ETHNOGRAPHIC WRITING PROJECT

Your end-of-semester project consists of several distinct parts.

1)       Response to Outside Sources: 3-4 pages, DUE AT CONFERENCES (MAY 2-4)

2)       Your own write-up of a Symbolic Action, built around your Field Work, close reading(s) and your analysis of these: 2-3 pages, DUE AT CONFERENCES (MAY 2-4)

*You will turn both of these in at the conference, and they will be graded. Our goal at the conference will be to discuss how you combine these two papers into the longer paper (#3) described below:

3)       A longer paper (at least 6 pages) that combines the two above, your outside sources, with your own research and analysis, FIRST DRFAT DUE MAY6, FINAL DRAFT DUE MAY 9

4)       12-20 photos that illustrate your project or some aspect of it, with captions, due at the Exam Period, FRI MAY 13. These your may display in hard-copy, or on your blog.

1) RESPONSE TO OUTSIDE SOURCES

Requirements: 4 total sources, 2 from in class, 2 SCHOLARLY SOURCES found on your own. 3-4 pages

For this paper, I want you to think of your sources, and you as the writer, as participants in a conversation. Thinking both in terms of WHAT your sources analyze, and HOW they have come to these conclusions (i.e. What research and writing methods did each author use?) your job is to make your sources TALK TO EACH OTHER.

For this paper, you will want to introduce and summarize each source. Then, most importantly, you will want to analyze and evaluate what the sources have in common, and how they differ.

*A tip about organization: Rather than talking about each source individually, you will likely do a better job of having sources “talk to each” other if you identify at least 4 points of comparison and organize your paper around these points. For example: You might start by looking closely at what your sources have in common, and then talk about how they differ.

2) WRITE-UP OF SYMBOLIC ACTION

Requirements: Use of at least two Field Work Methods (including interview, participant observation, survey, analysis of narratives (i.e. the writing of others), close readings of texts (remember Rebekah Nathan’s close reading of dorm doors.)) in your own analysis of a symbolic action that is PARTICULAR TO The LOCAL COMMUNITY of either this campus, or where you live. 2-3 pages.

For this paper, you will analyze for the audience of our class, some Symbolic Action. In your analysis, make sure to include why you became interested in this Symbolic Action, what Field Work methods you have used to research it, an analysis of the evidence you gathered through your field work (e.g. What did you learn from interviews, etc you conducted?). Also, you will want to discuss what you have learned, or what insight you have gained through your work. In doing so, you will want to consider:

What does an outsider, or participant observer, notice about a particular symbolic action that an insider might not? Conversely, what does a particular symbolic action mean to an insider that an outsider might not understand?

What meaning does the symbolic action have to members of the group who performs it?

**What is important to understand about this action? Why is it important to study? What valuable insights have you gained in the course of your study? What have you learned that you wish to communicate with your audience that they might not already know?**

*I will provide you with more details of assignments 3 and 4 listed above as the time approaches.