Enc 1101 - Auto Ethnography

Patrick Jackson

Professor Calkins

ENC 1101

October 16, 2017

Auto Ethnography

Introduction

        I have come to realize that the process of writing is far more intricate and in depth than simply sitting down and typing on my laptop. I never assumed there was a universally perfect writing process so I always figured the way I go about it was fine. However, it wasn’t until I was assigned to read articles about researchers who studied the writing process and analyzed my own process that helped me realize how different it could be.  “Writing is an activity you conduct with your entire body, not just your brain and fingers” (Prior, 2004).  A statement that may not make sense to most but it was reading this that encouraged me to not completely change my process, instead to strengthen it. I believe Prior was saying that writing is a process that evokes and demands the author to put emotion into their works as well as grammar and structure to truly be a well developed work of art.

        Perl, Berkenkotter, and Prior are all renown scholars in their fields of work and have produced compounding research on different variations of the same subject. In my own attempt at recreating their work to analyze my writing process not only did I use the Think-Aloud Protocol, I attempted to take it a step further. I `elected to record myself on video via webcam through my laptop to give a new perspective and so I could analyze myself as a writer. I believe being able to recognize body language and movement could also be considered in the writing process.

Method

        To set up this study I chose an environment that is natural to me, my dorm room. More specifically, the standard desk that comes in all bedrooms at UCF’s Towers. I call this my homework desk, a pretty uncreative and self-explanatory name; quite simply, I only sit in this desk to do my homework. I decided to pick this setting because I feel being comfortable in your surroundings can help create a clear flow of thoughts and foster creativity. With Paul Prior in mind, I attempted to set myself up in a situation that can foster thought and help me compose my writing. Composing, “can and often does happen without transcription of a text, when a person plans or even drafts out language mentally or in conversation with others” (Prior, 495). I like to think that most of my writing process is composing, whether I am making my thoughts verbally clear or speaking to myself in my head composing is the strength of my process. As stated before the Think-Aloud protocol, simply recording my voice did not seem enough for me. Being a quiet person I found it would be difficult to fully grasp my writing process through a meek voice recording.  To take this a step further I made a video recording of my writing process. It makes more sense when thinking about how Perl was studying a writer she was able to visually see the process and in this situation I am analyzing myself so I saw it as an opportunity to find a way to observe myself.