2/25 Unit Two In-class blog

I am concerned about whether or not my sources are actually primary. I am also concerned about whether or not I have been able to locate the best possible sources for my paper. I feel like I have had a little bit of trouble finding things that are specific to my topic and are primary. I think I need to do more research to be honest.
My number one source would be the Howard Stern interview with voters in Harlem. This is a primary source because it is an interview and peoples direct quotes on the subject. I chose this topic because it demonstrates how the voters are uneducated on the issues at hand and that they have been influenced to vote for Obama by the media, without really knowing what he stands for. The source is a YouTube video of Howard Stern asking voters in Harlem who they are voting for and why. He asks them about the policies they agree/disagree with and none of them know what they are talking about. I think this uses ethos and logos because it is showing they are not really knowledgable on the subject at hand and they do not have the facts straight.
Another source that is primary is the statistics and information I got from an article in the Houston Chronicle. This is primary because they are statistics and facts. I chose this because it backs up my point by proving this election had a ton of media coverage and the voter turnout was really high. The source is talking about the high voter turnout and its relation to the media coverage and how the media influenced uneducated voters. I think this uses logos because I am most taking from it the hard facts of numbers.
Another source would be an article about the media coverage of elections creating a bias among voters. This is primary because it has quotes from specific people and is related to my subject because they are analyzing how the media influenced the election. I think this uses logos because of the facts and pathos because people are emotionally tied to things like politics.

Researching for sources

Researching for sources was a little harder than I thought it would be. I found a lot of information from google, but not things I would consider "primary" sources. I found the search engine that worked the best for me was Academic Search Complete. I also figured out after looking for awhile that I am a little unclear on what a primary source would be. I found articles that fit my topic and would work, but I was not sure they are primary. I have continued to look for articles on New York times and the Houston Chronicle websites for information. I think it is hard to find articles on medias influence because specific media sources do not want to comment on how they influence people. The researching process for me was a little difficult because it was sort of hard to find things that are specifically related to me topic and also a primary source.

Unit 2 Topic

I think my topic for the next paper is going to deal with media's influence in society. This topic is important to me because I am an advertising/public relations major and so the impact media has on society is interesting to me. I also think there are a lot of different ways I could go with this topic and ways I can narrow it. I could look into how different types of media has different influences/effects. I could discuss what form of media is most influential. I could discuss the how media influences opinions and how it influences decisions. There are a lot of specific examples I could explore, like the affect of celebrity promotion of an item on its success/acceptance. Another direction would be the media's influence on the outcome of the presidential election. I am interested to find out whether the way the media presents something determines how the viewer forms their opinion on it. I know this is very broad right now, but I am thinking of a lot of different directions I could take this topic. 

Workshop responses

I got a lot of good feed back on my rough draft. The people in my group were both very encouraging and gave my both encouragement and criticism. I learned that the key points of my essay seem to be getting across pretty well. The suggestions I got were to add more detail/description in places and to maybe add a little more analysis to some places. 

I really liked the workshop and can agree that some places I do need more details. I also am encouraged by my group's comments on my organization, because before the workshop I was not sure if that was working very well. I know I will need to go back through each section and add more detail, description and analysis before my essay is complete. 

Author's Note: Public Space Analysis

This is the first draft of my paper. I am a little worried about this because I know it  is not long enough and there is a lot going on. I think I wrote down a lot of the things I was thinking about, but did not narrow it down to the most important  points to expand on. Today I think I need suggestions on what to cut out and what to focus/expand on. Also any comments/suggestions on the organization/flow of ideas. 

Space in the community

Fuzzy's is an important part of the community for a few reasons. Because there are not a lot of locations, it makes it seem like a unique place for the community. Also, there are some TCU things there that tie it to the university. There are also the late hours, which make it a student friendly restaurant. It is one of the only late night options that is not fast food. Also the fact that they serve alcohol makes it a student friendly hang out. Fuzzy's is good for the community too because it is close to campus and a place where students can walk and hang out there. There is also out door seating, which make it a nice place to go. There are a lot of reasons Fuzzy's is good for the community. 

Observation Notes

Space- They physical space is the restaurant. When you walk in there is a line to the counter where you order your food. The menu above the counter is a giant magnetic board with the options and prices listed. There are pictures and beer advertisements hanging on the walls and ceiling. There is a lot of yellow and red. There are booths and tables with chairs. There are high top tables. There are tvs. There is a place where they cook the food and where people pick up their orders.

Actor- There are people that take the orders and people that prepare the food. There are also people that clean up the tables. There are also customers. There are people that work there and people coming to get food.

Activity- There are people ordering food and people taking the order. There are people preparing food, and people picking up their food. There are people eating and there are people cleaning up.

There are trays, plates, bowls, cups, food, tables, chairs, stools, napkins, bottles of sauce and salt/pepper shakers. People are trying to each food. They also have conversations and enjoy the atmosphere. People seem happy, laid back, not too formal.

 

There was a wide range of people going to eat there, not just students. There was a long line forming. All the tables were full. I saw lots of people picking up to-go orders. People dressed pretty casual. There were people that looked like students but also a lot of people that didn’t look like students.

 

At night there are mostly TCU students there. There are a lot of people drinking and there late. There are groups of people sitting and people come in to join them. There are a lot of people that do not have food, just beer or a drink. There are people coming in to pick up to-go orders. 

Arguments of Fact

The menu is one argument of fact at Fuzzy's. Since the price list is not outrageous, it seems like the argument they are making is that it is a pretty reasonable place. Also, the price list might argue that it is not super fancy, because it is affordable for most people to go eat there. Another argument of fact would be their operating hours. Because it is open from 10:30 in the morning until midnight most days, this makes the argument that there is a group of customers that come at night. Also, the hours on the weekend are even later, until like 2 or 3 in the morning, so this is an argument that on the weekends people come late at night to eat there. This makes the argument that they welcome the late night group of people and probably a lot of students take advantage of this.

Observation Experiences

I planned on going to observe my space three times this weekend, but since I found out on Friday that I have the flu, I wasn't able to do my observations exactly how I planned it. I ended up going to pick up take out on Saturday afternoon just to look around and make some mental notes, and then I went again Sunday around lunch time to take more formal notes. I was surprised on Sunday to see that there were a lot of people that didn't look like TCU students. I really thought that the "regular" crowd there was students. I also noticed a lot of TCU stuff incorporated in their decorations.