Blog Post #8

As I began to write my ethnography essay I had a hard time deciding what I was going to argue in my paper. I had spent so much time in this space, written papers, done a speech, yet, I still hadn't figured out what my argument was. At first I seemed confused, however, after sitting with my teacher I found that I actually have a good argument. The first thing that I will be changing about my ethnography essay is my argument. In my essay I will argue that within A Cup of Commonwealth's shop, there is a community culture. Now that I have a focus within my ethnography essay, I plan on giving my opinion on the space.Within my first ethnography draft, I spoke a lot about what Chris Ortiz, the owner of the shop thought. I am going to switch it completely to what I think about the space, and perhaps use Ortiz's thoughts as primary research within my essay. The last change that I will be making within my essay is the addition of secondary sources. In my first ethnography draft I had one or two secondary sources, because I didn't have a solid argument. Since I now have a solid argument I will be using more secondary sources, in order to support my argument. One thing that I had at the beginning of my argument was a description of a cup of commonwealth. Instead of using this as an intro I will be using it within my paper in order to support my argument. After meeting with my teacher, I know that my paper will be a lot better.I feel that just by looking at the comments my teacher left on my rough draft, I really have a new transformed paper. I looked forward to putting all my pieces together, and hopefully, put together a well written essay. 

Blog Post #9

http://www.buzzfeed.com/cakeandcats/the-abc-of-student-living-egia
The ABC of Student living

Many students would agree that college is very different than high school. Lots of people are there for lots of different reasons, however there are common things most college students do.In the article, many pictures were put up of things that majority of college students do. While, it may be true for the majority of college students, however not for everyone. When some people come to college they absolutely go nuts, they have this new freedom, an sadly, it leads the majority to making bad decisions. This leads to underage drinking, partying all night, and other things that get in the way of ones school work. In this article, some of the ABC's do not apply to all college kids. Majority of college kids do drink, but not everyone. This article is more for kids that do live on campus rather than don't, some people don't move out when they go to college, and some people live off campus in apartments so they really aren't a part of everything that goes on like the partying, and have hangovers. I feel like this is for a certain people on campus. There are divisions on campus, some people are really concentrated on school, and don't do anything but school and extra circulars. SOme people are more laid back and they balance school with partying. Throughout a college campus there are many different people and this is assuming all college kids are like this, while it maybe the majority it is not true. Some things in this are true for most college students. Balancing studying, reading, being organized, adventures, and new friends. College is an awesome experience, even though at times it can be very stressful, the freedom, and "new adventures" are what I like about college, and what I think this article says accurately about students.

Blog Post # 7

                  
                 A Secondary source that I will be using during my speech is "Economic Citizenship and the Rhetoric of Gourmet Coffee." This article speaks about Gourmet coffee, in specific it talks about Starbucks coffee and somethings that Starbucks does that many people don't know about. I am using this source in order to compare my cultural space, A Cup of Commonwealth, to Starbucks. I think this is a good secondary resource to use since something that my cultural space offers is Fair Trade USA coffee. Fair Trade USA coffee wants to stop everything Starbucks basically does. In this article an in depth look at what kind of things can looked at deeper and used to compare the type of things a Cup of Commonwealth does compared to Starbucks. Specific things that could be talked about from this article is how Starbucks tries to look like a good coffee company by providing care in countries that need clean water, when rather they are hurting countries by the very little they're paying for the coffee, something that Fair Trade USA coffee stands against.This is the kind of information I will be using from this piece in my ethnography.   

Economic Citizenship and the Rhetoric of Gourmet Coffee

Paula Mathieu

Rhetoric Review , Vol. 18, No. 1 (Autumn, 1999), pp. 112-127

Published by: Taylor & Francis, Ltd.

Article Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/466093

Blog Post #6

Blog Post #6

Layla Suleiman

In Adam Burke’s “Sucked into the Tunnels beneath Las Vegas,” Matthew O’Brian shows us through visual and olfactory imagery what is really beneath the city of Las Vegas. While some people view this as the place to go and gamble, or the city of luxury, people don’t seem to see what is beneath this city, literally. In this podcast, there is something that truly stood out to me. Within a city like Las Vegas, known as the city that “trades on excess,” O’Brian brings us to an interesting place. ("Sucked Into The Tunnel Beneath Las Vegas.")

When we look around the world to places that are deficient in many of the recourses needed for survival, such as third world countries, it is not a surprise to hear that a person is homeless, and lives day by day, unsure where they’ll sleep next. The thing that is so disturbing in this podcast, in the city of Las Vegas, people are living in underground tunnels.

I believe this says a lot about the state of Americans and the blindness of poverty in America. When people live in a city like Las Vegas, where millionaires live, and people literally play with their money, their should be no reason any human being should be dehumanized and have to live where their own waste does.

While this does reflect on American’s underestimation of poverty in its country, it does not mean that people don’t know about it at all. O’Brian himself brought up a point about Visitors not coming to Las Vegas to see the under going tunnels, but what if they did see it? What if someone took a step and showed people the state in which human beings are.

People use the excuses of how people that do live in these certain conditions would only use the money for drugs, but does that mean it is necessary to provide money? What if it was a simple as providing things necessary for life? Steve, who is addicted to drugs in the podcast, is an example of why people say this. However, when people are in these types of living conditions they want to change, as he states in the podcast he is trying not to do it anymore.

This podcast really sparks a flame for things that should be looked at deeper in this country. If people cared more, and honestly thought that there is a problem when people live in these conditions, I believe that one day there could be programs in which avoid ever having people live anywhere that is as dehumanizing as an underground tunnel. All it takes is effort, with effort, anything can happen.

Work Cited:

Burke, Adam. "Sucked Into The Tunnels Beneath Las Vegas." Third Coast International Audio Festival. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Oct. 2013.

Blog Post 5

          As I sat down to start watching myself speak in front of my peers, I knew I wasn't going to be impressed, however, I didn't think it was going to be as bad as it was. As I began to watch I remembered how nervous I was going up in front of the class. Even after several rehearsals, just when you think you have it perfect, there is something that messes you up. Walking up in front of the class I kept telling myself, that these were people just like me, yet the nerves still wouldn’t vanish. My nerves affected my speech, and even at times led me to choke up; I definitely let my nerves get to me. Despite the fact I let my nerves really get to me, I believe that I had a very easy following presentation. I followed the presentation method that was provided on the outline. I gave a background on the presentation, and spoke about what I was planning to research about my space. I spoke about all my points that were in my thesis statement along with how I planned on going forward with the project. The things I could of improved were my speaking skills, I choked sometimes, and said “umm” quit a bit. I found that at the end of my presentation I had a give up attitude because I thought I had done terrible, which I think hurt me even more. I think the content I had was sufficient, it was just going up there and presenting that probably hurt my grade the most.

Blog Post #3

Coffea's Facebook Page

During my search for outside resources I found that Coffea's Facebook page is something that I will be using as a secondary source for my ethnography. This page is what does the advertising. On their page I found things such as customer comments, how they advertise, and feedback from their customers. From the Facebook page, I learned that Coffea does aim their advertisement as students, because they always reference school, and when its midterm or finals week they reference that. People also post on the Coffea Facebook with feedback, comments, so this is important because it gives me an idea of what my peers think about this coffee shop. The Facebook page also tells me what other methods they use to attract their students, such as bringing in singers to have shows in the coffee shop, or even by giving away free coffee samples.

Descriptive Web Text

Coffea

As soon as I walked through the doors of Coffea, a small coffee shop on campus, I could already tell that it was not like any other ordinary coffee shop. Coffee shops always try to be “original” and “different” compared to others, but this is the most unique café I had ever been to. Mugs weren’t being sold at the front, along with the daily special coffee. The lights weren’t dimmed to make coffee drinkers and bookworms relaxed to the point where they fell asleep. This coffee shop gave its customers more of an outdoor feel; everything in it gave it a tropical theme, and looked very inviting.

At the entrance, there is a large tree trunk that is hard to miss. From the ceiling hung lanterns along with bamboo-like decorations. The walls aren’t ordinary walls; they are covered with tree bark designed wallpaper and are aligned with sticks from a tree as the border. There are plants of different sizes scattered around the coffee shop. Some figures that look like trees reach my height, and some are just small potted plants. On one side are fish decorations covering a wall, and on the other side, there is a big beautiful fish tank. Close to the fish tank, a beautiful beach painting is hung up, giving the wall a homey touch. In the back of the coffee shop, the most eye-catching thing is the gorgeous, glass waterfall. There is lots of natural light coming into the shop, as well as light coming from lamps that are hanging from the ceiling. In the back, there is a wooden cover that looks like it is made out of real wood. There is a fireplace that had comfy couches surrounding it, some that have trees printed on them and others that have the same print on the pillows.

All of these things make it seem like more than just a coffee shop; the décor makes it seem like customers that come in are supposed to experience a trip to an island. Even though Coffea has a unique outdoor twist to it, it still has that cozy coffee shop feeling that people seek. The smell of coffee fills the air, while the sound of coffee grinders buzzes in everyone’s ears. There are couches, a variety of different tables for people to choose from, and a calm studious feeling in the shop for students.

Since this coffee shop is on campus, most of the customers are students that usually want to come in and study. The island environment that the Coffea shop offers is found attractive by many students that are looking for a pretty, quiet place to study that wont bore them to sleep. Unlike libraries, where most people fall asleep while writing papers or reading books, Coffea’s environment allows one to be entertained while being studious, in a beautiful, relaxing way. In the coffee shop, I saw a good amount of people laying on the couches reading, students studying, and some people just catching up over cups of coffee. Not only that, but the employees were very nice and made me feel “at home”.

By creating this environment, Coffea is trying to attract more people to come in and try their products. At coffee shops, many people try to give out samples, or advertise. With Coffea being a small coffee shop, its uniqueness is what brings people in to try their products. People go to Starbucks on campus because it is where the majority goes, and because it is easier to get to than Coffea. In order for Coffea to make up for not being as well-known to the public, and being a small business, the unique environment is what keeps the students coming back, even if it is less convenient.

Blog Post #2

1) A Food Truck

The Food Truck on campus is a place i have never been too. It seems like an interesting new experience that I would enjoy, and could possibly an easy and fast way to start having lunch on campus!

2) The Study

I hear that the study has lots of resources and plenty of great tutors in a variety of subjects. Exploring the Study will open up my vision to the opportunities that UK provides for its students, and can be somewhere that I can use as a student. 

Blog Post #1

“If people are reading about lives that are much better than theirs, two things can happen,” Burke tells me. “They can feel worse about themselves, or they can feel motivated.” Marche, "Is Facebook Making Us Lonely?"

As a Facebook user, I support this quote through observation of my own thinking, which led me to compare myself to others on social media. I believe that the reason people become miserable when comparing themselves to others is because Facebook makes everyone’s lives look perfect. The thing about social media is the majority of people only post about good things in their lives. For example, when a person that is having marriage issues goes on and sees a couple looking happy together in a picture, they would rather feel envy. The Facebook user doesn’t know the troubles that couple goes through too. Feeling this way results in dissatisfaction, inevitably making a person miserable.

“Starbucks shows its ‘appreciation for the years of pleasure their coffee has shown’ not by seeking to pay workers on coffee plantations a subsistent wage but rather by donating to an aid organization.” Mathieu, "Economic Citizenship and the Rhetoric of Gourmet Coffee"

 

It is hypocritical for Starbucks to be donating to a cause, when they need to fix the economic problems with coffee plantations. The truth is that they honestly don’t care about the economic mistreatment that happens at coffee plantations. Since they want to be an “ethical global- friendly coffee purveyor” they give a donation to aid a cause so that they look “ethical.” If they honestly cared they would fix the amount of money people are getting paid. There should be a larger awareness of issues like this. It is only fair for Starbucks to fix the economic issue, and then to continue to aid other organizations as well.