Writing Assignment 3

Adrianna Rodriguez

Jennifer Jones

English 1302

6 March 2015

Conducting Research on the Gamma Phi Beta Sorority

            For my research project this semester, I have decided to do it on my sorority Gamma Phi Beta. In order for me to do my project ethically, there are multiple things to take into account. First, there are a lot of ritual like things in our sorority that we cannot share to anyone except to other initiated members of the Gamma Phi Beta sorority. I would have to make sure that I’m not putting any of this information in my project so that we can keep that information within our sorority. Second, I would also have to make sure that I don’t discuss any personal issues that are going on within our sorority. I know that whatever personal issues that are going on between me and/or any of my sisters needs to stay between us and not be brought to the public. And third, I just have to make sure not to discuss of anything that makes anyone uncomfortable. The only kind of information I feel I need to have for my project should be related to my sorority and nothing else, no kind of drama or anything.

            I decided to do my research on my sorority because it is one of the biggest things in my life right now. I love being a member of Gamma Phi Beta and I want to show people with my project how amazing my sorority is and why everyone else should love it. Right now I am involved in other organizations at my school but out of all of them my sorority does take up more of my time out of everything else. I joined Gamma Phi Beta because I wanted to be a part of something that is bigger than myself. During my research I will be doing a lot of my research just by observing my sisters and when it comes to the events we do. I will have my professor assisting me throughout the process whenever I need help with anything. I do plan to do this project to the best of my ability.

Since I live at the sorority house and am practically around my site and living in it 24/7 I can practically do my research anytime I want. I plan on doing observational research just by talking and interacting with sisters and going to all of our mandatory events. I have no issue as to gaining entry to my research site since I live in it. I know all of my sisters will be ok with me doing this project as long as I don’t reveal any secret ritual information to any outside parties of our sorority. I plan on researching this site for the rest of the year until I no longer have any need to do research on my sorority.

When presenting my information ethically, I plan on keeping all people I interview anonymous. I know that there is some information my sisters may have that they want to keep private and may not want certain people to know what they have said about something. I wouldn’t want my research project to cause any sort of drama within my sorority. When presenting your research ethically you want to present what is true while keeping your participant’s best interest in mind. Any sort of potential risks I could see coming up is if someone shares information that should be kept between the participant and the interviewer. That’s where keeping people anonymous is considered important. Other than that I really see no other issues coming up and I can’t see the issue that I just mentioned actually happening while conducting my research. I mainly plan to keep my research about my sorority, and not so much all the people involved within it. I do think that the people involved is a key component to my research, but not the most important one and since it is not the most important one, I am going to try my best to not make it so prominent in my research, so I can avoid any issues. When giving interviews and stating any situations in my research paper, I can use fake names to protect the people I am interviewing if they want to remain anonymous. I also don’t actually plan on doing very many interviews. Most of my research will be me being observational, like a sociologist studying people’s behavior. I can describe things that go on and be vague but still give enough information to where people will understand what it is I am talking about. I of course wouldn’t want my research project to cause any issues for me in my sorority, but since this is a research project I plan on giving any information I think is necessary to make my research project the best it can possibly be.

When it comes to using a code of ethics for my ethnography project, I plan to use the MLA Statement of Professional Ethics. I plan on using this code of ethics because it gives the best rules and regulations when it comes to understanding everything necessary for things to be fair with your projects with the student, teacher, and the participants. The MLA Statement of Professional Ethics understands that the student should have the right to ask certain things, but that the participant is not obligated to answer all said questions. It is also understood that the teacher does have a right to regulate the project with the student that they see fit. With a certain amount of understanding from all people involved in the project, it can most definitely be one of the best research projects ever.

Writing Assignment 2

Gamma Phi Beta as my Literacy

I would like to say that I consider myself an involved person at Texas A&M-Commerce. Last semester I was in Spirit Den, joined the Gamma Zeta chapter of Gamma Phi Beta, and apart of Spirit Committee and the Pride Marching Band. I love being involved in all these different groups. They are all so different from each other and have such different literacies but I feel like Gamma Phi Beta has the most distinct literacy for me to be able to do my project on.

Every sorority in the world has a distinct literacy of their own with their rituals, traditions, and philanthropies. No sorority can discuss their rituals since it is all supposed to be kept a secret within their sorority. For example, one saying we have in Gamma Phi Beta that we say amongst each other is love in KE. I can’t say what it means, but it is something that we say to each other that only other Gamma Phi Beta members will understand. Other than that, we don’t have any other secret sayings that we use. We do have quotes and little sayings that do specifically relate to Gamma Phi Beta. Our open quote is “Founded upon a rock”. One of our founders, Helen M. Dodge, came up with this quote because she thought our sorority should be on something that is very strong and she thought rock was the strongest foundation for our sorority.

We have all these little things that make us Gamma Phi Beta and gives us our distinct characteristics. Then within each certain Gamma Phi Beta chapter at each university, it shows what kind of girls that each Gamma Phi Beta chapter recruits into their sorority. For example at Texas A&M-Commerce, the girls of Gamma Zeta chapter of Gamma Phi Beta are known for being the nicest sorority girls on campus. Though we’ve also been called “the new KD Chis” and told our house should be turned into a Golden Corral based on what some of our girls look like. Even though people on campus have said that about Gamma Phi Beta we still had the best reputation amongst all the CPC sororities. At other universities across the country, Gamma Phi Beta doesn’t have that kind of reputation. At Texas State University, the Gamma Chi chapter of Gamma Phi Beta is a newer chapter and most of the girls aren’t very nice and accepting of others. Each Gamma Phi Beta chapter at each university is different, but when it comes down to it, we still have the same values and things we stand for.

Our four core values for our sorority are love, labor, learning, and loyalty. To us love means having a love for our sorority and for our sisters. Labor means giving back to the community and volunteering and doing work for your sorority chapter. Learning means taking your college studies very seriously and always wanting to learn more. We ask right before chapter how many chapters have you read and we would answer there is no end because to us you never stop learning. Then loyalty means being trustworthy and honest with your sisters and everyone else. In Gamma Phi Beta when we are recruiting new members, we look to find girls who exhibit all four of these values.

I hope when researching the sorority I am a part of that I can gain a better perspective on why I joined Gamma Phi Beta to begin with. I hope to get more information on what my sorority is all about and what sisterhood is all about. I also wouldn’t be doing my project on just my chapter but multiple Gamma Phi Beta chapters. I would be able to get a better perspective on all these things I want to research if I choose to not focus only on my chapter. We all have the same values and reasons as to why we all joined Gamma Phi Beta that it’d be easier to research multiple chapters.

Works Cited Page

http://www.gammaphibeta.org/Gallery/Gallery/34

http://www.gammaphibeta.org/aboutus

Writing Assignment #1

Adrianna Rodriguez

Jennifer Jones

English 1302

12 March 2015

The Complications of Defining Literacy

Today, many scholars have tried multiple times to define the word “literacy”. The thing is that literacy is such a broad term that it is practically impossible to define. There are so many things in this world that can be considered as literacy. One example could be a stop sign. Adkins states that “you see the sign and know that it means to stop, look for oncoming traffic, and then proceed when it is clear and/or your turn to proceed”. She also mentions that you would still interpret it the same way if you were in a Spanish speaking country because instead of the sign saying stop it says pare. We would still interpret it the same way because it is still a red octagonal sign just having a different word on the sign.

Literacy is anything that has to do with reading and/or writing. If you are reading something, you are taking in information and learn more about it. Whenever you are writing something you are interpreting the information you have learned and talking about your own stance on it. This is something we do all the time when writing essays and research papers. We’re being told to research a certain topic and write about what we’ve learned and our own opinion on it. This is something that is commonly done in history classes. Right now in my own history class, we have a semester project we have to do. Our semester project is to write a paper about a historical event that happened any time after Reconstruction to the 1970’s and write about what we think of the time period we choose and give modern examples of the time period we choose. This is something school related that could be defined as literacy because you are reading and researching a topic then interpreting it yourself when writing about it.

You can always find literacy when reading books for fun or reading a status/ tweet on Facebook and Twitter. I feel like literacy is so easy to find and spot that defining it would be the most impossible task on the planet. Finding it in its natural habitat would be doing an everyday task like driving and reading a sign or checking your phone and reading Facebook statuses. You would never think of these kinds of thing being considered literacy since we do them so often and mindlessly but literacy is also when you read and interpret information and that is what you do when doing these kinds of everyday tasks. I feel like you technically never have to go and just look for literacy because you can spot in just about everything you do.

Today in our society, it can be very hard to define and find a literacy event. Almost any kind of event can be considered a literacy event because literacy has to do with interpreting and taking in information. Some examples of a literacy event could be going to an art museum or going to Six Flags with some friends. When you go to an art museum you observe the paintings and sculptures and are constantly thinking about why the artist did this or that and thinking well this is how I would’ve done that (but that’s just me). Then at Six Flags you’re probably looking at all the rides and thinking oh that one looks like a lot of fun or that looks like a little too much for me (again that’s just me). If you ever have these kinds of thoughts when you’re out somewhere and start formulating opinions about the situation then technically whatever you are doing can be considered a literacy event.

In our society today, we are constantly interpreting and taking in information. Just by reading a status on Facebook or reading a textbook for a college class are just a few examples of interpreting and taking in information. We can also interpret things differently by it being in two different settings. Back in my first paragraph I mentioned that when we see a stop sign out on the street we stop, look for oncoming traffic, then proceed to drive forward; though when we see it in a house hung up on a wall as decorative art we just see it as either artwork or think it is completely stupid to hang up a road sign. We can always interpret things differently depending on what kind of setting it is in. I just feel like there is really no point in looking for literacy because it’s like what reason do you have to look for it in the first place? That’s just how I would feel unless I was told to by a professor to do so. I know that it is important to know what literacy is that way you can be more educated on the subject and be more knowledgeable.

I know for the time being literacy will have no clear definition because so much can be related to it. So much can be talked about and debated with literacy and what it should be and I think that is a good thing. I think it is ok for us not to have a clear definition on the term because anyone can get a good gist of what it basically is. We know it has to do with reading and writing and interpreting information and I feel as long as we know that much we can find basic examples of how to describe literacy and how to go about finding it if we wanted to do so.