The approach of which one of the following is most similar to Shostak's approach as her approach is described in the ...

AndreaK on March 30, 2020

Hi @shafieiava,

This is a notoriously difficult passage! Hope you’re getting a handle on it. Happy to step in and help with this one!

First off, we want to think about how Shostak’s approach is described in the passage. This is discussed throughout the last paragraph. Shostak talks with Nisa, Nisa describes scenes from her life and Shostak weaves them into a story.

A) Bingo! A producer interacts with a film’s subject, like Shostak interacting with Nisa, the subject of her book. Through these interactions Shostak learns about Nisa’s life (and the producer gains insights about her film subjects) and then takes what she learns and weaves it into a story, like a documentary does. The producer does this on film with the subject. Lines 13 through 15 tell us of the book’s narrative, “...the story of an intercultural encounter in which the distinction between ethnographer and subject becomes blurred.” This style of narrative is later talked about more in the last paragraph, such as lines 44 to 48 (“Nisa’s story is interwoven with Shostak’s presentation of their encounter; at times each seems to exist primarily in response to the other. [...] “....but it is manifestly the product of a collaboration.”) This clues us in that Shostak’s involvement in the process is part of the final product. That’s like a documentary producer being on film interviewing a subject to solicit insight, being on film showing that the producer is not only the maker of the project but also part of the final project herself.


C) Shostak is weaving a story of Nisa’s life here. She’s not rattling off a list of Nisa’s everyday activities. She’s weaving those activities into a broader narrative.

Hope this helps! Feel free to follow up if you have anymore questions.

shafieiava on April 3, 2020

@AndreaK your response is blank?

dannyod on April 6, 2020

+1 I could also use an explanation here. C seems aligned with another aspect of the approach (ethnography through specific example, described in the right answer to question 8) so I don't understand why it is wrong. Thanks!

dannyod on April 8, 2020

@shafieiava if you update your app you can see a response, this was happening for me too