Response+to+Ethnography

Response to Ethnography (p.1-26) Donielle Tubioli

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In the reading for Ethnography, it discusses the processes of ethnography. The text also helps to explain the meaning of culture through different perceptions, using it as a verb rather than a noun. For example, one of the ways of describing culture was the gradations of change in habits and beliefs. On page 14 of the text, it reads "members see themselves as belonging to a group with definable characteristics they refer to as"our culture". I find this statement to be very true. If you take a membership that you are part of, for example in school you may be a member of a certain club, fraternity/ sorority, or sports team. Students join these clubs or groups because they feel as though they "fit it" or they have the same qualities as other members in the group. It is a way for students to meet friends with similar interests.

I found Ethnography to be very informational. I enjoyed the beginning of the text, I thought it was very effective how the authors chose to compare ethnography to juggling. It gives the readers something to actually visualize and relate to. The text also provides us with a story with juggling that helps us to see the similarities between juggling and ethnography. For example on page 2 in the reading, "It's all about practice, trial and error; [I've] gotten to see what stuff worked and what didn't and then muscle memory." This gives us as readers input on how ethnography in the study of literacy and language in relation to something we may be familiar with(juggling). I also like at the end of the chapter, the authors summarize and tie everything back to the story about juggling.

I would have to say that Ethnography was a little hard to follow along and understand. I think it was harder to understand because of all of the technical terms that were used such as multimodal literacies. Though, the text did provide us with the story about juggling in the beginning and the end. I thought it was also useful because there were other examples taken from the outside world or everyday life to help guide the reading. For example, on page 15 when the text explains how groups may change over time without recognizing such as in the desert in Australia, telling stories while drawing in the sand is an age-old cultural practice. The text gives the readers actual examples to help us understand what they are talking about.