The assignment: It consists in two parts:
1) An observation of Jean-Talon market in Montreal during which you write your data (fieldnotes) in the observation grid provided as part of this assignment. Refer to document titled: Observation in Jean Talon market. No typewritten or audio/video recorded fieldnotes will be accepted.
2) An analysis of the market using as data the fieldnotes you wrote in the observation grid.
Submitting your assignment: You must submit one file, properly identified with your name and ID number. We will not grade anonymous assignments. This file contains:
1) All your handwritten fieldnotes for this assignment must be entered in the observation grid provided (observation in Jean Talon market). Fieldnotes MUST be scanned (any photocopy shop can scan them for you), and handed in with your paper in a separate file.
2) Your paper, i.e. your analysis of the market (between 2000 and 3000 words). Please print the word count at the end of your analysis. If you do the assignment in a team of two, the word count is between 3500 and 4000 words.
The assignment itself
Part 1: Print the observation grid and take it to Jean-Talon market to do your fieldwork and write your fieldnotes. All sections must be filled.
Part 2: Write your paper
The task is to transform your field notes into a text. It has been made easier by the fact that I have organized the fieldwork and observation in Marché Jean Talon around particular themes. You now need to ‘write it up’.
A note on content : All the themes contained in the observation guide must be included in your text. The map of the market, as you have drawn it, must also be included. Pictures are not allowed and must not be submitted.
A note on style : You can opt to write the analysis up in any way you like : a short story ; a letter to a friend ; a mystery novel ; a food writer column ; a tourist guide, a research paper with a thesis you wish to argue, etc. However, the level of language must meet the requirements of an academic exercise: no slang, no spoken word forms (except in a dialogue), and impeccable grammar and spelling!
How to start?
First, you must start by reading your field notes so that you become familiar with the content. Read them more than once; identify the sections that are richer in data (the notes you have taken) and the sections that are weaker. If necessary, go back to the market, and fill in the holes. Identify the sections that you like the best and that may become more central to your text. Not all of us are sensitive to the same things and it may be that you were particularly attracted to the colors of the market that day, or impressed by the diversity of the fruits that were sold, or outraged by the prices!
Choose the style in which you are going to do the writing up. This will inform the structure of the text. If you opt to write a research paper, then you must have a thesis around which your paper will be built and which will help you argue and describe. The latter could be: Going to market is an aesthetic experience. Or, Going to market means buying with a conscience. Or, Marché Jean-Talon is fashionable. Before starting, READ the ‘how to write a research paper’ guide to be found on the Concordia library website.
If you opt to write a letter to a friend, then the structure can be freer, of course. Whatever the style you choose, aim at writing with flair, energy, and intellectual rigor. In all instances, you should be able to convey the essence of the market, its characteristics, its ambiance, etc. In all cases, you should have an argument in mind and this argument should be clear to the readers as they read your paper.
Writing:
Write an outline, rewrite it as need be, and follow it once you are happy with the final version. You are not obliged to follow the order of the themes as they appear in the observation guide.Focus on what is important or what caught your imagination and what you hope to convey in the letter, or in the short story, or in the food column. Always build an argument around the thesis you have chosen to discuss or write about in your letter, or your tourist guide, and line up your ‘proofs’. Be careful of choosing a thesis that you can argue with the data you have.
Except for the research paper, you do not need to include references to the literature. The emphasis will be on the depth of the data, the richness of the information, the precision of the observation, the meaning you can derive from what you saw and experienced.
Do not limit yourself to a description. You must provide an analysis or contextualization as well whenever relevant. For instance, if you write that the market that day was red and green, and wax eloquent on the bright colors of the red peppers, it is important also to think about why that is the case, but also that the quantity of everything adds to the general impression of colors. Reflect on what the reasons behind (and consequences) such large quantities of food being produced. In other words, do not take things at face value. However aesthetically pleasing going to market may be, keep a critical mind!
If you chose the research paper format, you must include an introduction and a conclusion as well as a bibliography (the latter is not included in the word count).
This is how you will be graded:
Fieldnotes (50% of the grade):
We will assess their richness (diversity, precision, quantity, thoroughness).
Analysis (50% of the grade):
We will assess
1) How you write up and present your data in your analysis, and make sense of it for the reader) (20%)
2). The synthetic gaze (how you build a coherent picture of the market) (20%)
The clarity and structure of writing and argument (10%)
Planning your work
Below, I am indicating the time you should devote to each elements of the assignment.
Step 1: Doing a bit of research on Marché Jean-Talon before going there (about 3 hours)
Step 2: Observing Marché Jean-Talon and writing your observations in the grid (about 3 hours)
Step 3: Organizing your data (and adding some information that you have memorized or that you have gathered during Step 1) (about 2 hours)
Step 4: Sorting/choosing pictures, reducing them, and writing a caption for each (about 1 hour)
Step 5: Writing an outline (about 30 minutes)
Step 6: Writing the paper itself: About 9 hours, spread over 3 or 4 days (or about 750/1000 words per day). This is quite possible: Keep in mind that during in-class essay exams, students routinely write about 1000 to 1200 words in 3 hours).
