HOW TO READ / VIEW ETHNOGRAPHY, ETHNOLOGY, DOCUMENTARY,

TEXTBOOK AND OTHER ANTHROPOLOGICAL TEXTS

The following is a list of questions to help you as you read/view texts for
Introduction to Anthropology. Take notes as you go to be sure that you know
the answers to each question. You may want to copy these questions into a
template and use them as a worksheet for each reading/film. Bring notes to
class and add lecture notes underneath. To help me calculate class
participation, I will periodically collect your reading/film notes.
1. What is the title and chapter/section of the book/article/film? Who is the author/director?
Do internet research for details on author/director biography. Why did s/he do this study?
Take notes and be prepared to discuss in class.
2. What is/are the ethnographic setting(s) (which part of the world)? BE SPECIFIC. When was
fieldwork conducted and the book published/film produced (years)? When taking notes on
the textbook, identify all major cultures cited as examples and, when cited in the textbook,
also list ethnographer and year of publication.
3. Which society/group(s) is/are being studied? What type of society is it (form of
subsistence/political organization, identity-based subculture [ethnicity/race, class, age,
gender, sexuality] within a bigger culture, topically-based subculture [e.g. sorcerers, miners,
weavers] etc.). There may be multiple answers to this question. When taking notes on the
textbook, identify all major groups cited as examples in this chapter.
4. What is the topic and/or main ethnographic problem? What did the researcher set out to
study? Give quotations or summarize relevant parts of text and cite page numbers; for films,
describe scene or quote dialogue. For textbook, answer this only for the main author,
Kenneth Guest in your notes on Chapter 1. For all other chapters, list main topics associated
with of each culture listed in questions 2 and 3.
5. What research methods are used to study the issue (i.e. survey, interview, life history,
participant-observation, historical research, sketching, photography, audiorecording,
videography, community action research, comparative ethnology)? Summarize and cite page
numbers or sections of the film. Answer this only for articles, excerpts and documentaries,
not textbook.
6. Who are the major ethnographic characters/key informants/main research participants in this
section? If a film, spell names as best you can. How does each person contribute to the
understanding of culture? Give examples/quotations and cite page numbers. For films,
describe scenes with each major character. Answer this only for ethnography, ethnology and
documentary selections not textbook.
7. What key aspects of culture are discussed in this chapter/section of the film? (i.e. subsistence
patterns, economics, politics, kinship, gender/sexuality, race, religion, health, art/expressive
culture, migration, globalization, etc.). What conclusions does the ethnographer draw about
the topic? Cite examples/quotations and note page numbers. For films, describe the scene in
detail. Answer this for all works, although for textbook it will overlap somewhat with
question 1.
8. What cultural traditions are documented? How are they changing? What social problems,
conflicts or influences are shown? How to they impact the life ways and traditions of these
people? How, if at all, is the conflict resolved? For articles and excerpts
examples/quotations and note page numbers. For films, describe the scene in detail. When

taking notes on the textbook, identify all major groups cited as examples in this chapter.
OPTIONAL
9. What is the theoretical framework of this work? Which other writers, theories, ideas or
debates does the ethnographer address? Give examples/quotations and note page numbers or
write descriptions and identify sections of the film.
10. What is the tone of the work? Familiar, authoritative, poetic, political, philosophical,
humorous? One work may use several different registers or writing styles. Give
examples/quotations and cite page numbers; or films, describe a scene or quote narration.
Answer this only for ethnography, ethnology and documentary selections not textbook.
11. What questions, observations or opinions do you have about what you have read/seen for
today? How does it compare to other works that we have read/seen this term?