Ethnography Reflection In my opinion, this last major project was designed to see if we as students had retained any information

for the semester. While doing this project I noticed a change in the way I wrote, and the way that I went about my thought process. I looked past the literal and analyzed what I was really searching for. It is easy to say that poetry utilizes literacy, because poetry itself is written. That is why I chose to do spoken word poetry and explore the possibility of an alternative way that they used reading, writing, and literacy. I probably learned the most from this assignment. I went on site to learn about my sub-culture, and I even got to be a part of the brainstorming process with the members of the organization. The moment of impact of this project was when I was interviewing one of the members and I had an epiphany. I realized that everything that I come in contact with on the daily basis has some sort of resonance with literacy. Even the things that arent obvious, like the air that we breather to the bed that we sleep in. Texts can be anything, even if there arent any words on it at all. In the case of poetry, literacy is used in obvious way, but in subtle way too. They used devices among one another to communicate, like the slang that they use. They snap to communicate their gratification for the performance, and they read the audience for feedback. I now look at everything in this way. Reading, writing, and literature are used in ways that I do not always recognize.