Autoethnography

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Assignment by Rhiannon Scharnhorst, Bedford New Scholar 2021

Introduction
auto = self (you)

ethnography = “in the field” methodology of studying human culture, initially developed by
anthropologists

autoethnography = “an approach to research and writing that seeks to describe and
systematically analyze (graphy) personal experience (auto) in order to understand cultural
experience (ethno)” (Ellis, Adams, Bochner, “Autoethnography: an overview.” Historical Social
Research, 36.4, 2011).

Our first foray into studying writing in this course is the autoethnography assignment, where you
will study your own writing processes to develop and write an essay. You will complete this
assignment by gathering primary data about your process via screen capture, voice recording,
document analysis, and field notes. You will develop a coding system for your data, which you
will use to organize your analysis for the autoethnography.

Goals

Your goal is to examine your own writing habits by identifying important patterns and aspects,
analyzing those elements in light of the following questions:

• What do my writing processes look like?
• How well do those processes work for me?
• Where do these processes come from?
• How might my processes change from task to task?

Readings

• Sondra Perl, “The Composing Processes of Unskilled College Writers.”
• Sondra Perl, “Understanding Composing.”
• Donald Murray, “All Writing is Autobiography.”
• Selected essays from This Bridge Called My Back
• Whitney Brown, “Self-Evaluation of My Writing Process Portrayed in Freshman
  Composition.”
• Kerry Dirk, “Navigating Genres.”
• Toby Fulwiler, “Looking and Listening for My Voice.”
• E. Shelley Reid, “Ten Ways to Think About Writing.”
• Other essays as needed

Requirements

A minimum of three writing sessions while recording your screen 

At least one think-aloud protocol and transcript

Other documents/field notes as gathered

Coding document

A rough draft of the autoethnography for peer review

A grading draft of the autoethnography

Total word count for graded draft: 1050–1750 words (approx. 4–5 pages, double-spaced), MLA
format

Additional Context

Once you have gathered your primary data, you will read through it carefully to look for patterns
in your writing processes. You will develop your own coding system to systematically organize
your data, and from there will develop a focused autoethnographic essay that explores your
writing process and its influences. You might keep the following questions in mind as you
develop your coding system.

• What kinds of rituals do I engage in pre/during/post-writing?
  
• How do I begin writing? How do I make decisions about the writing task? How do I stop
  writing?
  
• How do I revise (if I revise at all?)
  
• What are my primary concerns while writing (i.e. grammar, syntax, organization,
  grades)?
  
• How did I talk about myself as a writer?
  
• Where did I run into problems? Conversely, where/when did the writing “flow”?
  
• How do different writing tasks look, i.e. what changes when I write in different genres?

Sample Informal Writing Questions

• This semester we are going to investigate how we write, where and why we write, and
  what writing does for us as social beings. To start, I thought it would be nice to share
  "selfies" of our own writing spaces. Post a picture or drawing if you are comfortable with
  that, and write a short blurb describing your space in specifics. I'll share an image of my
  space below; as you will notice, it's very messy! I most often write at my kitchen table on
  my laptop, and there are always papers, pens, books, random cups of coffee, and other
  detritus surrounding me (be thankful you can't see the floor in this image!).
  
• Look at your development as a writer and reader over time and discuss how you define
  “good writing.” You might consider people, books, school, life experiences, etc. that have
  played an important role in developing your understanding of writing practice. You could
  also consider examples of what you view as poor writing. Be sure to support your claims
  through examples and clear explanations.
  
• For this week's experiment you are going to need an uninterrupted 45 minutes for this to
  work. You will be listening to a recorded audio of Sondra Perl's Composing Guidelines
  for felt sense. I have created the track out of what I would normally play in class,
  including splicing in the silent pauses for writing time. So, all you need to do is ready
  yourself for some writing: decide whether you want to type/write by hand, prep your
  space for an uninterrupted flow, and hit play! Feel free to write about anything during the
  experiment. https://soundcloud.com/user-247350874/felt-sense-45-min
• What comes to mind when you think of the word “writer?” In a short narrative essay,
  write a scene that features a writer. Think about how the reader will know the character,
  what you consider the defining features of a “writer,” and anything else that you deem
  important to understanding the “writer.”
• Describe a time you really enjoyed writing. Try to capture the senses of that moment,
  describing them in detail for your reader. Then, describe a time you really hated writing.
  Draw on your senses again to describe what was happening in that moment.

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