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Comparison of Wp1-Final Draft Wp1-Portfolio Draft
Comparison of Wp1-Final Draft Wp1-Portfolio Draft
Writing 2
3 May 2020
The discipline of Anthropology produces a wide range of research spanning topics such
as health, tribal culture, violence patterns or ancient diets, which makes this topic so widely
appealing. This singular discipline encompasses the study of humanity, as well as why and how
humans do what they do, all while maintaining the highest level of professionalism and credible
science in published research. The literary conventions of the discipline follow a formal style and
tone, supplemented with less formal, but equally informative visual aids such as maps or photos
of the culture being studied in the article. This use of visual aids is a distinct characteristic of this
discipline, since contrary to other disciplines the research being conducted is on living people in
real places. Therefore, photos, maps, and charts are commonly used to better convey the setting
of the research to the audience, as well as allowing for a deeper understanding of the presented
research. The goal of the discourse community is represented by the literary practices mentioned;
using research on both present and past civilizations to further the understanding of humanity as
presented at conferences, and is aimed at a broad scholarly audience, since themes within
anthropology and ethnographic research speak to other disciplines of science, humanities, and
ecology.
When an anthropologist is writing an article, the best way for them to give the audience a
better insight into the details of their data, is to provide a visual illustration or other forms of
media alongside the data. Some examples of these visual aids include, photos of plants, maps of
an archaeological site, a table of data on land usage, or topographical maps. These facilitate a
deeper level of understanding and engagement with the research presented. In anAn article,
which analyzed ethnographic data on the Chumash and their use of swordfish, utilizes a
topographical map to show all the site names where data was collected and analyzed and their
locations in relation to the Santa Barbara Channel.1 Furthermore, they also include pictures of the
Chumash harpoonsAs you can see from the image below, taken straight from the article, by
visually representing where swordfish artifacts or cave paintings have been discovered it allows
the reader to better engage, and in this context allows the writer to show just how prolific
evidence for a strong relationship between the Chumash and the swordfish is. It also gives the
research context, something very valuable in Anthropological research, particularly since the
reader may have never heard of a specific tribe before, and images or other media types such as
1 Demorest, Davenport. “The Chumash and the swordfish.” 260-263, (Cambridge, 1993).
Furthermo
re, the article also includes a picture and model of the harpoons the Chumash used to hunt
swordfish, with descriptions of their size and details of their construction in notes under the
cultural significance, to also provide details on use and construction of the object to best respect
the meaning and specific cultural values behind any one artifact. SimilarlyA similar practice is
demonstrated in, “Ethnobotanical knowledge among the semi-pastoral Gujjar tribe” where
images of both plants and members of the tribe are included during the conclusion (depicted on
the right), another example of the literary convention in use within anthropological publications.2
Not only is thethis use of images in an academic article unique, but it is also very telling of the
goals of the discourse community. Rather than present the data with no background or context, it
is considered general practice for anthropologists to reconstruct the whole narrative, rather than
2 Dipike, Rana. “Ethnobotanical knowledge among the semi-pastoral Gujjar tribe in the high
altitude (Adhwari’s) of Churah subdivision, district Chamba, Western Himalaya.” 4, 18, (Journal
of Ethnobiology, 2019).
just presenting the raw data. Which means, visual aids, graphs, and photos are essential to what
Since most anthropological work produced requires fieldwork, either with ancient or
living subjects or sites, extra care and time go into presenting the history and culture of what is
being studied. When dealing with living data, a common convention in the writing is to include a
confirmation of consent such as “prior consent of the informants was taken while conducting
these studies. This was done to adhere to the ethical standards of human participation in
Gujjar tribe in the high altitude” by a note at the end of the article confirming consent of the
informants was obtained before research began.3 To maintain a high level of ethics and formality
when writing about a culture or society in study, it is expected for anthropologists to refer to
individuals by their names in their native language, to use scientific names of plants and animals,
and even include certain words of cultural significance that may even be in another language.
AnFor example of this is the use of the phrase “quilombola communities” in an article published
in the Journal of Ethnobiology, where throughout the article this phrasethe article is used to
represent the native communities to the Ribeira Valley withby their chosen and native name.4
This helps immerse the audience in the ideas and values of the given culture, as well as to
The formalities in anthropology are further expressed through the literary conventions in
the quantitative and statistical analysis of the data, in the methods or discussion section of the
article. Here it is common to have percentages, formulas, P-values, statistical error, and even
3Dipike, Rana. “Ethnobotanical knowledge among the semi-pastoral Gujjar tribe in the high
altitude (Adhwari’s) of Churah subdivision, district Chamba, Western Himalaya.” 20-21,
(Journal of Ethnobiology, 2019).
4 Prado, Helbert. “Ethnography, ethnobiology and natural history: narratives on hunting among
quilombolas from Southeast Brazil.” 2-3. (Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine, 2020)
detailed explanations of complex biological pathways or chemical compositions, which are
added to help maintain professionality. One of the main community values within the discipline
is replicable and credible science. Which is why the inclusion of a methods or evidence section
where the author lays out what steps or analyses were conducted that lead to the results. In more
cultural settings such as “Chumash and Swordfish”, an anthropological study of the past,
presents the two lines of evidence, linguistic and ethnographic,; while simultaneously explaining
their relatedness to their research question.5 Not only is it a writing practice, but a requirement to
publish the article is that the data is replicable, scientifically sound, and reviewed by other
academics.
research development and projects at large international conferences. Groups such as the
discourse community yearly to share the newest developments in the field. Additionally, these
groups also publish their own journals with this work, and the submission process to a
conference requires the approval of an abstract and research project. ButSo why is this important
to the conventions of Anthropology? Well, these forums forallow for the exchanging of ideas in
a formal manner to a broad audience of scholars is, one of the most important practicepractices
in the discourse community. There are many conferences held yearly both nationally and
internationally, where all of the aforementioned literary conventions are presented via poster
boards, presentations, or articles. These conferences embody the goals and conventions of the
dedicated to advancing human understanding and applying this understanding to the world’s
5 Demorest, Davenport. “The Chumash and the swordfish.” 258-259. (Cambridge, 1993).
most pressing problems,” a goal which is truly facilitated by conferences and the sharing of new
References
Dipike, Rana. “Ethnobotanical knowledge among the semi-pastoral Gujjar tribe in the high
Prado, Helbert. “Ethnography, ethnobiology and natural history: narratives on hunting among