-Format: Types, double-spaced, submitted as a word-processing document. 12 points, text-weight font, 1-inch margins.
-Length: 750-1000 words
-Value: This project (including the final draft and the peer review) is worth 20% of the grade for the course.
Overview
In this unit, we will branch out from the personal by reading and writing work that focuses on observation, engagement with significant people around us, and on issues and events that we believe matter in the world.
In preparation for this paper, we will consider what a community is, how it functions, what traits its members have, and why this community exists. Then, you will choose between two options for your observations essay:
Option 1: Place
You can focus your observation on a place that holds some significance to a particular community. This option—loosely inspired by the ethnography essay—is interested in the way members of a community behave and interact within a specific setting. Your essay, therefore, should go beyond the description of a place as a physical location and explore the meaning it holds for the members of the community and the ways in which it influences their behavior. You will mainly rely on first-hand observations for this project, but you can also include interviews and overheard conversations.
In order to complete this project, you need to:
– Observe and take field notes: Begin with observing the place and writing down notes about what you see, hear, and sense. Plan to observe this place 2-3 times. In your notes, record specific actions that you notice, dialogue you overhear, interactions you have with other people, and any important details about the scene that might help you SHOW its significance.
– Explain context and background that shows how the place matters within the community. Context might include history, information, anecdotes, geographical information, or other details that help an audience understand the place as symbolic of something bigger than itself.
– Follow a carefully planned organizational structure that gives priority to specific details, themes and values. Your final draft should be organized to show the significance of the place and should not simply list details in the order you observed them.
Last Completed Projects
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