Blog 3

I haven’t done tons of in-depth research into my cultural site. I’m basing a lot of what I’m writing on my own experiences so far. I have done a little preliminary interviewing on my sub-culture with my roommate who is a part of this sub-culture. Mostly we have just discussed a little of the culture and talked about her friends, but it’s nothing close to a formal interview. I have spent some time in the site, but I’ve been sick recently, so I haven’t done much out of the dorm research. The practice rooms in the MIB building are full of marching band people working on their second semester concert band music. They all are way too busy during that time to talk to me though. Most of my research has been done on the internet. I used a little Wikipedia and a few other sites as well. My roommate is really my only other key source for information. I suppose the difference between the two types of research would be that non-academic research would be Wikipedia and other sources that you’re using to further your understanding of your culture whereas academic research is through a educational foundation or a book written by an expert on the subject.

Post 3

The sub-culture I have chosen to do my field study over is the Pride of Mid-America, in other words the Ball State Marching Band. I will probably do most of my fieldwork in MIB (the new music building). Since marching band is over for the year I will not be able to go to an actual practice, but I will still be able to talk to people within the band and get the inside scoop on what it’s like being in the Marching Band here at Ball State. My roommate belongs to this specific sub-culture so it will be easy for me to blend in and get other band kids to open up to me. I have also been able to make friends with a lot of them already, and having been in band before I have an understanding of what it is they do. Hopefully I’ll be able to get them to talk to me about the different traditions they have in their sections and in the band as a whole, and also just explain to me what it’s like learning a brand new show every week, which is something I didn’t have to do in high school marching band.

Box 11

I chose Marching Band to be my subculture because it is a culture I used to be part of. I am no longer a member of this group, but I'd like to dive into some of the differences between my own familiar High School Marching Band and compare that to College Marching Band. I can't think of any possible fixed position that might interfere with being able to accurately state the information I acquire, but I will probably have some difficulty caused by my subjective position. I have only been a part of the Lawrence Central Marching Band. Everything I know of band is based upon my experiences at Lawrence Central. Therefore it will be hard for me to break away from what I know about my band and research with an open mind the culture of a different band. I know the language will be different as well as the rituals and customs I've always known. I plan to spend a lot of time with my friends in this group to get a closer look, and try to ignore what I already know and become a complete outsider looking in.

Rick Zollo

1. When gathering data I will try to spend more of my time observing and talking to people from this culture than looking in books or on the internet. I would rather gain firsthand information to enter into the culture.
2. I’ll interview people, but also maybe spend more time with one person rather than many. Spending time with one person allows me to become closer to them and experience things from their point of view as a one sided person within this culture.
3. I hope to hit on traditions that follow and have followed this culture for years, and maybe take time to analyze the traditions that might have changed over time and why this happened. I might have some difficulty getting inside this culture because some people don’t like to disclose everything about their world to others who may not understand. I don’t believe I’ll have too much trouble because I have friends within this sub-culture.

Post 2

In room 220 Wood in the Woodworth dorm complex there live two beautiful specimens of the female human species. Each morning begins with the annoying, shrill sound of the alarm. Girl 1 quickly snatches up a device, pink in color, known as the cellular phone. She presses a button on the face of this device rendering it silent. She then resumes her original position of hibernation. This sequence of events occurs several more times, and about the fifth time the shrill sound fills the room Girl 1 turns off the device and slowly lowers herself from her lofted sleeping unit onto the blue and green shag rug covering their hard tile floor. She then makes her way to a reflective window hung upon their wall and turns on the light above it. Girl 2 makes a strange noise and turns over in her sleeping unit resuming her regeneration period. When about five minutes have passed Girl 1 speaks to Girl 2 letting her know that they need to be at their scheduled learning rooms in about 10 minutes. Girl 2 groans in acknowledgment, lays atop her unit for about another minute, and then is all of a sudden taken over by superhuman abilities! She leaps from her loft, lands on the floor without a scratch already dressed for the day, runs to the reflective window, uses a round stretchy band to pull her hair back off of her face, and with lightening speed grabs everything she needs and runs out the door! Girl 1 then walks calmly about the room gathering the things she needs and walks out the door turning off all the lights on the way.

Subcultures

-Choir
-Church Group
-Band People
-Drama Club

People always have assumptions in their minds about the different groups in their school. When you're on the outside looking in you can't help it. One of the biggest groups within a school is the marching band. Not only does the band consist of the most people, but it also has most assumptions surrounding it. I suppose the reason for that is there are so many people in the band that the people on the outside feel left out. I can imagine being frightened by such a large group you know nothing about. If I wasn't in band I'd be terrified to think that there is a huge group of students at my school possesing large metal and wood instruments ready at any time to defend a fellow member against danger. I'd like to take the plunge within this group to show some of the meaning behind their strange behaviors, rituals, and language. Band people are often looked upon as romantically "easy." It may appear this way to others, but most of these people have never dated a band person to find out for themselves. This is because, for the most part, people in band only date other people in band. This really only applies during the marching band season, but is often true outside this time of year. This is a very important factor in band culture. These are the only people you see so dating outside the group would not only be difficult but also frowned upon by other members. Plus band people rarely have to time to develop a relationship with outside their culture. There are many rituals within this culture that are often misunderstood by outsiders. Different sections within this culture will often have chants. This is their way of symbolizing the unity between them, and it is a goal to create a better chant than other sections to show their superiority to the other sections. Some key phrases band people use that other cultures would not understand would be words like; yards, band ten hut, dut, mark time, (ect.). The list goes on and on. These are just a few of the essential points of the marching band sub-culture. So before you decide to make fun of the nerd in your class, stop and think. They could be in band, and you wouldn't want to underestimate the power of their friends.

Post 1

When writing a paper I turn on the television, get out a ton of snack food, and listen to Nat King Cole. I usually stare at my computer until about midnight, and then I say to myself “I better get to writing.” I turn off the television, put away the snack food, and change from Nat King Cole to Mozart. The next step is the writing. I write sentence after sentence until a good idea comes out. Then I erase everything else I typed and base my paper off of that one sentence. Another way I write papers is I sometimes have a sentence or an idea already in my mind that I base my whole paper around and other points come out of that. My favorite paper out of all the papers I’ve written is one I wrote on topic of evolution being taught in schools. My position was against the teaching of evolution and I based my entire paper around a point I wanted to make using the first amendment in the constitution. I do most of my research online, but I usually already know what point I want to make and I do the research to back it up. When I’m finished with my paper I edit it by reading it through and fixing my mistakes. Once in a while I’ll revise entire paragraphs because I don’t like the way they were written or formatted.

Sub-Cultures Familiar to Me
- Band
~ People in band share the same enthusiasm for music, they understand the value of teamwork and what it means to really depend on each other. They have a strong bond to their own instrument because to them their intstrument is the way they express themselves.
- Choir
~ Choir people all share a joy for using their voices as their instruments. They love to sing and understand that there is a need for many different voice qualities to make a good choir.
- Drama Club
~ Love to use the imagination to become someone completely different. They place high value in being able to make a fool of yourself unlike many other cultures.
- Church Youth Group
~ They worship the same God and find their own value in how they serve that God.