Table Of Contents

Table of Contents My Reflection Of Me Intro to Community Community Intro to Identity Marker Identity Marker Intro to What’s in my Wallet What’s in your Wallet? Intro to Tradition Online Dating vs. Courtship

My Reflection Of Me

     My name is Tricia Jones, and I am 35 years old. I have 3 fantastic kids and my first and most important thing in my life is my children. I love to travel, go to ball games and work with people. My dream job is to get a major in Human Resources and bachelors in Science and Business Administration working for a large company. My mom was my age when she got her masters. She inspired me to never give up and work hard to get where I want to go.

    My favorite subject has always been English so this has been quite the experience because it took me out of my comfort zone. I have learned a lot about writing and what I thought I was really good at; I’ve learned I have a lot of work to do. I found my weaknesses and have worked on my strengths.

     I have enjoyed working on our Identity, Community and Tradition essays but have found it really challenging due to my lack of knowledge on analyzing. I am an emotional writer so analyzing has been difficult but fun to explore. I think it is so important to slow life down long enough to really take a look at where we came from and why?

     What has stood out for me is that we all have the same desire to belong. We all have traditions that are important to us and we all search for meaning. I did one essay on the movie “Edward Scissor Hands” and chose that one because I think we have all felt left out at one time in our life and we have all felt like an outsider of a community at some point. This was a good one for me to write on because it was the easiest one to relate to. However, it wasn’t my best work but it did bring out my want to look deeper into my writing.

     This class has been an enjoyment for me but found I went from being a straight A student to about a C, J So I have much to work on. To pursue my degree in business I will continue to work hard and gather as much knowledge as I can in the meantime.

     I look forward to working on this e portfolio. Have a great rest of the quarter!

Intro to Community....

This was my favorite assignment. I had  no idea Text messaging was considered a community until I really put some thought into it.
     "What tends to hold this community together is it gets to where it is going and people have time to respond. In the long run they are still connected; they just have the ability to respond when they can. Normally your interests, needs and values are expressed through your conversations and you are able to sometimes express yourself in ways you might not in person."
 I have learned how to analyze better and not make assumptions that I understand it when I don't always see it in detail.This has changed how I write and this class has overall changed how I look at things which is a lot clearer now. I have learned to analyze. :)

Community

Text messaging is a community"

What makes text messaging a community is that it is your friends and people you know. It includes ways to speak to someone and be a part of a community without picking up the phone. It’s a quick reply to an answer or a way of discussing something when you’re in a hurry. What tends to hold this community together is it gets to where it is going and people have time to respond. In the long run they are still connected; they just have the ability to respond when they can. Normally your interests, needs and values are expressed through your conversations and you are able to sometimes express yourself in ways you might not in person. The people in your community tend to share the same things, from just wanting a quick response to trying to fit conversation into their daily busy lives. Tensions that could arise from this community however, could be miss communication or the emotion behind someone’s voice.

I fit into this group because my life is very busy and I don’t always have the time to talk on the phone. I enjoy being part of this community because it allows me to still have a life with my friends and family while trying to maintain school and family life. I never had this available when I was growing up; in some ways this may have been better because when you are able to speak to someone on the phone you get a lot more from it. However, this still provides me with the comfort of knowing I’m close to the people I care about and can maintain relationships even when Im super busy.

Intro to Identity Marker....

Identity is who we are, not what people assume we are...

I went on to say how unfortunately we are not always in control of what people think of us or how they see us. Alot of times people will make an assumption about us before we have an opportunity to show them who we really are and not by just what we look like. I considered this as an anyone audience because I think it could be a subject that could cause discussion agree or dis agree. I found this assignment to be fun and has broadened my thought process to become a better writer.

Identity Marker

Identity can be so many things in my opinion. How do others perceive us? I think they first see what gender and what our cultures are. I also believe that unfortunately they make assumptions based off our looks; what we wear, how we act and whether we are extroverted or introverted. Identity is who we are, not what people assume we are.

The first thing I notice about people is how they interact with others, if they are male or female and how they dress. I don’t mean to make an identity marker off that but it tends to be my initial thoughts as I first meet someone. I think Identity is marked in a lot of ways but we become who we are by the way we are brought up and by how we were raised. I think people first notice about me my personality, I’m a very optimistic person, along with how I look. I’m extremely humble and have worked really hard to be where I am and become who I am. I have been pinned as being high maintenance or being un approachable when in reality that’s not who I am at all. Identity is important to us all because it defines us. We work hard to be who we are. 

In the stories we have read, these women worked hard by showing courage and describing the hardships just to fit in. In Queen Latifah’s story “Who you callin’ a Bitch?” she made a statement about how someone called her a tomboy and she ran home crying. Her mom then tells her “to go back out and say she is not a tomboy but athletic.” People make assumptions a lot of times off what they think our identity is, sadly a lot of times it’s incorrect. We aren’t always in control of how people perceive us but by being self-aware we have the ability to change the perception others have of us.

Intro to What's In My Wallet.....

This was a fun piece to write, I had never once opened my purse and wondered what people would think if they were to look inside and I wasn't there. I realized all the small things that can make up who we are and what things people notice about me.

"What' In Your Wallet?"

My purse has a lot of sentimental value to me. I have things that could tell you what kind of person I am to what matters most to me. I carry with me photos of my children, trinkets that they gave me for good luck and all my credit cards that work well for my convenience. Some would make the assumption I am an unorganized person due to the dis array of my purse and the contents that have no place within it. Some may decide I am into materials such as the style of my purse or the wallet that I probably spent too much money on.  

The things they would miss about me are that I’m actually very humble. I never had much so the things I do have are important to me. When I have money I spend it on nice things. They would not know that I always put people first and I am not selfish in any way.  These are things they would not naturally assume by looking in my purse.

What they would assume would be that I'm a mom by seeing the granola bars, bandaids and coloring crayons that I carry around on a daily basis.  :)

Intro to Tradition ....

In this particular paper the question was asked "How has a particular modern innovation influenced or impacted a specific cultural tradition?"  I did try to revise this and made some small adjustments . I did revise awkward words that didn't work in the paragraphs and I fixed punctuations or tried to catch my errors. I found this assignment gave me some huge insight on how to write and what to watch out for. This was not my weakest paper but I chose this one because it has room for improvement but defines tradition better than I have ever really looked at describing it. Was a real eye opener.

Online Dating vs. Courtship

Courtship and Online Dating

     There will always be well- defined cultural traditions, but with social networking it’s brought our modern day cultures to merge in ways that would not have happened. In online dating which has extended off of social networking, It has changed the way dating is viewed and has brought people together in ways that are just beginning to expand.

     Tradition affects how society has viewed the world. Dating has changed drastically over the years and has become so easily accessible to meet each other from our technology advancements. In return, some of the special courting and respect of asking for a hand in marriage from the parents has dissipated. Society has viewed this as such a simple way and with each busy life we struggle to find moments we can reach out and meet that special someone.

     In the essay by Ellen DeGeneres, "This is how we live", she goes on to state “Everyone likes to talk about how advancements in technology will change the way we live forever. I think modern technology is hurting us. I really do.” With the way technology has changed how people see things dating became way more accepted through quick, little interaction at first and sometimes goes as far as marriage without even getting to know one another. As she states “Modern life requires hardly any physical activity. We just push a button and stand there.”(638)

     Without the growth and elevation of computers and taking initiative towards online dating, old traditions may have remained. Computers have become an enormous part of our lives it has left dating opportunities to be endless. Has this made people become lazy about their ability to find love?

     Girls still dream of the prince and how they will be like Cinderella like in the essay written by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm. (405) “When Cinderella arrived, the prince was waiting for her at the stairway. He escorted her into the hall. If everyone had been astounded at her beauty yesterday, today they were even more astounded. “Nowhere in the old stories do they say “He called her on his cell phone or shot her a text to let her know how he feels about her.” As silly as this may sound technology has taken a turn in ways that some would think almost too simple.  

     It is a drastic change from how courting was done then to how it is done now and I think society has forgotten the things that can occur by courting a woman. It would gain respect from the father by asking for her hand in marriage or by meeting and enjoying the first moments meeting someone face to face. With the ability to just send a text or whip up a quick instant message, this has left society at a dis advantage to experience some of the old traditional ways of courting.

     The movie “Ever After”, again a Cinderella story in our times yet still focuses on how “old traditions” were so romantic and fun. It does seem the divorce rate has gone way up since technology took new spins on how dating can be done.

     With the changes that have occurred through online dating this has also brought on how break ups are done when the relationship doesn’t work out. Now just like online dating, break ups are done on face book, texting and other resources.  This was also very different before technology took a hard turn towards new ideas and advantages to simple dating. It has completely changed the way society has to actually work at a relationship and by being face to face allowing the other person to have a chance for explanation or closure.

      Traditions will always be around and they will be different from country to country but the changes that occur through dating will continue to change and have new advancements.  People will still fall in love as they always did, and talk to each other in one form or another. Technology will continue to advance and we will continue to learn new ways to find someone that we can connect with. Tradition will stay as a part of our lives and we will find ways to keep it alive passing down from generation to generation.