|
|
Monday |
Wednesday |
Friday |
|
Week
1 |
1. Review Chapter 1 (LC) and Syllabus 2. “Looking at Subcultures” (FW, HW: For Friday, read Deborah Brandt’s
“Sponsors of Literacy”; Before Wednesday, complete “Before You Read”; Before
Friday, complete “After You Read” questions |
1. Discuss ethnography (“What is an
ethnography? What does it mean to conduct ethnographic research and to write
“ethnography”?) 2. Discuss Brant’s “Sponsors of
Literacy” via the “Before You Read” questions 3. Discuss sponsorship in general terms,
then as it might relate to the student’s own literacy histories |
1. Discuss “After You Read” questions (as
a class) 2. Divide into groups, then assign each
group a subject from Brandt’s study. They will be responsible for presenting
their responses to the following questions (1.Who is Dora/Raymond/Dwayne? 2. In what literate practices is this
individual primarily involved? 3. In what ways did these literacies
"pursue" them? 4. Who "sponsored" these
literate practices and their acquisition of them (or failure to acquire
them)? 5. In what ways do this individual's
literacy experiences seem similar to the literacy experiences of your group
members? In what ways do they differ? You should probably ask them to think of
many different types of literacy in these analyses: computer literacy,
literacy in another language, union literacy, among others. ) |
|
Week
2 |
1. Introduce WA1 2. Discuss Brandt’s methodology 3. Share with students a copy of the
script Brandt used to conduct her interviews (script available online at http://faculty.tamuc.edu/scarter/archive/brandt_interview_script.doc).
Engage them in these interviews in order to discover the sponsors that make
up their own literacy histories. HW: Develop 2 1-page letters (1) to your
partner’s key literacy sponsor, describing the ways in which they may have
sponsored his own literacy acquisition (in positive and/or NEGATIVE ways);
(2) to a key sponsor of your own literacy acquisition, again describing the
ways in which this person sponsored it |
1. Share letters with your partner 2. Follow exchange with a brief write-up
regarding the key findings and a plan for WA1 3. Share findings with the class HW: Develop draft of WA1 for Instructor
Review; read Chapter 1 (FW) through at least page 23 |
1. WA1 due 2. Discuss “Journalism versus
Ethnography as presented in Fieldworking, pages 16-23 3. Read “Short Article that has to do
with Literacy as it exists in a particular Place” (got any ideas for such an
article?) 4. Complete “Engaging the Ethnographic
Perspective” (in groups . . . 5. Discuss findings HW: Before Monday: (1) Complete “Before
You Read” Questions on page ?; (2) Read Barton and Hamilton (page ?); (3) Complete “After You Read” and get
ready to discuss |
|
Week
3 |
1. Discuss Barton and 2. Discuss WA2, and begin “Exploratory
Writing” in preparation for it (FW, HW: BYR and |
1. Discuss Moss 2. discuss “Double-Entry Notes” (FW, HW: In your home/a coffee
shop/restaurant/other public space, complete an “Exploratory Note Taking”
activity, preferably with a partner so you can compare notes |
1. Share notes (see 2. Expand them HW: BYR and |
|
Week
4 |
1. Discuss Mirabella 2. Freewrite
to develop further ideas for WA2 HW: Read assigned sections of Chapter 2
(FW) and begin draft on WA2; Second visit to fieldsite
(fieldnotes due Wednesday) |
Deeper discussion regarding fieldnotes (importance of and strategies for keeping a fieldnotebook; writers must begin developing extensive fieldnotes and analyze/expand second set of fieldnotes in preparation for WA2 “Questioning Your Fieldnotes”
(FW, |
WA2 due Discuss Research Portfolio and show
video regarding “Celebration of Student Writing” Before Monday, Resnick (first essay in
Chapter 4) and complete BYR and |
|
Week
5 |
1. Discuss Resnick 2. Begin discussing ethics in fieldwork
(“Getting Permission” in FW, 141-143) Before Wednesday, Read Smith’s essay
(and complete BYR and |
1. discuss WA3 2discuss Smith 3. Do additional “exploratory writing”
to develop ideas for WA3 HW: Before Friday, Read Skilton-Sylvester (BYR and |
1. Discuss Skilton-Sylvester 2. Discuss the “Groundwork Activity” on
pages 166-167 (FW) HW: Complete “Groundwork Activity” with
respect to fieldsite(s), individual(s), and/or
subgroups you are investigating for WA3 Be sure to bring your complete (though
still in-progress and not yet revised) Research Portfolio |
|
Week
6 |
1. Discuss findings regarding
“Groundwork Activity” (FW, 166-167) 2. Review the Research Portfolio ala FW
(“Review the writing exercises you’ve completed” and the fieldnotes
you’ve generated thus far “and look for common themes or concerns they
represent. What is important about them to you as a writer, a researcher, and
a beginning fieldworker? How have you positioned yourself within your written
responses? What have you left out, and why? If you’ve started to work in a fieldsite or in a subculture that you want to continue
with, compare your exercises to the actual fieldnotes
you’ve started to take. Notice the similarities and the differences. The portfolio itself is like a
researcher’s trips to the field. It shows the journey to the places you’ve
observed and the people you’ve interviewed. It documents the resources you
use throughout your field trips along with the books and guides you’ve relied
on to get there. When you see the evidence of your trip laid out in a
portfolio, you can reflect on what you’ve done and plan fo
rhte work that lies ahead”) (FW, 169). From this review, determine what lies
ahead. Due at end of period (or first thing
Wednesday): annotated table of contents and a one-page analysis of the
Research Portfolio's current contents]--see FieldWorking,
pages 463-467) HW: Read Ann E Guns essay and develop
responses to the questions included |
1. Discuss My Uncle’s Guns 2. Develop plans for WA3 HW: Write WA3 (due Friday) |
1. WA3 due 2. “Writing a Verbal Snapshot” (FW, Box
16, 187) 3. Discuss HW: (1) Second instance of “Writing a
Verbal Snapshot”; (2) Read Chapter 5 |
|
Week
7 |
Share “Verbal Snapshots”; Discuss Chapter 5 In groups, begin analysis of previous
ethnography from LC via questions provided HW: Complete analysis and get ready to
share results |
Share results of analysis Complete second analysis of LC via
questions provided and share findings Discuss Final Ethnographic Project in
more detail HW: Develop Research Plan (using the
questions we used to analyze the previous research, questions offered in
Chapter 5 of LC). At this point, you should have already completed quite a
bit of field research, but this will be your chance to trace those steps
already made (and narrate their significance) as well as chart those steps
you will soon be making) |
Research Plan due Share in groups Tweak to turn in Monday |
|
Week
8 |
Research Plans due; Discuss “Mapping Space” (Box 17, 195)
and the rest of Chapter 4 Sign up for conferences with instructor HW: Find a site and “map the space” (due
Friday) |
Conferences with instructor to discuss
research plans for Final Ethnographic Project HW: Before Friday, complete space map
and read pages 220-236 |
Discuss space as “mapped” Discuss again “The Research Portfolio”
(“Learning from Your Data, page 220-236) HW: (1) Analyze Your Data, (2) develop
Reflective Memo that begins to make sense of the data and develop an
appropriate organizational structure for making sense of it (see Karen’s
portfolio and reflection); complete research plan; read rest of chapter 4
(FW); extend annotated table of
contents and a offer a new, one-page analysis of the Research Portfolio's
current contents--see FieldWorking, pages 463-467) |
|
Week
9 |
1. Share findings from Research
Portfolio Analysis 2. “The Research Portfolio: Reflective
Documentation” (in pairs and in interview format, answer the questions on
page 301-302, section I [“Prepare for the Field,” A-E], and II [“Use the
researcher’s tools,” A-E], HW: Write up your findings (“Reflective
Documentation”) and share them on Wednesday |
In groups of 3, share “Reflective
Documentation: Part I” and respond to questions provided. Share findings with the rest of the
class HW: Read FW, page 302-306. Create a
“Verbal Portrait” of one or more character/setting/theme from/for your
fieldwork. |
In groups of three, share Verbal
Portraits. Ask readers: (1) HW: Collect insider language (FW,
“Groundwork Activity,” 351); read FW, page 352—357) |
|
Week
10 |
Discuss insider language (“Groundwork
Activity,” 351) Work with portfolio partner to analyze
and synthesize findings as presented in your Research Portfolio by answering
the questions on pages 352-354. HW: Develop Reflective Memo in response
to days analysis/synthesis of the research portfolio |
Discuss findings in relationship to plan
for writing up the Final Ethnographic Project 1. Share Reflective Memo in pairs 2. Discuss findings/plans (partner
should offer suggestions for continued fieldwork and/or deskwork) HW: Visit your fieldsite
one more time, taking extensive fieldnotes and
filling in whatever research gaps you discovered might need filling. |
Discuss “Expanded Fieldnotes”
and continue to develop plans for Final Ethnographic Project HW: (1) With a highlighter in hand, go
through your Research Portfolio in search of text you might include in your
write up of this Final Ethnographic Project. This should include an up close
and personal review of your WA1, WA2, WA3, all reflective memos, responses to
readings, analyses, and—especially-all fieldnotes,
interviews, artifacts collected (specifically, your written responses to
these artifacts), and so on. (2) Write
up a Reflective Memo in which you describe what you found, what surprised
you, what intrigued you, and what sorts of themes you see emerging from all
this. If you can begin to outline a possible approach to this write up,
that’d be great. If not, try to broach the subject anyway. |
|
Week
11 |
Share your Reflective Memo (first) then
your Research Portfolio (second) with your Research Partner. Your partner
should have a different color highlighter. Go through and mark extra juicy
quotes/etc Respond via Reflective Memo (one-page
analysis of the portfolio’s current contents and annotated table of contents)
again; photocopy all text you have generated as included in your Research
Portfolio in order that you may then cut it up and rearrange it into a much
larger, more coherent text (the Final Ethnography) |
Collage (Ask writers to bring photocopies
of all text generated and included in their Research Portfolios, like fieldnotes, WA1-WA3, Reflective Memos, journal entries,
etc AND a pair of scissors and some tape/glue. You should bring large sheets
of paper (I can make some available) on which they can rework their drafts of
their Final Ethnographic projects together. They should cut out highlighted
sections from their Research Portfolios, then pile “like” items together.
From there, they should begin assembling their Final Ethnographic Project. |
Collage Read Chapter 8, FW Develop as much of a draft of the Final
Ethnographic Project as possible |
|
Week
12 |
Discuss chapter 8 Read “Shitty First Drafts” out loud
together and discuss Continue work on draft by reviewing it
and filling in holes where possible. “To us, the word draft suggestions wind
blowing through a piece of writing—with little or big holes left to fill as
you craft your writing into something your reader will understand. . . . First drafts need to be exploratory, and sometimes
we must force them out of a very strange paradox. We write to release
ourselves form that stuck-tight, closed-up feeling that we can’t write
because we don’t know the answers to—or the meaning of—what we want to say.
But to understand the theories behind what we think and feel, we must write.
We learn about what we know as we draft. Writing a first draft is not the
same as freewriting. . . . Freewriting uncorks your
writing process and helps you become fluid, fast, and fluent. Drafting frees all the ideas and
research about a topic that you’ve been holding in your mind. With subsequent
drafts, you can fill in the holes—for yourself and for your readers. But the
trick in getting that first draft written is to “just do it.” (FW, 420-421) |
The same |
The same |
|
Week
13 |
Revised draft due for Self Analysis
(“Thickening Your Draft” by asking of the draft “What’s going on here? [“asks descriptive questions about your
data—about informants’ rituals and routines, about how people and places
interact. . . . As you write and consider the question “What’s going on
here?” you will select details to recapture your experience—what you’ve seen
heard and thought—and design a shape for conveying it to readers”]. Where’s the culture? [“refers to
descriptions of language practices, place observations, background research,
and artifacts you’ve gathered in the field to understand the group and its
history. . . . While this question overlaps with ‘What’s going on here?’ it
focuses on more intricate details of the subculture that become apparent only
after repeated visits to the fieldsite, deeper
investigations, and accumulations of data. Only the actual informants in the
culture can provide answers to this question.”] What’s the story? [“includes
a description of what we like to call twin
tales—your informants’ perspectives and also your own perspective on the
research process. . . . There is no formula for the balance between these
twin tales; they form and inform a dialogue between the self and other.
Whatever way you choose to balance the twin tales, the power of narrative
carries your essay to your reader. An important but difficult job of fieldwriting is to allow the informants to tell a tale
about their lives—and to find a way to include yourself as the fieldworker
telling the tale.”] (FW 432; 433; 435; 437) |
TBA |
Deeply revised draft due for PR (adapted
from FW, page 448): 1. What views of this culture is the
writer representing—the writers own, the views of the informants, or
background information?> What is the balance among sources? How can you
tell? 2. How does the writer organize the
data? Is this organizational structure effective? If so, what makes it
effective? If not, what might the writer consider doing to improve the
organization of the revised draft? 3. (Verbal Portraits): How is the writer
representing her informants? What data does she use to re-create an informant
on the page? Has she given her reader enough detail to visualize or “hear”
her informant? 4. What sense of place is the writer
offering? What details of setting does the writer use to organize and locate
what she saw? What data does she use to re-create this place? Will her
readers feel as if they’ve been there with the writer? 5. What is the current title? What
suggestions do you have for a new title? HW: Revise to address PR feedback |
|
Week
14 |
Self Analysis (FW, Box 32, pages 439-441) HW: Revise for instructor review |
Final Ethnographic Project due for
Instructor Review Organize the Research Portfolio for the
CSW Develop Annotated Table of Contents for
Research Portfolio (FW, 463-465) |
Continue work on the Research Portfolio Develop one-page analysis of Research
Portfolio HW: Complete revision of RP, ready for
PR |
|
Week
15 |
PR of Research Portfolio Discuss revisions of Final Ethnographic
Project, including MLA format (again) HW: Revise Ethnography |
Research Portfolio Due Final Ethnographic Project (revision)
due Develop one-page handout describing
ethnographic project and results HW: complete one-page handout |
Prepare for CSW One-page handout due |
|
Finals |
CSW |
|
|