Reading/Writing Skills
This writing technique involves writing one's own thoughts without stopping to get as many ideas on the page as possible, not paying attention to how the writing sounds because no one else will have to read it.
What is freewriting? (Also acceptable: What is a focused write?)
This sentence is concise, specific, debatable, and advances the argument of the essay.
What is the thesis statement?
This is a firsthand account of something. It could be an original document from the time period of study, such as a diary entry, photograph, or artifact. It could also be a personal interview.
What is a primary source?
These are the four types of field sites you are allowed to use for Essay 3.
What are public parks, public libraries, food-related spaces (e.g., restaurants, cafés), and college campuses?
This reading tells the story of a student who went to a prestigious university but felt that his earlier experiences with education did not prepare him to succeed.
What is "I Went to Some of D.C.'s Best Schools. I Was Still Unprepared for College." by Darryl Robinson?
This reading technique involves reading texts quickly to get the overall idea. Readers might do this first to preview a passage before reading carefully.
What is skimming?
This sentence provides a reason that the main argument of an essay is true.
What is a topic sentence?
This is scholars' interpretation of information and knowledge that have already existed. These scholars were not present at the events or alive during the time periods they are studying.
What is a secondary source?
The professor used this as an example field site for the cultural ethnography thesis activity ("Creating a Focus and an Argument").
What is Maria Hernandez Park?
This reading tells the story of a talented student who was often misunderstood and mistreated by teachers due to a learning disability.
What is "On Being 17, Bright, and Unable to Read" by David Raymond?
This writing technique concerns introducing pieces of evidence by providing some context, including the evidence itself, and explaining how that evidence connects to one's thesis statement.
What is the quote sandwich?
This is always the last page of your document when writing almost any English essay.
What is the works cited page?
This is a record of population statistics that provides information such as median family income, percentage of men and women, percentage with higher education degrees, etc.
What is the census?
This is when a person visits a space and carefully notices the types of people there and the physical features that characterize the space.
What is observation? (Also acceptable: What is taking field notes?)
This reading describes two opposing viewpoints on education, arguing that a student-centered model is more beneficial than one where students are passive depositories of the teacher's knowledge.
What is "The Banking Concept of Education" by Paulo Freire?
This writing technique involves planning the structure of an essay before writing it. It can include a working thesis statement, topic sentences, and evidence.
What is an outline?
This is a small but important part of a sentence that will protect your essay from unintentional plagiarism.
What is an in-text citation?
This is a one-paragraph summary that is published with a research article describing its main findings and overall conclusions.
What is an abstract?
This is the tone that a cultural ethnographer should have when writing their essay. This tone reports on a field site; its primary purpose is to provide information about what was observed.
What is objective? (Also acceptable: What is neutral or unbiased?)
What is "One Voice" by Susan Madera?
This reading technique uses marks, such as symbols, underlining, and highlighting, as well as marginal notes, to help a reader understand a text.
What is annotation?
This is a section of an essay that fully explains one reason that its main argument is true.
What is a body paragraph?
This is the name of the academic database (not the one belonging to our school) that we learned about during the research workshop.
What is EBSCOhost? (Also acceptable: What is Academic Search Complete?)
This is the type of writer that a cultural ethnographer is NOT supposed to sound like. They express their opinion about a certain place and may end up sounding like they work there (especially if the place is a restaurant).
What is a reviewer? (Also acceptable: What is a critic?)
This reading takes place at a highway rest stop. It features interviews and descriptions that educate how the community at this rest stop represents a larger trucking culture in America.
What is "Friday Night at Iowa 80" by Rick Zollo?