Week 10...

I plan on starting my ethnography with my position on my topic and how I am involved with it. Then, I am going to profile one of my good friends that has been riding on the team since it was formed. I have though about many different ways of taking my readers through my sub-culture. I believe that I am going to take them through my research, but break in-between and show an interview with a rider to keep the reader interested, instead of just reading what I did. In my conclusion I am thinking about telling my readers that if the have a dream to do something to go with it and put their entire heart and soul into it. I believe that this structure will work best for my ethnography because it will keep my reader interested in the sub-culture and not get bored with the paper.

Terms in my subculture...

1. Shred- to ride/skate very well.
2. Crash
3. Injury
4. Cased- bad crash
5. Tabletop- trick where the bike is horizontal to your body
6. bunny-hop- what makes all tricks possible
7. endo- shoving foot into front tire making back tire come off of the ground.
8. Poser- someone who acts like they are good when they can not do anything.
9. Rad- awesome
10. Stoked- excited
11. Go big or go home- slogan used by riders to challenge one another to do bigger tricks
12. Grind- trick that uses pieces of metal to slide across ledges and rails.

In-class 3/19/09...

1) I would maybe go outside more. The clips just went through the stereotypical accents that are around the United States. I would keep most of the accents that they used, but would find more people to talk so you can hear the difference between one side of a city to the other.

2) The southern area is really over-represented throughout the clips. People always tend to use them the mos because they think that it is funny to hear them talk. I would show the audience the difference between the different sides of a state and how different they talk.

3) Yes, people view us as we talk. If you are from Texas and go to New York, they are going to think that you are not a smart as them because you do not use complete words or phrases.

3/19 in-class book questions...

1) Where are you in the scene?
I am sitting in a chair at the skate park. The skate park is a 40,000 square foot warehouse. While sitting in the building you can hear everything because the walls are made out of steel. The building always has a cold draft running through it, thanks to the steel walls.

2) What is the relationship?
Very good friends with the owners ad everybody else at the skate park that is on the team. I used to be part of this sub-culture till I blew my knee out and cannot ride anymore.


3) What do you hear when your informant speaks?
The informant uses a lo of slang words such as, Dude, sweet, stoked, and right on. This is most of what you hear all the time from this sub-culture.

Week 9 posting....

In my research so far, I have learned that there are not a lot of search terms or articles on my mini ethnography. I have found most of my sources through interviews that I have done with local riders. If I could start over I might decide to change my topic, or choose a different subtopic with-in my topic. Keeping a blog has helped me keep track of my research that I have done, besides the times that I forget to write in my blog. The blog will help me with my ethnography by reminding me of my sources and giving me somewhere I can go to remember where I found my sources.

Research Question...

Why will readers care about this issue? Readers will care about my issue that i am bringing up because if they ride BMX or looking to start riding, then they will want know about the risk, and what to look out for while riding.

What will my readers want or need to know about this issue? Readers first off need to understand the sport if they have no idea of what it is. The risk that are involve, stereotypes that are associated with the sport, and what is going on in the sport today.

What do my readers already know about this issue? Some might know the risk that are at hand with this sport already. Readers also may know what the sport is, but never really paid attention to it. The reader also already knows some of the big names from the sport from hearing them on T.V.

What do I want my readers to learn about the issue? I would love for my readers to learn about the life that a BMX rider goes through every day. That when you ride it is what you do all day long. Riding is your life. I would also like my readers to see what risk and injuries can occur during the sport, so they can be prepared if they are going to try any of them.

If I am trying to persuade my readers of something, how easily will they be persuaded? My readers will be pretty hard to persuade. I will need a lot of sources and materials to prove to the reader that we are not the typical stereotype that society puts us in.

What will my reader use my writing for? My reader may use my writing for a school research paper they are doing for an English class. My readers may also use my writing for themselves, so they know what they are getting into before they start the sport. Parents also might look at my writings if their son or daughter is looking to start the sport.

Week 8 posting...

In my research I have found that most of the community is great full for the fact that Muncie has a place where the kids can go and do what they love, but the same time be off of the streets. Being eight weeks into my research, I feel more at home when I talk to the guys at the park, also I have learned to present myself better while talking to people around the community. When I first started researching, I really did not know what the sport was all about, even though I was doing it everyday of my life. I am thankful for people around the community, and in the BMX community for helping get better knowledge of the sport.