Personal Journal: Project Proposal

My Journal is kind of all over the place (much like my life) so it was kind of tricky brainstorming ideas to go along with a constant theme.

The first Idea
Draw My Journal Entries?

I used to love watching "Draw My Life" youtube videos because I'm a very visual person. Seeing someones life drawn out seems pretty cool too. So I was thinking of doing a "Draw My Life" video but instead of a timeline of my whole life I would just start from my first journal entry to my latest and use my journal entries to narrate the film. I wasn't sure if this was going to be very practical sense I don't have experince making videos but I found a site that helps you put together "Draw My Life" videos so it's totally a doable option.

Here are some examples:

https://youtu.be/8QTaTK7xyt8

https://youtu.be/05KqZEqQJ40


The Second Idea
Map?

Most of my journal entries describe the place where I am and what it looks like and what happened there during that day. I was thinking I could make kind of like a map of Santa Barbara and add in journal entries and pictures for different locations throughout SB.

The Third Idea

Photo Story 

For my third idea I was thinking of something more simplistic like a photo collage or a story book. 

 Ex:

310: Thesis Statements

1.     For a competitive industry, a unique flair, and eye-catching verses is what captivates an audience.

2.     Working as a DJ, writing styles don’t always need to be professional and serious, sometimes what works best is a little comedic relief.

3.      The “laid back” approach is a great writing style in this profession, but when it comes to scheduling clients, clear and concise communication is key.

Interview Questions (Draft)

How do you hope the people who read these artifacts will respond/ react?

You provide many different services through your company, how does your writing style differ when targeting a specific group? (weddings, company events etc.) 

How would you classify your writing style?

What emotions do you hope to create from the viewer? 

What is your writing process like?

I've noticed the placement of humor in advertisements that most companies typically take seriously (ex. wedding ads) what is your strategy/ reasoning behind this choice?

How did you choose the pictures on the homepage of your website?

How do you hook your customers in through your writing style? 

Do you find it more difficult to write for a specific group rather than another?

How do you let your viewers know you are credible and dependable?

Who is your main audience?

Is there any kind of writing style you typically avoid? 

Academic Writing: Reading Reaction

How to Read Like Writer:
As I began reading this passage, I quickly remembered and I had read this a couple weeks prior for the Personal Journal class. I went ahead and read it again anyways because it’s always good to refresh your memory and possible gain a different perspective.

Reading this the second time I tried to focus in on something that maybe didn’t stand out to me a couple of weeks ago.  Personally, I always just dive right into whatever I’m reading, it never really occurred to me to ask question about what I’m reading before I even start. It’s important to ask these questions to create awareness of the writer’s style and whom they might be trying to target, also to be more inquisitive of what the reading actually is. 

Ch 11 I take your Point — Entering Class Discussions:
I hadn’t realized this before but I am totally guilty of—during class discussions—stating what is on my mind instead of connecting with what the person before me had said. It’s always out of eagerness because I lose train of thought quite often.

 After reading Chapter 11 of “They Say, I Say” It has already created me to become more mindful of my bad habits. Class discussions are so valuable and I have personally gained new aspects from my peers during these discussions so reading this section I feel like will help me become more attributing throughout these dialogues.

Ch 9Ain’t So/Is Not:
Its easy to struggle with finding your own voice while also writing academically (or at least it is for me) this chapter really opened my eyes to a whole new style of writing. I liked how this passage noted that informal writing sometimes could help you better connect with the reader. I agree with this 100%. 

When you find something in a reading that you can easily relate and understand it makes you feel more connected and leaves you with a desire to read more.

Personal Journal: Reading Reaction

Putting Ethnographic Writing in Context:

I found it interesting that Ethnographic— participant observation research—could actually help expand writing techniques. I found the ethics of representation section to be very informative. It’s important to always show a participant that has been interview the notes, drafts, and transcripts so they can make for certain that everything is accurate. 

“We’re expecting you to learn a lot more about the culture you study than you could by reading about it, or listening to somebody else talk about it.”I really respect active learning styles, like the kinds this passage explains.  Personally for me, having a hands-on experience is the best way that I can learn.  “Tell me and I’ll forget; show me and I may remember; involve me and I’ll understand.”-Benjamin Franklin

Participant Observation as a Data Collection Method:

What really stood out to me in this reading was the “Why Use Observation to Collect Data?” section.  Observations are such an important key in so many different aspects. Picking up on the smallest thing—like a nonverbal cue—can really open up a whole new dimension in your research and give a paper more depth and detail.When observing situations it can be very difficult to figure out what is an important observation and what is unworkable.  From this reading I learned that a way to narrow down and focus in on what is an important observation is to ask yourself questions, like “what is happening and why?” this can be very helpful to make the best use of the opportunity presented.

I found the “Ethics” section to be very essential. Anonymity is an extremely serious thing because what is written or observed can theoretically hurt an individual’s personal or professional reputation. By giving to specific of details can potentially point out who a person is in a community, even if the actually name of the person is not mentioned. I understood this to be an important take-away for myself because I have a pattern of giving lots of details about things in my writing to really paint a picture for the reader, which is ok in certain circumstances, but it is imperative to know which situations specific details are ok in. 

Academic Writing: Email Draft

Dear _________,

My name is Nicole Cohen, and I am a student at Antioch University. I’m currently working on a writing project for my Academic Writing class. I am contacting you in hopes of setting up an appointment to interview you and to learn more about your organization, ____________.

Having my concentration in the Communications field, I feel as though I could really benefit by learning more about how your organization works and interconnects proficiently. I am excited to hopefully have a chance to meet with you to discuss the way you use writing to communicate effectively.

Any information or artifacts you can give me will help me in my quest to better understand forms of communication, and why writing is necessary for an organization such as your own would be more than appreciated. If you are open, I would like to meet with you some time this month. I really appreciate your time. Feel free to call or email me.

Thank you,

Nicole Cohen

702-374-2435

Ncohen1@Antioch.edu

Compare & Contrast

      When I was first trying to decide which books to chose I was stuck. I soon remembered a Netflix documentary I had watched a couple years ago with my roommate by the name of Mortified Nation. This documentary is all about digging up adults embarrassing journal entries from when they were younger and reading them in front of a crowd in a comedic style. The genres and conventions of all three of the journals I chose are adults reflecting on their journal entries from when they were young and naïve.

            Rewriting Romance by Alexa Alemanni was the first journal I read from Mortified the book. When you look at this journal entry as a whole it looks like a small cluster of drafted letters. Each time the author wanted to reply to a letter from the boy she had a crush in acting summer camp she would write-out draft after draft until she had it just right. Analyzing each of the letters was actually very interesting some letters would give a true representation of how she actually felt about this boy, whereas other letters were very right to the point and emotionless I think this was done like this to show that even though the author had all of these feeling for this boy she needed to suppress these feelings in order to develop a relationship with him.

            The second journal I found was also from the book mortified. The first three things shown before getting to the journal entries are a picture of the writer in a heart shape and the title “The Biblical Sense”. The next picture is a religious quote “The beauty of gods love fills all my days with joy!” The final picture is the author possible still in high school. From the surface level of this journal it’s very easy to assume that the writer is a very religious person whom most likely journals about her religious experiences. Don’t judge a book by it’s cover would definitely come into play for this situation. For each journal entry there is a date meaningful for the author to vent about her sexual frustration. The frustration mostly dwelled down to being faithful to her religion but also wanting to experiment with boys. What all of this tells me is that the author used this journal as her escape and venting tool for when she was stuck in a world where she could not express her thoughts without severe judgment.

The last journal I dissected was one I found online, called The Diary Project. A Russian girl, who grew up in New York, created this blog. She kept a journal since she was 8 years old. The author has uploaded all of entries on to her blog and added a little commentary section where she reflects on what she wrote when she was younger. I read an entry from April 1996. Her journal makes me feel as though she is trying to set the record straight. In 1996 her younger self wrote about how optimistic and positive she was after getting her heart broken, but now present day, year later she is coming back with more experience and confidence to state that the original feeling she wrote down were there to make it sound like she had it all together even though she has distinct memories of falling apart.

            What many people do is try and put the perception out that they are cool calm and collected. Through these journal entries there is an insight on the true feelings that love can bring about. In The Biblical Sense, the author didn’t try and give off the cool calm and collected vibe. Although that vibe might not have been picked up in her writing it was a perception she was giving off to the rest of the world outside from her journaling. All three of these journalists used their journals as a great escape. They couldn’t express their true emotions so they used journals as a way to cope and get through the emotions that have been suppressed. 

            Even though all three of these Journals had a theme of reflection and understanding love, each approach was very different form of writing. Biblical Sense created a stream of journal entries from every other week while Rewriting Romance was the most unique because her entries were all letter drafts.

            I chose the convention type of reflection because one day I think it would be amazing to look back in my journals of forgotten memories and to truly be able to perceive the entries for what they really are. Journals are like time capsule and it’s amazing to see growth and development over the span of a life time.