Guidelines for Essay #3: Medium-Stakes Assignment Participant-Observation Research & the Impact of Historical Trauma on the Community.
Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs):
● Follow a guided process of gathering information from all course
content/sources, conducting two (2) thirty (30) minute
participant-observations, and analyzing findings.
● Apply critical thinking, reading, and writing skills (in both the draft & revision
stages) that enables a continued discussion of the selected topic.
● Demonstrate skill at incorporating discussion of course content while also
maintaining an authentic voice.
● Recognize the difference between summary and analysis—and understand
how and when to incorporate each into a college-level composition; analysis
is a key aspect of this assignment.
● Illustrate the ability to fully develop ideas through use of textual evidence that
follows the “sandwich method” of quoting discussed in class.
● Demonstrate logical organizational patterns that include transitions.
● Apply MLA format and include a Works Cited page.
● Compose a college-level, academic essay that has a clear thesis, coherent
paragraphs, and demonstrates a strong command of vocabulary, grammar,
spelling, and punctuation.
Writing Task:
Demonstrate familiarity with Bloom’s Taxonomy (remembering, comprehension,
application, analysis, evaluation/synthesis, and creation) as you work closely with the
assigned sources–using them, eventually, to:
● assist you in reflecting on your own knowledge and comprehension of
intergenerational historical trauma and related concepts
● selecting relevant quotes/passages/sections from EACH of the 3 assigned
sources
● conducting two (2) thirty (30 minute) participant-observations
● analyzing the findings
● drafting a synthesis of all gathered information
● refining that work to exhibit a polished, college-level, academic paper that you
are proud of.
REQUIRED STEPS TO COMPLETING ASSIGNMENT:
1. Choose a context: Familial or Community (define your selected context based
on your own understanding)
2. Explain why you have chosen this context
3. Define historical trauma (by referencing classroom sources) and predict what
aspects of historical trauma you anticipate observing and why
4. Discuss the extent to which you are (or will be) an outsider or insider in this
observational setting. Also, decide whether you will be overt or covert in your
approach—in other words, will you reveal your research
positon/status/assignment? Why? Why not?
5. Conduct two (2) 30-minute participant-observations, each on a different day.
Pay attention to who is present, what the existing relationships are or may be,
what the power dynamics consist of, the types of language being
used/expressed (verbal; gestures, facial expressions, tone of voice, etc.)
6. Describe, in SPECIFIC DETAIL , what you observed: who, what when,
where, why, how
7. ANALYZE the observations based on the assigned readings/sources in
class, including Gonzales & Rodriguez editorials, the documentary,
Hozhonahslii, and the short film, La Tiricia. Your analysis will be a
comparative analysis that will need to explain the relevant contexts for the
populations in the assigned readings/sources and for the familial or
community populations you have observed ( geography, time, social,
political, historical, cultural, economic, linguistic )
8. Discuss the implications of this research study on you personally. How is
Historical Trauma apparent in your life? How has this participant observation
made this more apparent? Or you may discuss how this research has helped
you gain better understanding of someone close to you that you have a
relationship with (family member, friend, etc.). Or you can also express how
this knowledge you have acquired will influence your future interactions within
another racial/ethnic/cultural group outside of your own or at your workplace
(now and/or in the future).