Observation Report
The observation report describes your observations and one interview among members of a local Hindu community during one of the annual celebrations, recorded at a local worship site, and relates these to the observations of other ethnographers who have observed the same celebration in India. You write as if you were articulating your thoughts not just for your own reflection for the professor to assess, but also to provide explanations for a peer (vs. a specialist) who is unfamiliar with the topic. NOTE: half a dozen student Observation Reports will be assigned as readings for the final TRA and application exercise.
IMPORTANT: you must observe one of the celebrations at one of the times listed under Local Sites, not simply visit the site and talk to people. Although you may at other times have interesting informal interactions with community members there, it will be difficult to tell what they normally do when outsiders are not present based exclusively on such interactions.
Step 3: Final Product
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 ORW and its review. Your paper should include the same three things addressed in the ORW:
A. a vivid description of what people do at the worship site you describe, and what they experience inwardly as they do it
CAUTION: you must explicitly attribute anything that can't be directly observed (i.e., by sight, hearing, feeling, smell or taste) either (i) to yourself (e.g., "It seemed to me that the light of the fire, the rhythmic chanting and the action of pouring ghee into the fire suggested that an invisible presence a was listening and receiving the offering) OR (ii) to someone you spoke with (e.g., Mr. X told me that the fire represents Agni, the god who conveys offerings to all the other gods).
B. direct quotes regarding what worshipers think about before, during & after the practice, and observable evidence of how that reflection influences their practice;
C. precise description of what you thought about & felt as an observer, and textual passages that show the way your observations compared to those of others who observing worship in India.
IMPORTANT: you must cite at least three details from one of the ethnographic sources assigned for the relevant unit.
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**
CAUTION: These examples are from a different 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.