Field Site Observation

In my opinion, this essay was very interesting. At first, I had difficulty debating which field site to choose from. I was stuck between being an insider at a location near my house or going to Brownsville, making me an outsider. I came to the conclusion of writing my essay based on a street in Brownsville because I wanted to observe the difference between this neighborhood and the neighborhood that I live in. I believe I made the best decision because I really enjoyed writing about the environment. There was so many things going on at the time, making it easier to take notes about everything that I saw, smelled etc. My favorite part about this essay was the fact that I was so interested in my field site, that I didn’t even mind writing four pages. It was almost hard to stop writing because there were so many details that I wanted to include.

I think the hardest part about writing this essay was the transition of describing something and writing about how it made you feel. At a certain point, I felt like I was just listing things back to back. It made me frustrated because I was trying to make my essay flow, and I felt like it was just a nonstop cycle. I also had difficulty in writing my introduction. In my past, I always struggled with introductions because in my opinion, it’s the hardest part of the essay. However, looking back at my introduction there are some things I would improve on. Instead of writing about the yearly block party, I could have wrote about why I chose this site and how significant it really is to me. It would’ve gave the reader a better sense of who I am.

Field site Interview

The field site interview essay taught me a lot about myself. When I visited my field site for the observation essay, I went with my friend because Brownsville is known to be very dangerous. However, for this assignment, I decided to go alone. I wanted there to be no distractions for when it was time for my interviews. Having a conversation with complete strangers and asking them questions about their hometown really took me out of my comfort zone. I didn’t want my interviewees to feel like I was interrogating them, which made me frame my questions in a friendlier way. The resource that I found most helpful as I conducted my interviews was my cell phone. As my interviewees spoke, I causally typed what they said on my notes. I wanted to make sure that I wrote down everything that they said, but also for them not to notice because I didn’t want to make the conversation awkward.

My main goal for this assignment was that I wanted to make my essay flow altogether. As I was rereading my work, I had to rearrange some of my sentences for my paragraphs to sound better. I had difficulty trying to balance the number of quotes I wanted to use. I didn’t want to go off topic and talk too much about the actual interviews. Eventually, I narrowed it down to the ones that related most to my thesis. In my opinion, the finished product of my essay was most satisfying to me. It made me realize how strong of a writer I can be when I put my mind to the task. I wouldn’t change anything about this piece if I had the opportunity to do it again because I feel that I met all my goals.