In class: 2-25

List 2-4 Overall concerns about research at this state in the process.
1. There are hardly any internet resources available on my topic. Therefore, someone's personal experience is hard to find unless I interviewed an interior decorator. Problem with this is that an interview is not a primary source.
2. I am not sure if I am approaching my argument correctly. I am analyzing the audience that are reached to from interior design magazines and tv shows.

How do you feel the source qualifies as a primary source?
A. The LUX magazine is direct tangible evidence of my topic. It shows what audience it is targeting which is my topic. It is not anyone else's opinion on who these publications reach out to...it is the publication
B. Hot on Homes television show is also a primary source due to the fact that it in itself is targeting the upper class individuals, it specifically is reaching out to them. Once againl, it is not someone explaining what is going on, it is where my argument is coming from.
C. An article written by Chameleon Interiors is a blog which equals personal experience. This opinion on who interior decorating targets is coming directly from the source. It shares how when the economy is down so are the jobs of interior decorators, showing how the individuals that use the designers usually have money to spend in the first place on luxurious, unneccessary items.

Why did you choose this source?
1. LUX- this is where I sparked my topic idea. I have been really interested in this magazine and wanted it to be the focus point of my paper.
2. Hot on Homes- This is one of my favorite shows due to the fact that I love dreaming of my dream home and seeing how the designers decorated the place.
3. Chameleon-I chose this source because April helped me out on finding a document that was from the internet, someone's personal experience which I desperatley needed.

What is the Source about?
A. This source is a magazine full of interior design items. It focuses on advertisment for many home decor stores and reaches out to the public to try to sale their items. It places luxurious items as a focus so that people will want the decor or atleast dream of having it.
B. This source is about selling homes around different communities. This source displays houses in a way to make people want to buy them. Its a tv show in Sunday morning, when many corporate business people are off work.
C. This source is about how the economy has affected the jobs of interior designers. How she is impacted as well as others in her career department.

What interesting rhetorical strategies did you notice in your source?
For the first two sources the strategy of style jumped out to me in more depth than the others. The way they worded advertisements, the tone of voice they used as they described different rooms, and the different colors that were involved approached me strongly. Also, the how the author targeted one specific audience while still catering to another knowing that he will not benefits from the "dreamers." The author also is involved in much personal gain and benefit since he structures everything around targeting a certain audience to bring in the paycheck. For the third source, it was more of a personal experience that caught my eye. This person has credibility of being an interior designer after stating how many years she had been in business. Pathos is also thrown in after the author makes your heart melt from seeing her struggle through the economic crisis.

HW 2-25-09

During my research I discovered that the topic I picked was not the most popular. I could not for the life of me get anything to come up about interior decorating from any of the library databases. There were many documents that came up that didnt pertain to my topic which I was a bit confused about. I spent hours and hours reading articles that after I read them had nothing to do with my topic. The sources that I chose are materials that are tangible instead of just articles off of the internet.
I chose magazines and television shows for the most part. The documents that I did find on google were helpful but just not quiet what I was looking for. Miss April helped me out a bit with articles she had found and I can use one of these as a primary source since it is coming from an interior decorators blog. I have this idea in my head of what my topic is and how the sources are going to work so based off of this they connect in a way that I wan them to according to how I decided to approach them. I am analyzing the color of rooms, how they are structured, and what audience is reaches out to!

2-18-09 Homework

Today is a day to blog about the topic I have chosen for the unit 2 assignment. This is the point where I stop and think and think and think and still cannot for the life of me come up with a topic that I am really fascinated in. I am not sure if I am still confused by the topic/assignment or if my creativity has taken a plunge. I want to come up with a topic that I will not mind researching for 5 weeks, something that I could use in my future.
As I have undergone tons of reasearch to find that perfect topic on sites such as wfaa.com and entertainment tonight I have pulled a few ideas from their pages. Some of these ideas include controversy on the new Cowboys stadium...is it a waste of money or will it make money for the community. The women that just gave birth to octuplets seemed interesting to me but I am not sure if I could write and 8 page paper over this issue. Michelle Obama's new fashion statments and reality television shows. I originally wanted to do something on the line of weddings but am not sure how to narrow this topic down. Hopefully today in class I will have some kind of spark that will lead me into the perfect topic.

I have decided to choose Interior designs and what audiece it targets!

2-16-09 HW-Authors Note of Final Draft.

I have finally finished my final draft. I believe that I am very happy with the way it turned out, especiallysince this was the first time I have ever written a seven page paper. I am still a bit worried that my analysis paragrash are lacking a bit. For me, it is very hard to go back into a paper and change many things that were once created. This is something that will grow with me as I continue writing I hope. I enjoyed this paper due to the fact that it was a place that is very special to me and I believe I incorporated this into my paper. If anything, I probably have made mistakes in the area of mechanice. This is a huge weakness of mine which I am gradually overcoming. Overall, I believe my paper turned out how I wanted it to.
My portfolio is now completed. Putting things together in an organized fashion is one of my very favorite activities. I chose to present my portfolio in a folder rather that submitting it online. Every section is divided into a separate category making it easier to access. On the downward side, I am hoping that I did not leave out an article that was supposed to be included. I believe that all my assignments have been completed and are in my portfolio ready to be turned in!

2-11-09 homework

First of all, I have to give credit to my workshop partners: Cameron and Kyle. Their advice helped me out alot and allowed me to see my paper in different ways. They both thought my description of my public space was very vivid. They both believed it painted a picture of what the atmosphere looked like. I was glad that what they believe was the controlling idea was indeed correct. This assured me that I was getting my argument across (which I was not so sure of before). Kyle did an awesome job of helping me place commas in the correct areas (this is a huge weakness of mine) and Cameron could relate to areas of my paper since he is from Texas as well. Cameron even offered to back me up on an argument. Both were confused on my word choice in one sentence so I went ahead and re-worded it. I received many comments on the tenses that I had chosen which was included in my author's note. I am still unsure of how to change them, or atleast what to change them to due to the fact that I am still confused on whos perspective the argument is coming from. Hopefully, I will figure this out in order to change this. Words such as "I", "You", and "one" are also words that I threw around quiet often. I also need help in this area as well. The main feedback that I tried really hard to focus on in this draft is about the personal connection I have with Billy Bob's. I added more sentences to this and tried to structure is a bit better, but I know it is not yet perfect. Overall, I need to work on the analysis paragraphs and figure out what tenses I am supposed to be using. Therefore, I will keep on working on this!

2-9-09 Authors Note for Draft-1

1. First Draft. Draft short on length and in progress of working on conclusion.

2. In my opinion, my first draft started off on the right foot. I was very detailed and knew what my goal for the first two paragraphs were.
* I believe I lost focus on tying my paragraphs back to the main arguments.
* I am not really sure what person to put my paper in.... do I write it like I am observing the location or do I write it explaining what actions the participants are taking. "They" or "I"
*Im not really sure how to break up paragraphs.
*I am worried that my creativity disappeared of writing for hours.

3. ->Today I believe I need guidance on an outline.
-> If you were a reader of my work could you imagine a snapshot of what is going on in my location?
->are you realizing what my argument is?
->I need opinions on how to lengthen my paper
->I know what the purpose of my paper is but Im not sure if I am proving my point in my writing.

2-4-09 Homework

Once again, my space that I chose to observe is Billy Bob's Texas. The meaning of this space for the audience is mainly to have a good time. Billy Bob's is one of the most well known bars/dancehall in Fort Worth. Another meaning of this space is to get the feeling of what Texas is all about or known for. Its a space where people choose to go and dance, watch a live band, and congregate with friends and family. Its a tourist attraction which means that for the tourist, the meaning may be in educating themselves on Texas and the lifestyles that many Texans live. Overall, its a place for a fun time, a place to laugh and dance with friends, and bring in lots of income for the one who created this famous honky tonk.

Annotation-2/2

As I chose Billy Bob’s Texas for my observation, I knew this was not my first time to in this environment, nor would it be my last. My first observation was definitely out of the norm of what I am used to experiencing at this location. I chose to sit and observe Friday, January 30, 2009 at approximately 1:15 pm. The space was very open, almost having an echo-like feeling to the place. I was surrounded with hardwood floors, western art décor, and cemented walls of hands. This one large space included many small areas such as: a restaurant, gift store, bull-riding arena, picture booth, and an arcade and pool table space. The size of Billy Bob’s was overwhelming to me since this was the first time I had ever seen this location with less than 300 people there. A big stage caught my attention; its structure is more noticeable when no one is performing. The dance floors were bare; normally they would be filled with shuffling boots. Few individuals were at Billy Bob’s this afternoon and the ones that I saw were mostly tourist. The work crews of Billy Bob’ were busy getting prepared for the nights show, bartenders were not hustling and bustling like usual, and tourist were just being, well, tourist. The activity was very slim. Pictures were being taken, tourist putting their hands against the molds of their favorite performer, work crews moving tables, and words such as “OO look” and “Texas” were often repeated. Without much emotion, the objects that caught my eye were a lot of detail. Tables and chairs were placed throughout the entire area, bars were full of liquor and beer bottles, pool tables were not being used or the arcade games, and big blue trash cans were empty. There were a couple of food baskets lying in the restaurant area due to some that had just finished lunch. As I drew myself more into the acts of what others were experiencing, I noticed people on cell phones, swaying along with the texas country music playing in the background and some were even having an afternoon drink. I heard many “wows” and “awws” as people were fascinated with the Texan traditions and décor. Much memorabilia caught the tourist’s eyes. I noticed many trying to reach the goal of getting that “feel” of Texas, or suddenly trying to act like they were from Texas ( by wearing boots and bandanas), while others were just trying to take in as much Texas as they could in a small amount of time. I could feel of air of much excitement as the tourist looked and experienced Billy Bob’s Texas. I could feel the workers had an emotion of drive, they were getting their job done and in a timely fashion. The emotion overall was joyful and relaxing.
The second time I observed this location was very similar to the last. This time I decided to appear at about 11:30 am on Saturday, January 31, 2009. Everything was almost identical except there happened to be many more visitors. The same people (mostly tourist) were in Billy Bob’s as well as the same events were taking place. Today I felt like I was people watching more than paying attention to the small details due to a larger crowd.
My third observation took place later that night (about 9:15pm). This observation was more of what I am used to due to the fact that most Fridays or Saturdays one can find me in this location. As I walked to the ticket booth, I noticed a totally different atmosphere. People were in very long lines and silence just wasn’t an option. Billy Bob’s Texas was unbelievably crowded. Almost every step I took there was a person directly in front of me and the hardwood floors were covered in all sorts of boots (well at least mainly). It had such a “bar-like” feeling to it. It was smoky, loud, and the wardrobe of everyone was very similar: boots, hats, and jeans. The details were almost invisible due to the loud and large crowd. The bars were no longer wiped down but surrounded by glasses clinking, people ordering, and many socializing. Trash cans were filling up and the ashtrays were now full of cigarette butts but most of all, the dance floor was no longer bare. The stage was occupied with a band called, “Cross Canadian Ragweed,” and the bathroom had a long wait. This atmosphere had taken a complete 360 compared to what I had observed earlier that morning. The main individuals were now cowboy ready to swing around on the dance floor instead of tourist. Girls were strutting and showing off their good aspects, some were stumbling, and some completely sober. Billy Bob’s was full of bartenders, security, tourist, and dances of all sizes and shapes. From cocky cowboys to shy girls just waiting for a boy to ask them to dance, I observed many types of individuals. The main activities were dancing, drinking, singing, and flirting. Others were preparing drinks or checking ID’s. Lots of social-life activities were taking place. People were eating, just people watching for the night (especially men looking for a potential girlfriend), and simply raising their glasses for a drink. Many of the same events took place. One would walk in, find a table or friends, buy a drink or two, and then walk towards the door where many had to throw away what was left of their drink and head for the parking lot. The goal of the individuals at Billy Bob’s was to have a good, country time, learn how to dance, and experience Texas. Many seemed to be that their goal was to get a lot less sober or find a potential girlfriend, and to feel country or be a cowboy for those couple of remaining hours. Emotions ran high here. Many were happy and laid back. Others were upset (most likely due to a boyfriend/girlfriend) and some were just glad to be taking in Texas.

2-2-09 in class-arguments of Fact

As I observed Billy Bob's Texas and there were a few arguments of fact. I saw many drinking, and many may argue that drinking is either for fun/socializing while others may see it as poison going into the body. Also, along with drinking, there are many that think one drink wont impair their ability to drive while others argue that one should never step one foot into a vehicle even if they just consumed one sip. There is a restaurant at Billy Bob's some may argue that the prices are an argument that are presented on the menu. Another argument I see is many think there is a certain technique to dancing, others feel its just for fun and that it does not matter what techniques one uses.

2-2-09 Homework

My first two observations at Billy Bob's Texas were quit different than what I had normally experienced. These two observations took place in the morning and early afternoon. Billy Bob's was a totally different atmosphere at these times versus what goes on during the night life. The third obsercation took place on Saturday night and this is what I am used to. It was very hard trying to observe at this time and not get caught up in the concert or step foot on the dance floor. Many were probably wondering what I was doing sitting at a table with a pencil and small black notebook. My friends thought it was a little awkward but they also know how dedicated I am about school work and knew that I didnt really care what they were thinking about my creepiness. Overall, I had a very fun time getting to see the different people involved at different times, and the separate events that took place from morning and afternoon versus the night life. Im also really happy with my decision to observe Billy Bob's because I thought I knew a ton about Billy Bob's but found out that I only knew very little before this observation.