in a U shape sitting at tables, and they were all facing the cross, the reason for our meeting there that night. It was amazing. Before the closing prayer, Dr. Joe told everyone about Walker Rainey, a 6-month-old cancer patient. The athletic department at Commerce already had a blood drive for Walker, and we can see updates on his status at www.caringbridge.com (then enter WalkerRainey). This story must have hit home for Dr. Joe, because in the middle of him telling us about this little boy, he started crying, and his wife Kay had to finish the story. This was crazy! It was such a sad sight to see a grown 65-year-old man cry – such a moving experience. Joe is a very generous man, strong in his faith and values. I look up to Dr. Joe, he truly cares about things that matter and isn’t materialistic like so much of society today. Veronica is a truly sweet person as well; we talked for awhile after the Bible study, and she is like a mother for us, since our mothers are not here for us. I got five signatures after Bible study when I explained my ethnography project and asked for permission to interview them (Dr. Joe, Veronica, Carlos, Brittney, and James). Carlos is an RA, Brittney is in the Honors College, and James is the CSO president. I have a good variety of interests among them. These will be the three Catholic students I interview- I still need to find three non-Catholics. I have not attended the Commerce Week on Writing events yet, but posts that ensue will reveal expanded fieldnotes of those events. I haven’t heard any hype about it yet from people, but I have gotten two e-mails on my school account advertising for it, and providing a site where you can get the schedule of events. I am looking forward to attending the events and learning about literacy, and connecting what I learn to my ethnography.

Add a comment October 20, 2009

RJ 14

Field Note Analysis (BOX 8, Page 107, Fieldworking): The two sets of field notes I will analyze are taken from observing a Wednesday (10.7.09) mass at 6:30 followed by a Bible study, and a 9:30 mass the following Sunday (10.11.09). I was definitely shocked by the number of people there on weekday mass. There were only 20 people there, which was double the amount of the previous week. At my hometown church, many more people would go to weekday masses, but I understand I come from a big city and a big parish, and Commerce is a very small community, and St. Joe’s is a very small parish. I was surprised that there was no second reading or songs sung throughout the Wednesday mass. The mass was very short, probably the shortest one I have ever been to, and all weekday masses at St. Joe’s are like that. But I did enjoy it. It was short and sweet, and to the point. The Sunday mass was much larger and full of life. I was not surprised that this mass followed the traditional styles with songs and two readings. I was intrigued by the variety of people in attendance on Wednesday. Everyone sat in the middle pews, but so spread out. There were a few couples and a brother and sister that sat together, but other than that, everyone else that was by themselves just sat spread apart from one another. There were ten young students there, all of which went to the Bible study following it. Everyone else was older. The Bible study leader and Dr. Joe Webber and his wife were there, but the others all had grey hair. I find it interesting that these same old people have been in mass every weekday mass I have ever went to at St. Joe’s. I assume as you get older, you realize what is truly important in your life, and these people have found their faith to be so important, and they make a point to put God first in their lives. I also found it intriguing how nice the people were at both masses. Everyone greeted everyone, and at the sign of peace, they went out of their way to show kindness. I thought this was really cool. Sometimes in church people are reluctant to turn around and greet everyone, but at St. Joe’s, these people are ecstatic to meet new people and welcome them into the church community.  I was also intrigued by the shape of the church and the tabernacle. The shape is circular, which provides an interesting architecture. The tabernacle is surrounded by four stained-glass squares. To the left and right are the Greek letters Α and Ω, signifying that Jesus Christ is the “Alpha” (beginning) and the “Omega” (end). Above and below are wheat, used to make the bread then transformed into the body of Christ, and grapes, used to make wine then transformed into the blood of Christ. These simple stained-glasses represent so much. They are a powerful symbol without any words attached, and that intrigues me. I was disturbed by the man who read the first reading on Wednesday. His hair resembled that of the tradition mad scientist: grey and out of control. I could have dealt with his appearance, but the way he read the reading was most disruptive. He read it so slow with a raspy voice that I would understand what he was saying, but I kept getting distracted and didn’t comprehend because he took a lot of pauses. I was upset after the reading was over because I didn’t get anything out of the reading, and unlike my other church in Kansas, they do not have hymnals that include weekday readings. I really like to follow along with the readings in the hymnals, but I couldn’t do this because they only have readings for Sundays printed in them. However, on Sunday mass, I was able to follow along with the readings, and they had two younger people (one male, one female) read the two readings. I found it somewhat disturbing on Sunday when the deacon gave his sermon and read the Gospel. He has an extremely thick Texas twangy accent. He had a good message to send across to the people, and he is a very sweet person. I am just not used to that accent, so, for me at least, it took me awhile to get used to.

My Research Proposal: Before my research proposal, I want my peer reviewer to know what I am going to investigate so he/she can see how I present the material, and see if it is in an organized way. My goal is to interview many people, especially involved in the CSO, to see how others view Catholics. This includes non-Catholic and Catholic views of Catholics. I find this interesting, seeing as Catholicism is the minority in a Southern Baptist town like Commerce. I hope my reader gives me good ideas to expand my research, or to organize my research proposal a better way. As of right now, I do not have any questions or concerns about my project or proposal, but I am sure some will arise.

Commerce Week on Writing: The two events I plan to attend (besides the two during class time) are the Creative Writing event (Hall of Poetry) on Monday from 4:30 to 7:10 and Wednesday from 2-3 the creative writing workshop. With my busy soccer schedule, these are the only two events that I will be able to attend outside of class. I really wanted to go to the open mic on Friday night, but I have a home soccer game at 7pm, so that is not an option for me. I think these events will be enjoyable and interesting. I am interested in creative writing. I will take fieldnotes in my time there and later analyze them. I hope to somehow link this to my ethnographic project. I think, if nothing else, the more exposure to fieldnotes and analysis will help with my own fieldnotes in the church. The 3 PhD students event that we are going to on Thursday should help out with my project as well. Seeing literacy through their eyes will open doors in my own research. I plan to take extensive fieldnotes on this event, as well as one of the other ones I will attend. By communicating with friends, or bringing friends to the events with me, I plan to get the word out about the Commerce Week on Writing and the conclusions I have drawn through my fieldnotes and analysis.

Add a comment October 15, 2009

RJ 13

Fieldworking Chapter 4: This chapter is all about places, and the perspective you take when researching. This chapter helped me to realize that not everyone will have the same special gaze or worldviews or cultural perspectives. The EMIC perspective is the insider’s perspective, the ETIC being the outsider’s. It will be challenging but important for me to shift to an ETIC perspective to research, but keep my personal thoughts (but not to let them influence). Descriptive details and visual details can be good to let the reader really get involved with the text by creating a mental picture. Selective perception is important- only certain details are necessary for writing. Looking at how space is used can be interesting. I will work on recording sensory details in my field notes as well now- these include interior and exterior details. Drawing diagrams in field notes will also be helpful, especially if I want to go back and describe a certain setting (I can just look at my notes and remember the spacial orders). Mapping also helps condense notes. You can fit a lot more into a map in a smaller space than you could if you tried to write it all out to describe the setting. Maps are good because they help the ethnographer see how the space is used. These maps can also help find a focal point, another focus of this chapter. A focal point is a “spot, an area, or a place where the insiders’ activities cluster.” For me, I think the focal point will be a spot somewhere inside the church, maybe the altar, because all the action takes place here, and it is the place that draws everyone’s eyes throughout mass. We need to look for unity and diversity among our data. Unity and patterns that arise can show insights into cultures. Diversity and tensions show up in “moments of contradictions” (but these can be good as well). Colonization can occur if I use my language to describe other’s spaces. Finally, Karen Downing’s portfolio is included at the end of this chapter. This is helpful because it shows us what we are working toward and what to get organized now. I find the post-it notes interesting in her portfolio, and I think it is well-organized.

Literacies in Context Barton and Hamilton’s essay: I found this essay very useful for my topic. I was having some trouble figuring out where I was going to find literacy, but looking at literacy places and literacy events brings a whole realm of literacy to my research. Practices include “what people do with literacy” and events are “activities where literacy has a role.” Barton and Hamilton focus more on literacy as an activity, something that happens outside the classroom and outside the brain. They focus on literacy as a social practice. This is relevant to my topic, because church and the mass can be seen as literacy. It is an event, which is centered upon a written text, the Bible. It has three readings from the Bible, a homily (interpretation of the Gospel), and many songs that have their own stories or themes.  It also has a responsorial psalm from the Bible. Literacy “events are observable episodes which arise from practices and are shaped by them.” This definitely pertains to the mass. Without the Bible, the mass would be nothing. Therefore, the text is an essential and critical part of the event. It also says that in these events there is a mixture of written and spoken languages. This is also true with the mass. We have written books to follow along, and well as spoken responses and many songs to sing. Discourse communities are defined as “groups of people held together by their characteristic ways of talking, acting, valuing, interpreting, and using written language.” The church members are a part of the church discourse community. Each community has their own literacy practices, much like Catholics have their own practices and beliefs. This essay was an eye-opener for me because it helped my research proposal. I now understand I can look at events and practices among people to find the literacy, instead of trying to look for just reading and writing or visual symbols.

Expanded Field Notes: I went to 6:30 mass on Wednesday, October 7, followed by an hour-long Bible study. I also went to mass at 9:30 am on Sunday, October 11. The last weekday mass I went to only had ten people in attendance. This Wednesday mass had twenty people in attendance, and the majority of the ten new people were students at TAMUC. I think this is because the CSO sent out an e-mail encouraging all students to attend Wednesday night masses, followed by a short Bible study. The Bible study leader, Veronica Juarez, has been at both masses, as well as myself, Dr. Joe Webber (campus minister) and his wife Kay, an old woman who reads the readings, and an old, old man that greets members on Saturday and Sunday masses, a very nice, older Chinese woman, Carlos (an RA at prairie crossing, actively involved in CSO), and James Pappas, the CSO president. The mass itself was exactly the same in layout, but I noticed when everyone gives the “sign of peace” that everyone was exceptionally friendly. The people from the pews across the aisle looked over and greeted everyone on the other side with a welcoming smile, wave, or peace sign. This community seems so happy, and so joyful to be worshipping the Lord. Many people would walk across to the end of the pew to shake people’s hands. In my church back in Kansas, people were more kept to themselves and didn’t expend that much energy to make someone’s day. I felt wonderful after the sign of peace. The environment was completely changed. This was one of the first person to person interactions I had experienced this Wednesday, being as the weekday masses don’t have sung songs or responsorial songs. This interaction with the vibrant people was awesome. Seeing them happy in their faith lives and being content with their lives made me want to increase my faith and get on their level of joy from God. I think it’s important to note their joy is derived from the Lord, and they center their lives on Him. They committed to coming to mass on a weeknight, something a lot of Catholics do not find time for. Many these days just seem to go to the “obligatory” Sunday mass and feel good about themselves. They feel no need to live their faith, but these troupers at mass on Wednesdays are happy because they are actively living their faith, putting God in their lives, and he is reaping many good things for them. The mass again didn’t have a homily, my favorite part. After mass, we met in the room across from the church for our CSO Bible study. There are many different forms of Bible study or ways to organize your sessions, but we had been decided at our last CSO meeting that we would focus this Bible study on the mass readings. Each Wednesday we read the readings that will be read at mass the following Sunday, one reading at a time. We analyze each reading and talk about it and how it affects our lives as Catholic students. At this first study, we had ten students from CSO, Veronica, the leader, and Dr. Webber and his wife Kay, who was fabulous in serving beverages to the attendees. Veronica is so full of spirit and life. She is awesome at what she does, and Dr. Webber is studying to become a deacon, so he adds interesting stories into her insights that make everyone understand everything a little bit better. He is a very smart 65-year-old man. He is also enthusiastic about his faith, and this is contagious! This Bible study really helped when I went mass Sunday. I was familiar with the readings, so I didn’t have any new material to learn. When the deacon went to give the homily, everything he said made so much more sense because I had previous knowledge and knew what to expect. I feel like I got a lot more out of this mass because I felt prepared. Throughout the Bible study, Veronica gave stories of her own walk with God that helped us get to know her. She offered information on how the Lord helped her through the use of the Bible, and how it could potentially help us. She is really excited about teaching us and starting this study. Our first intentions were to meet every other Wednesday, but after our first successful meeting, I suggested we meet every Wednesday, and everyone was in agreement. They have decided we are not only hungry for faith, but we are also hungry students, so food (pizza) will be provided at our next meeting. Three tables pushed together in the shape of a U allowed us all to gather around and look at each other and discuss with each other. It was a very comfortable setting. I felt at home with my Bible and new-found friends. Sunday mass was filled with people, and everyone was very welcoming just like the other masses. This was a more traditional mass for me, complete with music and a homily. It lasted one hour, and the priest and the deacon both performed the mass. After, I introduced my mom to my Bible study leader and her family. Then, we had a short conversation with the priest, who is a soccer fan and always asks me about the team and our performances. This mass was greatly influenced by my time at Bible study.

Add a comment October 13, 2009

RJ 12

Fieldworking Box 13: The object I chose is the College Study Bible (The New American Bible). This is a Catholic Bible. It contains 2,048 pages, filled with inspiring messages from God. It is orange-brown in color and has a picture of a church on the front of it. It was published by St. Mary’s Press. The Bible itself was compiled around the year 300, and it is divided into two sections: the Old Testament and the New Testament. The Old deals with times and stories before the birth of Christ, and the New is all about Jesus. There are 73 books total, 46 in the Old, and 27 in the New. The print is quite small, and each book is divided into chapters, which are further divided into verses. This makes it easy for many people to access certain verses. This particular edition of the Bible contains six sections spread throughout of colored pages that give explanations and provide beautiful pictures. To me this is more than a book. It is a connection to others, God, and yourself. It provides a basis to set up a relationship with God: the more you read, the more you learn about God and get to know Him, and the more you can love and serve Him. It provides a social network of believers in activities such as Bible study, connecting you to others on a deeper level. It helps you find yourself through reading. The people who use this are religious and usually read it to seek a better understanding of their faith and deepen it. Also people read it for comfort in times of need, or for fun. Knowing God will always be there and that He is a merciful God is very reassuring for people in need. The people who made it are various authors from many, many years ago. They were very smart, and decided to write down the Word of God instead of relying on passing down by word of mouth. I, myself, value the object. In fact, I would say it is one of my most prized possessions. I chose this object because I love reading it, and it connects to my ethnography project. The Bible defines the culture of the Catholic church. It has all our background, faith, values, beliefs, and stories of our history in one place. It’s simply amazing and definitely life-changing.

Questions Page 148:

1. The characters place a lot of values on the cultural artifacts. Dee really puts a lot of historical value into the artifacts. Dee loves the food, and was delighted that they still used the benches that her dad made for the table. She appreciates her history in the present time. She adores the churn and dasher, as does her mother, describing all the dings on it that can show how much it has been used. This really brings into perspective all the hard work her mother put in, and the churn/dasher come to mean more to her mother, whereas Dee sees it as a decoration. She seems to care a lot about the quilts. She has not always been this way, but her age has brought appreciation for these articles. Dee becomes extremely selfish when she won’t take no for an answer. Maggie represents a giving, generous character, willing to give the quilts to Dee because she can make more and remember her grandmother without the quilts. The mother values the quilts so much that she will rather put them in the hands of someone who has always valued the quilts as well. These quilts represent so much of their history.
2.    Maggie seems to be a more mature character, willing to give the quilts to Dee, and remember her grandma without them. The mother puts value on the churn/dasher since she was the one there doing all the hard work. These items will not have as much value to her children. As Dee grows older, she puts more value on her family’s heritage and the artifacts that represent that, such as the quilts. Since Maggie and her mother reside together, these artifacts are more a part of their everyday life and mean more to them that Dee, who has been gone and expects to come back and take everything.
3. The churn and dasher represent deep tradition and history for the mother. She put long hours of hard work in with these, and they truly mean something to her. Dee comes home and sees these items not for what they represent in her family’s eyes, but as a simply decoration. Also, Dee’s name is a great example of tradition. Her mother can trace that name way back into the family tree. She was named after her grandmother, who was named after her mother, and so on, way back to the Civil War times. After Dee left, her creative side came out and she wanted a new name. The same goes for the quilts. Dee’s mother sees the culture and history in the beautiful quilts (tradition), whereas Dee wants to hang the quilts, using them as a decoration and for show (creativity).
4.  I feel like the narrator is a lot closer to Maggie, who appreciates the finer things in life, than Dee, who leaves and comes back almost a changed person. At the start of the story, her relationship with Maggie seems unsure, but the embracing at the end clarifies her love for Maggie. Although, I think the narrator is close with Dee as well, but she doesn’t see the cultural respect in her as she does in Maggie.
5. I picture them living in the farming community. They have cows; they make use of their churn/dasher. They are clearly hard workers and value the possessions they have. They take pride in their roots, and are family-centered people. They also attend church, as mentioned in the story. I also picture this as story that takes place many years ago.

Page 167: Groundwork Activity:

1. I’ve been going to a Catholic church since I was born, so the codes and behaviors are all very familiar to me, although some I may have forgotten about along the way. In my research I think I want to focus on what symbols mean, and how they represent our faith. There are so many traditions in the church: when to stand, sit, kneel, hold hands, raise your hands, go up for communion, and so on. I know I need to be extremely polite to everyone, but this shouldn’t be a problem because I am a well-mannered person. A new parishioner would need to observe many masses before they knew the ropes of what was going on. The people always expect me to behave like them, because we are all one community, one body in Christ. There is always margin for error, and many people have little things they do their own way. For example, prayer before mass. Some get there early and pray rosaries, some kneel and pray, some sit and pray, some sit and look around, and some come in late so they don’t have time to pray. Doing your own routine isn’t bad, as long as it doesn’t affect the flow of the mass. There is a certain time when you are allowed to do things your own way, but not often during the order of the mass.
2. Do you have a ritual before going to mass? Do you prepare for mass in any certain way? What do you do once in the church while waiting for mass to start? What symbol/decoration in the church sticks out most to you and why? What is your favorite part of the mass? Is the mass easy to follow along? Would a newcomer be completely lost throughout the mass? How is your mass different than other church services?
3. The behavior I chose is the actions of the priest. When he lifts both his hands – this is a common signal for everyone to rise from a seated position into a standing position. This motion may be self-explanatory, but newcomers may not understand. It can also mean everyone join in voicing a response to what he is saying, or joining him in prayer. An outsider must pay particular attention to the priest. At certain times, he will sit down, which is a signal for everyone to be seated. All the actions can be followed along by looking at what others in the congregation are doing. The priest is the clear leader of the service, and the people read his non-verbal language to understand what to do or say next.

Literacies in Context Beverly J. Moss: I really enjoyed reading this essay. The African-American churches differ greatly from my topic, the Catholic churches, but I find religions so fascinating. Moss focuses on literacy events (any action sequence, involving one or more persons, in which the production and/or comprehension of print plays a role). She focuses on the African-American sermon as being a literacy event. Reading her essay, I already find parallels with my ideas. For example, in my WA2, I talked about how the Catholic church gives out handout after church that state upcoming events, Bible readings and reflections, and provides an easy way to access and communicate with the church community. Moss finds Bulletins in all three churches that she studies. They provide an order for the service for people to follow along. It also is an easy way to get announcements out to the large churches. Moss states that it is “the most effective method of disseminating information to the congregation.” I shared these ideas with her. Even though Catholics and African-American churches have their differences, their means of communication are definitely similar. I agree with the idea that church provides a wonderful place to learn literacy, a place inhibited before school is introduced. I like how Moss includes her own thoughts and states when she is wrong, or when she had assumed something that was later proved incorrect. An example of this is her assumption of “holiness churches” to be active and expressive all-day-long services, when in reality, it was only a two-hour service. I can really tell where she inserts her field notes and observations. She talks about how the partial-manuscript minister’s congregation was so welcoming to her and noticed her since the church was so small and new people stuck out. Her observation of the power roles of men vs. the roles of women in the three different churches was also interesting to me. In the Catholic church, no women are allowed to become priests, they can become nuns though. But nuns will never be able to perform a mass. A similarity in the churches was active youth groups. This intrigued me because I thought of the youth group at St. Joes, CSO. It is also interesting how the ministers really try to connect with the people and get on their level. I find this amazing. All of Moss’s essay was really well-organized and made complete sense. The ministers can gain the respect and adoration of the congregation by getting on a personal level by adding personal narratives and the use of personal pronouns. This is like the homily in the Catholic church. Many priest will talk about the church as a whole and put everyone, including them, on a level playing field. This unifies the audience and makes the community feel a tighter bond. Storytelling allows the congregation to get to know the minister/priest better, and then the people are more likely to relate to them. This tactic unites the church community and allows the people to better understand or remember the sermon. Moss’s essay is structured so nicely, and she brings it to a fine close with the thought that writing and speech are “intertwined and interdependent.” Throughout just my first ideas and field notes, I have discovered this to be true in the Catholic church as well. Literacy is taught in a variety of ways, but writing and speaking are the underlying factors.

Add a comment October 8, 2009

RJ11

Beverly Moss “Ethnography and Composition”

We can learn a lot from this short article by Moss on field research. I think it is very important to become extremely familiar with your field site before you dive into interviews. And, once interviews begin, it is so important to LISTEN, even if you already think you know what they are going to say. Give the person you are interviewing utmost respect and be polite – they are helping YOU out. Once you get familiar with your site, you must find a contact person. As an observer, you want to look on the activities, not take part in them; interfere as little as possible. Although you can go into the site with background information, don’t assume anything, and be open to new ideas that you observe. Triangulation was a new concept to me. This is when “patterns or impressions that the ethnographer recognizes and forms throughout the ethnography are tested by comparing one source of information with other sources in order to eliminate alternative explanations and arrive at a valid interpretation.” It’s like checking to see if your observations of the informant’s actions match what the informant says he/she does. This will provide a concrete point for your ethnography: things won’t be basely merely on observations and assumptions. I know that I am going to have to be careful in the church. As moss talks about, the smaller the community, the higher degree of membership one holds. This community is not extremely large, and I am a member of it. I think since I am a member, the community will be more welcoming and answer my questions more openly than they would if I was a stranger, or not a Catholic. I will have to be careful to not assume what I think I already know. My ears need to be kept open throughout my research, and I need to look at it from an outsider’s view. I need to realize not everyone is Catholic, and explanations of certain behaviors may be necessary in some instances. I need to go into the field with a blank slate. Research must be done in a way that does not allow one to try to “prove” their argument. It may be that the argument one is trying to prove is incorrect at the site, and the ethnographer would need to re-evaluate and notice such discrepancies. The ethnographer should not go in just looking for points that prove their knowledge. It is all about finding the culture, what is truly there, and not just what you already know. When observing, writing down little things you think may be unimportant at the time may later prove to be something huge. It will be interesting for me to step outside of the church and view it from an outsider’s perspective. I think I will gain a better understanding of the church’s teachings and symbolic meanings.

Box #9 Fieldworking

I was extremely puzzled after reading Mama Day for the first time. The language was so hard for me to understand. I would get so caught up in words that I had no idea where they came from. What was “18 & 23”? Where is the proper grammar? What is the story hidden underneath all this confusion? What is the point of this essay? I began to ask myself these questions, and the answers unraveled somewhat the second time I read the essay, although a third time did the trick. Going into this story, I thought it would be a successful ethnographic story showing us how we should conduct our own research. I learned after reading this that the story is “what NOT to do” when researching. Reema’s boy, the ethnographer, goes about his research in the worst way possible. His goal is to prove what he already thinks he knows. He made many people angry in this process. As the narrator tells the reader, he never asked questions, he just wrote what he wanted to. He told them he would let them read what he wrote, and he did, but it was false information. The community then looked upon Reema’s boy as an extremely selfish and narrow-minded citizen. All he had to do was ask questions and take a step back to observe. Instead, he was up in everyone’s face with his recorder looking only for answers he wanted to hear. He left without the respect of the community and with the same assumptions that he thought he verified when he came in. My favorite character is the narrator. It is interesting to see the perspective of the narrator. The narrator is well-educated and sees culture everywhere in the community, branching from way back in time. It’s amusing to find information the narrator could have given Reema’s boy, but he wasn’t listening.  The narrator reveals so much that could have been so useful to Reema’s boy had he just done the correct research of an ethnographer. The information Reema’s boy published is insulting to the community he represents because it doesn’t represent them accurately. Had he been open and polite and more laid back, they would have been more welcoming and given him heaps of information to unfold. The Southern accent of the essay was someone difficult for me to read at first, being from the North, but then it got easier as I kept reading. All in all, when researching, it is so important to know your boundaries. Be familiar with the community, but not so much as to assume you know everything. Go in politely, and not acting to invade. And finally, be sure to really listen to what people have to say. Any information you get can uncover some sort of culture underlying in literacy. This story reminds me of the Prodigal Son. Although the stories may have different endings, they both involve a son that leaves the nest with fortune and encounters difficulties. In the Prodigal Son, the son comes back to ask forgiveness and be accepted back into the family. In Naylor’s story, the son comes back for self-indulgence and ends up gaining no respect or acceptance from is former community. The difference between the two: humility. The Prodigal Son accepts his wrongdoings and came back humbly, whereas Reema’s boy was quite the opposite. We must stay humble in our research and respect the community we are studying.

Add a comment October 6, 2009

RJ10

Page 218: I chose the article “Sponsors of Literacy” by Deborah Brandt because I feel like most of my information for my research will come from interviews. In Brandt’s research of Raymond Branch and Dora Lopez, the location is a midsized university town in the Midwest (space). The key people are Branch, a European American, born in Southern California, son of professor father and real estate executive mother, and Lopez, a Mexican America, the same age as Branch, born in a Texas border town where her grandparents did farm work. When she moved to the Midwest town, her parents attended technical colleges to get the jobs they have (actors). Both members are involved with having sponsors encouraging their literacy (activities). Branch is given an open access to technology and even has his own computer (acts). Lopez teaches herself to read and write in Spanish by communicating with her family in Mexico through letters. Branch uses his access to computers and people in the technologically-advanced field to aid him in his journey to become a successful freelance writer of software and software documentation (objects). Lopez uses hard work to become literate in Spanish by reading/writing letters to/from family members in Mexico. She then gets her own word processing machine when she attends college. She goes on to a technical college, and she now works for a cleaning company being especially useful since she is bilingual. Both aim to maintain good jobs (goals). Both pursued self-initiated learning, but they had different resources in the process, and it seems that Lopez had to do more work than Branch. Both interviewees seem happy in their current positions at the time of the interviews (feelings). For my own project, I need to look at space, actors, activities, acts, objects, events, times, goals, and feelings. Literacies in Context Chapter 5 really made me understand that my research may be challenging. I really need to focus on making the familiar strange, and maybe stepping outside of my insider’s shoes. Looking from the inside, I will be less likely to notice important things. Being from the inside, it is easier to gain access to my group (the church). After this easy access is obtained, I have realized I need to look at my group from an outsider’s perspective to see the whole situation. “Thick descriptions” is also a key: thick descriptions of individual experiences as they make up a larger group rather than attempt to make generalizations across a particular culture. As for field research, I will definitely make use of observation through field notes, I will conduct a few or more in-depth interviews, and I may use a survey to get some information from the CSO, Catholic Student Organization.

Questions about my research: 1. My major research question is how does visible literacy manifest itself in the Catholic church? How do visible symbols present the faith to believers and newcomers? The use of artifacts and church decorations will be essential to this research. I am to discover deeper meanings than just the visible cues of faith. Are there other meanings behind certain symbols or actions with those symbols? 2. My proposed research site is St. Joe’s Catholic Church, in Commerce, Texas. This is key to answering my research question because it is where the mass takes place, where the decorations and symbols are, and where the faith and culture reside. 3. I have easy access to this community because I attend mass there. The first week I was in Commerce (August 9) I met with the priest, Father George, and we have become good friends. He will be a huge help throughout my research. I have also become a part of CSO and attend Bible Study at the church. I see no problems in accessing this welcoming community. 4. I will conduct my research through field notes and observations, through interviews with the priest, deacon, college minister, and parishioners, and perhaps set up a survey for parishioners or the students in CSO. 5. I have already talked to the priest and students in CSO explaining my ethnographic project, so some are already aware. I will be polite and extremely respectful when approaching people to interview. I typed my permission slip already, and play to integrate that at the beginning of conversing with them about the interview. I have all the contact information for the priest, and he assured me that he can connect me to anyone I may need throughout my research process. I will interview him and the deacon, as well as a few parishioners because they may have different views: the priest/deacon are well-educated, whereas the people of the congregation may have forgotten what certain symbols mean as they get in the drought of just going to mass every Sunday instead of actively living their faith.

Add a comment October 6, 2009

RJ9

Fieldworking Chapter 3: The focus of this chapter is reading. It is interesting how everyone comprehends things differently, and an older person will get something way different out of a story rather than a young person. “Fixed positions are the personal facts that might influence how you see your data.” I need to be careful of this because being a Catholic, my views run parallel to the topic of my paper, so it will be hard to step outside and see my data from a non-Catholic perspective. It talks about reading fieldwork will help you understand how to write it. I definitely agree; I think the more of the examples I read, the more comfortable I feel about writing. I found the icons quite amusing. I have seen, as I am sure everyone has, the usual “omg, ttyl, lol,” but some of these ones I had never heard of before, such as “ty, ttfn, asl.” I am excited that fieldwriting is more oral sources than written ones. This really allows us to get out into the community, as where just reading information would be quite boring and monotonous. When talking about artifacts, this chapter reminds me of WA2 and how we found literacies and analyzed them. As readers, we should strive to be efferent readers and getting something out of the text. The chapter rolls on to talk about citation, in particular intertextual citation. It is important to remember speed reading doesn’t allow for wonderful comprehension. I’ve always been sad that I am a slow reader, but after reading this chapter, I think slow reading is a good thing because I always take my time to understand the information and highlight the important details.  Rereading is also a good thing to do to instill the info in your memory and become more familiar with it. As our portfolios progress, it will be important to reread our fieldnotes to become extremely familiar with our studies. Reading Catholics for me would be different than someone else reading them, and we would yield different results.

Expanded field notes: For my field notes, I attended mass at 6:30 on Wednesday, September 30, 2009. Weekday masses are a bit different than weekend masses. The crowd was extremely small, twelve people, a priest, and no altar servers. I am used to much bigger congregations; my church in Wichita as over 2,000 families. I found it weird that nothing was sung. There was no piano player or organist. There was no 2^nd reading, and an older lady read the first reading. She read it so slowly that it was hard to focus on the meaning of the reading, I was more focused on the one word that came out of her mouth every three seconds. This was a bit distracting. After the Gospel reading, there was no homily. I didn’t like this because the homily is when the priest talks and teaches the crowd about the Gospel and readings. I usually get a lot out of the homily, so I was sad that there wasn’t one. A notable occurrence took place when everyone “gives the sign of peace” to one another, aka shaking everyone’s hand and saying “peace.” Everyone was so eager to shake my hand and so welcoming and friendly. Everyone had smiles plastered on their faces. There were two boys I knew in mass from CSO. After mass, the three of us along with the campus minister, the bible study leader, and Father George chatted. They were all interested in my soccer game and so caring. They are so supportive and asked us all how school was. They are funny people that love to make jokes and have everyone laughing. It was good talking to them after mass, I felt a sense of family within the church here in Commerce. Just like family, they come and support me at my soccer games and try to contact me once a week to see how things are going. They extend a helping hand anytime I need it, and I am so thankful for that. I also met a lady, Roberta, who is a regular at weekday masses. She seemed really nice, as I was introduced to her as “our soccer player, Haley.” Seeing these people so happy is a clear indication of Christ’s work in their lives. They have allowed him to penetrate and be in control, and now these members of the church are soaked with joy and ready to spread the faith. The quantity may be little, but the quality is HUGE.

Add a comment October 1, 2009