THE “BIG” ETHNOGRAPHY
Final Portfolio Due Monday, December 12th
So far you’ve talked, listened, recorded, observed, and even participated at your field site.
You’ve written 4 sets of field notes in which you’ve observed and positioned yourself, compiled
a profile of an “insider,” and analyzed a number of outside sources that relate to your field site
and issue. Your ethnography is the fruition of all this research. It is now your job to select the
most important information, and assimilate it into a cohesive research paper. Your ethnography
will not only be a window into your chosen subculture, but more importantly, a well crafted
argument, one that draws on the information you’ve so carefully documented.
Step One: Organizing Your Research
If you haven’t already, now is the time to wade through your research and organize it in a
meaningful way. Go through your field notes and previous assignments with highlighters or
different colored pens, separating information into categories: physical description,
language/quotes, unique behaviors, events, verbal artifacts, informants, archival research, etc.
Step Two: From Issue to Argument
Your argument is derived from the overall realization you want the reader to have about your
subculture and the people who inhabit it. What was your starting point of curiosity and how has
it evolved? Think about the questions you raised in your Proposal, and then examine your
research. Is your issue still the same, or has it become a new question altogether? Your goal
in your ethnography is to provide a complex resolution to that question, based not on your own
opinions and prejudices, but on the multiple voices you have gathered this semester. This
complex resolution is your thesis, and it must go beyond the questions and answers you started
with.
Step Three: Assimilating Your Sources
Now you must select the information that will be the most important—the evidence that will best
support your argument. Consider how your field notes, field observations, four-part observation,
transcript, images and artifacts, verbal performances, and library and online sources can all
work together to tell a focused story for your audience. Are there any additional sources you
still need to tell the story? It is up to you to decide how many outside (library and online)
sources will be “enough” to thoroughly represent your issue and subculture. You should aim for
an even mix between research gathered on site and that gathered in the library—information
that speaks on behalf of members of your subculture as well as info that represents a more
academic discussion of what goes on.
Step Four: Planning and Organizing Your Paper
By now you should know that organization is everything. The way you choose to organize your
ethnography should be directly related to what you are trying to argue. You should have a
thesis or guiding statement (you may have more than one) that is reinforced consistently
throughout your paper. You should use section headers and logical transitions to give your
paper a cohesive flow. (Consider the organization of “A Woman’s Place is in
the…Cardiovascular Room?”) You might choose to focus on physical spaces, to organize by
communities or groups, or to unfold your argument question by question.
Step Five: Drafting and Revising
Don’t start your paper without a thesis and an organization plan. Use your peer workshopping
and conference time wisely, and make a conscious effort to include the best feedback in your
revisions.
The Assignment:
(This paper is worth 25% of your final grade.)
Format and Length
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No less than 3500 words, approximately 10-12 pages not including your list of
“References” or any images. Be sure to write enough to make a well-researched
argument that also provides a detailed look into your subculture.
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Your paper should be typed, double-spaced, in Times New Roman (11 or 12 pt.), with your
name, the course number, my name, and the date in the top left corner of the first page.
Please set your page margins to 1″ on all sides.
Give your ethnography a title that helps to convey your argument.
Use parenthetical citations to reference any direct quotes, as well as a brief “References”
page in APA style (Fieldworking appendix p. 483)
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2-PAGE RHETORICAL ANALYSIS
You must submit a 2-page rhetorical analysis with the final draft of your project. In it, you will
you evaluate your own success in terms of rhetorical argument and ethnographic research.
Discuss the choices you made in constructing your argument, how you decided to organize it,
what information you had to sort through to arrive at a thesis, and how you feel your work
contributed to the general knowledge about your subculture. Identify your audience and discuss
the ways you specifically appealed to them. Comment on your satisfaction or dissatisfaction with
the final product—what worked well and what didn’t? What were the strengths and weaknesses
of your argument? Please note that 2 pages doesn’t mean vague and abstract but well focused
and synthesized. I am asking you to accomplish a lot in a little bit of space.
The following components should somehow be accommodated in your project:
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A thesis or argument threaded throughout
Your purpose or motivation for research (Why did you choose this group? What were your
starting questions?)
Methodology of your research
A description of your field site and some background on the subculture. Use vivid and
concrete details that appeal to the senses to help you argue (FW pp. 285-88, 409-412).
Incorporation of multiple “voices” into your writing (informants, books, periodicals, etc.)
through the effective use of direct quotes, quote “snippets” and paraphrasing
Demonstration of your own knowledge of fieldworking terms and the appropriate
documentation of sources.
You might choose to include images, glossaries, charts, endnotes, drawings, maps, etc.
They should be labeled and cited on your “References” page.
Evaluation Criteria:
Your Final Portfolio is due Monday, December 12th by 12:30 p.m.
Please deposit in the drop box outside of HEAV 412.