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the topic is based on the suggestion of the enthnograpy Order Description Assignment 3: Cultural Ethnography Essay Please read three articles in Module 3 to prepare you for this assignment: Background to Ethnography, Cultural Ethnograpy Paper Guidelines, and Suggestions for Ethnographies (your topic comes from this one). Your paper should be about 4-5 pages long and should include in-text and Reference page citations. See the above readings for guidelines. Also, there is a document that includes a few student examples of ethnographies Suggestions for Ethnographies For basic information on what �ethnographies� are all about, see �Background to Ethnography.� In order to do an ethnography, you need to have a basic question or topic in mind, from which you will devise a research strategy of interviews, surveys, and/or participant observation, and library research. The suggestions below are meant to help you do this. You will continue to use MLA format for this paper. Suggestions for Research Topics Research on cultural differences see between: Organizations: Service clubs, fan clubs, hobby clubs, churches, fraternities or sororities, convents, political clubs. Why do these organizations exist? What do they do? How are they changing? Classes: Study the differences between ONLINE classes/instructors/course organization/communication, and Face-to=Face class/instructors/course organization/communication. Events: Conventions, concerts, festivals, sports events, pro wrestling, or anything that looks unique or unusual from your area. Activities or Hobbies: Homeschooling, sports (e.g. hunting as rite-of-passage), video gaming or internet chatting, fan groups related to popular culture or other activities, Groups of people: Immigrants, minorities, other subcultures such as gangs, goths, geeks, jocks, yuppies, etc. How do they express their identity? What are other group's perceptions of them? What adjustments do they make to fit into their environment? Cultural Change: Interview senior citizens, long-time residents of neighborhoods, store owners, farmers� Contact older graduates of your school. Ask them how life has changed since they were kids. For example: Ask them about school rules, dress codes, favorite hangouts, and other things that interest you. How do they feel their lives have turned out? What would they do differently? Folklore: Analyze local stories that reveal cultural values. What values are they promoting? What is Places: Street ethnography, malls, cities, communities, neighborhoods, trailer parks. How have they changed? How do people get along? Is there crime? Pick a neighborhood or street to study! Pay particular attention to what, if anything, the people who live there have in common with each other. Possible general questions for groups of people: Do they socialize with each other, either through block parties, garage sales, or neighborhood associations? Pay attention to differences in landscaping, home d�cor, and the use of indoor and outdoor space. For example: Where do families congregate for socializing? Pick an office, shop, bowling alley, or softball diamond and explore the lives of those who play or work together. Do they see each other outside of these work/play situations? Corporate Culture: Do a study of "corporate culture" (exemplified in "Dilbert" comic strips). Family Culture: Do a comparison of families, and discuss reasons for differences, focusing on cultural, not psychological, reasons .How about the comparison between your family/history and your husband or wife�s family/history. Things to ask about (if relevant or appropriate to your particular topic): Ask open-ended questions to give the informant as much freedom as possible to express themselves. Cultural Ethnography Paper Guidelines One key requirement is to include both fieldwork and library research. You are required to go out and talk to someone (do interviews), witness or participate in an activity, or both. A paper done using only library research is not acceptable. For the library research, find out what has been written on your topic by others. Send me an email if you think library research (or field research) is not relevant to your topic. You may decide how best to do your research, but I suggest that you first conduct a thorough literature search on your chosen topic. � Review what has been published (books, periodicals, newspapers, Internet) and gather basic information on your topic. Look for these books and articles (e.g. First Search, Wilson Search) on the library databases. Use interlibrary loan to find books not at our library (which means you can�t wait until the last minute!) These should be your first sources of information. � Use Internet search engines only to look for additional materials or ethnographic information if appropriate for your topic. This literature may help give you questions and issues for your interviews and it may help you figure out which specific topics or issues you are interested in. � Remember to integrate your research with topics and issues from class readings, especially focusing on the idea of culture. Attempt a cultural analysis of the topic you have chosen. When writing the paper up: � First of all, utilize what you have learned in your writing classes! How do you write a good paper? � Pick an appropriate topic, do research, organize and structure the paper well (use subheadings in the paper), and make sure you edit the paper through at least two drafts. � Structure the paper well, both as a whole (introduction, main body, conclusion, etc.) and within each paragraph (topic sentence, sentences that follow each other logically). � Cite your references in the text of the paper, using a recognized method. The standard anthropology style is the author/date method in parentheses in the text (MLA or APA), not foot or endnotes, but I will permit others. � Put any lists of interview questions or other supplementary information in an appendix to the paper, if appropriate. � Also, make sure you combine information from the course with your own research and analysis. � Look through course readings to see what topics relate to your paper. Show that you can think analytically, logically, and creatively. � Make sure you are not plagiarizing, since this will hurt your grade for the entire class and can even result in class failure. A skillful blending of various sources into a well argued interesting essay is a major part of a good paper. Structuring the paper: There are several ways to structure or organize your paper. One way is below. I. Introduction- What are you interested in and why? What is the question, issue, group, event, etc. that you studied? Introduce it to the reader. What is the background? II. Research: How did you do the research? (Participant/observation, interviews, surveys, etc?) Add details, complications, etc. Have you found anything written about your topic before? (Library research!) What did you find? What information did you get? III. Analysis and interpretation of the information: What does it mean? Did you have a thesis, and did what you find confirm or contradict your thesis? What others have written on the topic? What does your information reveal about the culture of what you studied? What topics in the text or brought up in class does your project relate to? Tie material into the course as much as possible. IV. Conclusion Sum up the paper and your analysis. Your paper will be graded with these considerations. 1. Organization: the extent to which the paper moves from section to section and paragraph to paragraph logically and coherently, with an introduction and conclusion that describes and sums up the paper clearly. Can the reader follow your paper easily? 2. Spelling, grammar and citations 3. Methodology (How did you do your research?) and use of course material (7 points) 4. Originality: How well did you summarize the information? What was the quality of your analysis and interpretation?