The Stage:

On the month of November in the year 2016 at noon I observed two people in their early to mid twenties, one man, and one female, in one of the student commons areas on a university campus.  It was a cold and gloomy looking day, with the sky covered in dark clouds looking like they were ready to burst at any moment.  The room smelt of a delicious chicken parmesan dish, among an array of other savory smells from other people’s lunches.  The room was filled with a low hum of others talking, typing, reading out loud, and laughing.

Blocking:

The Players:

Seeking refuge from the cold gloomy weather, the two people I observed sit close to each other around a low wooden table near the center of the room.  Both of them sit on low wooden chairs designed to help them sit up straight.

The man who is in his early to mid twenties is a fit Caucasian with brown eyes, and short dark brown hair, along with a neatly trimmed beard to match.  He wears a maroon hooded sweater with grey sleeves.  On his bottom half he is wearing dark blue jeans and blue running shoes.  In front of him he has a new looking mac book open on the table, and beside him is a red backpack, which is zipped shut.

The woman who is in her early to mid twenties is a slender Caucasian with blue eyes, and curly blonde hair that is a little longer than shoulder length.  She is wearing a tan knitted sweater with a black and brown flannel blanket scarf loosely situated around her neck.  On her bottom half she is wearing black leggings with fashionable knee high black boots.  In front of her a notebook, psychology textbook, and a giant plastic blue water bottle sit on the table.  Beside her on the floor is her grey and pink backpack, which sits half zipped up.

The Plot:

It appears that the woman is helping the man study for psychology.  She often leans into him with a calm expression of her face, while the man occasionally leans closer to the mac book with a look of concern. They begin discussing child development.

Five minutes later, the woman opens her psychology textbook, and begins to quiz the man.  She has a look of determination on her face as she removes her scarf, and sits up straighter than before.  As she is quizzing the man, she begins to use hand gestures to help explain the answers to the questions that he gets wrong.  She remains poised and calm while doing so.

The man who is beginning to get flustered, fiddles with flashcards with the look of deep thought painted across his face.  A few minutes later the woman begins to eat blueberries from a large Tupperware container that she has pulled from her pink and grey backpack.  While eating the blueberries, she continues to quiz him with a cool and relaxed presence.  The man on the other hand, does not have a cool and relaxed presence, as he often gets the answers wrong.

Briefly, the man then begins to ask the woman questions, to which she gets nearly all of them correct.  The woman talks slow and softly; while the man talks fast with a slight tone of uncertainty.  The man begins to eat plain crackers that he has pulled from his now unzipped backpack.  The woman begins to show the man a section of the textbook to help further explain an answer to a question he has gotten wrong.

A few minutes pass, and the woman sets down the psychology textbook.  She then picks up the notebook that was in front of her, and continues to quiz the man while eating her blueberries.  The man on the other hand has stopped eating his plain crackers and slips them back into his red backpack.  Both continue to be actively engaged in listening to one another, and continue to occasionally lean towards each other.  The man who seems to be getting gradually more flustered, has started to stroke his beard with his right hand.  The woman on the other hand continues to remain cool and collected as she sets down her notebook to pick up her multi coloured flashcards.

As the woman quizzes the man from her multicolored flashcards, the man begins to tap his blue pen against his open palm while he continues to try to answer the questions.  The woman is patient with him and seems more than happy to help.  A few minutes of this pass, and the man now begins to fiddle with his pen, clicking it on and off, as he tries to unsuccessfully answer more questions from the flashcards.  The woman still continues to eat her berries slowly.

The man answers a few questions correctly, having the woman respond that he ‘has his numbers down.’  The man smiles at this and begins to ease back slightly into the chair.  The man then sets his blue pen down, and begins to occasionally answer the questions correctly.  The woman is very pleased with him and smiles and nods every time he does so.

Once the woman finally finishes her blueberries, she sets the empty container in her grey and pink backpack beside her on the floor.  The man who is still perplexed with getting even more answers wrong, continues to sit slightly back into his chair.  The woman has begun to relax even more and continues to use gentle hand motions to the man who remains beside her.  The woman begins to play with her hair, and seems to be getting tired with having to explain nearly all the answers to the questions to the man.

The two people I observed interested me quite a bit.  The woman seemed to fit into the gender role of a woman for the most part.  She was quiet, did not take up a lot of space, sat up straight, was soft spoken, patience, and for the most part, sat still aside from her hand motions.  While the man on the other hand was louder than her, took up noticeably more space, was hunched over for a portion of the observation, had a frustrated tone to his voice, and was a little impatient.  They seemed to fit into their gender roles quite well.  Except for the fact that women, especially blondes, are typically seen as less smart compared to men, when in fact she knew much more than him.  Another interesting thought that occurred to me was that the man, who was seemingly getting increasingly exaggerated, did not throw a fit, yell, or get up and leave.  I theorize that this is because of the organizations characterized by the social structure he was in.  Since he was in a university that was full of his peers, he did not want to break the social norms in place, which would cause him to be alienated.

The Finale:

In this observation I spent around a half an hour watching my research participates, a man, and a woman, try to help each other study for what I imagine are finals, in a student commons area on a university campus.  I personally thought that this was a interesting assignment, that allowed me to further analyze the people, along with the world around me.  The woman and the man who were my research participants, were quite interesting.  I especially liked seeing how as the man became increasingly frustrated, as he did not know the answers to the questions that were being asked; while the woman remained calm and poised throughout the entire time, and even knew the answers to the questions. As a small Caucasian woman, I felt increasingly uncomfortable staring at my research participants for nearly a half hour, while in such close proximity to them.  I feel like I have gained a further understanding of the world around me, and its inhabitants.

Credits:

Akerman, S. (n.d.). Studying [Digital image]. Retrieved from https://www.flickr.com/photos/sterlic/3154003517/

Brym, R., Roberts, L. W., Strohschein, L., & Lie, J. (2016). Sociology: Your Compass for a New World (5th ed.). Toronto, O.N.: Nelson Education.