Armbruster
WRIT 2072
Spring 2006

Exercise 3

The goal of this assignment is for you to come to a better (or at least more conscious) understanding of the culture of the community that you will be addressing in your proposal for community change.   In other words, it is an analysis of your audience (and the cultural context in which you will be writing).   It will be due in class on Thursday, February 23rd .

Summarize the results of your analysis, as outlined below, in a (roughly) two-paged, double-spaced paper.   Note major trends, supported by brief examples. In a way, your written statement should answer the question, "What is the personality of the community?"    

1) Do a content analysis of two local publications.   (See pp. 52-53 in Public Literacy for more insight on content analysis.) One should be a newspaper -- look at at least 4 issues over the course of a month.   Other publications could be web sites, visitor's guides, etc.   How does the community seem to want to present itself to outsiders (and insiders)?   What issues seem to be of the most concern?   Do people seem to respect each other and their local government?   Do there seem to be any factions that oppose each other, at least on certain issues? How direct or even strident do people seem to get when expressing opinions?   How much tolerance does there seem to be for individuals to disagree with or differ from the majority? How open-minded do people generally seem? Note any and all characteristics of the community that might be important for you to know when addressing members of the community through your proposal.

2) Drive, walk, ride your bike or otherwise travel around the community and look at "everyday" examples of public literacy -- signs, flyers, graffiti, even bumper stickers and T-shirt slogans.   Think about the questions in #1 as well as anything else that strikes you as distinctive about the community.

Keep in mind that you will be asked to interview someone in the community as part of the research for your proposal for community change.   As you are conducting your community culture analysis, be on the alert for possible community members who could be good sources of information for your proposal.