Autoethnography Research Paper

Autoethnography Research Paper
Life is not perfect. When situations arise that people struggle with, performative autoethnography offers a way for people to take control of the
situation. When composing an autoethnography it helps the performer think critically to interpret the experience. It opens the mind to a deeper
understanding, "We write ourselves into a deeper critical understanding with others of the ways in which our lives intersect with larger sociocultural
pains and privileges" (Spry 51). Realizing people experience similar pains because of a larger social issue is an important step in building an
autoethnography. It gives others the chance to relate to what the performer has gone through, "An autoethnography is not to make the pain 'go away';
rather through
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Pratt, Arts of the Contact Zone
Understanding Pratt After talking to students in classroom who were assigned to do a project on Pratt, getting a frequent response "I didn't read it, it's
too hard to comprehend" was an ordinary thing. Therefore, writing a response to Pratt's essay in a language that is comprehendible by regular people
can be very helpful to those struggling students. In "Arts of the Contact Zone" Pratt discusses the mix of two different cultures in one area. Where one
person is born and lives in a "contact zone" he/she is surrounded by two different conflicting cultures, and there are two different languages. She also
introduces us with a new word "autoethnography", which means the way in which subordinate peoples present themselves in ways that their...show
more content...
Poma 's drawings use the autoethnography to highlight the transcultural symbolism and nature of his letter. Guaman Poma 's letter to the king of Spain
is not the only way Pratt uses autoethnographic text. She uses her son 's experiences in grammar school to represent the relationship between
cross–cultural communication and the communication between the teacher and the student. Pratt describes this relationship as a contact zone, where
two cultures clash in one area (the classroom) and where there is a dominant culture (teacher) and subordinate culture (student). Just like Freire explains
the "banking concept" of education where the student is expected to obey the oppressor, while he or she is making the "deposits" in students' minds,
Pratt is using "Arts of the Contact Zones" to represent this relationship. Where the teacher gives out a task and the student must obey the command in
order to do "better" in school.
Pratt's son, Manuel 's teacher gives them homework to write a paragraph using single–sentence responses to a few questions. However, Manuel is
unwilling to be oppressed, and he tries to resist the assignment in an innovative way. He is expected "to identify with the interests of those in power
over him–parents, teachers, doctors, public authorities" (pg. 592) but he mocks this assignment in his mockery can be noticed in the very beginning of
his paragraph, the title. He spells it "A Grate Adventchin" and he does that not because he is a

Autoethnography Analysis
This autoethnography invites readers into the the converging identities of growing up as a female working class minority in the United States and
becoming a scholar in a predominately white college. The author will present personal scenes from precollege through present day viewing the social
dimensions of being a first–generation financially independent Chinese female. This text aims to show readers the deconstruction of public issues
through private struggles.

Christian Autoethnography
Autoethnography
Recently Christians of all denominations are getting a reputation of being hateful and hypocritical. I identify with non–denominational Christianity, my
beliefs fall most closely with Evangelical Christianity.
I am part of Grace Covenant Church, which is part of an organization called, Every Nation. Every Nation has churches in Asia, Africa, Europe,
Oceania, and America. Some folkways that I practice are going to church every Sunday and talking about the message with my family afterwards. For
me, church has never been about meeting with people who think like me, it was my time to spend with God. I always preferred one on one time with
God, rather than group discussion. Our church holds yearly mission trips, and frequently holds...show more content...
I am a naturally pessimistic person, I look at the state of the world with contempt, being able to see good through all the hate has been imperative for
me to continue pushing through my life. I need someone or something to guide me and teach me right from wrong. If I was not raised Christian I
would have turned to drugs or self–harm, which were both extremely prevalent in my school system. There were people who I knew that would go
out at night to vandalize property or break the law for the thrill, all while wearing a neckless with a cross on it. If I had not been educated properly, I
would have grown up despising Christians for their hypocritical nature. The foundations for what I believe are inherited from my parents who are both
Christian and brought me to church every day. I do think that my religion is my personal choice though. My parents have always said that they would
support me no matter what I do in life, even if I were to lose faith in God. I was never pressured to be Christian, but I found truth to the teachings of
the church, it was the one place that I felt completely at

My Autoethnography Of Selfie
Autoethnography Essay
Ysabel Anne Aluquin (z5146099)
According to the Oxford Dictionary, selfie can be defined as "a photograph that one has taken of oneself" (selfie, 2017). However, according to
Rettberg, selfies are so much more than just a photograph on the Internet, they are a form of digital self–representation (Rettberg, 2014). I still
remember the very first selfie I took, with the back camera of an old Nokia phone. This was before the invention of the front–facing camera and in
comparison, I must say that my selfie skills have most definitely improved. Just like with age, my selfies have evolved over time and in this
autoethnography, I will be looking at three different selfies from three different points in my life and examining how they represented me in those
different moments. This essay will touch mainly on how my selfies represent my gender and sexuality and how over time I had learned to embrace
both aspects of myself. I will start off by presenting a selfie from 2012, which was taken during one of my more awkward stages in life when I was
studying in an all–girls Catholic high school.
This first selfie was my Facebook profile picture for a while. At this time, I was halfway through high school and was slowly, but steadily, coming out
of a very awkward stage. The thing about being in all–girls school is that there were only two main ways to be yourself. This is because we all wore
the same uniform and did not have the freedom to express

Writing An Autoethnography Approach
Easier said than done was an interesting autoethnography writing piece. It was about a mother who adopted her child, and her decision to write about
it using Autoethnographies. The reading says that this approach is ""a highly personalized accounts that draw upon the experience of the author
/researcher for the purposes of extending sociological understanding" (pg.39) It goes on to talk about the different types of evidence this study can
have. For example, we can have hard data soft data as well. It also goes on to talk about the feedback you may receive whether that is positive or
negative. She mentions receiving a commentary on her writing as great piece of writing but it aslo took the wrong approach. There was also a section
that warned us about questions that may cause anxiety or get to personal.
The authors main point was to talk about the details and process of the writing a Autoethnography piece. I viewed it as a writing that warned me on
what to do and what not to do. I learned about the experiences of someone who has written a paper like this, which is going to help me because I will
be going through some of the same experiences. A big question that I have for myself is will I get anxiety as well from some of the questions I am
going to ask my father?...show more content...
The reading defines Anthropology as the multiple connections between individuals and larger histories. It talks about having the anthropologist
inside of us that asks broader more open ended questions. It gave us a short story about Kiki the DEA agent who is used as a symbol for the war
on drugs. The story gives us details on his background and journey. The story then leads us to a story similar to the narrator's uncle Xavier who was
a deputy. This reading gives us an insight of the situations that some people into get themselves into. He uses his own life experiences as well as well
as his family's experiences to do

Michaela Vance
Professor Tippin
Composition 1 1113
7 December 2017
Autoethnography of a First Generation College Student
Introduction
How does the American dream specifically relate to the various subcultures you are a part of? Broadly the definition of the American Dream
according to "American Dream" is, "the ideals of freedom, equality, and opportunity traditionally held to be available to every American" ("American
Dream"). While this explains the American Dream as a whole, when you begin to examine different subcultures the definition may change from group
to group. While obtaining wealth might be important for someone who wants to become a CEO, an artist might believe the American Dream entails
adding creativity to the world. Different values are important to different people. In addition to this, a lot of the time people believe that the American
Dream only applies to people of different minorities or people from different countries. However, every American or hopeful American is a part of a
specific subculture unique to them, and can have an interpretation of the American Dream. For example, I am a first time college student. That is why I
chose to perform an autoethnography over this subculture, and how the American Dream relates to it. Growing up I had to make sure I worked
extra hard in order to prepare myself for college, because I never really had a parental example of what exact steps to take. However, my parents always
stressed the importance of a college education, and how important it was to become successful later on in life. Their influence, along with other
teachers and mentors of my childhood, helped shape my perception of the American Dream. Now, I am about to start living in the American Dream
for the first generation college student, and that is why I felt it fitting to discuss what living that Dream means to me as well as the subculture as a
whole. The American Dream for a first generation college student is best represented by securing support to stay in college, graduating and obtaining a
degree, and opening up opportunities to make life easier in various ways in the future.
Finding Support to Graduate
It is harder for a first time generation college student to obtain

Autoethnography
Autoethnography Outline 1. I am a Christian and a kindness shown me by one Muslim girl, Salamatu, changed my perspective on Islam as a whole.
2. Before I encountered her, I had reservations about mingling with any Muslim because I was scared of them; I thought they were all involved with
terrorists somehow. I also thought and strongly believed that their faith was wrong. As an educated person, I felt really embarrassed admitting my
ideology about Muslims because it made me feel shallow minded. 3. On the morning my car broke down, I walked past her in the apartment complex
without greeting her, I always did that. She found me stranded on the freeway, and insisted she helped me. 4. When she offered her help I refused...show
more content...
Help that I needed very badly. "Yes...thank you. That would be great!"Joe retorted, before I could even say jack. "No!...no we are good" I refused.
"uuh...no we're not!" Joe yelled at my face. I suggested she go ahead with my brother and gave a flimsy excuse of me not being able to leave my
car by the road, and then she hit me with a bigger surprise than what I had when she pulled over. "I can have it towed for, even though I have a
membership with AAA I never use it" she said. Now that was an offer I could not refuse even if I wanted to, so I reluctantly, yet gladly accepted.
What seemed to be the beginning of a gloomy day for me turned into a spring on a winter day.That was the start of a beautiful friendship, after the
incident she became my friend. This allowed me to know about Islam and I came to realize that even though we believe in different patriarchs the
teachings of the Quran and the bible are pretty much the same. Again I realized that not everyone who practices Islam is involved with terrorist
activities. She was just a normal college girl like

Social Media Autoethnography
My Autoethnography: Is Social Media Changing Language?
Introduction
From selfie to unfriended, social media is clearly having an impact on our language. As a teenager, growing up in the age of technology, I have
experienced how fast social media has impacted society and how they influence what I write.
The words that we use in everyday technology, influence the words we use. Since we use smartphones, computers, and other technology so much, the
language that we use has evolve to fit the words used on social media. Since the language we use to communicate is more informal than formal
language used in essays and research papers, personal communication is expected to advance very quickly.
Communicating in a New Way
New words and new meanings of other words previously found in the English language have created new ways of communication. Acronyms,
abbreviations, and neologisms have changed to fit the new technological world. All of these uses of informal language are used in today's
technological society, in what is known as "textspeak"." Textspeak" was created with the development of new technologies to speed up the time it
takes to have a real conversation. Other forms of social media we use have also limited the amount of words that you can put in an internet post. Twitter,
has a limit of only 140 character per...show more content...
Words such as friend, like, status, wall, page, and profile are now new words and have new meanings in the English language to fit in the language of
the new technological age. Other words like troll, sock–puppet no longer have the meanings they used to. Troll, not the fictional character that lives
under the bridge, is now the name of a person who puts offensive media online and sock puppet, not just a puppet made from a sock, is the name of a
fake online account. These new words and meanings are not only used in "textspeak", they are becoming part of the modern English

The Importance Of Autoethnography
What is the best part about any writing? The personal aspects of it? The research? The therapeutic nature of writing exactly how you feel? An
autoethnography incorporates all of those characteristics in a well–developed writing style. According to Ellis, "Autoethnography is an approach to
research and writing that seeks to describe and systematically analyze personal experience in order to understand cultural experience" (Ellis, 2011, p.
1). Most autoethnographers use this type of research as a form of therapeutic writing, whereas most readers enjoy this style of writing because it makes
them feel less "alone" due to similar experiences. Autoethnography's emotional aspects, insights of reflexivity, academic promise, and descriptive
narrative story telling allow for a strong, well thought–out body of text.
The first part of understanding autoethnographies is understanding why people write and read them. By writing an autoethnography, the therapeutic
aspects of getting what you need to say out with pen and paper can be very constructive. Most autoethnographies are a mixture of personal and
academic writing. To be able to research a topic that you experienced and have the research correspond directly with your life is somewhat
enlightening. "We write to make sense of ourselves and our experiences, purge our burdens, and question canonical stories" (Ellis, 2011, section 4.2).
The actual act of writing allows autoethnographers to grasp what has happened to them. In doing so we

Autoethnography
Autoethnography Who am I as an effective teacher? I consider myself an effective educator, always getting things turned in on time and in the right
way. I think being able to do that will make a teacher effective. Back in grade school, and high school there were certain teachers who were fun and
who we loved but they didn't make us learn and then there were teachers who made us do our work that we really didn't like. Now that I've been learning
and seeing from the perspective of my teachers the ones who were fun didn't do anything for us. I want to be an effective teacher the students will
learn from and also be fun and the teacher they look up to. I want to make learning fun for my students. I have always been a people person. What are
my differences? I grew up in a small town not knowing everything that happens in the big cities and the major issues that go with that. In a way that is
my biggest difference. I don't know much about the "city life". Hearing about things that happen in those bigger places just shock me. In my future
...show more content...
Diversity is often noticed for its range of options of meaning and the actually use of the word many people often miss understand the true meaning
of the word itself. Race is one of the biggest ones. Race has a different impacts in different places all around, in some schools people may not care
about the color of one's skin and then others think it's a disgrace to have people of that color around their kids. I grew up in a very small town
didn't really think about my classmates being different colored but in the bigger towns it may be a huge deal. Gender sometimes is segregated saying
girls are smarter and boys are better at sports and all types of things. Socioeconomic status is what most people think of when they think of diversity.
Being in the lower socioeconomic class people tend to think they are not as smart. In the higher socioeconomic class they have more resources to learn
and better places to

Autoethnography Essay
I was born into a family that has been practising lacto–vegetarianism for generations and later chose to continue that lifestyle. Through this
autoethnography, I would like to explain more about vegetarianism and its benefits and how it can make us feel good about ourselves. My intended
audience for this essay is anyone who is open to learning more about different lifestyles.
Note: For the purpose of this essay, vegetarians are people who do not eat meat, fish or egg. They consume milk products, plants and plant products.
.....................
My earliest memory of food is lentils and rice cooked in a pressure cooker. Lentils were cooked at least three days a week. Other days we had
different vegetable curries, curd and more rice. This was what I took to school as my lunch every day. As I grew older and started caring more about
my social life and people around me, I started noticing what my classmates brought for lunch from their homes. I started understanding how food
reflected different cultures and communities. One day, in our...show more content...
We researched extensively about food and how it is researching our plates. It was while doing this that I read more and more discussions onveganism
and vegetarianism. While I found veganism very appealing ethics–wise I realised I couldn't actually implement it. The vegan substitutes were very
costly and rarely available where I lived. The only real problem I had with vegetarianism was dairy farms and how they treated the animals. So, I
found a simpler solution; Instead of trying to convince my ultra–conservative parents (whom I live with) to change their lifestyles so drastically, I could
simply request them to buy the milk we need from local farmers who were known to treat their animals well. This made me feel better about having
milk products and it was a step forward to making my life as violence free as

Action Research and Autoethnography
Literature Review: Autoethnography and Action Research
Introduction
Within this literature review two emerging research methodologies will be discussed: Action research and autoethnography. Each of these
methodologies has their own purposes, powers and strengths and both differ from other traditional forms of academic research. To gain an
understanding of these methodologies, 16 pieces of empirical research have been used. Although two articles are dated back to the 1990s, the majority
of research is from the 2000s and onward. This review will begin by discussing action research. First, there will be an analysis of the research platform
which will demonstrate the stance, approaches, positioning and history behind this methodology....show more content...
23). This methodology has been characterised as an interactive cycle consisting of identifying problems, diagnosing, developing intervention and
evaluating the outcomes to find what has been achieved and to plan further interventions. In this research, Bargal (2008) highlights the importance of
bringing together action and reflection and theory and practice. It is suggested that action research should be done in participation with others in the
aim of making social change for the betterment of policy and practice.
Although the purposes and characteristics of action research are similar between researchers, criticisms of this methodology lie in the restrictiveness
and 'confusing array' of models (Davis, 2013; Costello, 2011). With a large variety of models, a few examples are given here to show the variation
between each. Costello (2011) refers to an action research model by Denscombe (2007, p.126). This model demonstrates the cyclical process of action
research and includes five components: professional practice, critical reflection, research, strategic planning, and action. The idea of this framework is
that it involves beginning with professional practice and reflecting on this. It is through reflection that there may be an identification of an issue or
problem and it is this issue which requires research. Once an inquiry is completed, the research findings become the starting point for the instigation
and development of an action

Examples Of Autoethnography
The second part of my autoethnography consists of two of the biggest events in my life that shaped me into who I am today. I believe that the ages
from 9 to 14 are also the times that I started to develop my personality and started to have a sense of who I was, and in the ages from 15 to 18 those
personality traits started to settle down. I learned about PokГ©mon, which is one of the most influential things in my life, when I was around 9 years
old. I learned about PokГ©mon firstly from its anime on TV. For some reason, watching it made me feel really happy. I remember some days when I
woke up at 6am just to watch PokГ©mon. My interest in the PokГ©mon franchise grew stronger with their video games.
My mom knew how much I loved PokГ©mon, so she entered a raffle made by a soda company in Turkey, which rewarded 50 people a NintendoGame
Boy system and a game of PokГ©mon Red to play with that system. Thanks to her luck, she managed to be one of the winners of that raffle. After she
got the gaming system she gave it to me as a new...show more content...
My grandmother, who is the mother of my mom, passed away due to heart failure at the age of 87. Since I was 6 or 7 she had been living in our
house. The reason for that was, my grandfather, that I was named after passed away a year before I was born, so she was alone, and she was
starting to get old. Since she lived with us for so many years, she had been a very important figure in my life. I can honestly say that she was like a
3rd parent for me, and losing her, made me fell horrible and helpless. I witnessed how real death is because of her passing. Combined with puberty,
my grief caused me to become depressed for a long time. As I'm looking back it sounds really extreme, but there were some days that I did not even
leave the bed thinking that there was no point to our existence. Thanks to some psychological counselling however, I was able to overcome that mental

Use Of An Autoethnography For My Research Method
Methods
I chose to use an autoethnography for my research method, as I will be reflecting on my own experiences, as well as my family's, in dealing with
drug abuse, which will be provided in narrative form. In this narrative, I will observe how the lack of communication about available resources within
the community negatively impacted my family, and how it impacts other families in the Mid–South. I will be making evaluative and reformist claims,
as I will be evaluating the value of the communications available about resources, as well as providing information about how the lack of
communication of available resources has had not only a negative impact on my family, but on other families who have been affected by drug abuse.
The data I...show more content...
The counselor was asked basically the same information, but was able to provide a broader opinion as he has dealt with a number of addicts, and not
just my brother. My brother was asked what could have been done as far as communications to have helped him avoid opiate abuse.
Measures
The narrative will provide my insight and opinion on the availability of communications on drug abuse and resources in the mid–south. A gatekeeper is
not required as I am right in the middle of the community, and can provide internal insight into the problems and issues. I will also be conducting
informal interviews with my parents and a counselor who has worked with my brother to get their perspective on the lack of communication about
available resources. In my research, I kept notes on the conversations and relied heavily on past experiences using reflexivity and past situations to help
with the content of this paper. In organizing my notes, I reviewed them thoroughly to ensure I addressed each of my research questions, and have
enough information to provide a strong argument or proposal.
Procedures
The participants, who are myself, my brother, my parents and the counselor, participated in this research study in a variety of ways. I used reflexivity
in providing my own

Reflection On Autoethnography
Autoethnography means a way for me to provide meaning of my experiences at a in–depth level and "opportunities to cast a critical eye on aspects of
own practice" (Lambrek, 2005, p. 230). As I looked into the research paper which used autoethnography as method people expressed that it offered
them a way to expand their knowledge, to achieve reflective insights that would not have happened through other methods of research. During
(2009) L. Alwin stated that autoethnography enabled him to "get at another, deeper, level of learning that is, to get at a wholeness, a synthesis of
my life lived (self) and my profession field (culture)" (p. 62). By going through the process of writing my stories using personal informations, and
describing emotions and events, I am better able to send myself back to those experiences. By doing so, I got to have a better analysis of myself
within the social, cultural, institutional and interpersonal context in which they happened as well as consider how they relate to other experiences in
my personal life (Young and Meneley, 2005). Since one of my goals in this thesis is to become a better person...show more content...
It is a qualitative approach to research which offers researcher an opportunity to come to understandings about experiences, either personally or
professionally. Reflexive relationship between living, telling, retelling and reliving of life stories is the primary key to the narrative inquiry process
(Clandinin & Connelly, 2000, p. 71). In order to unveil meaning among our past and present experiences and use these understandings to develop,
improve, grow in the future we need to do more than tell our stories, we must retell them. It is in the retelling and rewriting of experiences that
understandings are uncovered, new theorectical understandings transpire, and that we begin to transform ourselves and see new possibilities for
practice (Clandinin & Huber, 2010; Conneclly & Clandinin,

Dr. Pupchek's Autoethnography Career
Focusing on one subject for 8 months is a lot and I can understand why the topic has to be something I'm passionate about otherwise the project will be
daunting. That being said my time here at Queens University, I have taken courses I loved and courses I didn't love so much. Over the last two years I
found myself looking for capstone ideas everywhere because I knew this day would come but there was nothing I seemed passionate enough about until
last spring in Dr. Pupchek's Autoethnography course. Every person in the world has a relationship with someone else and I want to look at how we
communicate with each other through 3 types of relationships: Father/ Daughter, Granddaughter/ Grandfather and romantic relationships. I'm interested
in studying

Autoethnography of Culture and Diversity
Personal assumptions and beliefs regarding ethnicity, culture, and diversity were influenced by my father, mother, and their ancestors. Consequently,
this paper will evaluate my personal assumptions and beliefs regarding my culture and diversity and how these factors influence how I view myself
and others. Furthermore, these personal assumptions and beliefs will be explored when dealing with a specific population group. Lastly, an assessment
and plan of care for specific individuals, groups, and communities, using appropriate epidemiological principles will be presented.
Assessment
My personal assumptions and beliefs regarding ethnicity, culture, and religious background was influenced by my father, mother, and their ancestors.
For example, my mother's and father's ancestors, my great, great grandparents emigrated...show more content...
Dr. James Worrell, MD, now retired from the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics pointed to where the myelin sheath of the nerve cells in the
brain were damaged. This damage disrupts the ability of the nervous system to communicate which would explain the facial dropping, numbness, and
stroke–like symptoms I was experiencing after the annual influenza vaccine I received at my workplace.
However, the day was a long one as I shared my medical history, an episode of blurry vision about a year earlier that had resolved within two days. Of
course, I sought an eye exam from an ophthalmologist at the time but he described most likely I had a virus as the blurry vision resolved so quickly but
multiple sclerosis was a possibility. More than a year had passed since I had thought of that blurry vision episode and Dr. Worrell did his best to
describe treatment options and their attempts to improve function after an attack and prevent new attacks.
Plan of

Similarities And Disadvantages Of Autoethnography
Autoethnography is a relatively new method in qualitative research. Therefore, there are still several different terms used in literature describing
mostly the same approach. Personal narrative, lived experience, critical autobiography, evocative narrative, reflexive ethnography, or ethnographic
autobiography are examples of the variety to describe this approach (Ellis et al. 2011). Nevertheless, Autoethnography seems to evolve as the common
term for naming studies of this new kind. Their characteristics, the (dis)similarities with known research methods and the overall approach will be
explained in the following.
The studies in the field of Autoethnography have their roots in popular ethnographic studies. Here, Ethnographers study the life and the world of
social or cultural groups by joining them and closely observing them. The goal is to understand their common values and beliefs (Ellis et al. 2011).
Their findings are then evaluated, analyzed and made public in order to create a better and joined understanding for insiders as well as
outsiders(Duncan 2004; Ellis et al. 2011). This is possible when ethnographers become part of the group they are examining, observe as closely as
possible and take field notes of important actions and events....show more content...
But, because you yourself are the source of data, you already are an insider concerning the social phenomena under study. Hence, the researcher in
Autoethnography is a complete member of the social world. There are two different types of researchers who are both complete members of a social
world. On the one hand, 'opportunistic' researchers are either born into a group, thrown into it or have gained deeper experience through close
participation, whereas on the other hand 'convert' researchers start with an interest in a certain group and work their way in thorough data analysis with
the clear goal of doing research within and about that group (Anderson

Autoethnography Research Paper

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Autoethnography Research Paper