Observation Report --> Food Culture
During the second half of the course, the Food Culture Report describes your observations and the stories of those who sell you food from a local farm, and your experience of sharing that food with others or eating it in solitude. As with the Worship Report, you will again relate your observations to those documented in related course readings. You write for a peer (vs. a specialist) who is unfamiliar with the topic, since half a dozen student observation reports will be assigned as readings for application exercises in Units 2 & 4 and for the final TRA.
Step 3: Final Product (Food Culture Report)
The final step of this assignment is to create some final product--either written (6 pages, but up to 8 allowed if mostly dialogue) or some combination illustration and writing (3-4 pages of drawing integrated with text OR a single detailed illustration with 1-2 pages commentary)--that is based on the deep analysis and reflection stimulated by the FCW and its review. Your paper should include the same three things addressed in the FCW:
A. a vivid description of what you and other participants did as part of the meal(s), including remembering or telling stories of how the food was grown and at least one photo or sketch, highlighting thoughts & feelings about the sacred that this practice spontaneously inspired, based on your self-observation and informal conversation with others.
B. focused description of thoughts & feelings about the sacred that you & other participants intentionally cultivate before, during & after the meal(s), again based on your self-observation and informal conversation with others.
C. precise description of what you thought about & felt as an observer (if you ate with others), and comparison with practice & reflection mentioned in one assigned primary source (i.e., used for an Application Exercise) from Unit 2 or 3, in response to some similar form of practice
IMPORTANT: you must cite at least three details from one of the primary sources asigned for the relevant Application Exercise.
These three points should be integrated by extracting and **expanding on** the most important details from the worksheet, guided by your summary, analysis and planning on the final "Analysis and Planning" page. You may use an alternative sequence or even weave the three points together as long as you make clear what you are doing. Cutting and pasting responses from your worksheet may provide a solid foundation for the final product, but note that those responses WILL MOST LIKELY REQUIRE SUBSTANTIAL REVISION to receive an adequate score.
**View evaluation rubric for this assignments*
Although you may opt for the 3rd person, declarative prose of a standard academic paper or a letter to a friend, I encourage you to consider other options, including but not limited to:
--> visuals
- slides with detailed commentary and analysis
- sketches, illustrations with text, or a comic strip
NOTE: visuals should consider at least 3 different perspectives on the worship space, including outside and inside.
--> fiction narrative
- a person from one of the assigned sources visits the site you observed
- your imaginary visit to an Indian locale described in one of the assiged sources, based on what you observed during your actual visit
**View samples below for**
[TBA]
CAUTION: These examples are from the previous version of this class, which did not require an interview or comparison to a ritual or custom from an ethnographic reading. Information about reflection from the interview and passages from the ethnography would need to be added for the assignment as presented in this class.