Iowa 80 reading

The author of the essay of “Iowa 80” incorporates many writing techniques that help to make the paper a great research ethnography. Description is used throughout to translate everything he sees and experiences into his work. From the description of the food, “fish fried light and crispy” to the description of the truck stop and even the truckers themselves the author is able to give readers a firsthand experience through the essay. Another very important technique that the author uses extremely well is that of the interview. He writes out his interviews with people without writing down the question he asks. This allows him to smoothly transition through a conversation with someone without breaking it up and making it sound unnatural. The way he uses the interview also contributes to the reader’s new understanding of the society presented in the ethnography. Knowing what the truckers are thinking and the way they view their own society enables the author to describe the true issues within the truck stop of Iowa 80.