WritingProject1:Autoethnography

BackgroundandOverview

Sofarinourcourse,youhavestartedtoseethatyoubelongtoasetofcommunities,andthese
communitiestheirrituals,practices,andvariousphenomenaarecloselytiedtoyouridentity.This
relationshipnaturallyraisesvariousquestions:Howdoyouexperienceyourcommunity?What
communalrituals,practices,traditions,behaviors,and/orobjectshaveinfluencedyourunderstanding
ofyouridentity?Whatdoesitmeantodefineyouridentitythroughyourrelationshiptothese
phenomena?

Toexplorethesequestionsandothersrelatedtothem,youwillcomposeyourfirstmajorwriting
assignmentanautoethnography.Towritethisautoethnography,youwillselectaspecifichabit,
ritual,orbehavior(whatwearecallingaculturalphenomenon)youpracticeandinvestigateit.
Doingsowillhelpyoudiscoverwhatthisactivitysaysaboutyou,yourpersonalexperiences,andthe
waysthosepersonalexperiencesconnecttotheexperiencesofothers.

Theautoethnographyisbothaneasyandadifficultformofwriting.Itiseasybecause,wearewriting
aboutwhatweknow:ourselves.Itisdifficultbecausewemustcommunicatethesignificanceofour
experiencetoouraudience,makingaconnectionbetweenourownexperiencesandthoseofour
readers.Wemustconfrontthehardtruththataneventisnotsignificantjustbecauseithappenedto
me.Theeventmustoffersometakeawayvalue,andthewriterwhowritesabouttheeventmustbe
abletoanswerthequestionsowhat?Theanswertothisquestionistheprimaryinsightofthe
autoethnography,ortheultimatepointthatyouaretryingtomake.Autoethnographiesarenotjust
chronologicalnarrationsofevents;theycommunicatetheeventsmeaningandleavereaderswitha
dominantimpressionofwhatitmighthavebeenliketoexperienceitthemselves.

Forexample,youmightexplore

yourmethodsoftransportation.Doyouwalk,rideabike,drive,ortakeatrainto
work/school?Why?Whatmightyourroutinesayaboutyouridentityorculture?
yourpreferencesforcertaintypesoffood.Whatdoyourchoicessayaboutyourbeliefs?
yourreadinghabits.Doyoureadthenewspaperovercoffee?Doyoureadbeforebed?What
doyouread?Why?Whatmightthesehabitsconveyaboutyourage,class,orsocialgroup?

RequirementsandDeliverables

1.

Inyouressay,youshouldselectonehabit,ritual,practice,orbehaviorandreflectuponthis
phenomenon,articulatingwhyandhowithasbeensignificantforyou.Howhaveyoubeen
shapedasapersonwithinyourlargercommunitybythisactivity?

2.

Whateveryourtopichabit,ritual,practice,orbehavior,youressayshouldbeinformedby
closeobservationandprovidealevelofdetailthroughexample,anecdote,andexplanation,
whichenablesareadertorelatetoyourunderstandingoftheactionanditssignificance.It
shouldprovidesignificantinsightintowhathasmade/makesyouwhoyouarebyincluding
detaileddescriptionsofplacesandeventswhileexplainingthesignificanceoftheseeventstothe
formationofyourownbeliefsandbehaviors.

3.

Youressayshouldbewrittenwithanaudienceinmind:itshouldbeorganizedinsuchaway
thatareadercanfollowyourthinkingandreasoningfromparagraphtoparagraphandwithin
eachparagraph.Thisorganizationshouldleadyourreadertoyourprimaryinsightorultimate
pointinaclearmanner;inotherwords,yourprimaryinsightshouldhelpstructureyourpaper.

4.

Youressayneedstoincludeandintegrateatleastonemultimodalelement.Youcould
includepictures,sounds,orevenhyperlinkstootherresources,butyoumustmakesurethat
yourreaderunderstandswhyyouareincludingtheseelementsandwhyincludingthemenriches
yourpieceofwriting.Considerwhatmediabeyondtextmightreinforceyourmainideato
readers,conveyinanotherwaythesignificanceofyourautoethnography,and/orappealtoyour
readersfromadifferentregister.

5.

Yourcompletedessayshouldhaveatitleandbeatleast12001500wordsinlength.

ProjectSubmission

RoughDraft:Yourroughdraftwillbesubmittedforpeerreviewandtoyoureportfolio.
RevisedDraft:Yourreviseddraftshouldbeuploadedtoyoureportfolio.

Tips
:

Getstartedearly.
Reviewthisweeksmaterialsanddiscussions.
Setawriting/researchscheduleandsticktoit.