Final projects

While reading the final projects, I honestly loved reading David's portfolio and final project. The idea of tattoos and the opinions that many people have and the examples he gave were excellent. I like how he says tattoos are no longer a back alley subculture. My parents once thought they were too, up until they got their first tattoo. My parents let me get a tattoo when I was 17 because they believe every tattoo is a memory of your life and the things you go through. As he was explaining the tattoo shop, he gave vivid detail and I could really understand what this establishment looked like.

Reading for 4/20 Pages 429-439

In the reading, their are responses to the fieldwork dealing with Rick, Ivana, and Karen. Questions stated in the work are, What Surprised me? What Intriqued Me? What Disturbed Me? These questions are very important to ask and comment on because it makes a person's writing that much better. For example, "Karen was intrigued by the glossy photo's on the wall, the wardrobe selections ( metal-studded denim jackets and gold lame blouses)." These few things that she talked about in her fieldwork were key points and artifacts that the reader often remembers. They are significant in her work as well as her life. Atiya decided to ask these questions because they helped track her changes in her own studies and gave her a different perspective.

One interesting thing I read in the reading was Sam's fieldwork and his observations on telemarketers "I'd say 75 percent of the material I gathered didn't make it into the final piece...There will be other drafs of this piece." When I write my final draft, I'll have to look over my final pieces and determine which parts I want to keep and which parts I should get rid of. Having info about your fieldwork that is not needed is just wasted space when it could contain facts that people are intrigue with. Certain artifacts and events that have a significance on the site are much more important.

Reading for 4/15

In the article, From Down Draft to Up Draft, it talks about having a pile of data and knowing where to go from there. We have compiled loads of data together and we're finalizing our "field study." It talks about the terms stepping in and stepping out, which means negotiating between your intimate view and a cool assessment of it. It's basically saying to construct "I" correctly with the other voices in your story. Using the word draft, to us, means a quickly written paper that needs to be edited. Drafting means something different to each writer. "Just as fieldworkers establish various habits for organizing info during data collection, so do writers develop successful drafting habits."

Revising for a Reader : There are many lessons I took out of this specific article, especially when it comes to revision because it's something I need to work on. " Revision is not a failure, but an opportunity. It is an essential part of the process of thinking that produces a series of drafts that clarify and communicate significant meaning to a reader." Revision is in fact a second chance to review your fieldwork and make the Ethnography even better. It's key to look over your facts and evidence you have at your site and revise what interviews you have made as well as info you have with the people and site itself. " Don't look for errors, look for what works."

Readings for 4/1/11

In the first set of reading, it explains an interview and the importance of letting people speak and listening to what they say. Their are important strategies to conducting a successful interview, such as asking questions and listening to their responses. An interview needs to be organized yet free to comments and stories. A story, artifact, or a phrase can sometimes make the best interviews. One example I enjoyed from the reading was Bonnie interviewing Ken. Bonnie connected his ideas with a philosopher by the name of John Dewey. She was influenced by his thoughts and ideas that she read about. In the end, Bonnie asked Ken which of Dewey's works was the most important to him. In reality, he had no idea who Dewey was. Without a well conducted interview, Bonnie would have never known Dewey was not one of Ken's favorites.



Being a good listener is key to having a good interview. Interrupting, moving conversation, eye wandering, are all negative points during an interview. Follow up questions and positive comments keep the interview flowing. Some example questions come from an interview conducted by Paul Russ. He interviewed five AIDS survivors for his ethnographic film. Some questions included, "How many months have you lived with your diagnosis?" While another question was, "When did you first request a "buddy" from health service?" These questions had a specific answer and were fairly simple for the AIDS survivors to talk about. As the interview went on, the questions and answers kept flowing and Paul was getting very informative and emotional answers from the survivors.