Blog 16: Research Paper Interview Protocol

Generra Johnson

27 October 2012

ENG 3029-01

Professor Chandler

Blog 16: Research Paper Interview Protocol

How Many Romance Novels:

How many romance novels have you read during high school, and what were they titled?

Story Features:

What attracted you to the story Twilight?

What attracted you to the story Rebecca?

What features do you like about the classical romance story Rebecca?

What features do you like about the modern romance story Twilight?

What features do you not like about the romance story Rebecca?

What features do you not like about the romance story Twilight?

To you, what features make a good romance story?

What do you like about modern day romances?

What do you like about classical romances?

Yes/No Questions:

Would you want to read about an ordinary heroine in a romance novel?

Would you like to read about a man that is stronger than the woman in a romance novel?

Would you like to read about a woman who is stronger than the man in a romance novel?

Would you like to read about a rape in a romance novel?

Would you like to read about premarital sex in a romance novel?

Would you like to read about explicit sex in a romance novel?

Would you like to read about jealous people in a romance novel?

Would you like to read about a tragic couple that survived in a romance novel?

Would you like to read about a weak heroine/hero in a romance novel?

Would you like to read about gentle love or rough love in a romance novel?

Blog 15: Research Question Interview Portion

Generra Johnson

23 October 2012

ENG 3029-01

Professor Chandler

Blog 15: Research Question Interview Portion

            My research question is: Do modern day readers still read for the same features that were identified in Janice Radway’s Reading the Romance? The information that I would like to gather from my research participants are: Is the old romance features the same as the new modern features of romance that live today? Are these features alike or are they different? Other information that I would like to gather from my research participants are: What features are they looking for when they read a romance novel? What features attracted you to old classical romance novels? Do they like old romance novels? Once I can find the answers to these questions and gain the input then the next questions can be answered as well. The other questions are: Would you want to read about an ordinary heroine in a romance novel? Would you like to read about a man that is stronger than the woman in a romance novel? Would you like to read about a woman who is stronger than the man in a romance novel? Would you like to read about a sad ending in a romance novel? Would you like to read about physical torture in a romance novel? Would you like to read about jealous people in a romance novel? Would you like to read about a tragic couple that survived in a romance novel? Would you like to read about a weak heroine/hero in a romance novel? Would you like to read about gentle love or rough love in a romance novel? Would you like to read about a rape in a romance novel? Would you like to read about premarital sex in a romance novel? Would you like to read about explicit sex in a romance novel?   

Blog 14: Short Analysis Essay The Shaggy Dog Stories Draft

Generra Johnson

23 October 2012

ENG 3029-01

Professor Chandler

Blog 14: Short Analysis Essay

The Shaggy Dog Stories Draft

Introduction and Question:

           

Everyone knows about jokes. For every joke there is a punch line, and for every fable there is a moral. Well the Shaggy Dog Stories have both jokes and morals that have things in common with the college aged readers. What are features the Shaggy Dog Stories have that connect to the college aged reader, you might ask? Well the Shaggy Dog Stories have a connection and relationship with the college aged readers through the morals and jokes. The connection can be shown through the reader’s interests and lives.

Codes and Categories:

           

The things the Shaggy Dog Stories have in common with the college aged readers are: morals, jokes, political knowledge, twists in the stories, the emotions that the readers felt while reading the stories, authority, having your own authority, a play on words, violence, action, a plot twist, a punch line, information, knowing the quote, the meaning of the story, and that there is truth to the stories.

Patterns:

            Now the stories were funny, and they were ranked by class ENG 3029 section 01 of Kean University. The ranks are in the order of which is the funniest. The funniest stories are ranked five, and the least funny is ranked one. The ranks are a five out of five, five being the highest and one being the lowest.

Nate, the Snake	1	4	4	4	1
Friars	1	1	6	2	4
Chess Players		2	4	5	3
Friday and Robinson Crusoe	5	3		2	4
The Panda Bear	7	4		1	2

            The pattern that follows in the Shaggy Dog Stories according to the college aged readers: The story of Nate the snake received the lowest ratings. The story of the friars received the second lowest ratings. The story of the chess players was in third place. The story of Friday and Robinson Crusoe was in second place, and in first place was the story of the panda bear at the restaurant. This survey explains that everyone liked the story of the panda bear the most, and the story of Nate the snake was liked the least among the college aged readers.

            There is more to the pattern of why the stories were liked and disliked. It has to do with the connection the college aged readers have with the Shaggy Dog Stories. From what was observed the connection the college aged reader has with the Shaggy Dog Stories are: the jokes, the play on words, and the punch line. It repeated this specific pattern, when observed in the classroom, going from the jokes to the words to the punch line, and then back again.

            There were also reasons why the college aged students of Kean University liked the funny Shaggy Dog Stories. Some people in the class related to the stories. One example might be that some of the people in the class remembered if they were ever bullied by someone like the friars were, in the friar story. They also probably really connect to the friars if they were not able to stop the bully and had to run away from them. Some people in the class liked how funny the punch line was. One example of a punch line is in panda bear story, “[A] ‘Giant panda, lives in China, eats shoots and leaves.’ ” As for me as a person one punch line I can relate to every week is in the Friday and Robinson Crusoe story, “His helper answered, ‘Thank Friday! It’s God!’ ” If a person reverses the order of those words in the story, they really say in real life, “Thank God It’s Friday!” Furthermore what it means is a person is happy that the day Friday is here.

Another theme that made the Shaggy Dog Stories funny was the violence in the stories. The college aged readers as observed were more attracted to the most violent stories. This will also explain why Nate, the snake was the least funniest story, and why the panda bear story was the most funniest, even though they are both violent stories. Both stories have main characters- Nate, the snake and the panda bear. But Nate the snake was killed while the panda bear killed the people in the restaurant. Then another difference is the panda bear had dialogue in his story, but Nate the snake did not have any discourse. What is more interesting is in both stories the brutality is explained by the punch line. For example, when Nate the snake was squashed, when he was protecting the lever, which could destroy the world, the punch line said, “The boulder ran over Nate, but it was, in fact, deflected, leaving history to conclude that is was better Nate than lever.” In other words Nate was better off being sacrificed than the whole world. But again if a person rearranges the words in this story, they will get, “Better Late than Never.” As stated, the punch line has to be strong and it known by the reader to have a connection with the college aged reader.

Hypotheses and Theory:

            My hypotheses for the Shaggy Dog Stories are: What features do the Shaggy Dog Stories have in common with the college aged readers? What morals and jokes do the college aged readers have a connection to when reading the Shaggy Dog Stories? Another hypothesis of mine is: The stronger the connection to the audience the funnier the punch line. My theory is: the Shaggy Dog Stories have punch lines and jokes that are significant to the college aged reader. It explains what jokes and punch lines do college aged readers relate to the most.

Conclusion:

So now it is known that every punch line has a connection to the reader, when it has a good joke placed before it. How does the punch line relate to the college aged reader? The college aged reader relates to the punch lines by personal experience, and if they have ever heard of the punch line before. Also the punch lines are strong and liked the most among the college aged reader because of the joke that is added. That is how a punch line becomes significant to the college aged reader.

Blog 13: Language of Discourse Analysis by James Paul Gee

Generra Johnson

16 October 2012

ENG 3029-01

Professor Chandler

Blog 13: Language of Discourse Analysis by

James Paul Gee

            The terms that I am having trouble with in the textbook Language of Discourse Analysis by James Paul Gee are: “prototypical,” and “intertextuality.” What does he mean by other text when he mentions this word? There is no other text than a word itself, right? Other terms I am having trouble with are: “decontextualized,” “essayist literacy,” and “berating.”

            Some of the building tasks of language that applies to my research project, which is the features of romance novels, are: relationships and connections. How does each genre of romance connect to the other? What are their similarities and differences? What relationship(s) do the novels Rebecca and Twilight have in common? Do the romances have the same pattern, or do they differ somehow? My main questions in my research paper are based on comparisons of the romance novels.

Blog 12: Short Analysis Essay Research Question, Data Set and Ideas

Generra Johnson

11 October 2012

ENG 3029-01

Professor Chandler

Blog 12: Short Analysis Essay Research Question,

Data Set & Ideas

            My research question for the short analysis essay is: What do the Shaggy Dog Stories have in common with the people that enjoy them? What do the people who read the Shaggy Dog Stories enjoy about them? What are the common morals between each of the Shaggy Dog Stories? The data set that I chose to work with for the short analysis essay is: The Shaggy Dog Stories. Some of the ideas that I have for my short analysis essay are: What are the morals each of the Shaggy Dog Stories? Do the punch lines go with the morals of the stories? Are the Shaggy Dog stories trying to teach lessons, or are they trying to be funny?

Blog 11: Four Points on Developing a Research Plan

Generra Johnson

9 October 2012

ENG 3029-01

Professor Chandler

Blog 11: Four Points on Developing a Research Plan

1.      My topic is the plot of a story. But to analyze it even more my topic is a romantic plot of a story. The people that have done research on my story are: Janice A. Radway, who wrote Reading the Romance: Woman Patriarchy, and Popular Literature.

2.      My research question is: How do I develop a romantic story plot like Rebecca? How do I develop a romantic story plot?

3.      What I need to do in order to answer my research question is research in the library, ask questions, and read research on romantic topics. The topics of romance that I will look for in the library are major authors who have made romance novels. I will also look for books on authors and critics who a critiqued romance novels. As for who I will ask questions to I have thought about that question. I can only ask questions to people who read romance novels. I can ask them the question; What do you think of the romance novel that you have read? I can also ask the question: What type of genre of romance do you like, for example- dramatic romance, or comical romance? But I will not be able to ask an author about how they made a romance story, because I do not know any authors who have created romance stories.

4.      I hope to uncover the methods behind developing a romantic plot in a story. That is my purpose and that is what I would like to discover. My research question is: How do I develop a romantic story plot? I will be gathering information on the college research papers, books that different authors wrote, and I will be gathering information from articles in journals. I will not be interviewing anyone.

5.      My list of resources and primary resources are:

·         Mystery and the Romance Reader pages 161-178 Version of record first published: 23 Sep 2008 Article Views: 37  DOI:10.1300/J105v29n03_12 Tracy Allen http://library.kean.edu:2134/doi/abs/10.1300/J105v29n03_12 (Primary)

·         Reading the Romance: Woman Patriarchy, and Popular Literature Janice A. Radway (Primary)

·         Romance and Agency: An Argument Revisited DOI:10.1080/02732173.1997.9982177 Marcella Thompson^a, Patricia Koski^b & Lori Holyfield^b  pages 437-451 Received: 25 May 1996
Accepted: 27 Jan 1997 Version of record first published: 30 Jul 2010 http://library.kean.edu:2134/doi/abs/10.1080/02732173.1997.9982177

·         Book Review of "Sex, Love, and Romance in the Mass Media: Analysis and Criticism of Unrealistic Portrayals and Their Influence," by Mary-Lou Galician DOI: 10.1207/s15405710pc0304_5 Christine Bachen pages 273-275 Version of record first published: 19 Nov 2009 http://library.kean.edu:2134/doi/abs/10.1207/s15405710pc0304_5

 

·         ROMANCE WRITING 101.,  York, Rebecca, Writer; Dec2011, Vol. 124 Issue 12, p34-36, 3p, Article, 00439517, 67199336, Academic Search Premier http://library.kean.edu:2055/ehost/detail?vid=4&hid=110&sid=1f242acd-ab38-4a26-886b-98d06e1794b8%40sessionmgr112&bdata=JkF1dGhUeXBlPWNvb2tpZSxpcCx1cmwsY3BpZCZjdXN0aWQ9a2VhbmluZiZzaXRlPWVob3N0LWxpdmU%3d#db=aph&AN=67199336 (Primary)

• Romance., Ramsdell, Kristin^{1 ,}Article, Library Journal; Jan2005, Vol. 130 Issue 1, p90-90, 1/2p 03630277, 15693732, Academic Search Premier http://library.kean.edu:2055/ehost/detail?vid=5&hid=110&sid=1f242acd-ab38-4a26-886b-98d06e1794b8%40sessionmgr112&bdata=JkF1dGhUeXBlPWNvb2tpZSxpcCx1cmwsY3BpZCZjdXN0aWQ9a2VhbmluZiZzaXRlPWVob3N0LWxpdmU%3d#db=aph&AN=15693732 (Primary)

Blog 10: Group Analysis of Six Papers with Comments

Generra Johnson

6 October 2012           

ENG 3029-02

Professor Chandler

Blog 10: Group Analysis of Six Papers with Comments

            The people in my group are: Andrea, Shana, and Kelsee.

1.      My research question is: How do all the authors use writing in their papers?

2.      The codes, categories, patterns that match my research question are: “The audience should be one of the main focuses in argument writing,” “As the writer you are trying to convince the audience to agree with your ideas and to share in the same values,” “When I write I always think,” “Research is also a big part of freelance writing,” “Freelance writing is a very well rounded type of writing that can be used in many different situations,” and “Other types of plagiarism are not strictly limited to written material, but it can include media such as films, videos, documentations, interviews, newspapers, broadcasts, podcasts, audio files, ect.”

3.      The examples that support my question are: “The audience should be one of the main focuses in argument writing,” When I write I always think,” “Freelance writing is a very well rounded type of writing that can be used in many different situations,” and “Other types of plagiarism are not strictly limited to written material, but it can include media such as films, videos, documentations, interviews, newspapers, broadcasts, podcasts, audio files, ect.”  Basically, the authors use their writing for freelance writing, research, thinking and brainstorming, and unfortunately for plagiarism as well.

4.      My theory is that all of the authors of the six papers use writing in different methods, like research, brainstorming, freelance writing, and other things.  

5.      My leftover questions that I have from this research are: Can all these topics be connected into one paper? And other than computers and papers, can writing be used on other media?

Blog 9: Group Assignment on Editing Papers

Generra Johnson

2 October 2012

ENG 3029-01

Professor Chandler

Blog 9: Group Assignment on Editing Papers

The people in the group are: Shana, Andrea, and Generra.

We decided to use the paper that I wrote (Andrea) for the assignment. These are our ideas and comments so far.

Question:

What features of the comments give information for the revision of the paper?

Coding of the Comments:

1. No negative comments, but positive feedback.
2. Supports the student in a positive manner.
3. Encourages the student to keep writing and edit where necessary, without being aggressive.
4. Gives examples of sources that can be used.
5. Explains what needs work and follows up with how to "fix" the revision.

Student Reactions:

Andrea - This was my paper that we were working on. I did not have any hard feelings about the comments from my professor. I thought I was doing the assignment wrong, but I was assured that I was not, and it gave me hope that I will complete the paper without worrying too much about it. To me it was all positive feedback.

Shana -

Generra -

Pose a Question:

We did not get this far yet. We have no question as of today.