Day Sixteen - Sacred Writing Time

For Texans in general, their state and pride are very important to them or at least the ones Ive
come across so far. They usually have an enormous amount of pride for their state. I remember
my ROTC teacher was from Texas and he was what I thought most Texans were like until
visiting here. They wore cowboy hats and boots, the vests, the love for guns and hunting, and the
stories about working on a farm or as a cowboy. He always made references to being a cowboy.
Whenever he tried to get us in a group, he would say its like herding cats. I always thought that
was the typical Texan until I got here and realized that people here have the same ideas, but are
not as obvious as my ROTC teacher. When interviewing Katie, you couldnt tell she was a
typical typical Texan just by looking at her. However, when you ask her about Texas or certain
issues involving Texas like gun control or the rodeo you can easily pick up her Texas attitude and
ideals. You notice that typical Texan when she talks about Texas and not by looking at her.

Visual Prompts
I was actually thinking about doing a supplemental video sort of thing for my ethnography essay
to capture the Texan group/subculture at the rodeo. I would take quick snapshots of how Texans
are at the rodeo during my spring break with my profile subject, Katie. I hope to capture Texans
in their most Texan activity. I expect to capture lots of people dressing in cowboy gear, hats and
boots. I also expect there will be a lot of Texans traditions which I might not necessarily know
yet, but will learn about when Im there. I will also have my friend Katie to help me learn about
the traditions of the Texas rodeo. I will have an insight of what those traditions are from a true
Texan.

Research Prompts

http://www.rodeohouston.com/home.aspx
http://www.shsu.edu/academics/agricultural-sciences-and-engineeringtechnology/organizations/rodeo-club.html
https://www.loc.gov/folklife/LP/CowboySongs_opt.pdf
https://www.loc.gov/folklife/news/pdf/FCN_Vol06_2.pdf
https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/llr01
http://www.texasmonthly.com/category/topics/the-manual/
http://www.texasmonthly.com/category/topics/welcome-to-texas/
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/retrieve.do?
sort=RELEVANCE&inPS=true&prodId=GVRL&userGroupName=txshracd2589&tabID=T003
&searchId=R1&resultListType=RESULT_LIST&contentSegment=&searchType=BasicSearchFo
rm&currentPosition=1&contentSet=GALE%7CCX3434800214&&docId=GALE|
CX3434800214&docType=GALE
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/retrieve.do?
sort=RELEVANCE&inPS=true&prodId=GVRL&userGroupName=txshracd2589&tabID=T003
&searchId=R1&resultListType=RESULT_LIST&contentSegment=&searchType=BasicSearchFo
rm&currentPosition=5&contentSet=GALE%7CCX3409002108&&docId=GALE|
CX3409002108&docType=GALE

Questions About Audience and Purpose

Since Im going to the rodeo, I think I can get a good idea of Texans in their probably most
natural habitat besides being in Texas. I want to capture a more outside view so that the people
who are most likely from Texas that are reading this can see themselves in the essay or at relate

to. I hope they will also see an outsiders view of Texans. I want to find out what is the history
behind the Texans proudness toward their state. Im kinda lost on how Im going to make a
academic motive come out from my essay and seeing people (Texans) in their natural habitat. I
hope that the video supplement I am going to be doing will inspire me to want to write more and
push into one topic. Its going to be hard to find the something that makes the subculture
different from what the audience is reading because I feel most of them have lived in Texas for a
long time so they know the Texas subculture pretty well. I just know I want to focus on the
rodeo and the people in that environment.

Day Seventeen - Sacred Writing Time

I really need feedback on what to add or elaborate on to help me hit that 5 page limit. I currently
barely have 3 pages. I wasnt really looking at the page requirement and just writing so now
checking that I will need help getting to that page limit. I want to know if my essay is successful
and if it really makes a point. I just powered through writing the essay not really checking if the
essay was actually good or not. I think if I was to add something it would probably be more
details in the identifiers and maybe write about the blogs a little more and really compare them to
my observations. I was trying to convey that just by identifying people and picking out certain
characteristics doesnt make them a part of that subculture necessarily. You cant know my just
observing a person.

Reflection on Ethnography
The most challenging part of this assignment was trying to get my research and what to do with
it after that. I had a good plan after discussing it at my conference, but I had to throw the whole
thing out because my plans fell through. It was a struggle not being able to drive and being stuck

in my apartments over spring break while everyone was pretty much gone so I didnt really have
any subject matter to interview or observe. Procrastination didnt really help with me either. It
did push me to come up with something fast because I waited so long to try and come up with
something. Luckily, I figured something out.