1. How do the
fieldnotes of the event contrast with the final written analysis in
the book? How do the author's stance (e.g., of uncertainty) and the
process of discovery he recounts differ from the final textual account
in "The Spectacular City"?
2. What kinds
of choices must an anthropological author make in transforming fieldnotes
into published text? What gets included? What gets left out? What
seems to be the basis for this decision-making?
3. What sorts
of methods did the author of these fieldnotes use in gathering the
data upon which they were based? What additional methods were used
in gathering the data upon which the books' text was based?
4. At points
the author inserts his own voice or evaluations into the descriptions
of events he is recording. Discuss this mingling of opinion, or commentary,
with more "objective" descriptions. Can one be as quick
to interject one's opinions in a formal written text as one can in
fieldnotes? Why or why not?
5. What discrepancies,
if any, do you notice between the fieldnotes and the final text? What
might account for them?
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