Project #1 Worksheet

Project #1 Worksheet                                                          

Your Place:  San Pablo First Floor Lounge

What are the intended functions of the place?                      

The intended functions of the place are  to provide a safe area for students to hang out, watch television, cook, or do homework, as well as many other things.

What overt messages does the place send (i.e., openly communicated through signs)?

The place sends out a friendly, welcoming, spacious message.

What covert messages does the place send (i.e., hidden messages)?

None

Have previous users left traces behind in the place?

Sometimes if people don’t clean up their messes, you can tell that they were there before.

Has the place been re-appropriated (i.e., beyond its original functions)?

I don’t think the place has been re-appropriated.

What social or cultural customs did you observe (i.e., rules governing appropriate behavior)?

The appropriate behavior is to just be respectful and follow the ASU Code of Conduct.

Who has access to the place?  Are there insiders and outsiders?

Anyone who lives or works in the San Pablo dormitories has access to the first floor lounge.  Also, those people are allowed to invite any people over to come in as well, they just have to be let in by the people that live or work there.

Who owns the place?

Whoever owns the San Pablo dorms owns the first floor lounge probably.

What is the place’s value (i.e., monetary or otherwise)?

It provides a space to hang out for people in the San Pablo dorms.

Are there official representations of the place (i.e., online, in promotional materials)?  Do they accurately capture the place as you experienced it?

I don’t think there are any official representations of the San Pablo first floor lounge.

Is the place in transition, a changing place?

The San Pablo first floor lounge is pretty much a non-changing place.

What conflicts or tensions are there in the place?

There aren’t really any conflicts or tensions in the place.

What is the place’s history?  Do you see evidence of the past there in the present?

There are no pictures or evidence of the past there in the present.

How does this place differentiate itself from other places?  What other places is it similar to, but how is it different from those places?

It’s different from other places because it is completely white.  There aren’t any colors besides the colors of the chair.

What questions do you have about your place?

Most things at ASU are organized in the school’s colors.  How come the first floor lounge isn’t?  Why is are the chairs red, blue and brown and not maroon and gold?

Key Features / Profiles (taken from the Norton Field Guide (Goggin and Bullock) Chapter 16, pages 165-166)

An interesting subject.  What is unusual about your place?  Alternatively, is there something ordinary about it that you can show in an intriguing way? 

The place is completely white except for the chairs.

Any necessary background.  What background information will you need to include about the place in order to situate readers?

I’m not really sure what background information I will need to include about the place in order to situate readers.

An interesting angle.  Rather than trying to tell readers everything about the place, what angle(s) might you use?

I need to you an angle in which they can picture the space perfectly.

A firsthand account.  Did you interact with people in the place or participate in some way?  What experiences did you have there that you can write about using “I”?  (Yes, first person point of view is encouraged, especially for this paper.)

I have interacted with a bunch of people in the place.  It hold lots of experiences for me.

Engaging details.  What specific information must you include in your description of the place?  What potential does your place have for the use of sensory images, figurative language, dialogue, anecdotes, and showing rather than telling?  What do you want the dominant impression to be?

I must include all the senses and use figurative language.

Generating Ideas and Text (taken from the Norton Field Guide (Goggin and Bullock) Chapter 16, pages 168-169)

Explore what you already know about your subject.  Why do you find this place interesting?  What did you already know about it?

I found this place interesting because it holds a lot of good experiences for me.

If you’re planning to interview someone, prepare questions.  What would you like to ask someone in the place in order to better understand it?

I don’t really have a question to ask in order to better understand it.

Do additional research.  Does your place have an online component?  How else might you gather additional research?

I don’t think the place has an online component in which I could gather additional research.

Analyze your findings.  What patterns, images, or recurring ideas or phrases did you use to describe your place?  What contrasts or discrepancies do you see?

The re-occurring image of the first floor lounge is that it’s white.  Almost everything in the lounge is white except for the chairs.

Come up with an angle.  What is most memorable about your subject?  What most interests you?  What will interest your audience?

There are too many good memories about my place to choose one most memorable one.  Everything about the lounge in the first floor of San Pablo interests me and should interest my audience, as well.