If I think back on all the things that I learned in this class I think that the topic that interested me the most and the one that I will remember in the future was the one where we looked at our culture. I thought that it was interesting that the world we live in today can be so diverse and have so many different perspectives on just one certain topic. I was able to look at my culture and see this that I hadn’t before. With every generation of people there comes a new perspective or way of looking at things. The ideas and the beliefs that our grandparents or great grandparents had, seem very conservative and old-fashioned and our children’s children will think that of us.
Another thing that stuck with me though this class was the activity where we viewed people’s actions and norms. This was a fun activity and watching how we react to others and the things that we do without knowing was fascinating. After doing the activity I still find myself doing the same things that the people I viewed were doing and see the same types of norms that I saw during my observation.
I think the biggest thing that I learned from this class was that every person has their own culture and their own background. Doing the activity about our ethnicity showed me that everyone grew up with different views and ideas. We are the way we are because of the people that we grew up with. Doing these activities and having to think about my culture, ethnicity, and about the different accents there are just in the United States opened my eye to something that I had never thought about. One thing that I will do is to continue think about my culture and why we act the way we do. How we do things without knowing it and the norms that are set that we unknowingly follow. I think that after taking this class I will be able to better understand why intercultural conflicts occur and ways that we can help prevent them. We did a lot of different activities that taught us about intercultural communication and helped us to better understand what intercultural communication really was about. What activity did you enjoy doing the most?
Saturday, June 12, 2010
Friday, June 11, 2010
Activity 11
What’s The Conflict?
I’m doing this activity on the recent conflict that is taking place in my town. Everywhere around the world we are seeing people getting laid off or losing their jobs and companies shutting down. Where I live this is taking place and recently schools in my area are considering laying off all of the janitorial staff. This is causing quite a conflict because the school is planning on letting go of the janitors and hire a cleaning company to take over their jobs. The reason that the school is considering this drastic move is that it will save the school at least 350,000 dollars to up to 1.3 million dollars in the next four years. Although the school would be saving a lot of money and that money could be used to give the students a better education most of the janitors that work at the school have children that attend t he school also. My father worked as janitor at the school for many, many years so part of my thinks that letting go of the Janitors is a bad thing and the other part sees the advantages of the layoffs.
The conflict that is going on is that some community members believe that the superintendent of the school is getting paid too much and if they would have pay cuts then they would be able to afford to keep a few of the janitors on staff. This is making the community uneasy in a recent town meeting; the members of the community filled the large board room and left others out in the hall. Everyone wanted their voice to be heard on the topic and wanted to support the janitors of the school. Parents have even gone as far as the say that if the janitors are cut they will move to a different district that supports their janitors. The community feels that the janitors help keep the school in as good of conditions as they are. They keep everything running smoothly and give the students a better learning environment.
I think that one way that they could help to resolve this conflict would be to offer the janitors less hours. The school would still be able to save money and keep the janitors on staff if they would just cut back on hours. Also they could offer the janitors that have worked at the school the longest to stay. By doing this they would cause less conflict between the school educators and the community. There are two sides to every story and in this case you have to think of what is going to be the best situation for the school. If cutting all the janitors would save that much money than the school could afford to give students a better education, but could have that amount do just the same and save some of the current janitors from losing their jobs.
How do you feel about this situation? Should the school cut the janitors, save money, but have the community upset or should they figure out a different situation?
I’m doing this activity on the recent conflict that is taking place in my town. Everywhere around the world we are seeing people getting laid off or losing their jobs and companies shutting down. Where I live this is taking place and recently schools in my area are considering laying off all of the janitorial staff. This is causing quite a conflict because the school is planning on letting go of the janitors and hire a cleaning company to take over their jobs. The reason that the school is considering this drastic move is that it will save the school at least 350,000 dollars to up to 1.3 million dollars in the next four years. Although the school would be saving a lot of money and that money could be used to give the students a better education most of the janitors that work at the school have children that attend t he school also. My father worked as janitor at the school for many, many years so part of my thinks that letting go of the Janitors is a bad thing and the other part sees the advantages of the layoffs.
The conflict that is going on is that some community members believe that the superintendent of the school is getting paid too much and if they would have pay cuts then they would be able to afford to keep a few of the janitors on staff. This is making the community uneasy in a recent town meeting; the members of the community filled the large board room and left others out in the hall. Everyone wanted their voice to be heard on the topic and wanted to support the janitors of the school. Parents have even gone as far as the say that if the janitors are cut they will move to a different district that supports their janitors. The community feels that the janitors help keep the school in as good of conditions as they are. They keep everything running smoothly and give the students a better learning environment.
I think that one way that they could help to resolve this conflict would be to offer the janitors less hours. The school would still be able to save money and keep the janitors on staff if they would just cut back on hours. Also they could offer the janitors that have worked at the school the longest to stay. By doing this they would cause less conflict between the school educators and the community. There are two sides to every story and in this case you have to think of what is going to be the best situation for the school. If cutting all the janitors would save that much money than the school could afford to give students a better education, but could have that amount do just the same and save some of the current janitors from losing their jobs.
How do you feel about this situation? Should the school cut the janitors, save money, but have the community upset or should they figure out a different situation?
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Activity 10
My Culture
1. Who do the members of your culture consider to be part of their family?
My culture considers my immediate family members and extended members to be family. At all of our birthday parties we have our immediate family, cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents.
2. What are some roles and responsibilities of specific family members?
The roles and responsibilities vary from person to person in our culture and also by the age of the person. I live on a farm so there are a lot of responsibilities and roles that everyone in the family has to do or take care of. My mother was the one that milked the cows and took care of the farm and my dad worked as a custodian. My mom was always busy so when I got my license it was my responsibility to drive them to school and pick them up from their practices. When we got older we gained new responsibilities we had to get jobs of our own so we could pay for our own stuff and we had to do more things around the house like mowing lawn, doing our laundry, and washing dishes.
3. Are family members encouraged to stay in the same house/area as their family after adolescence?
In my culture it is not a bad thing to live with your parents after adolescence. I am currently living at home with my mom for the summer. It is not looked down on to live with your parents while you are getting on your feet and finding a job or looking for your own place. Family is a big thing in my culture and I hope to live close to my family when I find my own place. All my family and extended family live in the same general area. So staying around the same area means staying close to home.
4. What are the cultural norms and taboos regarding dating and meeting people with whom to become romantically involved?
Having a close family life and living with my mother, two sisters, and my younger brother it is a dominantly female household. It is common around our house to be able to talk openly about the people we date and for them to feel welcome in our house. My boyfriend of 4 years stays at our house most of the time and he is part of our family. If my mom needs something to be fixed around the house she can count on him to get it done. I am close to my younger sister her being only 2 years younger than me we hang out with some of the same friends so if she would date someone that the rest of the family has heard bad things about or someone didn’t like than normally that person would not stick around too long.
5. How are marriage proposals conducted in your culture?
When a person wishes to marry someone in my culture it is common for them to talk to the parents first. The man my sister married asked my parents well before he proposed to her. Respect is a big deal in my culture and if someone did not give the parents that respect it would be difficult to gain it once you were a part of the family.
6. What is the typical wedding like?
Since we are Catholic we are known to have very long wedding ceremonies followed by the dinner reception and dance. There are always a lot of people that show up and are kind of like a family reunion with all the distant relatives. There is normally drinking involved for those who are of age and the dance goes well into the night.
7. How do members of the culture view divorce?
My parents got divorced last spring and my older sister is currently going through a divorce now. Getting divorced is not fronded upon in our culture. If two people are not happy with each other then they should live the rest of their lives stuck with each other and hating each other.
8. If divorce occurs, what are the rights of each partner?
When my parents got divorced, we kids stayed with my mother, we see my dad very often and spend as much time at his house as my mothers. My sister is going through her divorce and her and her ex husband get equal custody of their son. My parents don’t talk to each other much but when they do there are civil with each other.
9. What are the general opinions of the culture toward homosexuality?
In my culture being a homosexual is not looked down on. I have two homosexual cousins who have been dating their partners for many, many years now. I think since they are ten years or so older than me and growing up with them and knowing at a young age that they were gay I never knew them any other way so I always have openly accepted it. Even though some family members are very religious homosexuality is not something that is discriminated against in my culture.
10. How are the general perspectives of this culture the same/different from yours regarding gender roles?
Typically when you think of a famer you would picture a male, well in my case, my mother was the one who milked the cows and ran the farm and my father left for work every day. Since my brother is the youngest one in our family when we were younger my older sister and I where the ones who helped in the field and with the farm work and my brother stayed in the house and cleaned. Some of the similarities between my culture and the general culture are that my mother also cooked and cleaned the house and my dad was the main “bread winner” in our household.
After doing this activity it made me see that I am lucky to have such a close family where I can talk openly about anything and I know that I will be accepted for whoever I am or choose to be.
What was something that you noticed about your culture after doing this activity?
1. Who do the members of your culture consider to be part of their family?
My culture considers my immediate family members and extended members to be family. At all of our birthday parties we have our immediate family, cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents.
2. What are some roles and responsibilities of specific family members?
The roles and responsibilities vary from person to person in our culture and also by the age of the person. I live on a farm so there are a lot of responsibilities and roles that everyone in the family has to do or take care of. My mother was the one that milked the cows and took care of the farm and my dad worked as a custodian. My mom was always busy so when I got my license it was my responsibility to drive them to school and pick them up from their practices. When we got older we gained new responsibilities we had to get jobs of our own so we could pay for our own stuff and we had to do more things around the house like mowing lawn, doing our laundry, and washing dishes.
3. Are family members encouraged to stay in the same house/area as their family after adolescence?
In my culture it is not a bad thing to live with your parents after adolescence. I am currently living at home with my mom for the summer. It is not looked down on to live with your parents while you are getting on your feet and finding a job or looking for your own place. Family is a big thing in my culture and I hope to live close to my family when I find my own place. All my family and extended family live in the same general area. So staying around the same area means staying close to home.
4. What are the cultural norms and taboos regarding dating and meeting people with whom to become romantically involved?
Having a close family life and living with my mother, two sisters, and my younger brother it is a dominantly female household. It is common around our house to be able to talk openly about the people we date and for them to feel welcome in our house. My boyfriend of 4 years stays at our house most of the time and he is part of our family. If my mom needs something to be fixed around the house she can count on him to get it done. I am close to my younger sister her being only 2 years younger than me we hang out with some of the same friends so if she would date someone that the rest of the family has heard bad things about or someone didn’t like than normally that person would not stick around too long.
5. How are marriage proposals conducted in your culture?
When a person wishes to marry someone in my culture it is common for them to talk to the parents first. The man my sister married asked my parents well before he proposed to her. Respect is a big deal in my culture and if someone did not give the parents that respect it would be difficult to gain it once you were a part of the family.
6. What is the typical wedding like?
Since we are Catholic we are known to have very long wedding ceremonies followed by the dinner reception and dance. There are always a lot of people that show up and are kind of like a family reunion with all the distant relatives. There is normally drinking involved for those who are of age and the dance goes well into the night.
7. How do members of the culture view divorce?
My parents got divorced last spring and my older sister is currently going through a divorce now. Getting divorced is not fronded upon in our culture. If two people are not happy with each other then they should live the rest of their lives stuck with each other and hating each other.
8. If divorce occurs, what are the rights of each partner?
When my parents got divorced, we kids stayed with my mother, we see my dad very often and spend as much time at his house as my mothers. My sister is going through her divorce and her and her ex husband get equal custody of their son. My parents don’t talk to each other much but when they do there are civil with each other.
9. What are the general opinions of the culture toward homosexuality?
In my culture being a homosexual is not looked down on. I have two homosexual cousins who have been dating their partners for many, many years now. I think since they are ten years or so older than me and growing up with them and knowing at a young age that they were gay I never knew them any other way so I always have openly accepted it. Even though some family members are very religious homosexuality is not something that is discriminated against in my culture.
10. How are the general perspectives of this culture the same/different from yours regarding gender roles?
Typically when you think of a famer you would picture a male, well in my case, my mother was the one who milked the cows and ran the farm and my father left for work every day. Since my brother is the youngest one in our family when we were younger my older sister and I where the ones who helped in the field and with the farm work and my brother stayed in the house and cleaned. Some of the similarities between my culture and the general culture are that my mother also cooked and cleaned the house and my dad was the main “bread winner” in our household.
After doing this activity it made me see that I am lucky to have such a close family where I can talk openly about anything and I know that I will be accepted for whoever I am or choose to be.
What was something that you noticed about your culture after doing this activity?
Activity 9
Who Are You on TV?
For this activity I watched the TV series Glee. The show takes place in a high school setting and the focuses is on the Glee club, which is a club that remakes popular songs and performs them in front of audiences. This show has a very diverse group of people, from every shape, size, ethnic background, religion, and sexuality.
To be an American in this show you can be anyone you want to be. You can believe whatever you want and you can look however you want too. The show consisted of having a Middle Eastern principal and students who are Asian, African American, Caucasian, Jewish, Christian, Gay, Mentally disabled, and physically handicapped. All these different cultural backgrounds, religions, sexualities, and disabilities came together to show just how diverse the United States really is. It shows how just one small school can have such a mixing pot of students and to think the show takes place in Ohio.
The Glee Club consists of all these different diversities too. There are the football players and the cheerleaders mixed in with the artsy and the so called “geeks” and they all get made fun of by their own clicks for being in the Glee Club. In this show there really isn’t one certain way that everyone acts. There are football players that are in the Glee Club that get made fun of by other football players and the same with the rest of them. It shows that just because you are in a certain group doesn’t mean that they all have to act the same or look the same or believe in the same things. There are people in every group who are quite, more outgoing, loud, or just plain annoying. This TV series shows that to be an American you can be anything.
If you were watching this show and had no experience with the United States than you would see that the United States is a very diverse place even though I don’t think that every school is as diverse as the one on the TV show you would get that feeling from watching the show. It illustrates that if you are a certain race or religion that doesn’t mean that you are only friends with other people who are the same race or religion. In this show everyone one wants to make it big with their singing and although a few do, it does show that you should just rely on that to get you through life. When watching this show you will see that although you may have a good voice, that doesn’t mean that you can make a career out of it and if you do it won’t come easy and you should have something else to back you up. Glee portrays the United States as it truly is a diversity of cultures, skin colors, and beliefs.
Was your high school this diverse? If so what did your high school consist of?
For this activity I watched the TV series Glee. The show takes place in a high school setting and the focuses is on the Glee club, which is a club that remakes popular songs and performs them in front of audiences. This show has a very diverse group of people, from every shape, size, ethnic background, religion, and sexuality.
To be an American in this show you can be anyone you want to be. You can believe whatever you want and you can look however you want too. The show consisted of having a Middle Eastern principal and students who are Asian, African American, Caucasian, Jewish, Christian, Gay, Mentally disabled, and physically handicapped. All these different cultural backgrounds, religions, sexualities, and disabilities came together to show just how diverse the United States really is. It shows how just one small school can have such a mixing pot of students and to think the show takes place in Ohio.
The Glee Club consists of all these different diversities too. There are the football players and the cheerleaders mixed in with the artsy and the so called “geeks” and they all get made fun of by their own clicks for being in the Glee Club. In this show there really isn’t one certain way that everyone acts. There are football players that are in the Glee Club that get made fun of by other football players and the same with the rest of them. It shows that just because you are in a certain group doesn’t mean that they all have to act the same or look the same or believe in the same things. There are people in every group who are quite, more outgoing, loud, or just plain annoying. This TV series shows that to be an American you can be anything.
If you were watching this show and had no experience with the United States than you would see that the United States is a very diverse place even though I don’t think that every school is as diverse as the one on the TV show you would get that feeling from watching the show. It illustrates that if you are a certain race or religion that doesn’t mean that you are only friends with other people who are the same race or religion. In this show everyone one wants to make it big with their singing and although a few do, it does show that you should just rely on that to get you through life. When watching this show you will see that although you may have a good voice, that doesn’t mean that you can make a career out of it and if you do it won’t come easy and you should have something else to back you up. Glee portrays the United States as it truly is a diversity of cultures, skin colors, and beliefs.
Was your high school this diverse? If so what did your high school consist of?
Monday, June 7, 2010
transitions
I think my biggest transition would have to be leaving my small town and going to college. Even though River Falls isn’t all that big of a town and the school is fairly small, it was a lot different than where I am from. I graduated with a class of just about 100 students and most of the people I was good friends with I had been going to school with since kindergarten. Deciding to go to River Falls was a big decision for me, no one I knew was going to River Falls and all my friends were going to a different college closer to home. One part of me wanted to get away from my home town and the other part of me didn’t want to miss out on hanging out with my friend and living the college life with them. It came down to what I wanted to do with my life. I have always wanted to work outdoors and I dreamed of working for the DNR, River falls was the perfect school for what I wanted to do since they have such a good conservation program. So instead of going to a school that didn’t have a good conservation program and being with my friends, I went to River Falls. This decision turned out to be a positive one. I meet some great friends at school and am hoping to graduate in a year and a half. I think that going to River Falls was the best decision and if I would have followed my friends I would not have been able to have the job I wanted or meet the great people that I met in River Falls.
What was your biggest fear when you went off to college, or did you not have any?
What was your biggest fear when you went off to college, or did you not have any?
Thursday, June 3, 2010
activity 7
Nonverbal communication
This activity looked into how a conversation depends on nonverbal conversation just as much as the verbal. For this activity I chose to do this experiment with a close friend of mine. The first part of the activity was the full eye contact part. We went out to lunch and were sitting right across from each other this I thought would be easy, just get a conversation going and make sure to notice their reaction. When my friend started into the conversation I was looking directly at her and would nod my head or make small comments to show I was listening. I could tell that this was making her uncomfortable even for being as good of friends as we are and knowing so much about each other; she still would look away or fiddle with her silverware. When she would look to the side I would lean in that direction to get into her field of view and at one point she even gave me a look like she was wondering if I was all there.
The second part of the activity was where we would not look at the person at all. This was going to be the easy part of the activity. I find myself getting uncomfortable when people stare at me the whole time I’m saying something and find that I look away from them. At this point our food can so I could pretend that I was really into that instead of looking at my friend. I could tell that she was looking at me and waiting for me to look back. I would still nod my head in assurance that I was still listening but I could still sense that she was annoyed that I wasn’t giving her eye contact.
The final part of the activity was the part where we slowly get closer to the person that we are doing the experiment on. For this I was already sitting fairly close to my friend as the tables where small. I slowly would start leaning closer until my friend started leaning back and looking around not making eye contact with me. After the experiment I told my friend about the activity and we started to talk about how when someone doesn’t follow the unwritten rules of having a conversation it makes it awkward and starts to get annoying. It wasn’t until doing this experiment that I became aware of the different “rules” in having a conversation and what it does to the conversation when one or some of them are broken. Everyone likes their space and likes to being acknowledged when they are talking and these are universal codes that we live by. If you where on the receiving end of this experiment what do you think your reactions would be? Do you think that you would have had the same reaction as my friend did or would it be different?
This activity looked into how a conversation depends on nonverbal conversation just as much as the verbal. For this activity I chose to do this experiment with a close friend of mine. The first part of the activity was the full eye contact part. We went out to lunch and were sitting right across from each other this I thought would be easy, just get a conversation going and make sure to notice their reaction. When my friend started into the conversation I was looking directly at her and would nod my head or make small comments to show I was listening. I could tell that this was making her uncomfortable even for being as good of friends as we are and knowing so much about each other; she still would look away or fiddle with her silverware. When she would look to the side I would lean in that direction to get into her field of view and at one point she even gave me a look like she was wondering if I was all there.
The second part of the activity was where we would not look at the person at all. This was going to be the easy part of the activity. I find myself getting uncomfortable when people stare at me the whole time I’m saying something and find that I look away from them. At this point our food can so I could pretend that I was really into that instead of looking at my friend. I could tell that she was looking at me and waiting for me to look back. I would still nod my head in assurance that I was still listening but I could still sense that she was annoyed that I wasn’t giving her eye contact.
The final part of the activity was the part where we slowly get closer to the person that we are doing the experiment on. For this I was already sitting fairly close to my friend as the tables where small. I slowly would start leaning closer until my friend started leaning back and looking around not making eye contact with me. After the experiment I told my friend about the activity and we started to talk about how when someone doesn’t follow the unwritten rules of having a conversation it makes it awkward and starts to get annoying. It wasn’t until doing this experiment that I became aware of the different “rules” in having a conversation and what it does to the conversation when one or some of them are broken. Everyone likes their space and likes to being acknowledged when they are talking and these are universal codes that we live by. If you where on the receiving end of this experiment what do you think your reactions would be? Do you think that you would have had the same reaction as my friend did or would it be different?
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
activity 6
Language of the United States
Each of the quizzes focused on the different accents in the United States. One was on the different regions and how accents differ from where you are from and seeing how well you are able to place the accent with the region. The other was on how we can perceive different meanings from the way someone pronounces certain words and how different people pronounce vowels in such a diverse way.
I will admit that on both of the quizzes I did not do so well. The first quiz on the different accents was actually quite difficult for me. I thought when reading the directions that it would be easy for me to tell the different accents apart. However after hearing all of them and trying to pick out the ones that I thought I was confident about, I was left with ones that I thought all sounded similar. I was able to get both the south United States accents correct as well as one in both the west and the north Unites States sections. I have not done much traveling and have pretty much just been to the states surrounding Wisconsin so that may have something to do with my lack of recognition of the different regions accents. I thought that be watching TV and going to a school where there are people from all over would have made this exercise easier but as my score shows it didn’t.
The second quiz was a little easier, it was interesting to hear how someone says a word and we can think that we hear something so different. An example of this would be how the first phrase that was said on the quiz was the word block however without using the hint I thought that the word being said was black. I can see how these could have gotten mixed up, but on the second one the word was socks and I guessed the word was fax. Even after I listen to the hints, some of the words were still hard to differentiate with the accent. It is interesting how the United States can have so many different accents and the way that we communicate when faced with accent differentiation can have such a significant impact.
These different accents can make it difficult for people to communicate. When two people are having a conversation and they each have a different accent the conversation may be a little difficult hard to comprehend. I live in a town where there is a lot of Somalia immigrants and when having a conversation with them I sometimes have to have them repeat themselves and sometimes I have to also. The different accents make what should be a simple conversation much more difficult. Have you ever been in a situation where you were having a conversation with someone who had a strong accent and you were having a hard time understanding what they were trying to say? What did you do and how were you able to continue the conversation?
Each of the quizzes focused on the different accents in the United States. One was on the different regions and how accents differ from where you are from and seeing how well you are able to place the accent with the region. The other was on how we can perceive different meanings from the way someone pronounces certain words and how different people pronounce vowels in such a diverse way.
I will admit that on both of the quizzes I did not do so well. The first quiz on the different accents was actually quite difficult for me. I thought when reading the directions that it would be easy for me to tell the different accents apart. However after hearing all of them and trying to pick out the ones that I thought I was confident about, I was left with ones that I thought all sounded similar. I was able to get both the south United States accents correct as well as one in both the west and the north Unites States sections. I have not done much traveling and have pretty much just been to the states surrounding Wisconsin so that may have something to do with my lack of recognition of the different regions accents. I thought that be watching TV and going to a school where there are people from all over would have made this exercise easier but as my score shows it didn’t.
The second quiz was a little easier, it was interesting to hear how someone says a word and we can think that we hear something so different. An example of this would be how the first phrase that was said on the quiz was the word block however without using the hint I thought that the word being said was black. I can see how these could have gotten mixed up, but on the second one the word was socks and I guessed the word was fax. Even after I listen to the hints, some of the words were still hard to differentiate with the accent. It is interesting how the United States can have so many different accents and the way that we communicate when faced with accent differentiation can have such a significant impact.
These different accents can make it difficult for people to communicate. When two people are having a conversation and they each have a different accent the conversation may be a little difficult hard to comprehend. I live in a town where there is a lot of Somalia immigrants and when having a conversation with them I sometimes have to have them repeat themselves and sometimes I have to also. The different accents make what should be a simple conversation much more difficult. Have you ever been in a situation where you were having a conversation with someone who had a strong accent and you were having a hard time understanding what they were trying to say? What did you do and how were you able to continue the conversation?
activity 5
Avowal and Ascribed Identities
Avowed: College student, daughter, aunt, sister, godmother, employee, adult, American
Ascribed: Young- for my age I look a lot younger than what I am, get underestimated by others because I look young.
College Student- get asked if I’m in school, have to tell people that I’m in college.
American citizen- getting asked where I’m from and what state.
Doing this activity was a challenge for me I was able to come up with my avowed identities very easy and gave me no problems. The ascribed identities however gave me some problems. I think that the avowed identities were easier because I know who I am; the ascribed however are what others think about me and how they see me. So to see myself through someone else’s eye was difficult for me. I thought of how I viewed other people that were similar to me and it helped me come up with my ascribed identities.
Using the ideas that I got from thinking of how I view people in my similar situation gave me an ascribed identity of being young. I have always been one of the older students in school, having a summer birthday and all. However when I tell people that I’m 21 they don’t believe it. At my job I have to wear dress clothes and I feel that if makes me feel older than my age however even at work I get people who question my age. Although I feel like I’m an adult and have my finances and educational path in line other people in my life feel that I am still a young child who needs a lot of guidance and direction. This I feel makes conflict between my avowed identity and the ascribed identity. People treat me as a child and I rebel against it.
Another ascribed identity I came up with was college student. This one kind of goes with the first, looking younger than my age makes people question if I’m in high school or if I’m in college. At work and talking to people around the town a vague question that I get asked when having a casual conversation is where I go to school, when I answer that I attend UWRF. They seem surprised and when I say that I will be a junior in the fall their reaction is increased. This I think is because older people, and I even do this myself, tend to underestimate ages. I tend to think people are younger than they are and because of this I can see how I get the reactions that I do when I say that im a junior in college.
The last ascribed identity is that I’m an American citizen. Even though I have never been out of the country, except for Canada, I can tell the different ways that people view the idea of American citizens. Going to Canada, everyone seemed to know that I was from the United States. The accent difference or maybe how we acted gave it away but I felt as if I was being treated different, like an outsider, because I wasn’t from there and I’m sure they feel the same way.
My ascribed was on how I am viewed in my life right now. I the future I would like my ascribed identities to have changed. I would like to be viewed as having a good and successful job. Being a family oriented person, being mature, and reformed. Looking into the future what do you want your ascribed identities to be?
Avowed: College student, daughter, aunt, sister, godmother, employee, adult, American
Ascribed: Young- for my age I look a lot younger than what I am, get underestimated by others because I look young.
College Student- get asked if I’m in school, have to tell people that I’m in college.
American citizen- getting asked where I’m from and what state.
Doing this activity was a challenge for me I was able to come up with my avowed identities very easy and gave me no problems. The ascribed identities however gave me some problems. I think that the avowed identities were easier because I know who I am; the ascribed however are what others think about me and how they see me. So to see myself through someone else’s eye was difficult for me. I thought of how I viewed other people that were similar to me and it helped me come up with my ascribed identities.
Using the ideas that I got from thinking of how I view people in my similar situation gave me an ascribed identity of being young. I have always been one of the older students in school, having a summer birthday and all. However when I tell people that I’m 21 they don’t believe it. At my job I have to wear dress clothes and I feel that if makes me feel older than my age however even at work I get people who question my age. Although I feel like I’m an adult and have my finances and educational path in line other people in my life feel that I am still a young child who needs a lot of guidance and direction. This I feel makes conflict between my avowed identity and the ascribed identity. People treat me as a child and I rebel against it.
Another ascribed identity I came up with was college student. This one kind of goes with the first, looking younger than my age makes people question if I’m in high school or if I’m in college. At work and talking to people around the town a vague question that I get asked when having a casual conversation is where I go to school, when I answer that I attend UWRF. They seem surprised and when I say that I will be a junior in the fall their reaction is increased. This I think is because older people, and I even do this myself, tend to underestimate ages. I tend to think people are younger than they are and because of this I can see how I get the reactions that I do when I say that im a junior in college.
The last ascribed identity is that I’m an American citizen. Even though I have never been out of the country, except for Canada, I can tell the different ways that people view the idea of American citizens. Going to Canada, everyone seemed to know that I was from the United States. The accent difference or maybe how we acted gave it away but I felt as if I was being treated different, like an outsider, because I wasn’t from there and I’m sure they feel the same way.
My ascribed was on how I am viewed in my life right now. I the future I would like my ascribed identities to have changed. I would like to be viewed as having a good and successful job. Being a family oriented person, being mature, and reformed. Looking into the future what do you want your ascribed identities to be?
Saturday, May 29, 2010
Ethnicity and our history
This quiz made me realize something very interesting about our history and how it is reflected. For the first two questions on naming white men and women, it came fairly easy. I was able to give names for each of the six centuries. When I searched famous people in history I got a large amount of hits that came up white men. The world has a past of being prejudice and this could be why it is east to research a person with a white ethnicity compared to one of Middle East. There could have been some very important names or paces that were of a different ethnicity that have been completely left out of the history books. Not only were ethnicities discredited against but so was a whole gender.
Women, I found it to be harder to name women on the quiz than men it didn’t seem to matter what ethnicity it was that women were harder answer then the men one reason that I came up with, was that women were not able to do the same things the men were suppose to do. Men made more money and were able to get better education and get put in the history books. The white women seemed to be the easiest and as I went down the line through the different ethnicities, the number of answers was getting less and less, even after taking the 1st quiz and going online to look up some people there was very few women names that came up.
The primary groups that were talked about in our American history books were white, black, or Native American. The white ethnicity discriminated against both the black and Native American ethnicity and made up a large portion of our history. The books that we read and discuss in our classes are based our the region that we live, since we live in the United States we get taught the events that happen in our country’s past. If you were to live in China your textbooks would have more information on the history of China and so on.
Some groups that don’t make up a large part of the history of the United States would be the Asian and the Middle Easterners. I think that they are left out of the history books because we most of the people that were immigrating to the United States were European and African American there wasn’t a large majority of the other groups in the United States at the time. Their impact on the history of the United States was very slim.
These quizzes that we took made me think about how much of the rest of the world’s history that I don’t know about. Some of the people that I was able to come up with on the quizzes were former presidents and their wife’s. Some inventors like the Wright brothers and Amelia Earhart. All these people were easy to remember because they made a large impact on our history. Who where some of the people that you came up with on your quizzes?
Women, I found it to be harder to name women on the quiz than men it didn’t seem to matter what ethnicity it was that women were harder answer then the men one reason that I came up with, was that women were not able to do the same things the men were suppose to do. Men made more money and were able to get better education and get put in the history books. The white women seemed to be the easiest and as I went down the line through the different ethnicities, the number of answers was getting less and less, even after taking the 1st quiz and going online to look up some people there was very few women names that came up.
The primary groups that were talked about in our American history books were white, black, or Native American. The white ethnicity discriminated against both the black and Native American ethnicity and made up a large portion of our history. The books that we read and discuss in our classes are based our the region that we live, since we live in the United States we get taught the events that happen in our country’s past. If you were to live in China your textbooks would have more information on the history of China and so on.
Some groups that don’t make up a large part of the history of the United States would be the Asian and the Middle Easterners. I think that they are left out of the history books because we most of the people that were immigrating to the United States were European and African American there wasn’t a large majority of the other groups in the United States at the time. Their impact on the history of the United States was very slim.
These quizzes that we took made me think about how much of the rest of the world’s history that I don’t know about. Some of the people that I was able to come up with on the quizzes were former presidents and their wife’s. Some inventors like the Wright brothers and Amelia Earhart. All these people were easy to remember because they made a large impact on our history. Who where some of the people that you came up with on your quizzes?
Friday, May 28, 2010
Ethnicity Activity three
Ethnicity and Communication
When people read my last name they tend to make some sort of comment about it being French. Although my last name is indeed French and I am also part French, the majority of my ethnicity is German. With both my grandfathers being almost completely German it is inevitable that I am too. Besides being German, I am also Italian and Norwegian. These three are what is the most prominent in my ethnicity. However I don’t think that it made that big of an influence on the way I was brought up.
The way I was raised was not focused so my ethnicity instead it was focused the traditions that my mother was brought up with. My grandmother spoke German and English, but it was not forced on us growing up to know German. I think that spending most of my childhood at my grandmothers made me the person I am today. She grew up with thirteen siblings in a small farm house, so obeying her parents was a must and doing your part around the farm was something her or her siblings couldn’t get out of. I grandmother took the ways she grew up and instilled that into her children and my mother instilled it into me and my sisters and brother. My grandmother is a strong catholic and attends church weekly, although my beliefs are different than hers I believe that I am a better person today because of her influences that she had on me as a child. She grew up in a house where swearing and talking back we not tolerated. These rules stuck with her and it is still in place today. I think that since I was raised in a house where there was no swearing and we had to do daily cores it will have an impact on the way I raise my kids. I think that it I good to know where your roots are and to have ties to your ethnic background. Knowing about your ancestors is an exciting experience.
I believe that when people meet me they would not be aware of my ethnic backgrounds. By my looks I don’t think people would assume off the bat that I have a strong German background. After getting to know me I think then you may be able to see something’s that tie me to my ethnicity. I am told that I can be stubborn and that trait links me to my German side. Other than that and my last name I don’t think people would be able to tell what my ethnicity is.
After doing this assignment I began to think about what I would want to learn from my ethnicity. I think that someday I would like to learn German and possibly how to cook the German food that my grandma makes. How about you what would you like to learn from your ethnic background?
When people read my last name they tend to make some sort of comment about it being French. Although my last name is indeed French and I am also part French, the majority of my ethnicity is German. With both my grandfathers being almost completely German it is inevitable that I am too. Besides being German, I am also Italian and Norwegian. These three are what is the most prominent in my ethnicity. However I don’t think that it made that big of an influence on the way I was brought up.
The way I was raised was not focused so my ethnicity instead it was focused the traditions that my mother was brought up with. My grandmother spoke German and English, but it was not forced on us growing up to know German. I think that spending most of my childhood at my grandmothers made me the person I am today. She grew up with thirteen siblings in a small farm house, so obeying her parents was a must and doing your part around the farm was something her or her siblings couldn’t get out of. I grandmother took the ways she grew up and instilled that into her children and my mother instilled it into me and my sisters and brother. My grandmother is a strong catholic and attends church weekly, although my beliefs are different than hers I believe that I am a better person today because of her influences that she had on me as a child. She grew up in a house where swearing and talking back we not tolerated. These rules stuck with her and it is still in place today. I think that since I was raised in a house where there was no swearing and we had to do daily cores it will have an impact on the way I raise my kids. I think that it I good to know where your roots are and to have ties to your ethnic background. Knowing about your ancestors is an exciting experience.
I believe that when people meet me they would not be aware of my ethnic backgrounds. By my looks I don’t think people would assume off the bat that I have a strong German background. After getting to know me I think then you may be able to see something’s that tie me to my ethnicity. I am told that I can be stubborn and that trait links me to my German side. Other than that and my last name I don’t think people would be able to tell what my ethnicity is.
After doing this assignment I began to think about what I would want to learn from my ethnicity. I think that someday I would like to learn German and possibly how to cook the German food that my grandma makes. How about you what would you like to learn from your ethnic background?
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Activity 2.
Daily activity two
For this activity I visited the local library. I sat at a computer that overlooked a couple tables and the children’s section of book. The book checkout was towards my left and the door to get out the library was to my far right. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect about this activity, I have never actually taken the time to people watch. Was wasn’t expecting it to be as interesting as it was and it was fun to watch the way people reacted to the people that they were with and with complete strangers.
One of the interesting things that I noticed was when people would be in line waiting to get their books checked out, they wouldn’t stand right behind the person in front of them, instead they out be space a couple feet apart making sure not to over crowd. Also if two people wanted to look a certain section of books they would not stand right next to each other, instead I noticed that one would look around until the other person was finished looking at the section and then go over there.
The conversations that were going on consisted of the librarians giving patrons advice on what books they have read or have gotten good reviews. I noted that the librarian’s voice would change when she was talking to different types of people. At one point she was talking to a mother and her per teen daughter. When she would talk to the mother she would talk normal, however when she would talk to the daughter she would use simpler sentences and she would slump forward towards the girl almost as if she were talking down to the girl.
The universal rule that everyone should know about the library is that you talk quietly. I noticed that the people’s voices would change when they walked into the library. It was if they subconsciously lowered their voice when they came through the doors. At one point of my observation two middle school aged girls came in and sat at one of the tables. They began to talk in their normal voices not noticing the librarian and a few of the people around them giving them obvious looks that they were interrupting the rest of the people in the library. It was made clear to me after some observing, that they were aware that they were being looked at but the attention that they were getting for going against the crowd was amusing to them.
This activity made me more aware that the unwritten rules seem like something we do without even knowing it. Lowering our voice when we walk into a certain building, respecting others space, and using different tones when talking to different types of people are all things that we do and are a type of norm that we follow.
Doing this activity made me more aware of the what I was doing in my life, was I giving people space like the people in the library were, was I lowering my voice when I was in a certain building. Did you have these same feelings? If so what were you more aware about after the activity?
For this activity I visited the local library. I sat at a computer that overlooked a couple tables and the children’s section of book. The book checkout was towards my left and the door to get out the library was to my far right. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect about this activity, I have never actually taken the time to people watch. Was wasn’t expecting it to be as interesting as it was and it was fun to watch the way people reacted to the people that they were with and with complete strangers.
One of the interesting things that I noticed was when people would be in line waiting to get their books checked out, they wouldn’t stand right behind the person in front of them, instead they out be space a couple feet apart making sure not to over crowd. Also if two people wanted to look a certain section of books they would not stand right next to each other, instead I noticed that one would look around until the other person was finished looking at the section and then go over there.
The conversations that were going on consisted of the librarians giving patrons advice on what books they have read or have gotten good reviews. I noted that the librarian’s voice would change when she was talking to different types of people. At one point she was talking to a mother and her per teen daughter. When she would talk to the mother she would talk normal, however when she would talk to the daughter she would use simpler sentences and she would slump forward towards the girl almost as if she were talking down to the girl.
The universal rule that everyone should know about the library is that you talk quietly. I noticed that the people’s voices would change when they walked into the library. It was if they subconsciously lowered their voice when they came through the doors. At one point of my observation two middle school aged girls came in and sat at one of the tables. They began to talk in their normal voices not noticing the librarian and a few of the people around them giving them obvious looks that they were interrupting the rest of the people in the library. It was made clear to me after some observing, that they were aware that they were being looked at but the attention that they were getting for going against the crowd was amusing to them.
This activity made me more aware that the unwritten rules seem like something we do without even knowing it. Lowering our voice when we walk into a certain building, respecting others space, and using different tones when talking to different types of people are all things that we do and are a type of norm that we follow.
Doing this activity made me more aware of the what I was doing in my life, was I giving people space like the people in the library were, was I lowering my voice when I was in a certain building. Did you have these same feelings? If so what were you more aware about after the activity?
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Far and Away Activity 1
The Immigrant Experience
The movie “Far And Away” gave two different perspectives into the lives of two unique immigrants and their journey to the United States. Shannon Christie and Joseph Donelly both lived in Ireland and both wanted to leave their country for the United States. They both come across unexpected challenges and struggle with their new lives.
Shannon Christie played by Nicole Kidman grew up in a very wealthy home, her father being a powerful landlord was able to provide Shannon with everything she needed. She struggled with the expectations that her family had for her. She dreamed of owning her own land as well as doing what she pleased with it and had planned to run away to the United States. She got her chance when Joseph Donelly played by Tom Cruise fell into her life.
Joseph Donelly, son of a poor famer, is trying to overcome his own troubles. The landlord has all the land and his family is not making enough money to keep them from losing everything. After a dispute over the landlord, Joseph’s father suffers from a terrible fall and passes away. Shortly after his father’s death, the landlord’s helpers burn Joseph’s house. With nothing left to call his own Joseph decides he is going to kill the landlord, who is also Shannon’s father. Josephs attempt failed and he was caught, this was what Shannon required, someone who was daring enough to confront a powerful person, all she needed was to convince him. With the idea that in America they just gave land to whoever wanted it. This idea was more than enough to get Joseph to come with to America.
On their arrival to America, Shannon and Joseph realized what they had heard about America and the land was not what they had expected, but that was only the beginning of their troubles. After Shannon looses all her valuable silver spoons, to a man who scammed her, they are left with no money and nowhere to live. Joseph is spotted fighting; he and Shannon are given a place to live and somewhere to work. Joseph soon gets caught up in the fame and fortune of the boxing world and this frustrates Shannon. Jealousy soon over takes both of them and they lose their fortune, their home, and their jobs. What they both thought was going to be a fresh start to their lives in America was far from it. Their expectations were not fulfilled and may have lost more by coming to the United States then what they would have if they would have stayed in Ireland. Joseph and Shannon go their separate ways and begin to settle down in their new country. Then the thing that brought them to America in the first place will bring them together again at the end of the movie, land. The run for land is yet another challenge both Shannon and Joseph have to overcome. They both want the same section of land and the only way to get it is to get there before the other. As fate would have it, Shannon and Joseph end up getting the land together. Although they got what they came to America for in the end, they didn’t get it easy. They faces money troubles, they struggled to find a place to live and fought to keep their view of what America was like alive.
Shannon and Joseph got what they wanted in the end but was it worth what they lost? I believe it was, they came to America for land and for freedom and they gained both. Yes, they had their struggles, but they overcame them and fought for what they truly wanted. No landlord to deal with and no one taking their earnings, just them and their land. They found that the “American Dream” was not all that dreamy and that if they wanted something it was not just handed to them, they had to fight to it. But overall I think that they gained much more than what they lost.
How do you feel about this, was their fight for the land and leaving their home country worth what they gained in the end?
The movie “Far And Away” gave two different perspectives into the lives of two unique immigrants and their journey to the United States. Shannon Christie and Joseph Donelly both lived in Ireland and both wanted to leave their country for the United States. They both come across unexpected challenges and struggle with their new lives.
Shannon Christie played by Nicole Kidman grew up in a very wealthy home, her father being a powerful landlord was able to provide Shannon with everything she needed. She struggled with the expectations that her family had for her. She dreamed of owning her own land as well as doing what she pleased with it and had planned to run away to the United States. She got her chance when Joseph Donelly played by Tom Cruise fell into her life.
Joseph Donelly, son of a poor famer, is trying to overcome his own troubles. The landlord has all the land and his family is not making enough money to keep them from losing everything. After a dispute over the landlord, Joseph’s father suffers from a terrible fall and passes away. Shortly after his father’s death, the landlord’s helpers burn Joseph’s house. With nothing left to call his own Joseph decides he is going to kill the landlord, who is also Shannon’s father. Josephs attempt failed and he was caught, this was what Shannon required, someone who was daring enough to confront a powerful person, all she needed was to convince him. With the idea that in America they just gave land to whoever wanted it. This idea was more than enough to get Joseph to come with to America.
On their arrival to America, Shannon and Joseph realized what they had heard about America and the land was not what they had expected, but that was only the beginning of their troubles. After Shannon looses all her valuable silver spoons, to a man who scammed her, they are left with no money and nowhere to live. Joseph is spotted fighting; he and Shannon are given a place to live and somewhere to work. Joseph soon gets caught up in the fame and fortune of the boxing world and this frustrates Shannon. Jealousy soon over takes both of them and they lose their fortune, their home, and their jobs. What they both thought was going to be a fresh start to their lives in America was far from it. Their expectations were not fulfilled and may have lost more by coming to the United States then what they would have if they would have stayed in Ireland. Joseph and Shannon go their separate ways and begin to settle down in their new country. Then the thing that brought them to America in the first place will bring them together again at the end of the movie, land. The run for land is yet another challenge both Shannon and Joseph have to overcome. They both want the same section of land and the only way to get it is to get there before the other. As fate would have it, Shannon and Joseph end up getting the land together. Although they got what they came to America for in the end, they didn’t get it easy. They faces money troubles, they struggled to find a place to live and fought to keep their view of what America was like alive.
Shannon and Joseph got what they wanted in the end but was it worth what they lost? I believe it was, they came to America for land and for freedom and they gained both. Yes, they had their struggles, but they overcame them and fought for what they truly wanted. No landlord to deal with and no one taking their earnings, just them and their land. They found that the “American Dream” was not all that dreamy and that if they wanted something it was not just handed to them, they had to fight to it. But overall I think that they gained much more than what they lost.
How do you feel about this, was their fight for the land and leaving their home country worth what they gained in the end?
Saturday, May 22, 2010
two truths and a lie!
Introductory blog activity
two truths and a lie
1. I was once ran over by a 4-wheeler
2. Im obsessed with Family Guy
3. I live in the middle of nowhere wisconsin on a farm
two truths and a lie
1. I was once ran over by a 4-wheeler
2. Im obsessed with Family Guy
3. I live in the middle of nowhere wisconsin on a farm
hello
hello, this is my first blog so if any one has any tips on what blogging is made up of feel free to comment. looking forward to getting to know the class in a different way!
sara bellefeuille
sara bellefeuille
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