Reading Response # 3

After reading the guideline of the ethnography essay given in the class, I felt a little nervous because I have never written this kind of essay before. I was able to get the idea of subculture, a particular group of people who has certain behavior and belief, but I did not have a picture of how to write and what to observe. However, through reading the two ethnography essays, “The coffee shop” by Andrea Casassa, and “The dope in head shop” by Mathew Dudley, and the basic structure of an ethnography essay given by Ballenger in the textbook, I had a better understanding of writing an ethnography essay.

According to Ballenger, “… writer/researcher’s observations are the source of data in ethnography. It’s an openly subjective form of research (372).” And also Ballenger states that ethnography should be based on close observation over time and that research takes place in the natural settings where group members gather so it is very subjective due to the nature of human beings (373-374)
These points were significantly showed in Casassa’ s “ The coffee shop”. She wrote down her own experience in the Gourmet coffee shop in Hopkinton, Massachusetts, and she gave a lot of details she observed as an employee of the shop. It was interesting because she did not see things as a member of the subculture, but as a third person who observe by standing one step back. Casassa also wrote down her interview with Dennis that “it’s not the building, but the coffee and the people” (B36).

On the other hand, in “The dope in head shop” by Mathew Dudley, he included less information based on his own observation than Casassa did.
He wrote the essay based on his historical and scientific research. You can observe this point by looking at numerous works cited and citations he did in his essay. He did a different way to describe the subculture which people would rather call the Hampest a “hemp-clothing boutique” than a head shop, by giving a historical background “the head shop is an establishment of the marijuana-using sub-section of America’s counterculture, and first emerged in the Haight-Ashbury district of San Francisco in 1966” (B39).

Ballenger also describes that ethnography focus on people who identify themselves as group members (373). Both essays by Casassa and Dudley seem not described the group members identifying themselves, but they both authors pointed out people still have their own ritual even if they are in a diverse group of people. For example, by Casassa, “a football coach enters the store before practice, as usual. He buys a copy of the Herald and the Globe and drinks his medium regular at a corner stool” (B36). She also categorized people into “earlys” and “regulars”. For the regulars, they “define this small coffee shop and create a sense of family not often found in the commercialized chains. When one expected patron fails to visit, the equilibrium of the store wavers, not dramatically but noticeably” (B35). Casassa successfully indicated the subculture which people have a certain interest or custom in common. In addition to Casassa ‘s example, Dudley described that the Hempest has its own range of various customers but still have a common interest in the merchandise.

I like the way Casassa composing her essay by giving a lot of detail of her observation as a member of the subculture. And I found it interesting that she could see things happened around her as a third person though she is one of the employee of the coffee shop. In my opinion, it is always hard to notice a thing around us to be special because we get used to, and we are part of it. I wanted to write an ethnography essay which myself is also a part of the subculture, but since I think it is better to write an ethnography essay as an outsider, I would find a subculture which I am not belong to, but close to me. And I would like to include a lot of details of my own experiences and observation just same as we did in our personal and research essays.

Topic of Research Essay

I would like to change the topic because it was hard to find resources about my previous topic.

♪Tentative topic♪
Contraceptive pills

♪Tentative research question♪
Should every girls take contraceptive pills? Is pills good for health or not? What different concept or preconception do people have in Japan and America?

♪Rationale♪
When I was in Japan, there is little girls who have sex without taking contraceptive pills. A lot of people have no knowledge of pills, and they think pills are not good for health. It is not common to take pills in Japan. A lot of my friends were pregnant because they have never take pills to control birth. My American friend was surprised when I told her that Japanese girls hardly ever taking pills. I want to know whether pills are good for health or not, and what different concept of pills do people have in different countries.

♪Tentative Topic for Research Essay♪

☆Tentative Topic☆
Why Japanese people tend to be in groups?　

☆Tentative Research☆
Agrarian System in Japanese history

☆Rationale☆
When I first went to Japan, I found that Japanese people tend to be in groups. They emphasize on group work, and whatever they are going to do, they usually do it in groups. They hardly ever act individually, and they do not really accept "Different" but they want everyone to be the same. They like to form groups. I was curious because I used to work individually when I was in Taiwan. I think this is a habit which special in Japanese culture. So I chose this topic in order to answer the question why Japanese people tend to be in groups. But I am not sure this is a right topic or not for the research essay.And because it is hard to find materials so I am still thinking about other topics.

Reading Response #2

I have written the research paper several times in my freshman year of college. For me, the research paper is all about answering a question based on the fact you found through reading materials or researching on the internet. However, by reading the two essays, “An Experience in Acronyms” by Jay Holmquist and “Why Do People Tan?” by Amy Garrett-Brown, and the differences between research papers and research essays explained by Ballenger, I found it rather interesting to write a research essay which is not to prove but to discover than a research paper which involves research to make an extended argument about something in an effort to prove a claim (Ballenger 430).

According to Ballenger, the motive for research essays is not to prove an argument as seen in traditional research papers, but rather to discover and narrate the process of investigating a question (430). Both Holmquist and Garrett Brown presented their curiosity and personal experiences instead of only explaining their discovery of a research. Holmquist started with his own experience of drugs and how it influenced him and his friends. And he included his own words besides the research. “In a recent survey, 51 percent of twelfth graders could easily get MDMA…and I know LSD and GHB are a lot easier to get” (B25). Garret-Brown started with an interesting way of questioning, “This started as a simple question spurred by one of my occasional “people are so stupid” rants. I wondered who was to blame for this, who made it cool for white people to be tan” (Ballenger 459). The way to begin with the essay is similar to a personal essay rather than a research paper because there are a lot of author’s own ideas and words. And I think the essay with not only the facts based on the research but also your own experiences and thoughts make the idea stronger and more persuasive.

The controlling idea of Holmquist ‘s essay is that the drugs such as LSD, MDMA, and GHB can kill you though most people views party drugs as safe. Holmquist explained how dangerous those drugs are and his own experiences to support his research.
Garret-Brown focused on why people prefer to be tanned artificially rather than going outside and be tanned naturally. “…I don’t necessarily wonder why people tan, but why they completely gyp themselves of the pleasures of the sun to be rewarded with a battle with cancer at worst and saggy skin at best. It seems like everyone wants to feel active, even if they aren’t.” It seemed Garret-Brown was emphasizing why do people tan as she titled her essay, but she rather criticized the concept that “Less sun is better. No sun is best at all” (460).

Research essay looks like a personal essay which we were learning and writing for the previous several weeks. Authors include their own opinions, thoughts and ideas based on their experiences in a personal essay, while research materials and facts are required to support the ideas in a research essay. Compared to the traditional way of writing a research paper which makes reading bored, research essay is more interesting and interactive. I think research essay is really similar to the personal essay. When approaching my second essay, I will follow Ballenger’s advice to not just prove but to discover. And I would like to relate my own experiences to make my essay more persuasive and interesting. Also, I will not only answering the question I have but also including my feedback of the research result. The two essays by Jay Holmquist and Amy Garrett-Brown, and the guidance Ballenger gave helped me to have a vision of what my next essay is going to be.

Reading Responses #1

According to the conventions of personal essays mentioned by Ballenger in “The Curious Writer” (94), most features of the form are applied to both essays “I’m a Believer” by Charlotte Hogg and “The Joy of Mud” by Catherine Black.

First, you can obviously notice that both essays are written in the first person by using a subjective “I” from the beginning to explain what they thought, experienced and how they felt as the basic form of personal essays. They both wrote their experiences and how those affected and meant to them.

Both essays are composed by developing stories which happened to the authors. Hogg mentioned her enthusiasm about Davy John by telling a story of how she was getting more infatuated with him and how she was trying to know more about him. Same as in the Black’s essay, she told a narrative by beginning with a Wednesday morning in the summer with beautiful nature she experienced in Hawaii. Both Hogg and Black’s stories are based on their memory and observation. Hogg started the story from her age of six until now, and Black described the details of the world she saw in her homeland.

Also, both subjects of the essay are commonplace. You might make some connections between your own experiences and the stories which Hogg and Black wrote in the essays. The narratives are not dramatic but they might happen to our everyday life as mentioned by Ballenger in “The Curious Writer” (94).

In addition, there have no clear thesis statements but a lot of implicit and literary expressions in both Hogg and Black’s essays. For example, Hogg wrote “I am unable to move. I can’t stand behind Davy Jones and slop mashed potatoes onto my plate while he pours gravy over his just ahead of me” (B8) to express her extreme excitation of being so close to Davy Jones. Also, in Black’ essay, she showed the details about what she saw in Hawaii, “The sun drips through an immense mango tree, pooling light through the smoke and creating bands of bright blue that twist like serpents into the sky” (B12).

As Ballenger demonstrated in “The Curious Writer” (94), the thesis can be implicit, and it frequently emerge late, rather than at the beginning of the essay, you might not be able to recognize the main ideas which Hogg and Black are trying to mention until you read the last parts of the essays. Hogg mentioned that she did a lot of research as much as she could about Davy and she thought she knows about him better than anyone else. But at the end of the essay, it said “As I watch him write “David” not “Davy”, I accept, finally, that this person I know so well I don’t really know at all, and I, the daydream believer, am just a fan” (B10). She finally found herself even not knowing the correct name of David John. Also in the Black’s essay, after a long time she stayed away from her homeland and traveled back and forth between the Islands and West Coast, she finally found herself belong to her home country Hawaii where she is not familiar with.

When writing personal essays, it is absorbing to make your thought and emotion not clear, and use the literary expression in order to create environment which readers can imagine the situation by their own just as the same way Hogg and did for their essays. They use a lot of details and expressions to imply their feelings and thoughts. That is why some people prefer to read books rather than watch movies of the same stories. Readers can create their own world and have their own explanations through reading the unclear expressions used by the writers. Although sometimes I was a little confused by the vague expressions Hogg and Black used, I think both of them are successful personal essays. I can feel how deep the emotions are and how significant experiences they have through reading the essays.

Hogg and Black’s essays are developed as the features of the first person, commonplace, narrative, implicit thesis which Ballenger demonstrated in “The Curious Writer”(94). In my upcoming writing assignment, I might compose my essay based on these conventions but put more variety of expressions instead of describe my idea and emotion directly.


Works Cited
Ballenger, Bruce. The Curious Writer. Second. New York: Pearson Education, Inc., 2006.
Black, Catherine. “The Joy of Mud.” Ballenger, Bruce. The Curious Writer: B11-B15
Hogg, Charlotte. “I’m a Believer.” Clackmas Literary Review 4.1 (Spring 2000): 83-89 Ballanger, Bruce.

KON NI CHI WA!!

Hi, my name is Wei Wei Kuo. You can call me Wei. I am an exchange student from Japan but I am a Taiwanese. I moved to Japan since I was twelve years old and I have lived in Japan for about 9 years. I also have a Japanese name which is Kana Hamamoto, you can also call me Kana if you like. I can speak mandarin and Japanese as well (not very good but OK).
“KON NI CHI WA!” (Hello!) (^.^)v
There are a lot of beautiful places in Japan which you should go and visit someday.

My college in Japan is a language school so I was studying English in my freshman and sophomore years, but I will study business here in TCU for a year. I l like playing volleyball, watching movies and traveling.

Nice to meet you all♪♪♪