Creating Criteria: An Ethnographic Short Story

Abstract

In this work, the author introspects about the steps she takes when evaluating narrative ethnographies. Her story shows how she thinks about and reacts to alternative genres of writing. Optimally, she tries to feel and think with the story, moving back and forth as the two processes merge. She tries to immerse herself in the flow of the story, until she is unable to stop thinking about or feeling the experience. Along the way, she asks questions about what she has learned from the story, and she evaluates the writer’s literary strategies, ethical concerns, and the degree to which the goals of the work have been achieved. When she reviews, she attempts to offer helpful feedback yet protect the writer’s sense of self.