On Tuesday, we focused on subcultures, observations, and interviews. Everyone has already done the secondary research by learning about works of other scholars in the field and submitted UP2 Feeder 2.1 Rough Draft. During the class period, we first did the workshop for our feeder 2.1. My classmates in my group are always very helpful in peer feedback. They always point out my mistakes regarding grammar and structures, and give constructive feedbacks. During the past workshops, I found out that I always have many grammar mistakes and my illustrations on article content are not very detailed. In the future, I will pay more attention to these aspects and hope my writing will improve. Also, I always have a hard time commenting on other’s rough drafts since I am able to find few mistakes and inappropriate structure and my reading speed is slower in that of my peers. Thus, I deeply realized my setbacks and endeavored to put efforts in fixing it in the future.
Next, we talked about our own subculture and identities. We first write down our reflections of our own subculture and then discuss with others in our groups. In my group, everybody belongs to different subcultures and some people have several identities. For me, I talked about my identity as a Chinese girl and a Beijing Citizen and mentioned some misunderstandings other people may have on my subculture. During the discussion, I found out that there are misunderstandings and stereotypes regarding every subculture and people are confronting discomfort by every subculture they identify with. In my view, we should learn about other people with open minds in the future and tried to understand people by themselves but not the stereotypes we have in mind.
On Thursday, we talked about descriptions and detail, word choice, style, and tone. We first discuss again the conversation we had about subcultures on Tuesday and the takeaways we gain. Then, we focused on the multiple “distances” or levels of detail we can use to describe or discuss our content and the appropriate circumstance for us to “zoom in” and use descriptive details. Personally, I am very bad at utilizing detailed descriptions in my work so the subsequent time-limited exercise on describing the classroom and a person was a great challenge for me. When we were sharing the best work in each group, I deeply realized the advanced descriptive skills my peers have and the huge gap between my writing skills and theirs. I learnt that description can not only be description but also contains feelings and emotions by utilizing different words.
Next, we did another exercise on word choice, style, and tone. By improving a paragraph and adding details to a simple sentence, I had a deeper understanding of how vocabulary and sentence structure should match with the style and tone of the paragraph and how details can make the meaning a sentence tries to convey more vivid and unforgettable.
After conducting an observation on UNC Christian Society this Friday, I gradually learn more about the group I am studying and I am now working on Feeder 2.1.
The coronavirus is spreading around the globe. Be safe and healthy everyone!
