Alexander Diaz

ERH-411

Response 2

Yin and Yang

In our first quote by Leopold, he states that “Conservation is a state of harmony between men and land.”(Pg 207). Here we can see what Leopold thinks about what humanity should do to conserve the environment. He doesn’t go to any extreme like mankind holding back its technological advancement, but he also doesn’t think that we should completely subdue nature with our expansion. He believes in a perfect harmony between nature and humanity. This state of harmony he talks about is the relationship we need with nature. The ability to take what we need and no more. The common sense to not destroy entire forests just for a shopping mall. There is a balance we must uphold, a yin and yang ideal that he preaches in this one sentence. If we do not humble ourselves then our world will become barren from our destructive ways.

The second quote from Wendell Berry tells us a story of what happens when there is no moderation in our expansion. He says “If a people adding a hundred and fifty years to itself, but subtracting fifty thousand from the land, what is there to hope?”(Pg 512). Here Wendell explains the idiocracy of the destruction we do to our land in order for advancement or expansion. Yes, we might earn ourselves a few years of prospering times but it is not worth it when the land itself is damaged for five times what we did for ourselves to prosper. Berry states in this quote that this debt we constantly put ourselves in makes him lose hope for the future of this world. We damage what the earth can only fix, and it takes time for that damage to be repaired, time we do not have. This relates to the previous quote because it gives rise, again, to the idea of a harmony we must find between us and nature. We cannot expect to forward ourselves and set back nature. There must be this understanding that nature cannot grow back as fast as we can tear it down. We are as much a part of nature as any tree or animal.

Alexander Diaz

411 Journal 1

A Slave to the Passions

1. How does Terkel characterize and or/question the “nature” or the “reality” of work? Keep in mind how he talks about worker’s roles, experiences, values and purposes. Include at least one human example from your selected interview.  

Terkel characterizes the reality of work as this place we go everyday where we seek to validate ourselves somehow while simultaneously trying to earn a living. These two reasons drive us to get up and go on our grind every day. We want to feel like we make a difference, whether that comes from other people or from ourselves, it doesn’t matter. We want to feel like we are making a difference when we step through those doors every morning. This can range from the smallest of jobs to the most stressful of jobs. Also we go for a paycheck. We need to put food on the table and provide for ourselves and our family. Terkel basically states that these two reasons are the driving causes of what we do and the reality of work in general. In policeman we can see a cop named Bob Patrick who lives to be a cop. Throughout the entire interview he explains the countless situations he has been in. But in the end there is one sentence that really sums it up where he says “I feel like I’m helpin people. When you come into a crowd, and a guy’s been hit by a car, they call you.” (Patrick). Here we see Terkel’s first point, having a job to find a meaning in one’s life. For Bob Patrick this meaning was to feel like he was really helping someone, which he was everyday.

1. How do you see your generation’s precarious role in the work force as “disruptibles” (Snyder, 2016)? How might that term apply to your progress through a fieldwork and public writing course? What roles, practices, and identities do you imagine for yourself, and how to they reflect your history? You may also use a Terkel quote in response to this prompt.

I see my generation’s role in the workforce as disruptive pretty accurate. It is not because they do not meet Terkel’s reality of work, but because the road to get to a meaning and a paycheck seems to always have to be given and not earned to them. I don’t think that term applies to me at all within my work or my writing. I’ve never been one to cause trouble when something goes my way or break the rules for no reason. This would sound a little cliche but I’ve always aligned myself with my astronomical sign. A taurus is always steadfast in his own or her own beliefs. Like a rock I am unshakable, calm and cool during stressful times. These reflect my history well because in the past this type of personality has always gotten me far, including getting me through the ratline. Bob Patrick said in the beginning of the interview “If I couldn’t be a cop, I don’t think I could be anything else.” Even after all he has seen, all of the dead bodies, all of the injuries, seeing his friends die, he still liked being a cop. I think that defines how one’s identity can really reflect their history.

Alexander Diaz

Journal 2

1: IDEA/ Research Question: Based on your initial introduction to your Community Partner and their public texts, What might be a feasible Action Research Question for you? (include 2) What idea helped you determine these as meaningful questions, either to you or the community partner?  As you decide on your questions, consider how posing them might lead you to unearth a deeper story or report that will support the needs and goals of your organization.

I think a feasible action research question for me would be out of the people who came to Lexington, which ones actually died here in the city? Along with this I would do research on how specifically they died, whether it be suicide or by other doings. Well I think these are valuable questions because it helps consolidate the numerous amounts of names my partner probably has and it will also shorten the locations we would have to visit for our project. I feel like the historic society can really benefit from this because not only will they have bricks that commemorate different people that passed through, they could also have plaques or bricks somewhere that can turn into a virtual ghost tour. People can follow the bricks at night and step by step go along this road where people are rumored to haunt various places. Imagine reading the story of a man who hung himself on a bridge at night as the sounds of the forest creepily crickle and creak around you. It will be like reading a horror story while also physically being in the environment that you read it in. The sense of excitement and horror will bring countless people in. Normal people will go by day while the adventurous and brave will go by night.

2. RESOURCES: What secondary resources will you want to explore (list 1 example), and what kinds of primary research or informants (expert, local citizens) will you wish to interview to develop perspective on your question?  Note that you need to do at least 2 interviews, or 1 interview and analysis of a primary document or event as informative resources, on top of articles and secondary source searches).  

Some secondary sources might be some paranormal websites that already have information on what goes on at these haunted locations after night. Maybe some background stories and real life accounts of people who have experienced weird things in these locations. Some personal interviews with either the owners of this haunted property or the people who might have experienced such an event would be useful.

3. METHODS: When and how are you going to do your action research? Will this “action research”require some extended time, and when will you schedule that time? As a service-learning course, part of your method must be spent interacting with members of the organization / and or events surrounding their efforts. You are expected to log at least 1 hour a week meeting or connecting with your Community Partner Contacts (Weeks 6-14), and we will make some class time available on Tues and Thurs for those meetings.  To help me understand your plan, Sketch out a basic work calendar based on our course calendar from now until the end of the term. Include time for research, meeting with your CP at least three times during the semester, drafting, etc.  

The research will probably be done during free times during the week or on weekends. We would need permits to go see some locations at night, and we might need to stay overnight in a few if we can. Partner meetings can be held at Macado’s, or any other eating establishment, and can be done during the week after SRC.

NOTE: Please review ACTION RESEARCH ROLES and EXPECTATIONS under PAGES.

4. WRITING GENRE and FORMAT for FINAL PROJECT:  Are you imagining your final writing project as a deep story, series of journalistic articles, word press multimedia site, interpretative signage, a blog for FOTC or Lexington Tourism Bureau, or the VMI site, a google app that offers a virtual tour of your historic or environmental research?  Who will your audience be?

I think something like a tourism bureau would do us best because I would like to mirror what Staunton has with its ghost tours and bring some of that excitement and tourism to lexington opening up some more business for the city that can be really beneficial. Our audience will not only be ghost hunters, the towns folk, but also anyone who is really fascinated by this idea of otherworldly entities connecting with our world.