In the literacy ethnography I was assigned to attempt to construct the social meaning oI

literacy Ior a speciIic sub-culture oI my choosing. To do this, I had to select a sub-culture;

conduct preliminary research on that culture; observe, record, and analyze that culture through
Iirst-hand participation and interviews; and Iinally, I had to compose a research piece about my
sub-culture`s literacy in a genre that is appropriate Ior that culture. When given this assignment I
was a little scared because I never wrote good research papers. However, while I was working on
this assignment I realized it isn`t as bad as I thought it would be.
I chose to observe West Stokes High School girls basketball team. I chose them because
it was very easy Ior me to go to the gym and observe, and I know I would be allowed to
participate. I learned a lot Irom this experience, starting with how to make good observations.
The Iirst think I done when I got to the gym was sit down and interview the assistant coach. Then
I waited Ior practice to start. I was given a rubric to Iollow when taking my observations. There
were three diIIerent columns, and in the Iirst column I stated what time it was and what activity
was taking place. In the second column I wrote questions I had while they were doing that
activity, and in the third column I answered those questions to the best oI my ability. When they
started scrimmaging I sat all oI my notes down and strapped on the shoes. This was the most
important part oI my paper. While I was scrimmaging I was really paying attention to how much
everyone was communicating, and I was really paying attention to every move I made. I never
realized it beIore, but I had to read not only my teammates, but the other teams every move to
determine what I was going to do next. Once I read my team and my opponents I would
compose my next move depending on what I thought would be best.
The purpose oI my paper was to teach someone who had never played basketball how to
play, and someone who was a proIessional something new. I had to include all the basic rules oI
the court in order to teach all those who had never played, and I also had to talk about reading
players and composing your next move to speak to those on a higher level oI basketball.
AIter this assignment I Ieel way more conIident in writing research papers. Because oI
this experience I will now use more Iacts in all oI my writing, instead oI gushy Ieelings, because
I now realize people can connect with your reading more iI you are using Iacts.