Cllve Carden

uescrlpLlon of locaLlon: When you walk Lhrough Lhe large double doors you are ln a spaclous walLlng
area wlLh couches. 8eyond Lhe hosL ls a room wlLh a square bar ln Lhe mlddle wlLh sLools all around.
1here are also some Lables along Lhe wall. When you walk Lo your seaLs you pass Lhe resLrooms and a
small offlce area. Cnce ln Lhe seaLlng are Lhere are abouL flfLeen Lables or more ln each secLlon of Lhe
resLauranL. Lach Lable has sllverware, cenLerpleces, and wlne glasses. 1he whole resLauranL ls decoraLed
wlLh an lLallan Lheme Lo maLch Lhe culslne. All Lhe employees are wearlng whlLe collared shlrLs wlLh Lles
and black panLs. Also black aprons and name Lags.


llgure Worlds: An envlronmenL dlsLlngulshed by lLs expecLed acLlons and parLlclpanLs.

8ules and convenLlons:

1hls flgured world ls a resLauranL and follows Lhe same rules and convenLlons as mosL. All age groups
are accepLable, small chlldren are usually ln hlghchalrs. lamllles wlLh bables are common as well, when
bables cry Lhough lL ls expecLed Lo end qulckly or for Lhe baby Lo be Laken ouLslde. Church groups,
famllles, frlends, coworkers, couples are all expecLed guesLs of Lhe resLauranL. 8lrLhday dlnners are a
regular, Lhese parLles almosL always order desserL and slng happy blrLhday. When people declde Lo eaL
aL Cllve Carden Lhey can elLher show up or make reservaLlons. 8eservaLlons are done aL dlnner Llme
especlally on Lhe weekends. When cusLomers [usL walk ln aL busy Llmes lL ls expecLed Lo walL anywhere
from Len Lo forLy flve mlnuLes. Lmployees of Lhe esLabllshmenL are expecLed Lo be prompL, helpful, and
pollLe. 1hey Lry Lo make each and every cusLomer happy by fulfllllng each requesL. CusLomers are also
expecLed Lo be pollLe and respecLful Lo Lhelr servers. 8efllls, exLra sauce, and Lo go boxes are Lyplcal
Lhlngs Lo ask from your server. 1he resLauranL ls large and Lhere ls consLanL nolse from Lhe klLchen and
cusLomers Lalklng buL people do Lake noLlce Lo Lables LhaL are unusually louder Lhan oLhers. Cllve
Carden ls casual dlnlng buL wearlng pa[amas or someLhlng slmllar would be frowned upon. Also no
anlmals are allowed. Servers are all expecLed Lo acL professlonal lf Lhere ls Lenslon beLween Lhem or
from Lhe back lL ls noL Lo be shown. lL would noL be normal Lo see servers argue ln fronL of cusLomers


AcLors: ln a flgured world acLors are lndlvlduals LhaL have Lhe same purpose. 1hey all conLrlbuLe Lo Lhe
funcLlonlng of Lhe flgured world.



PosLs: 8esponslblllLles lnclude greeLlng cusLomers. 1hey are ln charge of seaLlng, brlnglng menus,
and handllng reservaLlons.



Servers: 1hey are Lhe maln operaLors of Lhe resLauranL. 1hey have Lhe mosL lnLeracLlon wlLh Lables.
1hey are responslble for servlng and fulfllllng every requesL from Lhelr cusLomers. 1hey place orders and
dellver all food and drlnks. Servers also deal wlLh complalnLs.



desktop support 10/31/13 8:12 AM
Comment [1]: Good start to this
assignment. Your descriptions of the
Bartlett and Holland concepts such as
artifacts, actors, and discourse
communities are really well developed and
you provided excellent explanations as to
why things fell into certain categories. In
revision, I want you to work on the
following:
I would like you to develop your
observation details more. This may
require you to conduct more
observations so that you can fill in these
gaps. Here are some questions I would
like for you to answer throughout your
three observations so that you can flesh
out the details a bit more:
Approximately how many people
were seated in the Olive
Garden? How many people were
sitting the bar? The middle and outer
sections?
Approximately how many servers
were working during the time
periods? How many greeters? Were
there any managers working the
floor?
Describe the make up of the people
in the Olive Garden. Did it appear that
there were a number of
families? Couples? Friends?
What was the age range of the
general population?
Account for the pacing of the
seating. You mentioned in one of
your observations that there weren't
many customers, but the seating
process took a lot longer. Explain
why you think this is so.
Discuss yourself as an actor in this
figured world. How does your
participation effect your observations?
Specific captions with the pictures
would also be helpful. Why are these
pictures important to your observations?
Create a map of the Olive Garden you
observed. This will be really useful
when mapping out where groups are
seated/specifc artifacts are located.

Managers: noL seen as frequenLly as servers. 1hey vlslL each Lable perlodlcally Lo check on every
Lables dlnlng experlence. MosL of Lhelr responslblllLles are behlnd Lhe scenes. 1hey manage employees,
schedules, shlpmenLs, eLc.



CusLomers: 1he purpose of Lhe flgured world. CusLomers come ln all for Lhe same reason. 1he
cusLomers of Cllve Carden are of all ages and have dlfferenL relaLlonshlps Lo each oLher. lamllles,
couples, frlends all come Lo Lhe resLauranL Lo eaL.



ArLlfacLs: 1hese are lmporLanL lLems and ldeas ln Lhe flgured world, usually shared wlLhln each group of
acLors.



Menus: Menus are an lLem shared among all acLors of Lhe flgured world and supply Lhe lnformaLlon
needed Lo keep Lhe flgured work ln moLlon. 1he menu ls lmporLanL because lL ls llke a snap shoL of Lhe
whole resLauranL ln fronL of Lhe cusLomer. 1he menu provldes Lhe flrsL lmpresslon.



nameLags: An arLlfacL LhaL ls vlLal Lo Lhe relaLlonshlps among Lhe flgured world ls nameLags. 8y
lnLroduclng Lhemselves and dlsplaylng Lhelr names Lhe servers connecL Lo Lhe cusLomers and provlde a
comforLable experlence.



ulscourse communlLles: lndlvlduals wlLhln Lhe flgured world LhaL are grouped LogeLher because of Lhelr
common purpose and lnLeresL.



Lmployees: All Lhe employees wheLher ln managemenL or noL, all employees share Lhe same
lnLeresL, Lo please cusLomers and keep Lhe resLauranL runnlng smooLhly.



CusLomers: WheLher Lhey are slLLlng LogeLher or noL every cusLomer comes Lo eaL and en[oy Lhe
envlronmenL of Lhe resLauranL. 1hey lnLeracL wlLh Lhe employees ln a pollLe way. Small Lalk among Lhese
Lwo dlscourse communlLles ls normal and expecLed.




lndlvldual Lables: WlLhln Lhe dlscourse communlLy of cusLomers each parLy of people seaLed
LogeLher ls Lhelr own dlscourse communlLy. 1hey have a closer relaLlonshlp and communlcaLe ln a more
personal way. Lach parLy can be compleLely dlfferenL lnvolvlng age, roles ln socleLy, and backgrounds.



CbservaLlon Cne- 1uesday AfLernoon

2:00 SeaLed, very slow aL Lhls Llme of day. noL many oLher Lables of cusLomers.
2:02 lnLroduced Lo our server and ordered drlnks.
2:03 We were broughL our drlnks and ordered our food. Servers seem famlllar wlLh each oLher. 1hey
crack [okes and Lalk ln Lhe klLchen area.
2:19 8ecelved food and aLe. Cne Lable near us was havlng a blrLhday lunch wlLh her besL frlends. Servers
are all very pollLe and helpful Lo Lhelr Lables.
2:33 CoL checks and Lo go boxes.
2:38 Slgned checks and lefL. We were Lold Lo have a nlce day from mulLlple employees on our way ouL.

CbservaLlon 1wo- lrlday nlghL

8:30 Arrlved and Lhere was already mulLlple people walLlng ln Lhe walLlng area
Pad a 20 mlnuLe walL
8:43 SeaLed. 1here are a loL more people Lhan lasL Llme l vlslLed. 1he servers were runnlng around and
seemed rushed.
8:47 meL our server and placed drlnk orders.
8:31 goL drlnks and placed orders.
8:33 heard a loud crashlng nolse. Server walklng from Lhe klLchen dropped a Lray of food.
9:03 8aby ln Lhe booLh behlnd us sLarLed crylng
9:14 8ecelved food
9:22 Large Lable ln Lhe back celebraLed a Leenage glrls blrLhday wlLh Lhe blrLhday song and desserL.
9:40 CoL checks and Lo go boxes

CbservaLlon 1hree- Wednesday nlghL

6:00 Much less busy Lhan lrlday nlghL, seaLed rlghL away along wlLh oLher cusLomers
6:02 MeL server as usual and goL drlnks
6:03 Servers are much qulcker runnlng errands slnce lL ls less crowded. Also Lhere are fewer servers Lhan
lrlday.
6:19 CoL food
6:34 CoL checks and lefL

lnLervlew
WhaL do you en[oy mosL abouL your [ob?
Maklng cusLomers happy and also seelng all my coworkers when l come ln Lo work, we are llke a
famlly."
WhaL do you llke leasL abouL your [ob?
Speaklng of coworkers, someLlmes Lhey can Lalk Loo much and are a blL dlsLracLlng. Also when lL geLs
busy lL can be preLLy hard and everyone geLs preLLy Lense"
uo you llke geLLlng pald ln Llps?
?es because l can Lake cash home lmmedlaLely afLer work, aL prevlous [obs l had Lo walL every Lwo
weeks."