Fifth Encounter project

In my fifth encounter project I chose architecture. While thinking about what architecture I should write about, I remembered my sister who had just moved to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. I gave her a call and asked her about the region and what she could tell me about her area. She started to talk about the architecture outside the city and how much I would love it. Supposively outside the city there is a lot of old architecture. Lately she said that she has spent several weekends up in Charleston, South Carolina. She talked about the several old homes that were built over a hundred years ago. She told me that most of these homes are no longer homes, but are now museums and preserved for history. She mentioned that throughout the area the land is preserved and can no longer build on the area, in hopes to preserve the history of the land. One way that they can build on the land is if they build the architecture the same ways as the building were, over a hundred years ago. My sister said that you could walk through these towns and see old civil war monuments and tons of history that has occurred in this state. She talked about how beautiful the state is.

My sister also talked about the country side of South Carolina. She mentioned as you drive through South Carolina you see all the old homes. As your driving through the mountains of the Carolina’s you see a home like mentioned in our lecture (shot gun homes). Also like mentioned in our lecture, a lot of these homes sell items outside in front of their homes, items such as pots, rugs, wood working items, etc. One thing that I am excited about is for Christmas I am going to South Carolina to visit my sister and I will be able to see the architecture for myself. This article is in regards to my fifth encounter assignment.

Chapter Five reflection question

Reading chapter five gave me a lot more insight to performance. I never have put a lot of deep thought into this topic. After reading the chapter I never considered myself a performer. According to the chapter, I technically perform several times a day. I was extremely interested learning that when I have a conversation with a friend I’m performing in front of them. Also a big performance in my life is what I do several times a day. When I got to wrestling practice or a wrestling tournament I’m performing In front of thousands. I guess I always realized I was performing, but never really considered it performing. Several times a weekend, when I wrestle like five matches, I am wrestling my opponent in front of a bunch of people. On page 137 the chapter talks about context, “The physical setting and social situation in which members of folk groups share folklore, as well as the relationship among audience members and performers”, which is what take place with me every weekend. Every weekend I perform in front of my audience, who for the most part also wrestle, wrestled, or in some way has been submerged in wrestling in one form or another. Also when I practice everyday, I am performing in front my fellow wrestlers, coaching staff, trainers, and academic staff. Anyone who comes into that room has some relationship with wrestling.

What this chapter did was directed my thinking from the everyday performances that we think of such as, movies, concerts, theater, and plays. I started to think of all the things that could be considered performance and I learned from the book, everyday conversation is performance. Then I thought of all the conversations I have had as well, as answering questions in class, or speaking in public, as well as speaking in front of my team. I then thought of some more performance such as, all the sports that I watch. I never considered my self watching performances every Saturday and Sunday, when I watch my football. This chapter got me thinking on a deeper level about performance.

Chapter Four reflection question

This chapter reflection was a little difficult for me. I could not think of a ritual for my family that we have practiced several times. After reading the chapter I got some more insight and ideas of some rituals that I have been through and my family has performed. The ritual that I have performed is a common ritual practiced in the United States. My ritual was a rite of passage. When someone turns eighteen in my family that is a right of passage and many ceremonial things are performed. For instance our family usually throws a big party for the member of the family who is turning eighteen. Like mentioned in the book, there are foods that are introduced for such a ceremony. The parent of the one’s birthday makes a huge birthday cake for the birthday child. Along with a cake the birthday child gets a birthday breakfast and a dinner of their choice. The parent makes the new adult a meal of their likings. As for myself I ate a big breakfast and had ribs, potatoes, corn, and a chocolate cake. The funny thing with me is I have a twin so we got two cakes and two dinners. Also the best about becoming an adult in my family is being able to sit at the table with the adults. I have such a huge family and when I am able to sit at the adult table, is when I truly felt like an adult. Also mentioned in the chapter was with this rite of passage comes three stages, “separation, transition, and reincorporation”. For my separation was college. Since I turned eighteen in the summer, I went of to college shortly after my birthday. While at college I made the transition into an adult, and I felt like my reincorporation was when I would go home from college. I would have adult conversation and felt like I was truly one of the adults. After thinking about rituals that I have performed in my life, I could only come up with a lot of what the books states as “rites of passage”. Other wise this was the largest ritual that I could think of. This entry is a response to my chapter four question.