Questions about the exam + reminder for due dates

Due dates:  The final research essay + your complete portfolio will be due by the end of class on Thursday.  The final exam is due by the end of class on Monday, December 19.

Questions regarding the exam:

Question: please explain the bolded section of the question:

3. Chapter 3 in Bloome et al presented 4 sample essays, each of which provided an example of a different approach to discourse analysis.  Define and explain each method.  What kind(s) of research questions is each method best suited to?  Which approach is the closest match for the approach you took in your DA essay?   Was that approach the "best" approach to solve the question you posed?  Why or why not?

Different approaches to discourse analysis provide a different "window" on what is happening in the text you analyze.  Because of this, each approach will be able to answer some questions better (or worse) than others.  For example, a focus on word choice and turn taking in terms of cues within the immediate context will tell the researcher about the kind of talk within a particular situation - but the researcher will not necessarily be able to  answer questions about power relations that shaped turn taking without studying larger cultural discourses.


Question: please explain the bolded section of the question.

5.  Define ethnographic research.  What does Alsop identify as the particular usefulness of ethnographic research for English studies?  What is your perspective on the usefulness of ethnographic research for English studies?

First, I am asking what kinds of problems/questions Alsop represents as suited to ethnographic research in English studies.  Then I am asking you to state what you see as the kinds of data/answers/information ethnographic studies can contribute to English studies.  If you recall class discussion, we discussed  more and different uses for ethnographic research in English studies than Alsop lists.  If your list is the same as Alsop's = you might go into more detail or discuss particular questions ethnography is particularly useful (or not)  for answering to answer the second part of the question..