Dr. Shannon Carter * English 100 * Fall 2006

Preparing for WA3

The Interview

 

Activity (in pairs): In order to learn a little more about your partner’s experiences with communities of practice beyond school (and, through this, begin thinking about your own), take out a pen and paper and paper, ask your partner the following questions, and jot down his/her responses. You are going to give your responses to your partner, so try to make them as legible and clear as possible.

 

Interviewer’s Name: ____________________________

 

Interviewee’s Name: ____________________________

 

1.        What do you enjoy doing and feel you know quite a bit about?

2.        Name this community of practice. Girl scouts? Car enthusiast? poker player? Baptist? Hacker? Knitter? Something else? If your partner can’t think of anything, ask him or her to take a few moments and brainstorm some of the things he or she does when she or he is not at school. To relax, perhaps. Or not. What do you watch? What do you play? What do you work? As she/he freewrites on this, you do the same. After about five minutes, move on with more questions.

3.        What do members of this community of practice value? What matters to them? Name three things.

4.        What do members of this community of practice say? Any special terminology only available to those who are members? Offer up a couple words.

5.        What do members of this community of practice wear? Why? What about this attire reflects the sorts of things valued in this community?

6.        How do members of this community of practice recognize other members?

7.        What could someone who is not really a member do (or say or wear) to be recognized as an outsider?

8.        What are the “rules” all members of this community of practice must follow? List at least three.

 

Response (Individual): After you have both interviewed one another and received a copy of the interviewer’s notes on your own answers, take a few minutes to jot down your response to the interview. Write about a page in response to one or more of the following questions: (1) What did you learn about communities of practice beyond the school via this interview? (2) What did you learn about the “rules” governing discourse in spaces beyond the school and what did this teach you about the rules shaping discourse in school? (3) What are some of the similarities between the rules in your partner’s community of practice and your own? Differences?

 

For this writing assignment, you will be asked to take much of what you found out during your interview and convert it into prose. That is, write a formal essay in which you describe this community of practice. What’s it like? How’d you get involved? What do literate members know, value, say, and wear? What are the “rules” nonmembers might unknowingly break?