As with all of the chapters involved, I found myself being very well-informed about how to conduct a proper and efficient ethnographic project and proposal. The chapter focused on what is called being a collaborative listener. I initially didn’t know what it meant. However, it seems to come back to this idea that ethnography should always be about the people involved. The culture is telling the story; we are just the mediums. Unfortunately, we are mediums that come in with our own suppositions and opinions of how cultures interact and behave. Yes, maintaining a somewhat outside perspective is important. It makes things unfamiliar so as to make the group and social phere interesting and to provide a beginning into the background of the customs. However, you also need to maintain an inside perspective on the people so as to be able to relate and bring a story to life. Particularly during interviews, it is important to listen closely so as to present a story from another’s point of view. We need to let readers know what it is like to live in a certain person’s shoes from that certain person’s perspective. This can work really well for oral histories.
I especially liked the information on how to conduct proper interviews. You see, I feel behind everybody else because it seems that most people have already conducted them. I just got the hang of my proposal and am still learning proper fieldnotes. (Ah well, the ways I develop could be an ethnographic project itself, I guess.) Interviewing involves being flexible and being structured. It’s good to have background information on informants before the interview is set. It helps frame your objective and find certian questions that can answer them. However, it is impossible to truly plan an interview because we can not plan the actions and responses of the interviewees. During the interview, inspiration for other subjects could strike. New questions can pop up as your conducting the interview. That’s all and good. However, the most important thing to understand is the establishment of an outside but interested third party. “People love to tell their stories.” However, if you are not a good and collaborative listener, the subject is not going to waste his or her time. Being a good listener makes the other feel comfortable enough to open up and share. No interruptions are necessary. Simple body language like leaning in, direct eye contact, or a nod and gasp provides incentives for people to give you the story and perspective you need.
Transcribing is also an important matter. I used to think that tape-recording an interview would be an easy way to go about conducting a study. However, I can see the drawbacks. Having some object do all the work for you might be dangerous to an easily distracted ethnographer. Like taperecording a class disconnects you from the teacher, doing an interview can also disconnect from the subject. On the other hand, maybe using a recorder can leave you with more freedom to conduct proper questions and responses. No matter what you choose, just make sure that there is 3 hours of transcribing for every hour of recording. Obtain, prepare, organize time, listen, log, and transcribe. Also, make sure that the voices in the essay are theirs, not yours.
Jennete Edward’s essay ‘I Can Read And I Can Write,” was a very good focus for the texts supplied. The essay tells the story of how an African-American living in 1939, a time period where negroes were discriminated against and where opportunities were limited, learned to read and write through several white educated men. I believe the author did a really good job on the essay. Throughout the reading, I felt like I was in the essay listening to the words of this man. The dialogue was all this. Although the actual pronunctiations and innotations of him speaking wasn’t literally transcribed, the voice was still there. It’s a sign of good transcribing. Even the various descriptions involved didn’t hamper the flow because it seemed to see things in a way that Lee would see them. Besides, the details showed how much the literacy movements and actions within a setting provide the most insight. In spite of validating and demonstrating the information discussed, it was also moving to see a man work so hard at making something of himself. Even through his difficult situations at securing a decent job, he still hung in and reminded himself of the hardships of others. A classic case of a man being independent and relying on himself to get through. Me studying economic responsibility find this piece intriguing.
When looking at Box 22, I actually felt disconcerted at starting an actual oral history. My research project will often focus on oral histories of past students and teachers. I’m even actually looking towards considering the memoirs of the Silver Leos on campus. I don’t know if the Silver Leos themselves will be the focus, or if they will serve as the artifacts that further my original proposal. However, I never realized how in-depth an oral history was. Since I have not found viable interviewees yet, I am a stranger to that aspect of research. In addition, I don’t think starting an oral history from scratch will be needed for my project. Several snapshots of a person’s life are easier to capture and I think will serve me better. But, family history I concluded is very important. A family life often dictates the behaviors of the children and the beliefs. Most research and history often focuses not on the impersonal macro-environment, but the personal and up-close micro-environment. I must remember to discount general and disconnected views of cultures to the actual lives of the people involved. Then and only then will an ethnographic project truly come to life.
For my second CwoW Event, I chose to do the memoir workship which consisted of a lecture type classroom setting in the Hall of Languages and several other Silver Leo groups. The room was on the first floor in place of the typical writing center space. One of the ladies involved with the event appeared to be a staff member of the writing center. She wore a black dress, had on classes, and seemed to give an air of leadership. The smile she wore on her face seemed to suggest that she was an interested party within the event. I do not know if it was because of the topic of memoirs or of the speakers that were involved. Her conversing nature with Dr. Carter suggested a swiftness and familiarity within the English department.
Dr. Tarpley looked to be a man of 80 or 90. His sharp eyes and lines of his face indicated a man with wisdom and the experience to show for it. It was actually kind of hard to picture such a man interested in the topic of writing. Then again, memoirs didn’t seem to be a surprise to me. Memoirs are a way of writing down and making immortal a person’s knowledge, and someone of his caliber would most likely be interested.
The four round tables surrounding the room consisted of graduate and post-graduate students for the most part. Since present college students are still within the age of trying new things and are getting accustomed to a social college life, I was not expecting that many students (other than myself who chose this event out of research, and Brad who was conducting a review for the East Texan Newspaper.) They all listened with rapture as Dr. Tarpley discussed the process of writing, editing, and publication of a life’s work. There was occasional need for clarification of certain questions by the speaker since Dr. Tarpley appeared to be deaf in one ear. However, the fact that subjects took time to explain and pronunciate things to him only validated my belief that they appreciated the lessons he was giving. Of course, Dr. Carter was there as usual. Part of me believes that she attended every single one of the events. She was happily, with a smile on her face, videotaping and taking pictures of the event from one of the comfy couches in the corner by the window. I wished to know how writing has affected her. Obviously, she shares a passion for the subject for which I do not understand. I am not putting down writing. I just wished to know how literacy functioned in her life.
Before discussing memoirs, Dr. Tarpley showed us an example of her sister’s example of surviving the Texas City explosion. One of the handouts was the newspaper of the actual event happening. I was surprised to feel like I had actually witnessed the event myself. The emotion and the tragedy of the event seemed to ooze through the paper. I began to realize that good writing is one that evokes emotions within the reader. I also questioned if it is the tragic events in our lives that define literature and experience.
A lot of what was said about writing memoirs seemed to fit with writing an actual paper. One must examine yourself as a storyteller. You organize yourself by finding purpose, planning, and making sense out of memories of other people. Pre-writing, writing, and post-writing are essential steps. Style, grammar, and citing sources were the final topics.
All in all, I’d like to say that this event was a success. As for research topics, The origination and impact of the Silver Leos might prove to be a viable avenue to take.
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