Final Reflection Questions for Ethnography Project
1. Why is it important to study the connections between writing, language, and culture? What can we learn from ethnographic research? - Culture in a certain group is somewhat different because of their behavior patterns or language differences. Therefore, language is reflecting the culture, and writing about the culture needs to use their language at some point. Therefore the connection between language and culture cannot be separated. Throughout the ethnographic research, we can learn about another culture and how their language was developed in the culture. This process helps people to understand and have an open mind toward a culture that they are not familiar with. Without ethnographic research, two or more groups having different culture sometimes may bring conflict because they cannot understand each other’s language or culture. Therefore, ethnographic research by observing and meeting the people from a different culture functions as a role for people to cross the bridge which connects to other cultures.
2. Reviewing your recent daybook entries related to your ethnography project, which daybook entry was the most helpful to you and why?
When we wrote about the way to present our project in our daybook entry, I said that I would use my own voice because I wanted to reflect my thoughts. However, in the beginning of my project, I realized that my own voice was ruining the flow of the observation. This note gave me the idea to use the complete opposite way in presenting my project and that format I chose was similar to the way I write my lab reports. Since a lab report is always based on researched facts, I thought it was the best way to present my ethnography.
3. Were your research and writing processes similar to or different from other research-based projects you have completed in the past? I purposely chose a similar format to my chemistry lab reports for this ethnography project. First of all, I am not a good writer who can create an appropriate genre that is expressed in the best way for what I observed or thought. Therefore, the best way to present my ethnography project was in a format which I am the most familiar with. Since my research was based more on the truths that I observed, this format helps to show my readers the details of how the culture operates.
4. If you were to write/compose in another genre to provide information about this culture, what would you choose and why?
I really wanted to show the language of single men's culture because the way they were speaking and the subjects they were talking about were hilarious. I couldn’t even write the swearing in my ethnography. If I chose a short documentary to compose this culture, I believe that the subject must be more fun and would win the sympathy from the audience.
