Challenging Conventions: C Period

These categories and theories of moral alignment come from Dungeons and Dragons, and you can get more information about the categories  here . To go right to the quiz, click  here . Remember to comment below on what category you were assigned. Do you think it's accurate?

1. Explain your involvement in the subculture you plan to study.  I plan to study the subculture of the social scene at my rink, more specifically within my figure skating club. I have been an active member of this subculture since I was about eight years old, so I am very familiar with, and at times blind to, the ever changing dynamics.  2. Why are you interested in studying this subculture?  I am interested in studying this subculture because although I am constantly contributing, I often find myself noseblind to the crazy world it is.  3. Who will you interview? Who will you observe? What other research or field work could you conduct?  I will interview some of my friends that I skate with. I will observe the way that skaters and coaches interact, as well as skaters with other skaters. My friend has a popular instagram account to document and share her practice, so maybe I could use her platform to contact other skaters outside our realm. 

1. The subculture that I am planning on studying is the swim team at KO. I have been part of the swim team at KO for two years, and it is different then any other team that I have been apart of. It is a tight knit community composed of a lot of characters. 2.  I am interested in studying this because it is a new and different subculture that I am a part of. I have been playing soccer for a long time, so when I started swimming I was surprised at how swimming was so complex. When I joined the swimming community I learned a lot about different types of suits, as well as learn about these people that I always thought were weird and had obnoxious egos, and I am interested at looking at this in more depth. 3. I am going to interview the captains of the team, as well as various swimmers on the team. I am going to observe the team at practice as well as at meets. I might also interview members of the girls team in addition to the guys team to see the contrast between teams.

My subculture is my church, Greater Harvest Church Ministires. It is a newly christian church and I have been attending it for about 6 years. I help out with events they create such as feeding the homeless, or giving away free clothes and food for the neighborhood. I am interested in studying this subculture because it is a common accusation that everyone who goes to church knows everything they need to know in order to "make it to heaven" or be considered a "holy person". I wanted to interview the Pastors of the church so I can get a look at the church through their eyes and understand how much knowledge is needed to have wisdom and a higher understanding of the bible, church, and God. I am going to observe how people respond to a church service, specifically my cousin. I could look in the bible to find more information on how "expert" are supposed to act.

1. The subculture I plan on studying is my advisee group. I joined my advisee group this year, after my old advisor went to a new school; however, my new advisee group is one of the most fun in the school, and we all participate actively in the subculture. 2. I am interested in studying this subculture because it is something that I am a part of that meets three times a week. This means it is a subculture that I am frequently participating in. I am also interested in studying it because it would be interesting to see how other advisee groups differ from my own. 3. I will interview my fellow advisees and my advisor. I will observe advisee group and I can research other advisee groups comparatively with a survey. Asking questions like how many times a week do you have snack, if you have it at all?

1. Explain your involvement in the subculture you plan to study.  I plan on studying the subculture of West Hartford Conservative Jews of which I am a part of. I had my bar-mitzvah when I was 13. 2. Why are you interested in studying this subculture?  I am interested in studying this subculture because while I am not a "kook" in it, I am not a complete expert on it and I do believe there are many interested aspects to it especially in comparison with normal conservative Judaism. I also think that this study will make me more knowledgable in this area. 3. Who will you interview? Who will you observe? What other research or field work could you conduct?  I will interview some close family friends who are also part of this subculture I will likely interview my siblings and possibly my parents depending on how much data I need. I will probably observe a Saturday service and have a pen and paper to jot down notes about what I observe. I could also look back at my bar-mitz...

A proposal for a study on Wattpad, the literary world's hidden gem (outside the Abusive! Harry Styles fanficition) A. Explain your involvement in the subculture you plan to study.  B. Why are you interested in studying this subculture?  C. Who will you interview? Who will you observe? What other research or field work could you conduct?  A. I've been a unfaithful reader and steadfast writer on Wattpad for two and a half yeasr. I've been able to have my books rank in the overall website ranking system, which was both super gratifying and deeply enlightening.  B. I've been able to observe the ebb and flow of the website–what attracts readers, how to amass followers, what books win Wattpad-issued awards, etc.–on both sides of the glass. Some of my biggest writspirations and writers exist exclusively on that orange website–I've watched talented authors launch careers on the platform, and other equally as talented authors boast hundreds of thousands o...

1. The subculture I am planning on studying is the subculture of the blues music scene.  Despite not performing blues music, my family and I have been exposed to the blues music scene and culture through my older brother.  Since he started playing guitar, the blues music scene has influenced my life significantly and I can identify as someone who is a part of this music scene. 2. I'm interested in studying this subculture because I feel as if not many young people are a part of it and because it has influenced my life so much. Its also very unique and it is a lot of fun being a part of this subculture. 3.  I can interview my brother and maybe some of his bandmates or some of our friends (this might be hard to do since many of them live in other states/countries). I can observe my brother's band, other blues bands, and some local juke joint style venues. I can also study texting/messaging between my brother and fellow musicians/members of the blues community and study ...

Hello all, I am proposing I do the "VR" room subculture. The reason VR is in quotations is that the VR setup is currently broken, but all of the people that make up the culture still get together and play video games in the room. It's not the VR system that makes the subculture, its the video games played and the people that show up. It is located on the first floor of Roberts, tucked away next to one of the main staircases. 1. Explain your involvement in the subculture you plan to study.  I am an avid user of the VR room and am close friends with many of the people who hang out in it primarily. 2. Why are you interested in studying this subculture?  I'm interested in studying this subculture because I associate with it nearly every school day. I feel just observing what I participate in daily would be easy and fun! 3. Who will you interview? Who will you observe? What other research or field work could you conduct?  I will interview Nick Spina, Maggie Eberle,...

1. Explain your involvement in the subculture you plan to study.   I am choosing to study the subculture of Girls Varsity tennis at KO. I was on the varsity team last year, and I have been been attending the weekly winter varsity tennis practices this year. I usually play doubles, but occasionally I'll play a singles match.  2. Why are you interested in studying this subculture?   I am interested in studying this subculture because I feel it is one that people hear about often from our coach, Mr.Garcia, but few have experience playing with the team. Tennis is a major aspect of my life, and playing with the girls has given me an entire new outlook on the sport.  3. Who will you interview? Who will you observe? What other research or field work could you conduct? I am definitely interview Mr. Garcia. He has been extremely passionate about this team for many years, and I feel that it will be interesting to hear his input on this subculture; and how ...

1. Explain your involvement in the subculture you plan to study. My involvement in the KO JV golf team is being a consistent starter in all matches except for one against Westminster.  I played #5 on the team last year and will most likely stay on the team this year unless I move up to Varsity. 2. Why are you interested in studying this subculture? I'm interested in this subculture because last spring was one of my favorite experiences I've had so far at this school, and I've been here since Upper Prep.  There were so many great, funny people on our team and I could play and improve in a sport I love while representing KO in matches. 3. Who will you interview? Who will you observe? What other research or field work could you conduct? I will most likely interview Ms. Hoff since she is our coach.  I could also interview other members on the team, but I believe they would be better for observation or just through an explanation in my eyes.  Other field work I ...

1. I am choosing to study the subculture of Shield & Dragon. I am a tour guide for Shield & Dragon. 2. I am interested in studying Shield & Dragon as my subculture because there are a variety of people that are within the group with many different personalities and backgrounds. 3. I will interview executive committee members (Ben Tauber) and different people within the group along with observing them while the give a tour. I will also give my personal take on giving tours if I am giving the opportunity. I will also look into the background of what it means to be apart of Shield & Dragon and what it means to KO.

Subculture: KO News  1. Explain your involvement in the subculture you plan to study.  I have been writing for the KO News for a little over a year now and I'm one of the associate editors for the arts section. 2. Why are you interested in studying this subculture?  I've enjoyed writing for the KO News since the start and writing (in general) has been something that I've been extremely passionate about all my life. I just love doing it!  3. Who will you interview? Who will you observe? What other research or field work could you conduct?  I will interview Ms. Schieffelin (the faculty advisor), Hannah Bash (editor-in-chief), Apara Kashyap (managing editor of news, sports, and investigative journalism), and Gabby Ruban ( managing editor of arts, opinions, and features.) If I have to interview anyone else then I probably will interview any of the head editors for the sections and other associates. I'll observe why the KO News started, how and when it s...

Web Developer Subculture 1. Explain your involvement in the subculture you plan to study. I've been freelancing for around 3ish years now and I feel I'm relatively competent in this field. 2. Why are you interested in studying this subculture? It's always enjoyable recieving money for doing stuff you enjoy, and the problem solving involved in both the frontend and backend portions of websites is always fun. I also enjoy thread-bashing bad developers. 3. Who will you interview? Who will you observe? What other research or field work could you conduct? I have a couple of people I have in mind, one of my friends works as a wordpress developer for a startup, so I may contact him. But I also have some contacts who own their own development companies. I might have a look at some other developer portfolios and freelancer forums and get some general interactions to document. This page in code ;) <link href="https://fonts.googleapis.com/css?fa...

Aca-pella 1. The subculture I am choosing is aca-pella. I am in the aca-pella group at school, Oxfordians. 2. I am interested in this particular subculture because the larger culture of music has always been a part of my life, aca-pella only enter a couple years ago. I find it interesting how people can make music without instruments. 3. I will interview the director of my group, Steve Mitchell and some members of the group. I will also research topics such as who created aca-pella, where it originated from, how it grew in popularity, and how prevalent it is in the music culture today.

Subculture: PC gaming 1. I am a very active member of this subculture (probably too active), playing games in almost all of my free time. 2. I am interested in studying this subculture because it is my favorite pastime and I have been a part of it for quite a while. 3. There are a lot of other people at school who play games on PC and there is a room in the school dedicated to it, with four gaming PCs, so it will not be hard to find somebody to interview. I will observe other people online and people in the gaming room. Other “field work” I could conduct is simply playing online with other people.

After taking the surfing lesson with the Saint, Heller writes, “We walked up the sidewalk crowded with spring break tourists and young surfers carrying boards and I felt like a king. I belonged. All the surf kitsch--the surfboards in the windows of beachwear stores, the boards hanging over the fronts of restaurants, the surf-scene prints on the shirts of the passing visitors--I saw it all and thought, Yeah, that’s the culture everybody wants to be a part of. My culture. Cuz I’m a surfer now” (37). What is it that makes Heller feel like he belongs to this culture? Do you agree that he truly belongs as a member of the surfing culture at this point in the book? Why or why not?

What are some specific kinds of tacit knowledge that Heller attempts to gain in this reading by going to surf school? What are some of the essential skills for surfers that can only be acquired by practice and experience? How easy or difficult is it to acquire these skills? What does that tell you about the barrier to entry for surfing culture--how easy or difficult is it for newcomers to join the community?

In the first few pages of Kook , Heller describes what it’s like to learn something new and to try to join a community of experts even though he himself is just a “kook.” What are some of the things he has to learn? What specialized knowledge does he need? What norms does he encounter that he has to adjust to? What does this tell you about the complexity of this world of surfing?

While this text is about surfing, it also reveals a lot about the person who wrote it. What does this reading tell you about Peter Heller? Why is he so fascinated with surfing? What does his approach to depicting surfing reveal about who he is as a person?

Describe the allure or draw of surf culture, as expressed in Kook. What do people find appealing about it? What does Heller specifically find appealing about it? Do you find surf culture alluring? Why or why not?

How would you characterize surfing culture, as expressed in Kook? What is unique about this culture? What do you have to know to be fully a part of this culture? (Vocabulary? Gear? Techniques? Implicit knowledge?)

She goes by many names but serves one function: The presence of a queen bee–the domineering, self-serving, and manipulative female character who, cunning as she is beautiful, uses her elevated social status to rule over and maltreat her peers with little consequence–is a defining characteristic of many novels and films detailing the lives and times of teens. She’s rich and attractive and therefore popular, or popular by way of attractiveness, which makes others assume she is rich. This larger-than-life presence is usually supported by a loyal group of lackeys who stick behind the Queen not because of kinship, but for protection from her vitriol and safety from her warpath. Such is the nature of the friendship between Regina George, Gretchen Weiners, Karen Smith, the Plastics, and their newest initiate, Cady Heron in the cult classic 2000s film Mean Girls –a dynamic that is closely mirrored by the friendship between Ruth, Tommy D. and Kathy H. According to the Mean Girls wiki page...

Amelia Margaret Francis Duffy Boardman Mrs. Schieffelin NLMG Connection                                                                      Cloning Wallflowers Every teen novel has that one overly emotional character. As our class has exhaustively discussed, Tommy embodies that character in Kazuo Ishiguro's novel Never Let Me Go . He was known as a child for his temper tantrums and as he grew older, was targeted for his emotional and sexual conflicts. Similarly, Charlie from Stephen Chbosky's novel The Perks of Being A Wallflower  has no idea where he is going with his life. He is emotionally conflicted and struggling with depression. When he begins high school, he finds himself without a friend group or support system. By chance, he falls in with a group who call themselves the "wallflowers". This group...

Elán James Stadelmann 5th Esq. Ms. Schieffelin NLMG Connection Connecting a Tragic Book About Teenagers to Another Tragic Book About Teenagers As we were reading Never Let Me Go, I had a distinct feeling that I had witnessed some common tropes of the plot before. The first thing that came to my mind when reading this book was a different book Unwind by Neal Shusterman. Unwind is a tragic book about teenagers dealing with an inevitable fate. In the book, a bill of life is passed in the united states. This outlaws abortion, but allows for a child to be "aborted after birth" through the years 13 to 18. When this occurs, imagine every single donor in Never Let Me Go has every single donation happen all at once, up to and including the brain.  The only major difference that I noticed between these processes is that in Unwind, the patients are conscious but feel no pain during the procedure. This text plays with the questioning of ethics similar to Never Let Me Go, and I ...