Transition
Writing a creative story is a lot different than writing a research paper. The way I plan on transitioning some information from the research paper into the creative story will be to combine the answers of the interviews, and make it as the main characters voice. My creative story is going to be created backwards, where the beginning of the story starts out with her owning her own business and being a successful business woman; however, as the story progresses, it will go back in time to how she got started, what her reasons were, and how her life was before she opened her coffee shop. While writing my story, I’ll incorporate the information about the struggles a woman faces in the business world, as well as some of the programs that she used to help her get started. It’s a lot different switching modes from research to creative writing. But I don’t think it’ll be that difficult to subtly incorporate a lot of the information from the research to the creative writing.
Blog 14 HOLLAAA
First and foremost, I am planning on writing a “creative short story” for this assignment. I feel that the research paper I wrote earlier and the reading I’ve done in class can be beneficial to me in writing this story. Even though most of this story’s going to come from pure imagination, I can use examples, references and similar methods in the story.
I read “In Cold Blood” as my first novel, and I feel that this story incorporated the cold hard facts into the book, even though it was interesting to read. Capote incorporated all of the research into this story, but as I was reading it, it didn’t feel like a research paper at all, and I found myself asking, “is this real?” So, I would like to do something similar in my story. I want to create a fun, interesting, compelling story, while weaving into it a lot of my research on females and entrepreneurship.
I feel that the research paper itself can help me with my story a great deal. I’ll probably use the interviews as actual quotes in the story. I’ll also use the facts about why women struggle as part of a story line. The lady in my story will have children and manage a household, which are main reasons for stuggling business women. I havn’t really worked out exactly every detail of research that’ll be in the story, but I’ll figure it out eventually. 
Novel Proposal
Alice Potter is a single mother of two living in Pittsburgh as a stripper. Her son, Everett, is an eighteen year old senior about to graduate. Her daughter, Abigail, is a nine year old in elementary school, who is already showing signs of rebellion.
After Alice divorced her husband, Ronald, three years ago, he left her and the children alone with nothing but a monthly child support check. Alice was left high and dry, with no job. For quick money she decided to become a stripper, and ended up staying for three years because the money was so good. The job also allowed her to also take care of her children during the day.
After three years she could not take the demands of the job any longer, even though the money was amazing. She always had a dream to own a Starbucks. So, she had some money saved up from her previous career and bought out an empty building to start her new business. This story will explain how Alice starts and runs her own business, the problems she faces, and maybe even a little love story twisted into the mix.
Blog #8
This has been a bit of a grueling process so far, as it is with any research paper. You have to choose a topic, gather the sources, write the paper and you’re done right? Wronggg. This is my second major research paper in college and I’ve learned a few things up to this point.
First of all, if you’ve chosen a topic in the beginning, most likely, after your professors done talking to you, it won’t be your exact topic anymore. I’ve learned that depending on what the teacher says, and the resources that you’re able to find, your paper evolves into something pretty much different by the end of the entire process.
I have learned that it is very difficult for me to get started with the paper, and get it rolling. Also sticking to the main point of the paper throughout its entirety is pretty tough. I’ve also learned that it can be extremely difficult to find the right journal article you’re looking for. Sometimes, it’s soo frustrating, that I will alter my paper according to the articles I’m able to find. You gotta do what you gotta do…in order to make the grade.
Blog #7
“I had learned that prayer was what kept me going, enabling me to see beyond the grim gray walls of this place I was forced to call home.” (2)
“I’ve heard that during the procedure, four women spread your legs wide apart and hold you down so that you can’t move. And then, the eldest woman takes a knife that is used to cut hair and scrapes your woman parts off. There are no painkillers, no anesthesia. The knife isn’t sterilized. Afterward, the women wrap your legs from your hips to your knees and you have to stay in bed for forty days so the wound can close. After the forty days, you are “reborn” for your husband, and delivered to his house to begin your new life as his wife.” (3)
“My family was very religious but not as strict as some others, so my sisters and I wore short skirts-not real short, but up to the knee- and some of the old people disapproved. They called us modern children. “Oh these modern children, what’s happening to the young people today” They walk around naked.”"(11)
Kassindja, Fauziya, and Layli Miller Bashir.
Blog #6
I will begin this paper by gathering all of my sources, reading them, highlighting the important material, and organizing it as to where it will go in my paper. If I need assistance during this process, I’ll ask Marlen, one of my friends, or maybe go to the writing center. I’ll manage my anxiety by working at a steady pace from day one, and smoking lots of cigarettes. I’ll make an effort to write a few pages a week, spending a lot of time revising as I go along. I do my writing in my room, on my laptop…it’s where I do my best thinking, and I’m very relaxed here, so it’s pretty easy for me to get “in the zone”. I will be researching EBSCOhost and other research databases in order to collect most of my data. I will also do interviews of women who own their own businesses to get the “dirt” on what its really like.
Outline
I. Introduction
A. Define franchise
B. Thesis: Many people don’t realize the hardships one must go through in order to open a franchise. It is especially difficult for a woman.
C. Explain how this topic relates to me/why I chose it
D. Research questions I hope to answer
II. More detailed explanation of subject.
A. Explain my thoughts on why it would be ideal to own your own business.
B. Talk about the growing trend of women in the business world.
C. Discuss some of the issues women face with owning a franchise.
D. Explain what it takes to open/operate your own business.
III. Methodology
A. Interview a woman who owns/runs a franchise
B. Compare different aspects of male-owned and female-owned businesses.
IV. Results
A. Explanation of why it’s more difficult for women than men
B. Talk about how these issues can change for the future
C. Talk about what it really takes to open a business
V. Discussion
A. I will discuss what I thought I knew coming into this paper.
B. Then, talk about what I’ve discovered through this process.
C. Finally, I’ll compare what I knew before the paper, to what I know now, and how I feel on women owning franchises.
VI. Conclusion/Recommendations
VII. References/Works Cited
Annotated Bibliography
Lewis, Patricia. “The Quest for Invisibility: Female Entrepreneurs and The Masculine
Norm of Entrepreneurship.” Gender, Work & Organization 13 (2006):453-469.
Patricia Lewis, author for ‘Gender, Work & Organization’, compares and contrasts women who own businesses, as opposed to business men. She also uses 19 personal interviews incorporated in her piece to note the differences between the business women who speak openly about gender issues in the business world and ones who don’t. This source will be helpful with my topic because it talks about the differences in business men and business women, and also contains interviews with women who own their own businesses.
Kimle, Patricia A. “A Grounded Theory Model of the Ideal Business Image for Women.”
Symbolic Interaction 20 (1997): 45-68.
Writing for ‘Symbolic Interaction’, Patricia Kimle interviews 24 business women and gets their take on what an appropriate business woman should portray. Some of the topics included are fashion, sexuality and creativity. This source will be helpful with my topic because I can figure out what is and is not acceptable for women in the business world.
Mirchandani, Kiran. “Feminist Insight on Gendered Work: New Directions in Research on
Women and Entrepreneurship.” Gender, Work & Organization 6 (1999): 224-235.
Kiran Mirchandani has published this article in the ‘Gender, Work & Organization’ magazine discussing the key differences between business men and women. She also discusses why the business world has been dominated by men since the origin. This source will be beneficial with my topic because it will help me understand why men have controlled the business world and can help me figure out how that can be changed.
Goffee, Robert; Scase, Richard. ”Business Ownership and Women’t Subordination: a Preliminary Study of
Female Proprietors.” Sociological Review 31: 625-648.
Robert Goffee and Richard Scase discuss how women business owners is becoming a larger part of our economic growth every year. They also discuss how women starting their own businesses is overall making females more powerful in this country. This article is relevant to my topic because it tells me how important women are in the growth and development of our economy.
Black, Dennis E. “Effectiveness of The Women-Owned Business Set-Aside Contracting
Goals: A Regression Analysis.” Policy Studies Review 5: 21-32.
Dennis Black researches the National Program for Women’s Business Enterprise and recognizes that it is one of the programs that help with female business growth. However, within this article he uncovers that the program is not doing anything to increase the amount of federal money geared at supporting women business owners. This article is important for my topic because it shows me one of the many hardships that women have to overcome in order to have their own business.
Research Proposal Revised
The title for my research paper is Females and Franchises. I plan on discovering why and how it’s harder for females to run or manage a franchise of any sort. It will also discuss programs out there that are specifically designed to help women who aspire to own their own franchise. This is an important topic because a large portion of the franchises in this country are ran by women, and the rate continues to increase every year.
I chose this topic because I’m a business major, and one day, I plan on hopefully running a franchise of my own. Preferably a coffee shop. Uncovering and answering problems in this field will be extremely useful for my personal career growth. To make this paper different, I’ll be interviewing a woman who owns or manages a franchise, and get the details on what it’s like running your own business. I’ll find out first hand all of the good and bad things about opening your own business.
I would like to set this paper up starting out with my personal views on what its like to open and operate your own business. Then, I’ll move on to the cold-hard facts on what it really takes to do such a thing, including my referenced sources and personal interviews. Finally, I will conclude the paper on comparing what I thought I knew, to what the true facts were; and also state what I think on what I’ve learned. I’m expecting that by the end of the paper, I will have a thorough understanding on what it’s like for a woman to own a franchise in this country. This paper will hopefully help give me a little push into my future career.
Research Proposal
For this research paper, I will be identifying what entrepreneurship is and why it is such an important part of this country. I’m interested in figuring out who some of the major risk takers have been throughout the years and the pros and cons of getting into this field. Many people know that to become an entrepreneur, you need to take a chance, but they don’t know why it is so risky or how you become one. I would like to explain this in my paper.
I feel that people in general should know some backround information on entrepreneurship and what it’s about, because every coffee shop, fast food restaurant or business of any type started the same way: one person’s crazy idea, a big risk, and a huge success! But, not all of these fearless folks have become multi-millionaires. Many have failed miserabaly and lost everything they have. I plan on figuring out why so many entrepreneurs end up failing. Where did they go wrong, and how can a failed business be prevented?
I plan on gathering information on the basic information about entrepreneurship. Also, I would like to have a few sources about information on major successes and failures in this business. I hope that after reading the research paper, my audience will have a pretty good idea of what being an entrepreneur is all about, and why these risk takers are vital in this country.
