A writing piece from my communications class here at UCSD! Here is the prompt if interested! In the course thus far, we have been learning about different theories and case studies that help us understand how people practice communication in their everyday lives in accordance or in opposition to the structures, ideologies, and norms that attempt to regulate communication. For this assignment, you will be tasked with choosing a case study that is interesting to you, and then analyzing it through the use of course materials.
First, you will decide on a particular communicative practice that you are interested in gaining a better understanding of. Some examples might include: talking in Spanglish, texting with an Android, social media influencers’ posts, political speeches, protest slogans, etc.
Second, choose a specific person or community you’re interested in exploring and that you are able to observe in some sort of systematic way. For example, are you thinking about how Latines talk in Spanglish, or how a particular influencer constructs their gender identity, or how CNN frames the war in the Middle East?
Third, choose a specific communicative context in which you still observe how that person/community engages in that communicative practice. So, are you thinking about how Latines speak Spanglish on UCSD’s campus, or on Instagram stories, or at home? Are you thinking about CNN’s headlines, or their interviews with Middle Eastern guests, or their tweets?
Fourth, observe the practice, person/community, and context in action. This should include at least one hour of participant observation, but it may also include other methods like interviews or focus groups if it makes sense for your case study. Your observations make up the juice of this assignment; you can think of it as a mini data corpus. You will turn in your observation notes / corpus in addition to your analysis paper.
Fifth, you will write an analysis paper that includes all the components listed below.
1. A descriptive (and ideally catchy!) title
2. An introduction that has three parts: a. an opening vignette/story that presents the context and key points about the case study you’re choosing to analyze; b. A statement that summarizes the main argument of your analysis. c. A positionality statement that situates your interest in the case study
3. A data analysis that includes between 3-4 specific examples from your data set. a. You should describe each example with your words, and also paste the excerpt, screenshot, etc. of the example that you are analyzing. b. After you describe, you should pick certain aspects of each example and analyze their relevance to your broader argument. c. Within your analysis section, you should cite at least 3 pieces from Units 1 and 2.
4. A brief, concluding paragraph that brings the vignette from the intro full circle and poses some questions that remain about your analysis.
5. A works cited list Your paper should be 700-750 words in length.
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