Blog 4

Jennifer Caso, Trisha Derosier, Elijawon Scott

Question # 4: What forms seemed most effective for each of the 4 different kinds of notes?  What was the purpose for each form?  And which kinds of notes best met that purpose?

Jottings: Bullet form seems to be the most effective like with Ethnographer #1.  It is the quickest and easiest way to list ’triggers” so that the ethnographer can remember the details later. Great way to approach the headnotes section.

Further Examples:  Ethnographer #6 for instance wrote in long hand and mostly wrote only from their own personal perspective and what they were experiencing first hand and tended to forget about the other participants and what they were experiencing.  Also this person wrote a lot for this section and was probably missing out on what was going on around them, they were missing out on the little details.  Ethnographer #2 and #3 also wrote too much.  Ethnographer #9 asked one specific question to every person and therefore was too controlling of the experience to sit back and become an observer as well as a participant.  This person had very little to say throughout all of the sections probably because they had taken down such limited jottings.

The purpose:  To be quick, so bullet form was ideal.  And to pick the appropriate trigger words so that later on the Ethnographer will be able to remember details and truly describe the experience.

Headnotes: The Ethnographers that wrote the most and with the most detail had the most effective form.  They expanded on their jottings appropriately for this exercise and it helped them overall with all of the 4 sections.  Ethnographer #1 is a perfect example of how headnotes should be a stream of consciousness.

Further Examples: Ethnographers 5 and 6 did not write enough, they made generalized observations and they didn’t really describe the experience in enough detail.

The purpose: A stream of consciousness: trying to recall exact details and conversations to add to the overall analysis of the situation.

Things I remember later:   In this section, whether the Ethnographer used complete sentences or bullet points, both methods seemed to be equally effective.  This section can be informal yet still be effective.

For example:  #7 was as effective as #8 even though #7 was shorter and using  bullet points instead of complete sentences.  For this section, whatever works for the particular ethnographer is a fine choice.

The purpose:  A place to go back to later and take note of things that have come to mind since the exercise has ended. These details will serve in better fleshing out the experience.

Observations about what happened: The Ethnographers in this case did not write very much in this section and it would have been better if they wrote more about the experience.  This typically should be the longest section and be an overall analysis of the entire experience.  These particular Ethnographers generalized in this section instead of getting into specific detailed events that made up the entire experience.

For example:  Most Ethnographers wrote short paragraphs or bullets and this is not necessarily what this section should be.  This section should be more of a story of what happened.

The Purpose: Give a detailed account on what happened.  This section can include the Ethnographers perspective on the experience.  This section can be a combination of subjective and objective observations.

Class Ethnography

Class Ethnography 

 

Jotting:

 

- Majority females

- Crowded

- Tanaera

- Jaleel

- Sam

- Silvia

- Professor

- Danielle

Headnotes:

- People were reluctant to talk
- Female ratio outnumbered males
- Groups crowded in the center of the classroom
- Professor walked around observing
- Danielle stayed in the front row due to injury
- People seemed uncomfortable
- I'm the tallest in the class
- Realized Sam was in my class last semester
- Sam had a black hoodie
- Talked to Tanaera and Danielle in the beginning
- Tanaera and Danielle both wear glasses
- Heard a lot of talking and laughter
- Silvia approached me and asked why I was by myself
- I made a joke to Silvia and said I was the overseer
- Silvia was wearing a bronze colored wristwatch

Things I remembered later:

- I didn't get to talk to everyone. I forgot some names and didn't introduce myself to everyone.
- Jaleel and I are the only males in the class.
- Other than that I do not remember too much of anything else.

Observations:

- I was one of the last people to begin the activity. There are a lot more females than males in the class which is why I don't really speak unless spoken to so I don't make them feel uncomfortable. I'm pretty sure majority of the class was uncomfortable because they didn't know everyone. It's not easy to break the ice and get out of your shell, especially if you don't know the person. During the activity, everyone pretty much crowded in the center of the classroom. I decided to make my way into the group and talk to a few people and notice a couple of women were in my previous classes. After talking and introducing myself, I realized that they were really nice which got me to open up a bit and talk. The professor walked around to make sure people were participating. Overall, it wasn't too bad.

Shaggy Dog Stories Analysis

Shaggy Dog Story #2: Panda Bear Strikes

• Incorporates French language/terminology.
• Located in New York.
• New York is symbolized to be a type of "melting pot" meaning mixes of cultures.
• Ellis Island in New York is where immigrants normally enter America, therefore when the person states they see many strange people, he/she could be referring to the many different types of people.
• The panda can talk and wield a gun which isn't normal.
• The joke is taken literally and doesn't have any hidden puns.
• Dialogue between human and animal.
• Emotions are given.
• Notes that pandas are from China.

Story #3:  No Strings Attached

• Personification is heavily prevalent. The string performs human actions such as sweating or getting frustrated.
• Really repetitive when each bar said they didn't serve strings.
• Informal language: String saying "gimme".  
• Actually has a lot of different emotions.
• The string (Inanimate object) converses with humans.
• The joke "I'm a frat knot" can mean multiple things whether describing its appearance or saying "I'm afraid not".

Story #4: Friday!

• Shorter than the other stories. 
• Robinson was identified as Friday's master; however Friday was not properly identified as a human or animal.
• There was dialogue between both characters.
• A common joke that's switched compared to the original.
• It's "Thank Friday, it's God" instead of "Thank God it's Friday".
• An allusion was used. Religion based assuming that Robinson is about to die and sees the light (God).

Story #5: Lawyers

• Both characters weren't fully described. The only thing we know was that the lawyer was friends with a Czechoslovakian. Unsure of their genders.
• Informal language.
• All characters interacted with each other. The lawyer was friends with the Czech, the male bear ate the Czech, The lawyer talked to the Sheriff, and the Sheriff shot the female bear.  
• There was dialogue between the lawyer and Sheriff.
• The lawyer focused a lot on his/her career and justice: Thinking of lawsuits and wanting the sheriff to shoot the bear that ate the friend (Bear committing a murderous act and should be punished).
• Punchline: "Would you believe a lawyer told you there was a check in the mail." Lawyer looked at as devious and conniving.

Story Similarities

• They all had informal language.
• Characters interact with each other.
• Stories consisted of dialogue.
• The characters were hardly described.
• General knowledge was needed to understand the punchline.
• Most stories were pretty fictional.
• Cultural backgrounds were given in the stories.

The Many Writing Strategies

Writing in my opinion is a very broad yet effective way of communication. Everywhere we look whether in school, work, or just outside; writing is forever prevalent. I would like to write about difference types of writings and emphasize the significance of it. On standardized testing, people mainly focus on the reading and math but not so much on writing.There are many different types of writing whether business related, creative writing, free writing, or just casual. In addition, writing different genres would appeal to a variety of different groups. It's a broad subject so I'll probably focus more on the importance of writing in careers and the workforce. Writing is imperative in society and should be more recognized than what it is now.